Chapter Twelve
Several hours later, Jeremiah opened the door to Harry’s room with the intention of relieving Leigh for the night. He stepped in quietly and noted Leigh asleep in the chair, her head slumped to her shoulder. Before waking her, he checked on Harry, who slept.
His lungs continued to be full of fluid, and Jeremiah bit his lower lip. He lifted Harry’s torso and put another pillow behind his back to ease his breathing.
On the nightstand were the remnants of Leigh’s dinner, half of a bowl of stew, and another bowl containing Harry’s broth, also half-full. Neither of them seemed to have much of an appetite, but Jeremiah was satisfied that Harry was at least getting some nutrition.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and studied Leigh while she slept. The bedside lamp lent a soft golden glow to her reddish-brown curls and a peach tone to her cheeks. The overall effect was very flattering. He remembered that if she were to open her eyes, he would see blue irises flecked with white, a bit like crystals.
Her lips curved softly as she slept. Though she had smiled on occasion since she had arrived—as would be expected under the circumstances—her smile was authentic and sincere.
Small hands rested in her lap. He noted that she did not wear a ring, nor was there a mark upon her left hand showing that she might have worn one recently.
Against his better instincts, Jeremiah studied Leigh’s figure. Petite but curvaceous in all the right places, she was a lovely creature, and he fought the urge to touch her hand, her cheek, her curls. It was quite improper of him to watch her while she slept, and he turned away to look at Harry.
“How is he?” Leigh asked, startling Jeremiah. Had she seen him watching her? He swallowed hard, his cheeks flaming.
“About the same,” he said. “How are you? I have come to relieve you so that you may rest.”
“I’m fine.” She yawned and straightened in the chair. “I can watch over him tonight. As you can see, I was doing just fine snoozing in the chair.”
“You cannot be comfortable. Do please go get some rest in a comfortable bed.”
“What about you? You have to drive to Orting in the morning.”
“I am not unused to being called upon in the night to attend to emergencies. Like you, I shall probably doze in the chair.”
Leigh smiled in an unaffected way, and Jeremiah’s heart rolled over in his chest. Of course as a physician, he also knew that the muscle did no such thing, but the sensation was the same—an impression suggesting that the heart flopped and melted. Such romanticisms were not in his nature, but somehow the fanciful terms sprung to his mind.
“It’s very comfortable,” she said. She looked at her great-grandfather. “He ate some of his broth and asked me again to go find his daughter and granddaughter. I promised that we would.”
Jeremiah dragged his eyes from Leigh’s face with effort, and he turned to look down on Harry. “Poor old fellow,” he murmured. “I suppose if I am not careful, I shall end up the same way.”
Jeremiah suddenly realized what he had said, but Leigh, sharp as a tack, had heard him.
“You mean alone?”
Jeremiah kept his gaze on Harry’s face in order to avoid meeting Leigh’s eyes. “I am not certain why I said that. Harry must have been a happy man at one time. He was apparently married and had a child. One wonders what happened between him and his daughter...and wife, I suppose. I never heard that he was married.”
If he hoped to distract Leigh from his self-pitying comment, he failed.
“So you’re worried you’ll end up alone?” She repeated her question.
Jeremiah turned to look at her. She regarded him with curious eyes. He saw no sympathy in them, and he breathed easier.
He shrugged, an uncharacteristic gesture for him. “Yes, I suppose that I do. I never imagined that I would not have a family, children.” He stopped, unwilling to say more.
Leigh chewed on her lower lip, as if thinking before she spoke. “Well, you’re not an old man. There’s time.”
“Yes, of course,” he said, hoping to end the subject that he himself had raised.
“I never imagined that I wouldn’t have children either, that I would be a widow at my age.”
“I hear a note of camaraderie in your tone, as if you wish to share a mutual absence of family. I appreciate your efforts, but you have suffered great loss. My loss seems minimal in comparison.”
“By loss, do you mean Tanya?” she asked, color flooding her cheeks.
“Yes, I suppose that I must.”
She frowned. “Well, you lost your parents as well. I think we’ve both lost a lot over the past year. So yes, I do feel a sense of kinship with you in that regard. I hope you don’t mind.”
Jeremiah surprised himself...and Leigh...when he reached for her hand and covered it with his own. “I value the connection.” He swallowed to clear the husky note in his voice. “That is to say, your empathy. You seem to be a very empathetic person. It is not at all difficult to bond to you.”
Leigh blushed charmingly. Jeremiah had not meant his words in a romantic way, and he hoped that she did not misunderstand.
“I feel the same way about you,” she said.
Jeremiah released her hand, almost dropping it. He rose.
“Of course, I mean that in the most respectful way. As employer and employee, I think we will get on well together. Now, go get some rest. I will tend to Harry.”
Leigh blinked and rose slowly. She averted her face, and Jeremiah gritted his teeth, suspecting that he had hurt her feelings.
“I’ll be back in a few hours,” she said, turning and leaving the room.
Jeremiah stared at the closed door, regretting his impulse to confide his feelings to her, then attempt to put distance between them. He did not enjoy his conflicted feelings, but he did not wish to fall in love again, especially not with a time traveler.
“You have a lot to learn about women, Doc,” a raspy voice said from the bed.
Jeremiah swung around to see Harry’s eyes open.
“Harry!” he said, placing his stethoscope against the old man’s chest. Crackles and rales continued, though Jeremiah thought they were less raucous than before. He hoped so.
“How do you feel?” Jeremiah asked.
“Terrible,” Harry said, though his lips curved into a toothless smile. He had long ago lost all his teeth.
“Terrible in what way, Harry?”
“Tired, can’t breathe.”
“Will you not consider the hospital? They might have more available to help you beat this pneumonia.”
“Nope, not going. I’m gonna die right here in Kaskade.”
“Not too soon. I see that you had some soup. Would you like some more?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll have Mrs. Jackson heat some up.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll just drink it cold. Like I said, I’m used to it.”
Jeremiah picked up the bowl and spoon to feed Harry, but the old man took the bowl from him.
“I don’t mind the young lady feeding me, but not you. She’s a darn sight prettier than you, Doc.”
“Yes, she is,” Jeremiah said with a smile. If only Harry knew about Leigh.
Jeremiah was pleased to see Harry finish the broth. He took the bowl from him and set it on the nightstand.
“The little gal seems taken with you, Doc. Are you going to marry this one?”
Jeremiah, on the point of rising, drew in a sharp breath. “Harry! I only just met her. She is new to Kaskade. Surely I told you that.”
“You did. I just want to make sure you don’t let this one get away. You don’t wanna end up like me.”
“What do you mean, end up like you?” Jeremiah asked, though he was sure he understood Harry’s reference.
“Old and alone, dumb for letting the best thing that ever happened to me get away.”
“What is that?”
“My wife. She was real sweet, Doc, a great gal, but I spent too much time down at the tavern, and she left me. I wish I could go back and change that.”
“I’m so sorry, Harry. Is she still alive? You haven’t mentioned her.”
“No, Nancy got word to me that my wife passed about five years ago. I didn’t go to her funeral. I was too ashamed. Hadn’t seen her or Nancy since she left.”
Jeremiah’s chest felt heavy. What a wasted life. He had not known that Harry was a drinker or that his wife had left him. The summation of his life sounded very sad.
“I don’t think I knew you drank, Harry. Do you still?”
“No, Doc. I gave it up the day I heard Mary Anne died.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Harry.”
“You’re going to help me, right, Doc?”
“Do you mean help you try to reconnect with your daughter and granddaughter? Yes, Mrs. Peters and I are going up to Orting tomorrow.”
“Mrs. Peters? Where’s her husband? I thought she had a look in her eyes for you.”
Jeremiah’s face heated. “That’s just nonsense, Harry. Mrs. Peters is a widow, but she does not have a ‘look in her eyes’ for me.”
Jeremiah looked toward the door, remembering Leigh leaving the room.
“Sure she does, Doc, but you can believe what you want. I just don’t want to see you old and alone like me.”
Jeremiah ignored the image of his future, and wanted to tell Harry that he wasn’t alone, that his great-granddaughter was watching over him, but he couldn’t.
“I am not afraid to be alone, Harry. But thank you.”
“So whatever happened to that other young lady? She was quite the looker. I thought you two were gonna get married, but then I heard she left?”
Jeremiah swallowed the knot in his throat. “We were going to get married, Harry, but she changed her mind and she left.”
“Oh, sorry, Doc. I didn’t know it was her idea. I thought you had backed away.”
“No, not me. I loved her very much,” he said simply. Leigh’s blue-and-white-flecked eyes popped into his mind. “At least I thought I did.”
“Well, now you got another chance. I just really like that young lady. Marry her if she’ll have you.”
Jeremiah rose. “That is enough of matchmaking, Harry. Let’s get you out of bed and down the hall to the bathroom.”
After finishing Harry’s ablutions, Jeremiah washed and shaved him, being careful to keep him warmly covered in a large towel.
“What are you fancying me up for, Doc?” Harry asked, sitting on the edge of the bathtub.
“Well, what if we are able to persuade your daughter and granddaughter to come visit you? You wish to be presentable, do you not?”
Harry’s laugh was much like a cackle. “Oh! That’s a good idea. Thanks, Doc.”
“Additionally, Harry, cleanliness is important for good health.”
“Where did they teach you that? In that fancy school in Seattle?”
“As a matter of fact, my father was a firm believer in an association between cleanliness and good health. But yes, Harry, I learned that in medical school as well.”
He finished combing Harry’s sparse hair and grabbed up his dressing robe to drape about the elderly man.
“Let’s take you back to your room and I’ll get a clean pair of pajamas for you.”
Jeremiah put his arm under Harry and largely carried him back to the bedroom. He lay him down on the bed, thinking that Leigh would be pleased to see her great-grandfather cleaned up. He certainly hoped so.
He fetched a pair of pajamas from his bureau and returned to help Harry into them.
“How about a cup of tea with lemon to warm you up? Would you like that, Harry?”
“Sure, Doc. Sounds good. You’re spoiling me.”
“Not at all. You’re my patient.”
Jeremiah turned for the door. Hand on the knob, he heard Harry speak.
“I can’t pay you, Doc. I haven’t got any money.”
For a moment, Jeremiah recalled that Tanya had told him of a system where the elderly received some financial and medical benefits starting in about three more decades. He wished such a thing were in place in his time.
He looked over his shoulder. “I know, Harry. Don’t worry about that, not one little bit. I can afford you.”
He grinned and left the room to fetch the tea. He passed Leigh’s room and paused at the door. Raising his hand to knock, he was startled when the door opened.
Leigh stood there, her hair down about her shoulders in an appealing way, but otherwise still dressed.
“What is it?” she asked in a tense voice. “Is it Harry?”
Jeremiah had no idea why he’d been on the verge of knocking, and he found himself without words.