Breathe Again

Chapter 9

Later that day, the distinctive creaking of a buggy announced the approach of Doc Ashfield. Dottie looked up from stirring the stew over the cooking fire just as he drove around the corner of the barn.

Straightening to her full height, she rested a hand at her waist and shaded her eyes, watching him pull to a stop twenty feet away from where she stood.

"Good afternoon, Doc Ashfield...a fine day we're having today."

"Afternoon, Mrs. Humphreys," he greeted, stepping from his buggy.

She cringed and ignored the twinge of guilt over having never liked being called Mrs. Humphreys. "Call me Dottie, please."

A wide smile lit his face and made his warm brown eyes sparkle. "In that case, I insist you call me Ashfield." He stopped in front of her, "I would ask you to call me by my given name, but I've loathed it since I was in short pants." He paused with a wink before saying, "Is your mother home?"

He looked expectantly to the barn entrance, hoping she would emerge soon. Louisa Griggs had to be the most beautiful, kindhearted, enchanting woman he had ever met. Since the moment he first laid eyes on her a year ago, he discovered that feelings he thought long since dead, were in fact, revived by her presence.

She may be seven years older than him, but where she was concerned age was irrelevant. For the past twenty years, ever since his fiancé Enid Matthews died, he'd immersed himself in his work, hoping it would drive away his sorrow. And for the most part, had succeeded.

But the more he came to know and admire Louisa his desire to bury himself with work had begun to change. Now he craved companionship, laughter, and love; and Louisa Griggs unknowingly answered the lonesome ache.

Dottie shook her head and bit back a knowing smile. "Mama went to town a couple of hours ago, but she should be back any minute now." She watched him for a minute, then asked with a mischievous grin, "May I ask what your given name is?"

Ashfield pushed his disappointment aside and smiled, "You may. However, I may not decide to tell you."

Dottie laughed, motioning him over to the crudely erected bench, "Please make yourself comfortable. You look like you've had a long day."

"Indeed, I have." With a heavy sigh, Ashfield took a seat and stretched his legs out in front of him. "It started earlier than I originally planned, but it's been a good day regardless." He paused, then clarified in a hushed tone, "No one has died as of yet." At the unspoken question in her eyes, he said, "Let me take a look at your hands and check the burns while I tell you of the excitement I've had so far today."

Dottie sat on a stump across from him and held out her hands.

Ashfield fell silent while examining, then out of nowhere, he said, "Lawrence." He met her gaze, and at her look of surprise, shrugged. "I decided I would tell you my secret after all." Grinning, he continued, "However, should you ever tell anyone else my name I will deny it and plot your demise."

Laughter bubbled up within Dottie as she bit back a smile and solemnly vowed with a wink. "Never fear, your secret is safe with me."

Ashfield chuckled and nodded, "Glad to see we have an understanding." He sighed and said, "You know, when I moved here a year ago, I thought I'd be able to relax in relative quiet. I'd spent countless hours in the chaos of war and felt I had aged twenty years by the end of it..." he removed the bandages from around both her hands before turning her palms upward. "Do you know how my quiet and peaceful morning started?"

Dottie couldn't keep from smiling as she shook her head and waited for his answer.

"I was sleeping, dreaming some of the sweetest dreams a person could dream—when suddenly a gunshot, right outside my front door, ripped me out of my euphoria."