“Hogwash, Ma.”
“Watch your mouth, young lady!”
“I apologize. But really, he may be a doctor, but he’s a doctor here in Dugan. He gets paid in chickens and rotten apples. He lives over the general store, for goodness’ sake. I’m sure he can support a wife and family, but life with him would be far from luxurious.”
“So it’s luxury you want?”
“No.” Ruth stood and paced three steps across the small kitchen. “Stop twisting my words around. I was responding to your claim that Doc could give me luxuries that you and Pa couldn’t. You know I don’t care about any of that stuff. I never have.”
“Well, then, I don’t see the issue, Ruth. I should think you’d be happy a man finally came courting.”
Ruth sighed. That’s what it always came down to. She wrenched her hands in the folds of her skirt. “You and pa can finally be rid of your old maid daughter, is that it?”
“Goodness, of course not. But you’re a beautiful girl, Ruth. You’re the only one who doesn’t see it.”
Ruth sat back down and clumped her elbows on the table. “I’d say most of the men in town don’t see it, Ma, or they’d have come around before now.”
“Most of the men in town are intimidated by you. And why wouldn’t they be? Not only are you beautiful, but you’re easily the most intelligent person in this town. That’s been clear since you could talk. Everyone knows it. You can out think anyone here, and you’re not afraid to give your opinion.” She sighed. “And some are no doubt bothered by your height.”
“You’re tall. Naomi’s tall.” Ruth looked to the ceiling. “Why did I have to be the one who grew to freakish proportions?”
“You’re five-feet-eleven, Ruth. Hardly a freak of nature. I’m five-feet-nine, and so is Naomi.”
“Those two inches make all the difference, Ma.”
“It’s not your height that has kept men away, dear. It’s their own insecurities. You’re brilliant. And opinionated. And beautiful.”
Ruth met her mother’s blue gaze. “I’m not beautiful, Ma, and I wish you’d quit saying that. Naomi is beautiful. I’m plain. Average. A C.”
“That is simply untrue. You’re just as physically appealing as your sister, but in a different way. Your sister has your father’s eyes. Those are a blessing. I’ll grant you that. But your eyes are no less attractive. They’re just like my mother’s—such a dark blue they appear almost black at times. They’re lovely.”
Lovely? She’d never thought so. But Garth had said her eyes were lovely. Her skin warmed. Land sakes, this Dakota heat was unbearable.
“Doc Potter is an intelligent man,” her mother continued. “Medical school is difficult, impossible for many. But not for him. So there’s no reason why your intelligence would intimidate him. In fact, he most likely finds it attractive. A man secure in his own intelligence won’t be threatened by another’s. Even if she is a woman.”
“There’s still the issue that I tower over him.”
“You hardly tower over him. You’re an inch or two taller, that’s all.”
Lord above, her mother was right. Ruth should be pleased such a fine man wanted to court her. Ben Potter had dark hair and eyes, an infectious smile. Yes, he was handsome. She couldn’t deny that. Always smiling, the doc. Why didn’t he court one of the frilly younger girls? All of whom were in his height range. Any one of them would be thrilled to accept his suit.
“The doc has asked to escort you home from church on Sunday,” Ma continued, “by way of Hattie’s.”
The restaurant? New to the town, Hattie’s sat in an exalted spot less than a block from the church building. Ruth hadn’t set foot in the eatery. Why spend money on such a frivolity when Ma’s meals were as good as any she’d eaten in her life?
“That’s silly, Ma. Why don’t we just invite him over here after church?”
“He’s been here for dinner before,” Ma said. “I think he’d like the chance to converse with you alone, dear.”
“We’ve conversed alone on numerous occasions. Why, just the other day I spoke to him about one of my students. She nearly fainted in the schoolhouse.”
Her mother smiled. “I think he’d like to talk to you about other things, Ruth. Not your job or his. Get to know you on a more personal level.”
Lord above. A personal level. Her fingers, seemingly of their own accord, trailed across her bottom lip. Personal level? She’d never spoken to any man on a personal level. But her encounter with Garth Mackenzie this morning had gone way beyond personal. Tiny shivers raced along her skin.
Shivers. Shivers she hadn’t felt since she was an adolescent and she’d fancied herself in love with her older schoolmate, Byron Harris, who’d only had eyes for Naomi. Naomi didn’t return his feelings, and Byron eventually married another and left Dugan.
Ruth hadn’t felt those shivers since.