Desperate Read Free Page B

darted about the room like a butterfly seeking nectar.
    “It’s already cooked. We’re having cornbread and stew tonight,” Ruby told him. “I’m a very good cook, so you don’t want to miss out on my stew.”
    Meg wanted to hit her. Did she never stop flirting? Was it just part of her nature like taking her next breath? If a man walked into the room, she automatically became a coquette. Where had she learned this behavior?
    The bedroom door opened and the doctor walked out. “Why don’t we all sit down for a moment.”
    Meg looked at his face and felt her stomach sink to her knees; her body shook so much she could barely stand. He had that fatherly-I’ve got bad news-expression on his face. She didn’t want to see that expression; she didn’t want to hear his news. It wasn’t fair. She needed her father.
    They sank down on the settee, the three sisters with the doctor sitting across from them in her mother’s favorite rocker. Deke still sat at the table.
    “Your father has suffered some serious internal injuries. His abdomen is swelling and filling with blood. One of his lungs has collapsed.” The doctor paused and looked at each of them. “At this time, I don’t think there’s much hope.”
    Meg heard the words, but her brain refused to acknowledge what her eyes had already told her.
    Ruby started to cry. “No.”
    The doctor sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I could be wrong. Sometimes these things fix themselves in a day or two, but more often the patient slowly slips away.”
    “No,” Annabelle suddenly said. “No, he’s going to get better. We’ll take care of him. We’ll take turns sitting with him and make sure he gets everything that he needs.”
    Meg’s insides twisted into a hopeless knot of anxiety. She would do whatever was necessary to make sure her father lived. Living without her Papa was just not a choice.
    The doctor smiled at her. “I hope so, Annabelle.” He looked around the farmhouse. “I know you girls need your father. I’m going to leave now, but if you need anything else, just send for me. I left some laudanum by his bed. If he has pain, give him several drops.”
    Meg stood and wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. “Thanks for coming, Doc. We appreciate it.” She glanced at her sisters, worried about them.
    Ruby’s face was white, her blue eyes wide and dazed like she was afraid. Annabelle sat on the couch in shock—her face pale, her hazel eyes almost ember, her lips pursed.
    Ruby stood. “I’ll see you out, Doc.”
    Meg watched her show him out, and once the door closed, Ruby started to cry. “We can’t lose Papa. We just can’t.”
    Annabelle rose and went to her along with Meg. “We’ll do everything we can to keep him here with us.”
    Meg’s heart rose in her throat, tears welling up inside her, threatening to spill. She refused to cry. But just like Ruby, she couldn’t lose her Papa. She needed him.
    *
    The next morning Ruby ambled along on her way to the hen house to collect the eggs. She hated going to the chicken coop and fighting that crazy hen that liked to peck her. That chicken would soon be roasting in a pot if she had her way, but Meg said to wait until after spring when the new chicks would arrive. That bird might not make it until spring if she continued to peck Ruby’s hands.
    Ruby came around the corner of the barn, and her feet stopped, her mouth opened, and her breath seized in her throat. She stared in heated fascination as Deke swung an ax, chopping wood, naked from the waist up. The muscles in his back and chest rippled with strength with each swing of the ax. His skin was tanned, his muscles taut, and she wanted to run her fingers down his smooth skin. She wanted to know how a man felt without his shirt on. How he smelled after working hard.
    “Good morning,” Deke said, his emerald eyes staring at her, his breathing labored.
    She licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dryer than a hot Texas summer day even though it