By the time they reached Grit’s yard, Aaron was soaked to the skin. He
didn’t believe Miss Porter faired any better than he did in the sudden
deluge.
While no light came from the windows of the house, a glow could be seen
through the open barn door. Aaron took Miss Porter to the barn where they
found Grit squatted next to a downed horse.
Grit turned toward them and stood up when he heard them come in.
“Evening, Dr. Wesley, Miss Porter. What are you two doing out on a night
like this?”
“Good evening, Grit. We’ve been to Aberdeen,” Aaron explained. “Our
automobile quit running on the way back to Heart Junction.”
Grit grinned admiringly at him. “Dr. Wesley, I didn’t know you owned an
automobile!”
Aaron looked up at the broad man who stood three or four inches taller
than his own five foot, eleven inches. “It isn’t my car, Grit. I
borrowed it from Zack Fulsom. He’s visiting his father this week.”
Grit’s dark eyes glowed with enthusiasm in the lantern light. “You mean
he let you drive his royal blue 1910 Packard Model 30 Touring Car with the
yellow and white wheels and that super-fast four-cylinder engine?”
“Yes,” Aaron replied with a modest shrug. “Pretty generous of him, huh?”
“More generous than I’ve ever heard Zack Fulsom being. Why did he do you
such a good deed?”
Aaron glanced at Miss Porter before he looked at Grit again to reply.
“Shortly after I arrived last year I brought his father through some
difficult medical problems. He loaned me the automobile to show his
appreciation.”
“Well, aren’t you the lucky one!” Grit slapped his knee. “And you say
the auto quit running?”
“Yes, not far from the entrance to your farm. Do you suppose you could
examine the engine and see what is wrong?”
Grit smiled broadly. “I’ve been wanting to get my hands on that car ever
since Zack stopped by my place on his way from Ipswich to Aberdeen a
couple of months ago. I would love to fix that engine for you.”
“Wonderful. We’ll be very grateful for the help.” When Aaron turned to
Stephanie, he noticed she was shivering. “Miss Porter, you’re frozen to
the core!” He turned back to Grit. “I wonder if we might impose for some
dry clothes and perhaps some hot coffee.”
Grit waved a hand toward the house. “Help yourself. I’m afraid I’ve got
a sick horse that is going to require my attention for a while yet, Dr.
Wesley. But you two go inside and help yourself to whatever you need.
When the storm lets up, we’ll go take a look at that Packard.”
“Thank you, Grit,” Aaron said, nodding toward him.
“Y-yes, th-thank you,” Miss Porter said through chattering teeth.
Aaron put his arm around her and rushed her into the house. He’d been
inside Grit’s home just once before when he’d first moved to Heart
Junction. He’d made a point to travel to the neighbors within a few miles
of town to introduce himself as the new doctor.
Grit had been very friendly. He’d told Aaron that he was renting his
farm with an eye toward buying it as soon as he had the money he needed to
do so.
“There are two bedrooms,” he told Miss Porter when they went inside. He
lit two lanterns, giving one to her and taking one for himself. “I’ll see
what clothes I can find in Grit’s closet. Whatever I find will be very
large for you, Miss Porter, but it will be dry.”
“I don’t c-care h-how big the c-clothes are as l-long as they’re d-dry.
I’m so c-cold!”
Aaron went straight to Grit’s bedroom and pulled trousers, a belt and a
shirt from his closet. He returned to the parlor and handed the clothes
to Miss Porter. “You can change in that bedroom,” he said, nodding to
Grit’s guest room, “and I’ll change in Grit’s room.”
Miss Porter handed him his suit coat and took the clothes he handed to
her. “Th-thank you, D-Dr. Wesley.” With her lantern in hand, she turned
and went to her room.
Aaron felt like a nasty dog, as though the turn for the worse the evening
had taken was his fault. He couldn’t stand to see Miss Porter trembling
from the cold and soaked to the skin. It was all his fault that she was
suffering from the chill and the rain.
He rubbed a hand over his face. If she got sick from the chill, he’d
never forgive himself.
He stared a moment longer at the closed door to the room where Miss
Porter had gone. Then he set his lantern near the hearth and turned his
attention to the fireplace. He hung his suit coat over the back of a
chair near the stone hearth and went to build a fire. When he’d finished,
he took the lantern to Grit’s bedroom to change out of his wet clothes.
Upon his return to the parlor, he found Miss Porter hanging her wet skirt
and shirtwaist over chairs placed near the fire. She’d set her lantern on
a stand in the corner of the room.
She turned toward him when she heard him enter the room.
Aaron stopped dead solid where he stood as his mouth opened in
fascination.
Miss Porter had never been so beautiful. Her hair, kinking with ebony
curls, hung loose around her shoulders. The sight of her in that wild
sort of state took his breath away and rendered him speechless.
“I wrung the clothes as best as I could over the basin,” Stephanie said.
“I’m glad you lit a fire. The heat will help the clothes to dry more
quickly, and it will help me to warm myself as well.”
Aaron set his lamp on the table and moved toward the hearth. He grabbed
a chair and placed it next to the one holding Miss Porter’s clothes. He
laid his clothes over the empty chair and stared at his companion. “Are
you all right?”
She tucked her wild, dark hair behind her ear on the right side of her
head. “No, I’m not all right. I am terribly embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed?” He was astonished at her answer. “But why?”
“Why?” she asked with a whimper in her voice. “You look at me with those
scrutinizing eyes of yours, and you ask me why I am embarrassed?” Her
voice was now full of incredulity. “I look like a freak! My hair is
completely untamable, my shirt is big enough for two of me, and I fear Mr.
Truman’s belt will fail me.” She folded her arms in front of her. “I’m
wearing pants! I am a woman, and I am wearing pants!” She spun away from
him. “Don’t look at me. I don’t want you to see me looking like a man.”
He couldn’t help but laugh at her last comment. “Oh, Miss Porter,” he
said, touching her shoulder and turning her to face him once more, “you
couldn’t look like a man no matter what you wore.”
“You’re laughing at me! Don’t look at me. I don’t want you to see me
this way.” She tried to turn away again, but he wouldn’t let her. He
held her shoulder firmly.
“Miss Porter, please don’t be embarrassed. You are every inch a woman in
my eyes. Believe me.” He wanted to tell her just how appealing she was
with her hair as untamed as it was.
“You don’t need to lie to me, Dr. Wesley.” She began to whimper and then
to cry. “I look horrible.”
“No, you don’t, and I am not lying. You’re lovely, Miss Porter,
beautiful.”
“Stop lying, or I’ll leave the room.” She began to cry even harder.
Aaron stopped her when she tried once more to turn away from him. “Miss
Porter, stop it. You’re upset, and I don’t blame you for crying. I’ve
failed you miserably, but you’ve got to believe me when I say you don’t
need to worry about the way you look.”
She tried again to move away from him. “No!”
He took her into his arms then and held her firmly as she struggled
against him. “I’m sorry about the automobile not working properly. I’m
sorry about the rain. I’m sorry you’re so upset.”
In a few minutes, she began to calm down, and he loosened his hold on
her.
She pulled back slightly and looked up at him, her deep green eyes
emitting a profound emotion he was unable to define. “Let me go, Dr.
Wesley.”
Since she had calmed down and stopped her crying, he had every intention
of doing exactly what she’d asked of him. But when he gazed once more
into her provocative eyes, he acted on instinct.
Before he realized he’d moved closer to her, he felt his lips on hers.
He kissed her gently at first, but when she molded her body against his,
he couldn’t hold back. Passion surged through his blood. He laced his
fingers in her hair and kissed her with the voraciousness that pounded in
his veins.
And she kissed him back, her ardor and enthusiasm equaling his own.
Aaron could hardly believe what was happening between them. He’d
imagined a thousand times what it might be like to kiss Stephanie Porter,
but he never dreamed he could experience anything as magnificent as this.
He broke the kiss and pressed his cheek into hers. “Miss Porter,
Stephanie, you are so completely lovely. I have admired you and wanted to
know you like this for such a long time.”
He kissed her again, and she was as responsive as before. He wanted to
sweep her off of her feet and take marital liberties with her. He wanted
more of her. He wanted all of her.