Page 5 of Magnolia Summer

Besides the fact that Dr. Beverly was dressed so handsomely—even in shirtsleeves and without a coat he far outshone the other men in sophistication—there was something comforting about seeing him again, though she couldn’t fathom why. She couldn’t look at him without remembering that awful day when he told her Daddy was dead.I did everything I could,he’d said.

Perhaps it was the compassion she had seen in his eyes, along with his sincere regret at having not been able to save her father, that made her spirits lift. No, it was probably only because he was familiar to her, he was the town doctor, and her family trusted him.

Their first meeting was embarrassing, to say the least. Though she’d been in too much pain to feel embarrassed at the time, now her cheeks heated at the memory. Never had she broken down so in front of a stranger. But she’d spent the entire train ride praying,Oh, God, don’t let Daddy die.So when Dr. Beverly told her he was gone, she’d burst out sobbing.

Doctor Beverly’s blue eyes gazed directly into hers. “I see you’ve just arrived. May I escort you home? My horse and buggy are lodged at the livery stable.”

He seemed even more handsome than she remembered, and younger, seeming only four or five years older than her own nineteen years, with his lean frame and light brown hair neatly combed. He wore a white shirt with a stand up collar, a charcoal vest, and neatly creased gray trousers.

“Will was supposed to meet me. I sent a telegram, but something must have happened.”

Mr. Suggs took a step toward Dr. Beverly. His expression hardened and she couldn’t help noticing the way Curtis Suggs glared at the doctor, his chest heaving slightly.

“There’s no need for you to leave your office.” Mr. Suggs said. “I can take the lady home. Besides, I offered first.” He squared his shoulders and sent Dr. Beverly a challenging look, but the doctor appeared not to notice.

“I don’t mind leaving my office for a while,” Dr. Beverly drawled, looking at Celia as if he didn’t notice Mr. Suggs’s hostility, then winked at her. “Haven’t had an emergency all day.”

Her heart fluttered a bit at the warmth of his smile and his flirtatious wink, then frowned at her silly reaction. But on a serious note, she couldn’t let them fight over her. She needed to defuse the situation. What should she do?

Taking a ride alone with a stranger like Curtis Suggs could be dangerous, at least to her reputation. She was safer with the doctor, who was their nearest neighbor. He had already endeared himself to her family. And to make it more socially acceptable, she could turn it into a house call by asking him to look in on Mama. She would have to let Mr. Suggs down gently.

She smiled, hoping to soften the blow. “Mr. Suggs, I do thank you for your kind offer to escort me and my belongings to my family’s home, but I believe I shall have to accept Dr. Beverly’s offer. I’d very much like to get his medical opinion on one of my family members.”

“Oh, well, I—”

“Do excuse me. Perhaps I will see you on Sunday, in church . . .?” She nodded as though he had said “yes,” and then turned to Dr. Beverly. “When we get there, would you examine my mother and give me your professional opinion about her condition? In her letters, my sister has written some things that concern me.” She bent and picked up her carpetbag, then let the doctor take it from her.

She refrained from smiling at Dr. Beverly. She didn’t want him to get the mistaken impression that she was being flirtatious. Lord willing, she was only here to help her family for the summer, until her mother was back to normal, and then she would hie herself back to Nashville. After all, she could help them more by sending them money from her seamstress business, especially now that Daddy was gone.

* * *

Truett hadtrouble suppressing his grin at the way Miss Wilcox handled Curtis. Though she may have been safe enough with the man, Truett wasn’t about to let Curtis think he could wile his way into her good graces without some competition. Besides, he couldn’t imagine that Suggs would be the kind of man who would interest Miss Celia Wilcox.

Curtis glared at him, and then tipped his hat to Celia and stomped away.

The other boys continued to stand and stare at the handsomely dressed Miss Celia Wilcox, and he couldn’t blame them. She was much more sophisticated, no doubt, than anyone they’d seen before, and much too pretty to be standing on Main Street in Bethel Springs without any way to get home.

The train hissed, groaned, and whistled as the iron giant readied for departure, having unloaded all the goods and mail intended for Bethel Springs.

Thankfully, Curtis and his three fellow oglers were making their way across the street.

“Will you be all right while I go get my horse and buggy?”

She gazed up into his eyes. It was only a moment, but looking into her chestnut brown eyes sent a bolt of lightning through him. Did she feel it too? Or was he only being daft?

She glanced away, and he could have sworn she was blushing.

“Yes, thank you. I shall wait here.”

He brought his buggy around, and before he could even ask, the same three men who’d been staring at Celia loped back across the street and offered to help Truett load her trunk. She thanked each one, causing them to turn red to the tips of their ears.

She sure had a powerful effect on Bethel Springs’s men. How long would it take them—and him—to get used to her and stop gawking? Probably longer than she was prepared to stay.

Truett grasped her elbow and helped her onto the buggy seat. He sat beside her and clicked his tongue at his horse.

She thanked him, pulled a letter from her bag, and started reading.

Normally he would come up with a joke to chide the lady for not engaging in conversation, but he refrained. Celia Wilcox was entitled to her unsociable mood. Exchanging Nashville for Bethel Springs would be a rude jolt to anyone. From what Celia’s family had told him, she couldn’t be happy about leaving Nashville. Her father’s death and her family’s troubles had changed her situation in life, as she had been working and saving her money to start her own seamstress shop.