Free A Prescription for Love by Callie Hutton Page A

ago he would never do.
    While leftover vegetable soup heated on the stove, he lit the fireplace, then stared at the flames, his arm resting on the mantle. What was he to do about Heidi Lester? The idea of them being merely employer and employee had evaporated this afternoon when he’d kissed her, and she hadn’t objected. Even though she’d sworn her determination to stay for a month and taste some freedom, she could still change her mind and return to the comfortable and coddled life she’d left. She had adoring parents and an anxious fiancé ready to escort her back at a moment’s notice.
    Why the hell would he care? Hadn’t one broken heart been enough?

Chapter 7
    After a busy week, Clarence boarded the train at the Oklahoma City station. He cursed under his breath as he settled in a seat across from a bulky man smoking a cigar. The train being crowded, there were no other seats available, so he reconciled himself to choking his way to Guthrie.
    Guthrie! Every time he thought about his newly stubborn fiancée, anger shot through him. Tonight he should have been paying the obligatory weekly visit to her parlor right here in Oklahoma City, and then heading to his mistress’s house for a night of pleasure. Instead, he sat on this miserable train to pay homage to the woman who held his comfortable future in her hands.
    The fact that she lasted all week rankled. Had he been a betting man, he’d be short quite a bit of funds right now. Never in his wildest imaginings would he have thought she’d have the nerve to pack up and leave her home, let alone remain a week working in a store like a common shopkeeper. The girl had cowed under her parents’ edicts all her life. He’d expected to have the same sort of wife. Why had she picked now, when his ambitions were within grasp, to defy them all?
    Two and a half hours later, the train pulled into the Guthrie station. Clarence checked his pocket watch. Seven minutes past eight o’clock. Obviously the store would be closed, so his best plan would be to check into the hotel and see if he could locate his mother, who might know the whereabouts of his fiancée. The whole situation bordered on outrageous, and he needed to talk some sense into the girl so everyone could quit this place.

    The hotel lobby radiated a bit of warmth. The walk from the train station hadn’t taken long, but the lowering temperatures outside made the blazing fireplace welcome.
    Clarence blew on his hands as he approached the desk clerk. “A room, please.”
    The desk clerk shifted a cigar from one side of his mouth to the other, then slid a large book in his direction. He handed him an ink pen. “Sign here.” While Clarence wrote the information, the clerk turned, and after studying an array of keys hanging from the hooks on the large board behind him, took one and handed it to Clarence. “Room Eighteen.”
    “Do you happen to know if Mrs. Manfred is in the hotel this evening?”
    The clerk thought for a moment. “She left a bit ago with Mr. and Mrs. Lester. I think one of them mentioned The Pollard Theater.”
    “Wonderful,” Clarence mumbled to himself as he reached for his satchel, then climbed the stairs to the second floor. Here he remained in this blasted town, with no way to locate Heidi and begin his campaign to convince her to come back with him when he left Sunday.
    After unpacking his few belongings, his growling stomach reminded him he needed to eat. Afterward he would visit the saloon and look up his favorite whore, whose name he still couldn’t remember. Not that he cared what her name was. He only cared about her body and her willingness to do anything he paid her to do.
    “Heidi, since we’ve established night air is not good for your health, I’ll continue to see you home you each evening.” Michael removed the keys to the store from his front pocket, then held the door for her.
    She clenched the soft woolen scarf tighter around her neck and face when a blast of cold air