A Groom For Ruby. Emma Miller

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СКАЧАТЬ hand, but it slipped and she went facedown into the muck. Gasping, she scrambled up, intent on putting distance between her and Sara’s hired man. She was mortified. She’d never live this down. How would she ever look the man in the eye? How could she face the matchmaker? Had any potential bride ever made such an embarrassing entrance to Sara’s home?

      Ruby glanced down at the man on the ground, steeling herself to meet an angry expression. But there was none. He hadn’t moved. He lay there stretched on the ground with his eyes closed, his features slack, and the rain beating against his face. Ruby’s heart leaped in her chest. Had she killed him? Crushed him beneath her weight? Ruby had what her mother called a sturdy frame. All the women on her mother’s side were short and stocky.

      “Are you hurt?” she yelled. And immediately felt a deep flush wash up her throat and face. Of course, he was hurt. Otherwise he wouldn’t still be lying there in the pouring rain.

      He lay there as motionless, as lifeless as the granite mounting block standing beside Sara’s hitching post.

      “Ach,” Ruby wailed.

      She dropped to her knees and lifted his head. His crumpled wool hat fell away. His face was as pale as buttermilk. His thick brown hair felt sticky to her touch. She jerked her hand back and stared at it, watching the rivulets of red rain. Not red rain. Blood. He was bleeding. A lot. Trickles of blood were running down out of his hair onto the grass. “Sara!” she shouted over her shoulder. “Sara! Come quick! I think I’ve killed your hired man!”

      * * *

      Joseph groaned and opened his eyes. A woman’s beautiful face loomed over his. He gasped and let his eyes fall shut again. Where was he? He must be dreaming. He felt as if he were spinning and there was a throbbing ache in the back of his head. But he wanted to see those warm brown eyes again... He had to know if she was real or just his imagination.

      “Hiram, wake up. You have to wake up,” A melodic, feminine voice urged. “Please don’t die.” He felt her hands on his chest. “You can’t die.”

      Hiram? Hiram was dying? Joseph drew in a deep breath and forced his eyes open again. What had happened to Hiram? And why was he dreaming about Sara’s hired man? Joseph parted his lips and tried to speak, but soft fingertips pressed against them.

      “Hush, don’t try to talk. Save your strength.”

      Save his strength? What for? He started to try to sit up, but another wave of dizziness came over him.

      A cool hand pressed against his forehead. “Everything’s going to be all right,” the voice said. But who was this lovely girl? And why was she so concerned about him?

      “Who...who are you?” he managed to whisper.

      “I’m Ruby. It’s nice to meet you, Hiram.”

      What beautiful eyes she had. He’d never seen such beautiful eyes. They were a warm brown, almost the color of cinnamon, streaked with darker ribbons of walnut. They radiated compassion. He could feel himself melting under her gaze.

      And her voice...

      “Hiram?” he repeated thickly. “I’m not Hiram.”

      “Oh, Sara,” the lovely girl said, speaking over her shoulder. “He’s hurt bad. He can’t remember his own name.”

      Sara’s chuckle cut through the fog in Joseph’s head like a fresh breeze.

      “That’s not Hiram,” Sara exclaimed. “This is one of my clients, Joseph Brenneman.” The matchmaker came to stand over him.

      Her voice faded and then came back to him. Joseph wasn’t certain if only a moment had passed or an hour. But it was still raining. “I’ve called Hannah’s daughter, Grace,” the matchmaker said, holding an umbrella over him. “Emergency cell phone came in handy. You’ve got quite a bump there. Hit it on the edge of the brick flowerbed. I think you need to go into town for stitches. The immediate care clinic should be open. Be cheaper and faster than the hospital. I don’t think you need an emergency room.” This last statement seemed to be as much for herself as him.

      “I need stitches?” Joseph reached back to gingerly touch his head, but all he could feel was cloth.

      “Yes, you need stitches,” the sweet voice chimed in. “Don’t fuss with it. The towel is to stop the bleeding.”

      He blinked, trying to focus and then she was there again, the beautiful woman. “You’re Ruby?” he asked. Where had she come from? Could this be the one Ellie had said that Sara had gone to pick up at the bus station? And then in bits and pieces, he remembered going out into the rain to help the women out of the buggy. The girl with the sweet voice had been getting down and... Had she fallen? She must have. Apparently, somehow, they’d fallen together. He stared at her, then lowered his gaze, overcome with shyness.

      “I’m so sorry,” she said. “It’s all my fault.”

      “Ne.” He slowly sat up, holding the wet towel against the back of his head. He wondered where his hat was. It wasn’t proper for him to meet this lovely girl without his head covered. “I...I should have...have caught you.” Joseph tried to remember what Ellie had said about her. Ruby. Even her name was special. Had Ellie said Ruby was coming to marry someone? Was she already spoken for?

      Not that it would matter. Ruby would think him a hopeless woodenhead now, a klutz who’d slipped and broken his skull.

      “Here’s Grace now,” Sara said. “We were in luck. She was just next door. She’ll drive you into Dover and get you patched up.” And then to Ruby, Sara explained, “Grace is my cousin’s daughter. She’s Mennonite and drives a car.”

      “I don’t think I need to see a doctor,” Joseph protested. “It’s just a little bump on the head.” He raised his gaze to Ruby again.

      Sara scoffed. “Nonsense. You cracked your head like a melon. You need more stitches than I’d like to put in you. And you’re not to worry about the cost. You fell in my yard, and I’ll pay for everything.”

      “Do you feel well enough to walk?” Grace appeared at his side, taking his arm.

      “I can walk,” Joseph said.

      “I’m going with him.” Ruby grabbed his other arm to help him to his feet. “It’s the least I can do.”

      Sara looked at her. “Are you certain? Not sure how long the wait will be.”

      “Ne, I want to,” Ruby insisted.

      “Well, then, go and change your dress and stockings. There’s no need for you to go out with your things wet and dirty,” Sara replied. “You look as if you’ve been swimming in a mud puddle.”

      “I’ll hurry,” Ruby said.

      Walking to Grace’s motor vehicle took more effort than Joseph expected. Every step he took was a shaky one. His stomach churned and his head throbbed. He felt foolish with the towel on his head. As they made their way to the black SUV, he remembered his horse and buggy. He’d come to see Sara, and his horse was still harnessed and tied in her shed. “My horse,” he began, but Sara patted his hand.

      “Don’t worry. Hiram will take care of him. СКАЧАТЬ