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

and she wanted desperately to get back to Millie and her concern over her unborn child. “We’ll talk later, Mr. Abrams.”
    Seth Abrams tipped his hat and nodded, turning at last to leave the exam area.
    “Sorry,” Suzanne said when she went back to Millie’s side.
    “You’re a popular lady, Doc. No wonder the men of Greenville follow you around with a sad puppy dog look in their eyes. Not only are you beautiful, but you’re smart.”
    “Thank you for the compliments, both of them, but all I’m really interested in is being the best doctor I can be for all my patients. Now, let’s get a listen to the baby’s heartbeat.”
    Suzanne reached for the Pinard horn, laid it against Millie’s belly and waited for the heartbeat to settle into a steady rhythm.
    “What is that thing?” Millie asked. “It looks like my uncle Joe’s handmade flute.”
    Suzanne chuckled. “Close. It’s called a Pinard horn and was named after the man who invented it for the sole purpose of listening to an unborn child’s heartbeat. I brought it with me from New York.” She shifted the horn slightly to the left, repositioning it further down Millie’s swollen belly.
    “Well?” Millie asked, clearly impatient for Suzanne’s assessment.
    “As strong as a drum, I’d say,” Suzanne confirmed.
    Suzanne sighed deeply. It was moments like these that made her happy to have chosen medicine as her profession. She thought briefly of the slight interruption, of Seth Abrams’ excitement at giving her a gift, and wondered how she’d squash this latest round of unwanted attention.
    It had been that way since she’d arrived in Greenville, one prospective suitor after another doing their best to win her favor. She didn’t have time for them; she only had time for her patients. And as lonely a prospect as that seemed to be, it was a sacrifice she would willingly make in order to become the best physician possible.

Chapter Three
    Her morning rounds complete, Suzanne took a seat in her office, intent on catching up on some much needed paperwork. Doc Miller, her predecessor, was a wonderful physician. Yet, like most of the older doctors of her acquaintance, not the neatest or most succinct when keeping patient records. Over the past few months, she’d spent a good portion of her free time creating files for the many patients both she and Doc Miller treated.
    She’d barely gathered the first of three batches of loose notes into her hands, when the front door opened, the tiny bell affixed to the top ringing sharply.
    “Hello,” Suzanne called out.
    “Doc, you gotta come quick,” the young boy shouted.
    Suzanne grabbed her medical bag and ran toward the front of the clinic. Tommy O’Hara stood at the door, holding it open for her to go through.
    “What is it?” she asked. “Is it your mother, or one of the children?” Suzanne spared a quick thought for her very first patient after arriving in Greenville, Tommy’s younger brother James.
    “No, it’s Billy Davidson. He and Todd were wrestling around, pretending to fight and slashing at each other with their pocket knives. Todd tripped and fell on Billy; stabbed him right in the gut.”
    “Where is he?” she asked, moving as fast as she could to keep up with Tommy.
    “Over there behind the mercantile.”
    Suzanne rounded the corner and came to an abrupt halt in front of the supine Billy. He’d pressed his hand to his middle; blood seeped through his fingers.
    “Where’s Todd?” she asked, kneeling in the dirt to get her first look at Billy’s injury.
    “He got scared,” Billy said, his voice cracking under the pain. “He ran off.”
    Suzanne looked up at Tommy, and told him, “Go and get the marshal.”
    “It was an accident,” Billy insisted. “He didn’t mean it.”
    Suzanne laid her hand against the young boy’s forehead, brushing a lock of hair out of his eyes. “I know that. However, the marshal should be told about the accident.”
    “But why?” Tommy