“Then it’s settled.”
“What’s settled?” Adrianna asked.
Quinn moved down to the end of the bed so he could look at her. He made her nervous, but she did like to look at him.
“The way I see things”—he grinned down at her—“you owe me for the damages you caused.”
“I said I was sorry,” she said quickly.
“Seeing that I’m such a nice guy,” Quinn continued, ignoring her apology, “I’ll be willing to overlook the busted bottles and damages to my truck. Congratulations, Miss Moore. You’re my new piano player.”
“I
T
’
S COMPLETELY OUT
of the question,” Dr. Bordeaux argued. “The Whipsaw is no place for a woman like Miss Moore.”
“The hell it’s not,” Quinn snorted defensively. “There are plenty of women who come to the tavern. It’s not like I’m running a whorehouse. Besides,” he added with a nod toward Adrianna, “she owes me for the damage to my truck and what was in it.”
“He’s got a point, Doc,” Gabe added.
“Damn right I do!”
As much as she hated to admit it, Adrianna saw a degree of truth in what the big galoot was saying. She did not like to owe anyone for anything. She would play the piano in his damn bar.
“You play for church singin’, don’t you?” Gabe said.
“Of course.”
“That’s what you’ll be doing at the tavern. We have sing-alongs two evenings a week.” He winked at the doctor. “Of course, they’re not church songs. The sing-along nights are our best nights, and without the big crowds on those two nights, the business would probably go down the drain.”
The thought of playing the piano in a smoke-filled room with a bunch of strangers made Adrianna’s stomach roil. It seemed that this big, rough, unfeeling man wasn’t going to let her get away without paying her debt to him. She had just run away from one problem and found herself another.
Have I jumped out of the skillet into the fire?
The conversation continued as if she weren’t even there.
“Are you going to get her a room in a hotel?” Dr. Bordeaux asked. “Don’t tell me you’d let her stay in the Lamplighter.”
“Hell, no,” Quinn barked. “I’ll not put her there, but she probably couldn’t afford to stay at the Bellevue Hotel.”
The words that he spoke startled Adrianna. The truth was, she wasn’t without money. She could probably afford to stay at the hotel, but she didn’t want him to know it. She had scrounged every nickel she could find in the house and what she had saved for shopping. It was stashed in her purse in the bottom of one of her suitcases.
“Isn’t there a rooming house in town where I can stay?” she asked irritably.
“She could get a room at Ma Parker’s place,” Gabe suggested.
“Absolutely not,” the doctor disagreed. “The girls who live there have some pretty wild parties.”
“It’d be like putting a kitten in with a bunch of tomcats,” Gabe said as he glanced down at the girl on the bed.
“I have a suggestion.” The doctor looked at Quinn and then back at Adrianna. “Quinn, you have plenty of room in your house, and I think Jesse would benefit from being with someone like Adrianna. That girl you have working there isn’t very stimulating company for a teenage boy. Besides that, I think Adrianna would be good for him.”
“How do you figure?”
“She’s had nursing experience taking care of her father. Between the two of us, I think we can work out a routine of exercises for Jesse so that he will be able to do more to help himself. You don’t want him staying in that bed for the rest of his life, do you?”
“Now just a minute,” Adrianna interrupted. “I’m not going to stay with
him.
” She looked at Quinn as if he had just crawled out from under a rock. “And who is Jesse?”
“Why not?” Quinn snapped, irritated by her haughty attitude. “You don’t think my house is good enough for you?”
“I didn’t say that. It wouldn’t be proper for me to stay there. Besides, you don’t like me, and I don’t like you. It would not be very pleasant.”
The doctor looked from one to the other. “You’re both adults. You can put your dislikes aside for Jesse’s sake, can’t you?” The doctor then explained to Adrianna that sixteen-year-old Jesse had been in a school bus accident and at the present time was unable to use his legs.
“My place isn’t the fanciest house in Lee’s Point, but there’s plenty of room. I can certainly afford to feed one more mouth. Besides, she’s so skinny, it’s evident she doesn’t eat much.” He smiled, suddenly warming up to the idea. “I guess if Jesse can put up with her, I can too.”
“Well, thank you very much. And how much do you want for your room?”
Quinn grinned, the smile softening his rough features. “Oh, you’ll work for your room and board. Lola is always complaining that she has too much to do.”
“Who’s Lola?”
“She’s our housekeeper, and she takes care of Jesse when I’m not there.” He cocked a brow at the doctor and Gabe. “You’ll like Lola. You two should hit it off.”
“Quinn . . .” Gabe started to say something, but one look from his friend cut him off. “But Quinn . . .” Gabe persisted. He looked at the doctor for help, but she turned toward the door.
“She should spend the night here, Quinn.”
“Fine with me.”
Adrianna looked at the three people standing at the foot of her bed. Between them they had decided what she would do and where she would stay. If her car was in running order, she would tell all three of them what they could do with their plans for her, then go on down the road.
Gabe and Quinn walked out the door. Quinn said over his shoulder, “See you tomorrow, Annie.”
“My name is Adrianna,” she called, and the sound of her voice echoed down the hall. She couldn’t remember when she had spoken so loudly.
Quinn smiled.
Gabe looked at his friend and frowned. “You know that Lola will be mad as a hornet when you bring her home.” The two men stepped out of the doctor’s office and into a light, drizzling rain. Gabe slipped his bandaged hand inside his coat pocket. “What about Jesse? What’s he going to think about you bringing another woman into the house?”
“I’m sure he gets tired of Lola’s company. I do.”
Gabe chuckled. “So she hasn’t got you in bed yet?”
“Hell, no. I know her game. She’d claim I got her pregnant so I’d have to marry her. That’s not gonna happen.”
“The
mademoiselle
won’t stay long, if Jesse takes a dislike to her. He can be a little shit when he wants to be.”
“I’d be a shit too if I was in his shape.”
“Does he let Lola help him into the chair?”
“No, he’s afraid she’ll let him fall.”
“You can’t always be there,
mon ami.
”
“My God, I don’t understand why this should happen to a good kid like Jesse. He had such high hopes of going to college and playing football.”
“He can still go to college.”
“You know damn good and well he can’t. Someone would have to be with him every minute of the day, and I can’t do that. Besides, he hasn’t finished high school yet.”
“Miss Moore seems to be a well-educated woman. Maybe she can teach him at home.”
“I don’t think we can count on her. She won’t hang around this place long,” Quinn said.
“She doesn’t seem the type of woman to be roaming around the countryside alone.”
“Maybe she’s an ax murderess. She may have killed a husband or robbed a bank.” Quinn gave his friend a lopsided grin. “You can’t go by looks these days, you know. They say Bonnie Parker looked just like an average girl, and you know what she did.”
“I don’t think you can compare the young
mademoiselle
to Bonnie Parker.”
Adrianna put in a restless night. When she got up, she felt weak and her head ached. Her relief at getting away from Richard had faded, and she was now worried about another man managing her life. She had to admit, the two were as different as sunshine and rain. She had seen the softening in Quinn when he spoke of his younger brother. The only thing she had seen in Richard was his determination to force her to marry him.
After she dressed, she went in search of the doctor. She had never known a woman doctor, but she liked this one. She had to find out what happened to the belongings she had in her car as well as when it could be repaired.
The doctor’s office was quiet, but she could hear a voice coming from another room. She peered into the room at the front of the house and saw a woman sitting at a desk. The woman looked up, returned the phone receiver to its hook, and smiled.
“Hello, you must be Miss Moore.” At Adrianna’s nod, she continued: “The doctor is out right now but should be back soon. She’ll want to see you.” The woman had light brown hair that was pulled back in a bun. Wire-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. She wore a neat blouse tucked smoothly into a dark skirt and a pleasant smile. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m weak, and I have aches in bones I didn’t know I had.”
“I’m not surprised. I saw your car.”
“You did? Where is it?”
“Quinn had it pulled into the garage.”
“All of my things are in it.”
“No.” The woman shook her head. “Quinn took everything out and put it all in the doctor’s garage.”
“Why didn’t he just leave it in the car?”
“You’ll have to ask him. He told Dr. Bordeaux that he’d be back about noon. I understand you’re going to his house. I’m glad. Jesse needs someone besides that woman Quinn has staying there. You haven’t had breakfast.”
“I didn’t expect to eat here. I can get something from the café.”
“Dr. Bordeaux wouldn’t hear of it. Would a roll and coffee be all right? By the way, my name is Mildred Bacon.”
Adrianna held out her hand. “Hello, nice to meet you. I can get my own coffee if you tell me where to go.”
“The kitchen is just down the hall. I’ll go with you. I’m not busy now. Gabe put a bell on the door to let us know when someone comes in. Now I’m not so tied to the desk.”
Adrianna followed the woman to the pleasant kitchen. The rain had stopped during the night and the sun was shining through the east windows. Peering out the window, Adrianna could see that the doctor’s office was close to the business district of town. She turned to Mildred, who was pouring her coffee and putting a cinnamon roll on a plate.
“Is this a very big town?”
“It depends on what you consider big. I think the population is somewhere near two thousand. Compared to Baton Rouge or New Orleans we are really small.” Mildred pulled out a chair from the table and motioned for Adrianna to sit down. “Most of the people here work in the timber business. About half of the population is Cajun.”
Adrianna sat down and picked up her napkin. She hadn’t realized that she was hungry until she smelled the warm roll.
“The doctor was called out this morning. One of the timber men cut his foot with an ax. His boy was waiting on the steps when she got up this morning.”
“I’ve never before met a woman doctor.”
Mildred poured herself a glass of iced tea. “Dr. Bordeaux came here about eight years ago with her husband, who was also a doctor. Folks around here resisted being cared for by a woman. But she gradually became accepted, and when her husband died, she stayed and took over the practice. Now folks don’t know what they would do without her.”
At the jingle of the bell on the door, Mildred set her cup down and hurried from the room. Adrianna heard the voice of a man demanding to see the doctor.
“Where’s the doc?”
“Dr. Bordeaux?” Mildred plainly didn’t like hearing the doctor called “doc.”
“Is there another doctor here?” the man asked irritably.
Mildred ignored his sarcasm. “Dr. Bordeaux isn’t here right now, Mr. Thatcher. She should be back shortly.”
“Exactly how long is ‘shortly’?” The man looked as if he hadn’t shaved in a week. His eyes were bloodshot. The hands holding his worn felt hat moved nervously around the brim.
“Is there an emergency?”
“Hell yes, it’s an emergency! My wife is bleeding. It’s not yet time for the baby.”
“The doctor went north of town to the Kilburn farm. Mr. Kilburn cut his foot with an ax.”
“Kilburn’s place? I have to go right by there going home. I’ll stop and tell the doc.”
“That’s a good idea. If you miss her, I’ll tell her as soon as she gets back.”
The man slammed his battered hat onto his head and hurried out the door. Mildred turned to look at Adrianna standing in the doorway.
“Poor man. He looks worried,” noted Adrianna.
“He should be. His wife is only sixteen. He’s old enough to be her father.” Mildred shrugged. “The men around here seem to marry younger and younger girls.”
“Why is that?”
“Who knows?” Mildred answered the ringing telephone. “Dr. Bordeaux’s office.”
“Mildred, this is Quinn.”
“I know who it is. What’s on your mind, Quinn?”