Free The Marshal Takes A Bride by Sylvia McDaniel Page A

fingertips, caress her satin skin and explore her body just like he had done before.
    He took a deep breath and tried to bring his mind back to the present Back from the memory of Sarah to the realization he was going to give her to another man. “You’re probably right.”
    “Well, I’m on my way to the clinic and just wanted to show you the latest matchmaking shenanigan your mother has pulled and tell you, I had changed my mind.”
    He put the veil back into the tin box and replaced the lid on the container and handed it back to Sarah. “I never thought she’d go this far.”
    Sarah sighed. “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if she tries something else.”
    “Oh, no. This is her last matchmaking shenanigan.
    She started walking toward the door, and the urge to stop her and take her in his arms and kiss her full red lips almost overcame him. But instead he walked alongside her to the open portal.
    At the door he stood there and gazed down into her eyes, which reminded him of a warm spring sky. Unable to resist touching her, he reached out and laid his hand on her arm, his fingertips tingling.
    Sarah stopped and gazed up at him expectantly, eyes warm and questioning, and he wanted to lose himself in her gaze.
    “I . . . I’m sorry that this has interfered with your homecoming,” he said, watching as her tongue nervously flicked across her bottom lip. Not really caring what he said as long as she stayed for just a moment longer.
    She shrugged. “It’s not your fault. Well, I guess I better get down to Doc Wilson’s and see what’s going on there.”
    “I’ll come by later and let you know if the man I have in mind is willing.”
    Tucker had to go through with this plan; he had no choice now. He was the one who had suggested this damn scheme, and now he would be forced to endure it. But it was the right thing to do, he kept telling himself. His mother would leave them both alone, and maybe, just maybe, Sarah would find a man who would keep her in Fort Worth. He needed her to stay, for the town’s sake, but did he really want her to find another man?
    “That’s fine.” She stepped out of his office and walked across the hall and out the front door.
    Tucker watched her go, his mind full of images of how her skin had glowed in the moonlight, the thrust of her naked breasts and the taste of her lips.
    Was he crazy to hand her over to another man? Or just crazy for torturing himself with the memory of the feel of her in his arms?
    ***
    Sarah walked into the clinic and saw a young red- haired woman standing at the door.
    “Yes, can I help you?” she asked.
    “Mrs. James, I heard you were sitting in for Doc Wilson...and I...I thought that maybe you being a woman doctor, that you could help me.”
    She glanced at the woman, who was so nervously standing at the doorway. She tried to put her at ease. “Come in, Mrs . . . ?”
    “It don’t matter what my name is. I just wanted to see if you could help me.”
    Sarah tried to reassure the pretty young woman whose green eyes barely met her own. “There’s no one else here but me and you. Come on in and we can talk about whatever is bothering you.”
    “I work down at the Silver Slipper. I’m...I’m a calico queen, Dr. James,” she informed Sarah.
    “You’re also a woman who needs a doctor. I’m a physician,” Sarah said slowly. “Now, how can I help you?” The woman sighed and stepped into the office, shutting the door behind her. “You don’t mind me coming to see you?”
    “Not at all,” Sarah said warmly.
    “Well...I keep having this problem.”
    For the next several minutes Sarah listened to the woman describe her symptoms, knowing immediately that what she was describing sounded like a fungus. “What is it, Doc?”
    “I don’t think it’s serious, but I would like to take a look at it Why don’t you go into that curtained-off area, remove your pantaloons, wrap a sheet around you, and then I’ll come in and take a look at it”
    “Okay,”