Give My Heart to Kaitlyn (2nd in Outlaw Series)

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

The blizzard was still raging outside the following day but that didn't stop quite a few patients from making their way to the doc's. One man broke his leg when he slipped and fell off his porch and another man came to collect medicine for his children who were developing coughs. There was a woman who came in complaining of stomach pain which Kaitlyn finally diagnosed as being the result of eating meat that hadn't been cured properly.

Those were just a few of the patience she spent her day tending to and between doing that and helping Blanch with the cooking and cleaning, she was exhausted that night when she finally collapsed in the sitting room chair.

With all the people that had stopped by today, Kaitlyn was surprised that her pa hadn't been one of them. She knew he had to be worried sick about her because the man very rarely let any of them out of his sight for long. Kaitlyn suspected it had been her mama who had kept her pa at bay and she was grateful that the woman always seemed to know what Kaitlyn wanted—and what she wanted was more time to get to know Pete and work through her feelings for him. Her pa certainly wouldn't give her the time or space to do either if he showed up.

She hadn't even had time to speak to Pete much today other than to quickly change his bandages and check his wound which were both healing fine. She wanted to talk to him though she knew it was fair of her to want that... she knew that Pete wanted more from her than she would ever be able to give him, or any other man for that matter.

Kaitlyn sighed. She couldn't simply ignore the man. She had to at least speak with him. If she didn't, it would hurt his feelings and Kaitlyn certainly did not want to hurt Pete.

The chair was comfortable and her feet and legs were aching so Kaitlyn decided that she'd rest a few moments before checking on Pete once more before bed.

Before she had time to realize she was going to fall asleep, Kaitlyn's light snores were filling the sitting room.

***

Pete paced the room, growing more and more impatient by the second. He hadn't spoken two words to Kaitlyn all day and those had been that morning. He'd caught glimpses of her as she had bustled around and tended to patients and Pete had been amazed at just how good she dealt with them all.

He had been in awe, quite simply. He wondered what made her want to be a doctor—it wasn't a profession chosen by many women. He wanted to know what had happened in her past to make her so afraid. Hell he wanted to know her favorite color and whether she liked summer or winter the most.

It had taken quite a bit of will power on his part, to keep from cornering her throughout the day and forcing her to talk to him. The only thing that had truly stopped him was the doctor who had stayed glued to her side. The old man was dead set against allowing Pete to spend any time at all with Kaitlyn.

Pete had hoped that maybe she would come see him once the doctor and his wife went to bed but they'd gone up a while ago and he was still alone. Pete figured he'd probably ruined any chance he had with Kaitlyn when he blurted out that nonsense about kissing the night before.

It wasn't his fault he'd been born with a faulty brain to mouth filter, at least that' what his mama had always accused him of having. His pa had said that it was Pete's brain that was simply broken. Hell, Pete was beginning to believe the man was right.

He had finally met a beautiful woman who didn't seem too bothered by his face and instead of charming her, he'd fumbled, mumbled and stuttered. He'd managed to spill witch hazel all over the floor and stink the place up like a brothel, admit to the woman he wasn't much good in a fight and asked her to kiss him when he didn't know anything about her other than the fact that she had a brother and sister!