Free Charlotte's Mail Order Husband (New Montana Brides series) by Susan Leigh Carlton

harsh, but that’s the way it is.”
    Sobbing, Lottie ran from the room .  “What’s going on?” Carter asked Carrie.
    “She’s having trouble with the enormity of the violence and th e fact ten men died in the gun fight. She has decided she can’t handle it and is going to go back east.”
    “Just like that, at the first sign of trouble, she’s going to cut and run? She needs to be shaken up. ”
    “I was pretty rough on her before you got here, but I don’t know if I got through or not.”
    “Well, Maryland this isn’t. Maybe she can’t handle it. If not, it’s better to find out sooner, rather than later. I’ll stick around for a while and make sure he comes out of it, and I’ll talk to her.”
    He washed up, ridding himself of his stained surgical apron and went looking for Lottie.
    He found her on the porch, sitting on the steps. He sat beside her, and said, “Pretty rough, huh?”
    She nodded, without saying anything.
    “The human mind, body and spirit are God’s greatest creation. There is virtually no limit to what it can handle. I’ve never told anyone about this, but I’m going to tell you a story… a true story; it’s my story.
    “ After I finished medical school, and before the war, my wife Lucy, and I lived next door to Elizabeth and Caleb Cartwright, in Rockville. When the war came along, I figured the Army would be a good place to hone my craft. After all, everyone said it would be over in less than a year. I was right, I got plenty of experience in a hurry, but it lasted over four years, not one. I estimate I amputated a thousand arms and legs during the war. The thought of Lucy kept me going all of those years.
    “ When I finally got home, I found Lucy had died from smallpox. I had not been notified because the Army had listed me as killed in action. Elizabeth had arranged for Lucy’s funeral. Then I found her husband had been killed at Spotsylvania.
    “After what I had been through, I was n’t sure I wanted to practice medicine, but I did for about six months. I couldn’t do it. I decided to toss it all and try my hand at gold mining.  The night before I was to leave, a man came to the door and begged me to come look at his wife. She was pregnant and had begun bleeding. Elizabeth had been helping me with deliveries and I asked her to come with me. We lost the mother and the baby that night. She did a lot of soul searching, trying to understand how we could work with such trauma.
    “ I didn’t try, I cut and run, the same way you’re thinking about doing. I came to Helena, bought the house we live in now, and decided to continue at medicine. There was a major problem with the Sioux, and the Army recruited me to help. I became a surgeon again, only this time, I was treating arrow and tomahawk wounds. When I came back, I realized how lonely I was. Elizabeth and I had been writing since I left Rockville, and I found myself missing her. I asked her to marry me, but she would not. Finally, I decided it was time I did something. I closed the practice and went back to Baltimore, where I proposed again, and told her I was prepared to live there or here. I found the reason she would not come out here, was she had a baby. My baby. The son I don’t think you have met. I brought them back with me, but we kept the two houses in Baltimore, just in case she didn’t like it here. We still have them.
    “If I could handle what was thrown at me, and if Elizabeth could handle what was thrown at her, I think you can cope with this, Lottie, look at me. My concern is for my patient, not whether you are up to this. He needs you, but if you can’t do it, then I want you to stay away from him. Do you understand me? I’ll put you on the stage back to Baltimore myself. I mean that.” He stood and went back into the house to check on Zebulon.
    He sat in the bedroom talking to Carrie and Case, and o ccasionally checked Zebulon’s pulse and heartbeat.
    Two hours later, Lottie walked into the room.