Yesterday's Roses (34 page)

“It was in '57. I'd been working a silver claim at Mount Davidson and came across what I thought might be a substantial vein.” He smiled ruefully. “Well, not having the funds to mine the claim, I applied to every bank in Virginia City for a loan. Of course they turned me down. So I came back to San Francisco in search of backing.”

He paused to study the man on the bed. “I'll never forget the first time I saw Jake. He looked like a young prince. I was at the bank, begging for a loan, when he walked in. Everyone snapped to attention, falling all over themselves to accommodate him, and I was roughly shown to the door. After all, my lowly presence might have offended the mighty Mr. Parrish. I remember shouting my proposal as I tumbled into the street.”

Seth sighed. “How I hated the exalted Jake Parrish at that moment. Hated him for his money and position, hated him for the power he wielded. So you can imagine my surprise when he stepped into the street and offered his hand to help me up.”

“He did that?”

“Yes. At first I refused to acknowledge his presence, bent on hating him. But then he told me that he'd overheard my proposal and might be interested in investing. Unmindful of the eyebrows being raised by passersby, he pulled me to my feet. Then he took me to a restaurant, where he fed me the first real meal I'd had in days. Best of all, he actually listened to me.”

Hallie smiled at the thought of her elegantly dressed Jake sitting down to dine with a ragamuffin Seth. “He invested?”

“Better. He became my partner. And I worked hard to make sure he never regretted the association. The claim yielded over five million dollars in less than a year. He could easily have cheated me, since I couldn't read or write and was ignorant on the finer points of the law. But he didn't. Jake played square with me then, and he always has. When he discovered I couldn't read or write, he taught me himself. And when I told him that I wanted to be a gentleman, he helped me smooth out the rough edges. He made me what I am today.”

How so very like Jake to bring out the best in a person,
Hallie thought. Hadn't he done the same for her? Making her feel special after a lifetime of being told she was worthless? Taking a plain spinster and making her feel beautiful? Cherishing her?

And how had she repaid him? A sob caught in Hallie's throat. By almost getting him killed.

Jake began to stir restlessly, obviously not liking the tube in his throat. Gently, Seth lifted his friend's head and fluffed the pillows into a more comfortable position. He could feel the heat from Jake's fever beneath his palm.

“Do you know what mattered more than anything else?”

Hallie shook her head.

“That Jake had faith in me. He gave me the chance to prove myself. You see, even if I hadn't made my fortune from that mine, I would have been all right. He made me believe in myself.”

All through the night and through the following day, Hallie worked over Jake. He was out of his head with fever, and though it broke her heart to do so, she was forced to keep him bound for fear that he would tear the tube out of his throat.

As Hallie sat by Jake's bed holding ice to his lips and letting the melted droplets wet his dry tongue, she despaired that his fever would ever break.

“Hallie.” It was Seth, rising from the pallet. “You need to get some rest. Why don't you let me sit with Jake for a while?”

She
was
tired. Her eyes felt all scratchy from a lack of sleep, and every inch of her body ached with bone-crushing fatigue. Hallie pushed Jake's matted hair off his brow. He moved restlessly beneath her hand, his body twitching as uncontrollably as if he lay upon a bed of sharp stones. He was so terribly ill. What if he should take a turn for the worse while she slept? What if he died and she wasn't with him?

As if reading her thoughts, Seth reassured her, “I promise to wake you if there is any change.” He pulled Hallie to her feet and pushed her toward the pallet he'd recently vacated. “Go.”

“But—”

“Sleep. You're half sick yourself with worry and fatigue.” He gave her another nudge. “I'll count to five. If you're not lying on that pallet by the time I finish, I'll carry you there myself. One …”

Of course he was right. She
did
need to rest. Maybe just for a few minutes …

“Two.”

Hallie sighed. “Only for a half hour. Not a second longer.”

“All right. Three.” He smiled as Hallie settled for a nap. Good. Jake would never forgive him if he didn't watch over Hallie.

“Four and five. Pleasant dreams.”

And she did have a pleasant dream. One where Jake was taking her in his arms, seducing her as much with his sultry gaze as with his caresses. Her heart contracted with longing. Oh! He looked so handsome! He was smiling in his special way that made the dimple crease in his cheek, setting the flames burning low in her belly. Just as his lips were about to claim hers, she was roughly shaken awake.

“For God's sake, Hallie! Wake up!”

Even through the murkiness of her sleep-fogged mind, Hallie could hear the panic in Seth's voice. As she forced her heavy lids open, she could feel her body being pulled into a sitting position.

“Hallie—”

She stared at the tears coursing down Seth's cheeks. “Jake?”

Wrapping her in his arms, he sobbed, “It's over.”

Chapter 22

“No!” Hallie screamed, impotently beating her fists against Seth's chest. “You promised to wake me if he got worse.” She pounded her fists against his chest again, this time more weakly. He didn't even flinch. “Why didn't you wake me, damn it? I didn't even get to say good-bye!”

Seth stared down into Hallie's sorrow-twisted face; her agony mirrored his own. “I-it happened so fast. One minute he was thrashing about with fever, and the next he was lying still. His skin felt clammy … cold. I couldn't find a pulse.”

With a sob Hallie flung herself out of Seth's arms and rushed to the bed. The contest was over, and death had been victorious.

Jake looked so pale, so beautiful. Peaceful. Hallie felt as if her heart were being wrenched from her chest. Memories. They were all she had left of the man who was her life.

Whispering Jake's name as softly as a prayer, Hallie sank to her knees. With trembling hands, she picked up her stethoscope and fitted it to her ear. As she pressed the chest piece against his breast, his crisp hair tickled her fingertips, just the way it had when she'd caressed him early on Christmas morning.

Then her hand froze. Was she imagining things?

“Seth!” she shrieked, shifting the stethoscope slightly and listening again. Yes. She could make out a faint but steady heartbeat, and he was breathing softly. “Seth! Jake's not dead, his fever's broken!”

So exhausted was Jake from his illness that he didn't rouse until the following evening. Not even when Seth and Hallie removed the sweat-soaked sheets from the bed and wrapped him in blankets warmed by the fire.

“Darling?” Hallie whispered when Jake finally stirred. He was tugging weakly against his bindings, and she slipped her hand into his to still his struggles. “Can you hear me?”

He nodded once and tightened his fingers around her hand.

“I know you're uncomfortable, but I had to open your throat and insert a tube to help you breathe. We've kept you tied for your own protection. The tube is why you can't talk.”

He yanked against the bindings again and jerked his head.

“I'll untie you, but only if you promise to hold still while I take care of your throat. Now that you're conscious, the tube will need to be removed, and if you're able to breathe normally, the wound will have to be stitched.”

She paused to smile at the face he made at the word “stitch.” Her Jake was definitely back to his right mind. “Do you promise?”

He hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

Quickly Seth and Hallie untied Jake. As Hallie pulled the coverings back over him, Jake clumsily reached up as if to touch the tube in his throat. She caught his hand, frightened that he might inadvertently hurt himself, and gently guided his fingers, letting him explore the area. In soothing tones, she explained what she needed to do.

“Would you like an injection of morphine? It's going to hurt when I remove the tube.”

Jake shook his head fiercely. Then he patted the bandage covering his eyes.

“I put ointment in your eyes a couple of hours ago and they need to remain covered until tomorrow morning. They're still a bit red, but they'll be just fine.” She hoped.

As Jake lay waiting for Hallie to tend to his throat, Seth entertained him with the current news. Above the sound of his friend's voice, Jake could hear the clank of metal against metal and the splash of water being poured into a bowl as Hallie washed her instruments.

What he wouldn't give to be able to see his Mission Lady at that moment. He wouldn't even mind watching her thread her needle, knowing that it was about to be used on himself.

When Hallie finally began working on him, Jake almost regretted his decision not to take the morphine. The procedure was terrible. Painfully he clutched at Seth's hand, choking wretchedly as the tube was pulled out of the raw wound. And when Hallie plugged the incision to make sure he could breathe by himself, he was positive he would suffocate.

Just when he was sure he would never be able to breathe again, Jake somehow managed to suck in a large gulp of air through his nose and mouth, quickly followed by another. And another.

Seth and Hallie exchanged relieved looks as Jake's breathing normalized. He was going to be all right.

Hallie leaned against the door frame with a blissful sigh as she let her senses drift on the sea of melodic tranquility. The voice was exquisite. Heavenly. Like the voice of an angel raised in celestial exultation, every note was pure and sweet.

Dressed in a traveling suit of dusty rose, with her dark hair softly haloed in the late-afternoon sunlight, Penelope Parrish looked every bit as enchanting as an angel. Especially, Hallie noted,
with her face transfixed with love like that.
It was true, for Penelope's adoration for her older brother was glowingly apparent as she sang him a soothing lullaby.

Hallie let her gaze stray to the man in the bed. He was breathtakingly handsome. His neatly brushed hair gleamed from being freshly washed, and Hop Yung had shaved the thick stubble from his cheeks. And though Jake's eyes were closed, Hallie knew that he had only to open them to see her standing there.

As the last notes of the song faded away, Hallie clapped her hands softly, exclaiming, “You've got an amazing voice, Penelope. I had no idea you were so talented.”

The girl's head jerked around. When she saw Hallie standing at the door, she nodded stiffly.

“Sweetheart?” Jake's voice was still as rough as coarse sandpaper, though it had gotten better over the last couple of days. His lips curved with pleasure as he drank in the sight of his Mission Lady. She was the most glorious woman he'd ever seen, despite the fact that she still wore the ugly gown she'd been wearing the day he had rescued her.

Selfishly, Jake thanked God for destroying Hallie's dowdy clothes and made a mental note to order her a new wardrobe. A flattering one that showed off her superb figure. One of beautiful fabrics … and whisper-thin undergarments. Jake's loins tightened at the thought of Hallie's full breasts veiled in a gossamer-sheer chemise and her long, slender legs encased in silk stockings with lacy garters.

As he felt a slash of heat knife through his belly, Jake chuckled. He was definitely on the mend to have his mind on such lustful matters. Warmly caressing Hallie with his gaze, he held out his hands.

“And how is my patient doing this afternoon?” she murmured, taking his hands in hers and sitting at the edge of the bed.

In a quicksilver motion, Jake pulled her on top of him, crushing her in his embrace. “Much better now, Doctor.” With that, he soundly and thoroughly kissed her.

“Jake!” Hallie squealed, squirming out of his arms. “What your sister must think of me!” She cast Penelope an apologetic look.

The girl was staring at her through narrowed eyes, her expression perfectly imparting her less-than-flattering opinion. With a contemptuous snort, she looked away.

Hallie sighed. Penelope's visit to New York had certainly done nothing to sweeten her disposition.

Ignoring his sister's obvious disapproval, and her presence, Jake pulled Hallie back into his embrace and pressed a sucking kiss to her collarbone.

“Jake!” Hallie admonished, flushing beet-red at the impropriety of his action. “Behave yourself! You're much too ill for such exertions.”

“Want to make an
intimate examination
and find out if I'm too ill?” he asked with a leer, raising one brow suggestively.

Penelope paled at her brother's suggestion. “You can't be serious, Jake!” she snapped, her scornful green gaze sweeping Hallie from the top of her simply coiffed head to the toes of her scuffed boots. “Obviously your fever has addled your brain. That being the case, I'll send Hop to fetch Dr. Barnes immediately. After all, Dr. Barnes is a real doctor, not some sort of … glorified midwife.”

Hallie stiffened like a cat with its back up, outraged by Penelope's insulting assessment of her medical skills. As she opened her mouth to retort, determined to put the spoiled chit in her place, Jake said firmly:

“Without the courage and excellent medical skills of this so-called glorified midwife, I would have suffocated days ago. It is only because of her superb care that you're here carrying on like an ungrateful brat instead of at the cemetery watching the undertakers shovel dirt over my coffin.”

Tightening his arms around Hallie's waist and staring into her face with unbridled admiration, he declared, “That being the case, I can think of no one more deserving of the title ‘doctor' than Hallie Gardiner, nor is there any other doctor in the world to whom I would willingly entrust my life. I owe her far more than I can ever repay, and I'm proud to be in her debt.”

Joy, fierce and sweet, expanded Hallie's heart. Jake's understandably poor opinion of the medical profession made his words of praise all the more meaningful. As for the way he was looking at her … never had anyone looked at her with such an expression of tender pride.

Penelope had the good grace to flush at Jake's words, though she still looked unconvinced of Hallie's competence. Fidgeting with the tasseled braid that trimmed the hem of her jacket, she muttered, “Be that as it may, it's still highly improper for a woman who isn't your wife or mother to be seeing you in a state of undress.”

Jake grinned at his sister's prim response. “It may not be proper, but it's sure a hell of a lot more fun to disrobe in front of a beautiful woman than for the puffed-up Dr. Barnes. Besides,” he paused to give Hallie a roguish wink, “seeing a nude man is hardly anything new to Dr. Gardiner. By her own admission, she has intimately examined hundreds of men.”

Hallie groaned inwardly. Sick or not, the man deserved a swift kick in the backside for baiting her with her own rash lie.

“Hundreds?” Penelope gaped at Hallie with horrified fascination. Her mouth opened sharply, as if to question the statistic, but then snapped shut again.

“Hundreds,” Jake confirmed with a nod. “And unless you wish to witness such an examination yourself, I'd suggest you leave us now.”

That threat was enough to make Penelope turn on her heel and stalk out of the room, but not before she cast one final look of disapproval toward Hallie.

As the door slammed shut, Hallie slipped out of Jake's arms and opened her bag with a sharp snap. “You, Mr. Parrish,” she scolded, “are a wicked man.”

When she came back to the bed carrying her thermometer, Jake seized her free hand and slipped it beneath the blankets. Crushing her palm against his arousal, he chuckled, “Want to see just how wicked I can be?”

Oh! How he tempted her! She wanted nothing more than to share in his wickedness and demonstrate just how much she loved him. But, of course, she couldn't. She had promised God that if he saved Jake, she would never indulge in such pleasurable activities again. Except with a husband. And since they weren't married …

Snatching her hand away from Jake's tantalizing hardness, she murmured, “I promised God that I wouldn't indulge in fleshly pleasures ever again.”

As Jake's jaw dropped in amazement, Hallie seized the opportunity and slipped the thermometer between his lips. With a menacing frown, she snapped his jaw shut, effectively silencing his protests.

At that moment there was a quick rap at the door and Seth breezed into the room. He stopped in his tracks, staring at the thermometer between his friend's lips. With mock innocence he asked, “Say, Hallie. Does that thing work in that end of his body, too?”

Jake choked, and the thermometer would have fallen to the floor had Hallie's reflexes not been so good. “Seth! Stop teasing Jake this instant,” she chided. “You know he's been terribly ill and is still too weak to defend himself.” With that, she gave Jake's cheek a pat of encouragement and stuck the thermometer back in his mouth.

“Oh, I see. It works the same way.” Seth's eyes brightened with interest. “Yes. You pat his cheek and slip it in.”

“Seth!” Hallie shrieked, and when Jake made to spit out the thermometer again, she held it firmly in place. “It's all right, darling,” she reassured him. “This is a different thermometer.”

“Yes. A much smaller one,” Seth supplied helpfully.

“Seth!” Hallie groaned, as Jake spit out the thermometer and glowered at her. “The other one wasn't any bigger.”

“Oh? And what else did you do to me while I was helpless and at your mercy?”

“Saved your life, you ungrateful man!” she snapped back, trying to reinsert the thermometer. Stubbornly, Jake refused to open his mouth.

“Would you like me to hold him down while you get the other one?” Seth offered mischievously.

“If he doesn't cooperate, we just might have to do that.”

“Oh, no,” Jake purred, seizing her arm and pulling her close. “You're not prodding my backside or any other part of my anatomy until you tell me about this promise you made to God.”

Hallie flushed scarlet and glanced over to where Seth was tactfully studying the papers in his hands. “Later. In private.”

“Now. You can whisper the details into my ear.” Her mouth was only inches from his, and it took all of Jake's self-control not to claim it with his. “Surely whispering isn't forbidden?”

Pressing her lips close to Jake's ear, she haltingly told him about her promise. He smelled good, like spicy shaving soap, and it was all she could do to keep her train of thought.

When Hallie had finished with her explanation, Jake threw back his head, laughing hoarsely. “Seth,” he said, his voice raspy. “Fetch Judge Dorner and Reverend DeYoung now. Drag them here, if necessary. I want them here within the hour.”

Seth stared at Jake as if he'd lost his mind.

“Go! I intend to marry my Mission Lady.”

“Jake,” Hallie whispered, as Seth scampered out the door with a delighted whoop. “You don't have to do this, you know.”