Jonathan’s eyes ached as he scanned the latest medical journal. His head throbbed from lack of sleep, trying to keep up with his appointments, deliver babies, visit the reservations, and then do laundry, cooking, shopping. He felt worn thin. His parents had offered to have him move back in, but he’d promptly refused. A grown man shouldn’t need to live with his parents. He should be able to look after himself just fine. Not to mention that the last thing he needed was to show his father that he was indeed struggling.
“You look like a man deep in thought.” Eliza Lampton’s cheery voice interrupted his reverie as she placed in front of him a plate with a slice of moist white cake coated in strawberries drizzled in sugar.
“I am.” He laughed and shook his head. He had not slept all night and had been making calls all morning and afternoon. His head throbbed with fatigue.
“Will you be attending the Hugh’s party?” She sat down and nodded to the cake. “It’s a gift by the way; you can eat it.”
He frowned. “A gift?”
“For helping Bless last week. I was scared sick when she got a fever.”
He nodded. “My pleasure, though I must say that while I’m used to having mothers looking on, I have bruises from where you gripped my shoulder as I examined her,” he laughed. “It was very endearing to see, or rather feel, that intense concern.”
Eliza’s face sobered. “Bless is everything to me.” She patted her belly. “It was a long time before I was blessed with family. I used to worry it would never happen; now I worry about losing one of them. What if sickness comes? What if I do something wrong—”
Jonathan reached across the table and patted Eliza’s hand. “You and Kyle are the best parents I have ever seen. Bless will be all right. For now,” he nodded at her belly, “try not to worry so much and take time to relax.”
Eliza scrunched her nose. “I hate relaxing.”
Jonathan laughed and stabbed the cake with his fork. “That I know, Eliza.”
The door jingled and Eliza looked behind her. “Oh, look at that, it is Miss Rose and her friend. What is her name? Meg,I believe.”
Jonathan coughed on the cake now lodged in his throat. He reached for a glass of water and swallowed until it was empty. Sure enough, Rose was pushing Daisy, now sitting up in the pram, and beside her was Meg with shining eyes and a sprinkle of freckles on her nose, reminding him of the kisses he longed to pepper across her face.
“I best go say hello.” Eliza stood up eagerly and hurried over to them. Meanwhile, Jonathan was trying to see how he could sneak out. He ate here almost every day, being an awful cook himself, and he always sat in the back, so there was no way he could exit unnoticed.
In a desperate attempt, Jonathan grabbed the Medicine Journal he was reading and held it up to his face. Despite his attraction to the spunky cook, he had his pride—she’d avoided him once; he would not pursue her again.At that point, Christabel walked by him holding a teakettle. “You’re still visible Doctor, and we don’t have any secret doors.” She grinned shamelessly before waltzing away. Jonathan fought a smile—Christabel was famous for her uncurbed nature.“Jonathan?” Rose had spotted him and was walking towards him.
He lowered the pages and smiled, not looking at Meg, fearing his skin would turn beat red, or that he would simply stare at her star-struck.
“Do you live here?” Rose teased.
Jonathan chuckled. “No, this is where I go to relax. My own home currently smells like burned eggs, so I prefer here.”
“Did you burn eggs?” Meg asked, looking at him briefly before lowering her eyes.
“Terribly,” Jonathan admitted. “Eggs cook longer than I expected, so I thought I had some time to do chores while they cooked. Before I knew it, they had exploded all over my kitchen.”
The two women let out exclamations of amused pity. “Listen, Jonathan, Meg has just agreed to give me cooking lessons next week.”
Meg looked over at Rose like this was news to her. “I—”
“Anyway,” Rose continued, “can you make time to join us? How about Tuesday? I can help Meg so she is finished earlier and we can both learn a few things from her before dinner, which of course you are invited to.”
Meg was staring at Rose and then back at Jonathan, not saying a word. Jonathan did not know what to say. This is what he hated about himself. A real man could say “no” or “yes” and make up his mind. Right now Jonathan was conflicted between not wanting to go to avoid his feelings for Meg, or saying yes so he could see Meg and not hurt Rose’s feelings.
“Does three o’clock sound alright?”
Jonathan and Meg both nodded and looked at each other helplessly.
“Wonderful,” Rose said brightly. “We will see you then.”
“Uhh, are you going to join me?” Jonathan managed to say, waving to the empty chairs at his table.
Rose opened her mouth to speak, but closed it and looked at Meg to answer.
“No, I came here hoping to talk to Mr. Lampton. I hope he will share a few of his secrets with me.” She gave him an apologetic smile.
Jonathan blinked and looked back at the journal. “Good luck with that.”
“Jonathan,” Meg said his name softly, pronouncing it slowly as if reciting poetry.
He looked up inwardly begging himself to put on a strong front. “Yes, Miss Partridge?” He enunciated her last name. He was a professional now, not a young doctor with a young crush.
“Thank you for the flowers you left me. That was very kind.”
“Well, I wanted to thank you. Jeffries dropped off the cookies you made, and the loaves of bread and the jerky.” He shook his head in grateful disbelief. “You made some children very happy with your gifts. They begged me to bring more, saying it was the best they had ever tasted.”
Her lips parted into a grin. “Well then, I shall have to outdo my last performance so they will not be disappointed.”
Jonathan tilted his head at her. “Miss Partridge, I don’t think you could disappoint even if you tried.” He was rewarded with a laugh erupting from her chest as she shook her head letting chocolate-colored tendrils fall along her neck.
“Oh my, now you have me flustered.” She began to turn away but paused, “You will come at three o’clock? Rose made the lessons up, but I would be happy to teach you what I know.”
“I am glad to hear that.” He searched for something more to say. He found her beautiful, although she also frightened him. “I look forward to Tuesday.”