“It’s simple. I don’t believe thosemedicinesrectify any sort of disease or infirmity, much less as many as your father claims.”
“That isn’t true. Many of his patients have improved health. You heard the men in the audience today!” Willa’s voice rose as she spoke, and a gentleman looked her way in concern as he passed. She pushed her lips together. It was imperative that she retain a calm demeanor. A heated argument with this . . . thisdoctorwouldn’t help Papa at all. But she simply didn’t understand. No doctors in other towns had made such a fuss. Some even came to visit Papa and left having enjoyed his company. Why was this man so . . . awful?
“Men your father likely paid to speak up in that manner,” Dr. Gatewood said, his voice annoyingly calm.
“How dare you?” Willa’s voice rose again. She wanted to pound her fists against his chest and demand he apologize.
“What is in the medicines he sells?” the doctor asked, ignoring her irritation.
“I’m sorry?”
“The ingredients. You must have seen what he puts into the elixirs he mixes up.”
Willa blinked at him as her mind raced to remember. She’d seen various herbs, of course. Bundles of greenery and various brown leafy plants drying in the darkness of the wagons. Papa and Leroy kept the bottles of ingredients locked in trunks to protect them from thieves, just as they did the finished bottles of medicines when they weren’t being sold. And they always mixed up more medicines early in the mornings or late in the evenings, when they weren’t busy with shows. Willa had never cared about the chemistry of the medicines; the shows were far more fascinating, with all the people, her father’s almost magical way with words, and the various feats that Leroy and Amos accomplished.
“That doesn’t much interest me,” she said primly.
“Mmhmm,” he said as if she had somehow proven his point.
Willa clasped her hands together and lifted her chin, trying not to be too disappointed that she couldn’t persuade the man to take his words back. “You may believe as you choose, of course. But I’ll ask you to leave us, and our business, alone.”
He raised his eyebrows, which, annoyingly, made him even more good-looking. Willa clenched her hands together to rid her mind of such thoughts. How could she possibly find such an obnoxious man attractive? She must be tired, or perhaps she was hungry, or else this sort of insanity would have never crossed her mind.
“I apologize, Miss Rousseau, but I cannot. In fact, I was on my way to speak with another doctor in town to get his opinion on the veracity of your father’s statements and the legitimacy of his business.”
Willa wanted to laugh. Did he realize how pompous he sounded? His mere choice of words made him seem as if he believed he were better than anyone else in this town.
“Do I amuse you?” he asked, his face looking pinched, almost as if she’d hurt him by the way she’d looked at him. A bit of guilt wound its way through Willa’s heart before she forced it down. Why shouldshefeel badly about defending her father’s livelihood?
“Not at all,” she said, a bit more gently. “In fact . . .” Her smile returned as she quickly concocted a plan. “I’ll prove to you that Papa’s medicines do help people. Now I must bid you good day.”
And with that, she whipped around so quickly her skirts flew out around her before she hurried down the street. As she walked, she attempted to think of various ways she could follow through with her promise—and triednotto think about Dr. Gatewood’s strong hands holding her up, or those eyes that seemed to see every thought and dream she’d ever had.
Chapter Four
NICK WATCHED MISS ROUSSEAUuntil she disappeared from sight. And then he wished he might immediately see her again. He’d never met anyone like her—a woman full of grace and beauty and yet unafraid to track down the man she believed insulted her father to not only tell him he was wrong, but to prove otherwise. He didn’t know how she might prove her father wasn’t a fraud, but he looked forward to seeing what she presented.
