Free Every Perfect Gift by Dorothy Love Page B

must get well, or else who will look after your baby?”
    The woman laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. “Do I look like I got money for a doctor?”
    Sophie’s heart ached as she looked at the weeping child. Had her own mother, whoever she was, been this desperate too? Desperate enough eventually to give up her child forever?
    “I’ll take care of the bill, I promise. Just go and see Miss Gilman. Or Doc Spencer.”
    The woman shifted the child to her other hip. “I reckon you mean well, but you don’t know how things are up here. We don’t have much, it’s true. But my husband couldn’t hold his head up high if I was to take charity.”
    “He’d rather you’d stay sick than admit he needs help?” Sophie clenched her fists. “How chivalrous of him.”
    “I got to go. And you ought to git on off this mountain and mind your own business.”
    Sophie frowned. How on earth did Gillie suppose people like this woman would come to an infirmary even if it was free?Distance and lack of money seemed to be less an issue than pride. How could Gillie hope to overcome such thinking?
    She watched the woman disappear along the trail, then turned and headed for the resort. She thought about Robbie’s belief that God had a purpose in bringing her back to Hickory Ridge. Maybe that was true, because from where she stood, a lot of things in this town needed fixing.
    She reached the entrance to Blue Smoke and stopped to check her hat and brush the dirt from the hem of her dress. Ada would say it was poor manners to arrive unannounced, but it couldn’t be helped.
    “Miss Caldwell?”
    She looked up to see Mr. Heyward striding toward her. His hat was askew, his spectacles smudged, and his jacket sprigged with bits of foliage. Somehow his less than impeccable looks made him seem more approachable. Even though she was perturbed at him for firing Caleb and incensed at the deplorable conditions in the work camp, she couldn’t help returning his smile. “Mr. Heyward. I was hoping to find you in. May I have a word with you?”
    “Certainly, if you don’t mind waiting while I make myself presentable to a lady.” He blushed. “I was walking in the woods, and I’m afraid I’m in no state to receive guests.”
    She followed him through the antique door from Scotland, hiding a smile at the sight of his leather notebook protruding from the back pocket of his grass-stained trousers.
    He showed her into his office and asked his red-haired secretary to bring tea. “I won’t be long.” Then he disappeared.
    In a moment, Mr. O’Brien returned with a tea tray and filled her cup. “Anything else you need?”
    “Maybe some information?” She lifted her cup.
    O’Brien’s eyes widened. “Now, that’s the one thing I can’t supply, miss, seein’ as how anything I say is likely to wind up in that paper of yours.”
    She picked up the tongs, plopped a sugar cube into her cup, and stirred the tea with a silver spoon. “I understand. I was just curious about the work camp. It’s so primitive, considering how long the men have worked here.”
    He frowned. “How would you know about that?”
    “Oh, I . . . never mind.” She sipped. “This is very good tea. No doubt it’s the finest available.”
    The secretary relaxed and leaned against the door frame. “Of course it is. Mr. Blakely insists on the best of everything, but he wants it at a rock-bottom price. It’s surely a burden to Mr. Heyward, trying to satisfy Mr. Blakely and keep the men happy and bring the project in on budget.”
    “I imagine so. What do you suppose Mr. Heyward will do once the resort is finished?”
    “I really couldn’t say. He keeps to himself, doesn’t confide in me all that much. More tea?”
    “The papers say he’s from a long line of Georgia planters, so perhaps he’ll return home when he’s through.”
    She held out her cup for a refill. “Mr. Heyward seems to delight in building lovely things. Perhaps he’ll go back and build something as