He’d never been able to fully take the professor’s words to heart. Not when everywhere he’d turned, he’d faced screaming and fainting. Most of the nurses—for all their desire to help the injured—had never seen a wound before, coming from upper society that could afford such schooling. By then, his scar had been eight months old, but you’d think it was still fresh the way they acted. None had seen him as a former patient, but a ghoul.
“I will not go see her,” the words came out more of a growl, surprising him. “Alice is a sweet, demur, lovely thing. She doesn’t need or deserve to see this.” He pointed again at his cheek.
Armstrong snorted. “A lot has changed since you left. About the time you sent that letter to us saying you were going straight from Deadwood on to school, without coming back, Alice changed. She now rides the range like her brothers, and she has turned down every suitor who’s come to her door. She won’t even let them in to speak to Bodey.”
The very idea of men coming to call on her made fury burst inside him, but he refused to let it show. Men should come to court her.
“Then I have nothing to worry about.” But a prickle of apprehension trickled up Kent’s arms. Had Alice known? Had Ma told her? He’d asked Ma to keep the letter to herself. No one but family. But, Dosha was family. Had she said something to Alice?
He never should’ve asked Alice to wait for him, but he hadn’t realized at the time that the wound to his face was so deep and so permanent it would never heal. All he’d known was that he wanted to protect her for the rest of his days because standing beside Alice Johlman made him feel like more like a man than he ever had before.
* * *
Alice brushedoff her boots on the bristly rug where she stood outside her family’s large home. Ma would have her hide if she tracked dirt into the house. She grumbled at the injustice as she brushed the dust from her split riding skirt. Her brothers were never called into the house for company. Ma would grouse that she hadn’t changed into proper company dress, but she planned to take her tea, then rush right back outside. At least there she felt needed, like she could offer something.
When she’d been tricked into believing she was worth waiting for—how had she ever believed a word any Douglas said?—she’d decided to be just like her sister-in-law Josie. She now worked hard around the ranch, just as hard as any man. And she wasn’t about to take on a man she didn’t want to or need.
After Kent, she didn’t want to take a man at all.
She crossed the threshold of the sunroom, letting the warmth and brightness cool her temper. Books and sunshine always calmed her. She belatedly whipped off her hat. “Ma,” she said from the door. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you’d need me this morning.” Pa had caught her outside when she’d returned for a fresh horse.
Dosha Douglas turned in her seat and bestowed a huge smile on Alice. “Oh, I haven’t seen you in so long.” She rushed over, ignoring Alice’s general dustiness, and took her into a close embrace.
“Careful, I’ll get you all dirty.” She backed away. A few years ago, she would’ve welcomed being accepted into the ranks of the adult women and their private teas and conversation. When she’d turned eighteen four years before, she’d assumed so much would change. It hadn’t. She was still up with the sun every day, getting hours in the saddle. The meek girl of five years before was long gone.
Matsk-tskedher from the sofa. “You wouldn’t have had to be warned if you’d do as you were told and you would’ve been on time had you remained in the house.” She gently held her teacup without so much as a tremor as her gaze fell on Alice.
Her arm had seen severe damage in the same explosion that scarred Kent’s face. She winced as she directed her thoughts elsewhere. Thinking about the man who broke her heart wasn’t a good way to welcome a friend. “What brings you over today?” She smiled at Dosha as she made her way to the tea service and chose a seat far enough away she could be friendly without disrespect.
Generally, it was early for Ma to serve tea. Ma usually didn’t even get out the service until later in the afternoon. She glanced Ma’s way and noted the pinched skin between her eyes. The two had obviously been talking before Alice arrived, that much she knew. But what could have brought on a need for tea at such an early hour?
Alice carefully poured the hot water over her tea basket and sat at the opposite end of the sofa as Dosha, just in case she carried more barn with her than she thought she did. “Is something wrong?” She’d asked Dosha a question, but there had been no reply, and now both women looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“Alice, you may as well know. You’re going to find out soon enough.” Dosha rested her hand between them on the sofa. “Kent is home.”
Her heart leapt so fast in her throat that she couldn’t have spoken had she had the words to do so. Kent had as much as told his mother by letter that he was not returning. Alice had been privy to the information only because she’d wanted so desperately to hear word of him, she’d taken to hiding outside their house to listen.
She nodded instead of letting on any feelings at all. Her fingers trembled, and she braced her cup against her knee before making a mess all over mama’s light colored sofa.
Ma cleared her throat. A bad sign for sure. If Ma didn’t know what to say, there wasn’t anything good to say at all. “I assumed she meant that as good news when she told me.” Ma took a deep breath, confirming that this wasn’t good news at all. Ma’s tone changed to soft, almost apologetic. “He has actually been home for a month.”
Alice refused to cry. When he left Deadwood without telling her, she’d cried rivers. She’d cried more when a month passed after the news and he had, indeed, left without speaking to her. She’d vowed to hate him even as her heart rebelled against her direct order. After years of waiting to see what would happen when he returned, now she knew.
Nothing. Nothing would happen.
He’d lied to her. He’d told her that if she had not wed by the time he returned from school that he wanted to be the one to make her his. He’d been gallant and protective. He’d shown her his heart was true. He’d told her he needed to finish his primary education in Deadwood, then he’d go east to learn what he needed to become a doctor. Face-to-face, he’d been the perfect beau.
“He’s a doctor, then?” She could barely speak past the lump in her throat as she moved her cup from her knee to the table, her stomach unable to take even the thought of consuming anything.
“No. He works with animals.” Dosha took a deep breath. “I’m not sure what happened to him, but he’s come home a different man than the one who left. Armstrong says he’s acting more like he did in his youth.”
Alice cringed. In his youth, he’d hated and teased her. She laughed. “Different, you say?” That made for two of them. She, too, was different. Perhaps it was good that he’d broken her heart and stomped on it. She squelched the rest of her words just as she saw her brothers do in the barn when she was nearby and something provoked them. Some words weren’t meant to cross the lips. Malice didn’t look good on anyone.
“Yes, terribly so,” Dosha continued, putting aside her own tea. So much for the occasion. “He’s been angry since he arrived. And . . .” Dosha glanced up, her eyes meeting Alice’s with the weight of a crushing work horse. “He forbade me from telling you he was home.”
Alice swallowed hard. So, he’d intentionally kept her from knowing. “I’m surprised you allowed such. That’s not like you.”
A slight pink tinged Dosha’s cheeks. “Frankly, I would’ve told you sooner if Louis hadn’t been such a handful since Kent’s return. I’m not sure why, but the man has gone soft in the head. He thinks everyone is out to get him. He says the most dreadful things.”