The Doctor's Bride (Brides 0f Brimstone Book 3) Read online

  The Doctor’s Bride

  Brides of Brimstone – Book 3

  Laura Fletcher

  Contents

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  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

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  © 2018 Laura Fletcher

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  * * *

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

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  1

  Lily Dawson snapped out of a doze just in time to see a dusty building flash past the coach window. The galloping horses barely gave her time to read the sign over the entrance, Brimstone Hotel. The next instant, it disappeared in a massive plume of dust.

  Lily lunged for the coach window. She seized the window sash in both gloved hands and thrust her head outside. A billowing dust choked her. She coughed out the words, “Hey! Stop! Stop the coach!”

  No one heard her over the rumble of wheels. A rough, weather-beaten town streamed past her eyes. A moment later, it vanished in a thick patch of trees.

  She sank back in her seat and breathed a heavy sigh. This trip turned out to be ten times longer and more arduous than she ever imagined, but she had no time to repine before the scene beyond the window changed again.

  The coach rolled into a long, curved tree-lined driveway. Lawns and carefully clipped hedges surrounded a stately mansion perched at the far end. The coach trundled up the drive and stopped in front of the entrance steps.

  Lily grabbed the door handle, but it stuck. She managed to get it open after several tugs. When she got to the ground, she discovered the driver and guard already unloading her baggage. They piled trunks and cases in a great mountain next to the steps.

  “What are you doing?” she cried. “You were supposed to drop me off at the Brimstone Hotel, back in town.”

  The driver paused long enough to cock his head. “Really? Oh.” He went back to what he was doing.

  Lily gaped at the two men. “What do you think you’re doing? I demand you load that luggage back on the coach and take me back to the Hotel this minute. I didn’t pay you to drive me here.”

  “You paid me to drive you to Brimstone,” the driver replied. “This is Brimstone.”

  “This isn’t Brimstone. This is…..” She waved at the house. “I don’t know what this is, but it’s not Brimstone. Brimstone is back there. I saw it.”

  The driver dusted off his hands. He mounted the seat and took the reins. “A lady like you doesn’t want to go there. The town’s a pit. Anyone of quality comes here. That’s what the Postmaster in Fort Laramie told me. He said to bring you here, and here you are. Good luck to you, Ma’am.”

  He climbed up into the seat. Lily tried to grab hold of the coach, but it already started moving away. She ran alongside “Hey!” she shrieked. “You can’t leave me here! How am I supposed to get back to the Hotel?”

  Neither man answered. Lily yelled and cursed them, but they turned the coach around and drove away without a word. She chased it the last dozen yards, but she couldn’t keep up with trotting horses. She halted panting and fuming in another cloud of dust.

  That rat! How dare he abandon her out here with nowhere to go. Granted, this estate couldn’t be nicer, with its spreading gardens and weeping willow trees. The grand house dominated the landscape with its solid, imposing atmosphere.

  She strode back to her luggage and kicked the nearest case, but as soon as her annoyance cooled, her heart sank into her shoes. So much for hiring a private coach to drive her the last leg of her journey to this God-forsaken backwater. She should have taken the mail coach like all the other travelers Out West. At least she would have ended up at the right destination. Now what was she going to do?

  She let out another sigh—the latest in a series of thousands she breathed on this trip. Here she was, and this situation wouldn’t solve itself. Maybe whoever owned this estate would loan her a wagon to transport her belongings to the Hotel.

  She turned around to walk up the steps toward the house when, to her surprise, the front door opened from the inside. A dapper gentleman emerged and headed down the walk in her direction.

  He wore a brushed black suit and bowtie. His full head of white hair swept back from a keen face. Piercing black eyes sparkled out of it, and he smiled at Lily. He extended his hand as he approached. “Well, my dear, what brings you to my humble abode?”

  “Humble!” she exclaimed. “Do you call this humble?”

  He closed his eyes and made a slight bow, but his smile spread over his whole face. “Just a figure of speech. My name is Merrill Fox, and you are most welcome to my home. How can I be of service?”

  “Excuse my rudeness.” She accepted his hand, and he raised it to his lips. “My name is Lily Dawson. I’ve been traveling here from New York, and I thought I could make the trip from Fort Laramie in more comfort if I hired a private coach. It appears the driver was none too intelligent, though. He seemed to think any person of quality who comes to the town of Brimstone winds up here. He deposited me and all my luggage on your front lawn instead of at the Hotel where I belong.”

  Merrill pressed her hand between both of his, and he drew an inch closer to her. He murmured low. “You are indeed a lady of quality, and I would hate to see you suffer at the Brimstone Hotel when you could be enjoying some more comfortable accommodation. I insist you stay here until you can arrange something better.”

  “It can’t be that bad,” she remarked. “I’m sure if it’s good enough for everyone else who visits this town, it’s good enough for me.”

  He gave a slight shrug. “You need not see it to decide. Come inside until we can find something more suitable for you. What brings you to our side of the country?”

  He nodded toward the house, but she hung back. His manners put her at ease, but she still couldn’t make up her mind to let a perfect stranger take custody of her.

  She glanced over her shoulder toward the drive. The town of Brimstone was over there somewhere, behind those trees. She belonged over there, not here, but the magnificent surroundings lulled her into a daydream.

  “Madam?” Merrill ventured. “Did you hear me?”

  Her hand flew to her forehead. “I’m sorry. I was sound asleep in the coach when it drove straight past the Hotel. I seem not to have completely woken up yet.”

  “Never mind.” He glided up the walk toward the house. “Come inside and have lunch with me. We can talk all about it.”

  “I don’t know if I should do that. If you would be so kind as to lend me a wagon, I’d like to take my thin
gs down to the Hotel.”

  “Very well,” he replied. “You can do that after lunch. There’s no hurry.”

  She hesitated again. “I’m meeting Doctor Noah Kearney in town. Do you know him? We corresponded, and I might be a mail order bride—if it works out, I mean.”

  Merrill raised both eyebrows, but his features registered no other sign of surprise. “Is that so?”

  “I…um….” She trailed off and looked around again.

  He didn’t have to say it, but he did anyway. “Come inside, my dear. I wouldn’t be showing you proper hospitality by letting you stand around on the step. You can stay here until you contact Doctor Kearney. You can even stay here until you marry him if that’s what you decide to do.”

  Lily blushed. “Thank you, but I’m sure the Hotel will be fine.”

  “I doubt that,” he countered. “You haven’t seen it on the inside, have you? Did the outside give you a sense of luxury and taste? I don’t think so, and the inside won’t, either. Come along, and if you really want to go there after lunch, I’ll make all the arrangements. I believe you’ll find my house a bit more to your standard.”

  He turned side on and cocked his elbow at her. He kept his face turned away so she couldn’t see his expression, but he already spoke to that part of her that craved comfort and elegance.

  This house obviously fulfilled that. She didn’t have to see the inside to realize he was right. He was right about her first impression of the Hotel, too. It didn’t inspire her confidence, and she didn’t relish the idea of staying there for any extended period of time.

  He spoke her language with his suave bearing and his articulated accent. No one on her journey put her so at ease and with so little effort. For the first time since she left home, she found herself in an environment exactly suited to her tastes and sensibilities.

  She slipped her hand into his elbow, and they sailed up the walk toward the front door. He ushered her into a grand tiled foyer and up the curved staircase to the second floor. She drifted into a fairy tale, right up until the moment he opened a door and escorted her into a fully appointed bedroom.

  Lily stiffened. “What’s this? I thought you were going to send me to the Hotel. You know I couldn’t stay overnight in any house alone with a single man.”

  “I will send you to the Hotel,” he replied. “I thought you’d like to make yourself comfortable here for the time being. You’ll want to freshen up after your journey—maybe rest.”

  Now that she thought about it, she did crave a nice long rest in a real bed. This bedroom certainly enticed her to do that. She surveyed the room with increasing satisfaction. “I should send word to Noah. If you don’t mind, I’d like to do that.”

  He waved his hand to one side. “There’s plenty of time for that after lunch. You’re not rushing off to the altar with him today, I hope, like some of these other low-class mail order brides.”

  He laughed, and the sound put Lily at ease. She blushed and smiled up at him. “No, I’m not. I’m only coming here to meet him. I have my own support, so I’m in no hurry to remarry.”

  His eyes flew open. “Remarry?”

  “I’m a widow,” she replied. “I married a banker in New York, and I’ve been widowed for five years.”

  “Your husband must have left you well off,” he remarked, “if you could afford to drive here from Fort Laramie in a private coach.”

  Lily lowered her eyes to the carpet. “I guess he did.”

  He turned away. “Make yourself comfortable here, my dear. You’re welcome to stay as long as you wish. I can assure you I appreciate the dictates of propriety as much as you do, but I couldn’t abandon a lady in distress. Neither would I want to make you uncomfortable by hustling you out of my house when you just arrived in town without friends or any other place to turn.”

  Her cheeks burned. Something told her to look away from his radiant smile. “That’s very kind of you, Merrill. I’m sure I appreciate your hospitality, only….”

  “You need rest from your journey,” he interrupted. “You can only do that comfortably here, and I wouldn’t want to be responsible for overtaxing you at a time when you’re most vulnerable. Please make yourself comfortable, and you can join me in the dining room downstairs when you’re ready.”

  He migrated toward the door. She started to relax. Every bone and muscle ached to sink down on the bed. Out of nowhere, a sudden surge of adrenaline burned through Lily’s insides. If he walked out that door and left her alone in this room, she would be trapped. Was he trying to stop her from leaving?

  The next instant, she brushed the feeling away. He was so polite and well-mannered, he couldn’t be trying anything underhanded. That made no sense. He just met her. What possible reason could he have to hold her here against his will?

  He laid his soft hand on the door latch and opened it. “I’ll see you downstairs, my dear.”

  “Wait a minute, Merrill,” she called after him.

  He paused to look back at her. “What is it, my dear?”

  “I really would like to send a message to Noah, just to let him know where I am,” she told him. “He’s expecting me at the Hotel. I should at least tell him I’m here.”

  “You don’t need to worry yourself about that, my dear,” he replied. “If it concerns you so much, I can send one of my men with a message to let him know you’re my guest here.”

  “No,” she blurted out. “I really must insist on writing him—at least a note. If you really want to show me hospitality, will you please be so kind as to deliver it?”

  For one tense moment, they faced off across the room. She witnessed the briefest flash of hostility in his eyes before it vanished. Anyone less astute would have missed it. Why would he resist her sending a letter?

  A fraction of a second later, the same smooth smile curved his lips upward. “Of course, my dear. You must do what you feel is right. If you insist on writing him a note, of course I’ll see it delivered. You know I’ll do anything to set your mind at ease.”

  She rushed across the room to a writing table under the window. She scrawled a simple note to Doctor Noah Kearney and informed him she was staying as a guest at Merrill Fox’s house before she corrected the mistake by moving to the Hotel. She asked him to contact her as soon as possible.

  Her hand shook when she folded the sheet and handed it to Merrill. He never stopped smiling. “I’ll see you downstairs for lunch, my dear.”

  He let himself out of the room and left her alone.

  2

  Lily sank down on the bed and cast a rueful glance around the bedroom in which she found herself. It really was the most splendid bedroom she’d ever seen, so why did it send a creeping sensation up her spine?

  Shining polished furniture, an ornate washstand with a china blue and white pitcher and basin, gold-trimmed curtains and satin bedclothes—what more could a lady of quality ask for?

  In spite of her exhaustion, she couldn’t rest in that room. Besides, hunger gnawed her insides and the invitation to lunch whispered in her ear until she gave in. She paced back and forth a few times before she left to go downstairs.

  She hunted around before she found the dining room. It extended the full length of the house. A huge table occupied most of the room. Two place settings with crystal goblets and silver cutlery lured her to the far end.

  Merrill greeted her at the door. “How lovely of you to join me, my dear. I rarely get company at mealtimes, and never any company as fine as you are. Come and sit down.”

  He pulled out her chair for her, and she took her place in grateful relief. He settled himself across from her. He wouldn’t stop smiling in sheer delight.

  “Did you deliver my letter?” she asked.

  “Not yet,” he replied. “There’s a lady coming up from town after lunch. I plan to give it to her to deliver for you. I hope you don’t mind a few more minutes’ delay. Perhaps a glass of wine will take your mind off it.”

  At his words, two uniformed butlers
entered and started serving the meal. They poured Lily a glass of burgundy wine and laid out food on her plate from silver serving trays.

  “You can’t know what a strain it is for someone like us to live in a rough, sullied world like this,” he began. “I so rarely meet anyone at my social level. Almost everyone in the whole territory wants to rut and wallow in the pig sty. They drink and live and die in the most wretched conditions. I wonder how a person of quality can survive it.”

  Lily sensed her marriage hopes slipping away from her in this horrid picture of life in the West. Was this what she signed up for when she decided to come out to build a life on the Frontier? “How do you survive it, then? How do you manage to maintain a life of quality instead of sliding down into the mire?”

  “Me?” He waved his hand to one side. “I made most of my money ranching. It isn’t difficult out here. You only have to be prepared to seize the bull by horns, as it were. Most people out here aren’t interested in making a success of themselves. They only want a few pennies to buy their next drink. Brimstone was on its way to being a ghost town when I showed up. I hired a bunch of people and breathed new life into the place. Now the locals want to punish me for being a success. That’s the thanks I get.”

  “It seems a hard way to live,” she remarked.

  One of the butlers poured her another glass of wine. The food and the comfortable quiet mingled with the swirling woozy feeling in her head, and she lost her concentration on the conversation.

  She let him ramble on about himself and his ranches and his money. He certainly enjoyed the sound of his own voice. That relieved her of the burden of holding up her end of the discussion.

  Out of nowhere, his velvety fingers closed around her hand. He loomed over her, and when her vision cleared, he raised her to her feet. “You really must go lie down, my dear. You’re half asleep now. You’re worn out. Go upstairs, and I’ll see you again later.”