The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous) Read Free Page A

town.
    …
    Nearly an hour later, Suzanne finished with the last of her patients. She was about to make one last inspection of Seth Abrams’ shoulder when the sound of heavy footsteps drew her attention away from her patient. From the corner of her eye, she could see Zack standing in the doorway, his hands braced against the frame.
    “What the devil were you thinking?” he bellowed.
    Suzanne calmly set aside the basin of water and medical supplies she’d used to stitch up the gash in Jimmy Watson’s side and turned to face a rather livid Marshal McCade. “Excuse me?” she said.
    “Why would you purposely put yourself in harm’s way by going out to the accident site? You should have waited, and we would have brought the injured men to you.”
    Suzanne grabbed hold of the front of Zack’s vest and pulled him into the hallway just outside the men’s hospital ward. In a barely controlled voice, she told him, “Mr. Watson wouldn’t have survived the trip into town if I hadn’t put in temporary sutures at the accident site. And, Seth Abrams would have been in agony for the entire trip.”
    “You could have been hurt,” Zack said more softly this time. Suzanne suspected his anger had cooled somewhat with her explanation.
    “It’s not like I went inside the building,” she reminded him. “I waited until the men were brought out before I started my treatment.”
    “Yes, I suppose there is that,” Zack conceded. “Just promise me you won’t do anything so foolhardy again.”
    “I can’t make that promise, Zack. I have a job to do, same as you, and sometimes it includes a risk.”
    “Have I ever told you how stubborn you are?” he asked. Much to her chagrin, his temper seemed to be on the rise yet again.
    “Repeatedly,” she said. “And, as I told you each of the other times, you’re not my keeper, Zack. I need to do whatever’s best for my patients.”
    …
    The following morning Suzanne arrived at the clinic shortly before nine. Her first appointment for the day was one of her maternity patients, Millicent Green. “Come on back to the exam room, Millie,” Suzanne said. “Let’s see how you’re doing today.”
    Suzanne helped the six-month pregnant Millie onto the exam table. Once the woman was lying down, she asked, “Dr. Martindale, is there any way to tell for sure that this baby will be okay?”
    “I read Doc Miller’s notes about your last pregnancy. I understand there were many complications. I don’t expect that to happen this time. The baby is growing—“
    “Excuse me, Doc,” a man’s voice sounded from the other side of the privacy curtain.
    Suzanne laid a reassuring hand to Millie’s shoulder, and told her, “I’ll be right back.” Stepping out from behind the curtain, she approached Seth Abrams. “Mr. Abrams, how can I help you?”
    “I wanted to bring you this gift,” the man said.
    “I’m with a patient right now. I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but I can’t spare the time at the moment.”
    Seth stretched out his hand and offered her a wood carving of a bird. “I made it myself, this morning. My arm and shoulder’s as good as new, and I thought I’d best make you a gift for fixing me up.”
    Suzanne didn’t want to hurt the man’s feelings, but needed to shoo him away. “I really have to get back to my patient, Mr. Abrams. I do appreciate your generosity. If you’d like you can leave it on the desk, or you’re welcome to come back later when clinic hours are over.”
    “I’d like to take you to dinner tonight too, at Miss Maribell’s, if you’ve not got any plans.”
    Suzanne shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I do have things to do tonight and I really have to get back to my patient.”
    “Okay,” he said, nodding his head but making no move to leave. “I’ll call back later to see if we can make other arrangements.”
    Suzanne meant to refuse his invitation but thought better of it. Turning him down outright would only prolong his leaving,