Free The Doctor Takes a Wife by Laurie Kingery

but he was intercepted midway across the room by half a dozen people, the last of whom was the mayor’s daughter.
    â€œMy, aren’t you looking handsome tonight, Dr. Walker,” Prissy said, her eyes sweeping over him admiringly. “Just wait till Sarah sees you.”
    He was thankful he had two black frock coats, one for doctoring calls, the other kept for fancy occasions such as this, and that he’d had time to bathe and shave after delivering Mavis Hotchkiss’s baby at a ranch west of town. “Why thank you, Miss Priscilla,” he said, “You’re looking very fine yourself.”
    She dimpled and fanned herself, then leaned close to sniff the air. “Thank you, sir. Mmm, and you smell quite handsome, too.”
    He’d dabbed on some bay rum after he’d shaved. He’d hoped at the time that a certain lady would appreciate it…but his thoughts had been on Sarah, not Prissy. “Miss Priscilla, I didn’t know it was possible to smell handsome,” he said, amused. “You must have a discerning nose, to be able to detect such a thing over the delicious scents wafting from the food table.”
    â€œOh, go on over there, you know you want to,” shesaid, waving him on with a knowing wink. “Doesn’t our Sarah look absolutely wonderful in red?”
    He was glad that with Prissy, at least, he didn’t have to pretend he wasn’t longing to stand here and continue making small talk. “As you do in gold, Miss Priscilla,” he said. “Thanks.”
    He crossed the remaining distance to the food table, and seeing that Sarah was still busy slicing beef for the guests in the line, took selections from the other dishes on the groaning board, for he had been at the delivery since dawn and hadn’t eaten since the night before.
    At last he came to the head of the line. “May I have some roast beef, Miss Sarah?”
    She looked up from her carving tools. “Why, Nolan, I didn’t see you come in. Happy New Year to you.”
    May the new year bring about a change in your heart. “Will you have to remain at carving table?” he asked. “I was hoping you could sit down and eat with me.” He gestured at the small tables scattered around the sides of the room.
    â€œNo, I’m only carving until Antonio can come back,” she said, “And here he comes now,” she said, indicating a liveried manservant approaching with a clove-studded ham. “So, yes, I can sit down and eat with you. As it happens, I’ve become very hungry, standing here watching the food go by.”
    He waited while she selected some food, and then they found a vacant table not far from the door.
    â€œI stopped at your cottage to see if I could escort you to the party, but no one answered,” he told Sarah when they had settled themselves.
    â€œNo, Prissy and I have been here since early morning, helping them get the food set out,” she told him.
    â€œSo I figured. Anyway, I left your cake plate and cover at your doorstep. Best cake I ever had,” he told her.
    â€œThen you’ll have to try my Neopolitan cake that’s over on the dessert table to see if you still think so,” she said. “And be sure and try the pecan fruitcake Prissy made—please be sure and tell her it’s delicious, for she needs confidence in her baking skills. Oh, there’s Milly and Nick!” She waved at the couple who had just entered the ballroom.
    It was foolish to hope to be alone with a particular woman at a party, he told himself. “It looks like marriage agrees with you two,” he told the couple when they joined them a few moments later, along with Reverend Chadwick.
    â€œYes, I quite recommend it,” Brookfield answered, grinning. “”How’s the doctoring business?” he asked in return.
    â€œFor a small town, it certainly keeps me busy. I’ve already helped usher Simpson