Reluctantly Charmed_Clean Historical Romance_Doctor Holloway's Story Read online

  Reluctantly Charmed

  Inspirational Historical Romance, Bareglen Creek Series

  Kate Cambridge

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  https://KateCambridge.com/choice/

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental. Bareglen Creek, Texas is a fictional town set near San Antonio, and part of the Heroes of Texas, a Christian Western Romance series.

  Copyright 2018 by Kate Cambridge

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Property of Kate Cambridge | June 2018

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-947171-08-4

  Contents

  Introduction to Hero Hearts

  1. PRELUDE

  2. ONE

  3. TWO

  4. THREE

  5. FOUR

  6. FIVE

  7. SIX

  8. SEVEN

  9. EIGHT

  10. NINE

  11. TEN

  12. ELEVEN

  13. TWELVE

  14. THIRTEEN

  15. FOURTEEN

  16. FIFTEEN

  17. SIXTEEN

  18. SEVENTEEN

  19. EIGHTEEN

  20. NINETEEN

  21. TWENTY

  22. TWENTY-ONE

  23. TWENTY-TWO

  24. TWENTY-THREE

  25. TWENTY-FOUR

  26. TWENTY-FIVE

  27. TWENTY-SIX

  28. TWENTY-SEVEN

  29. TWENTY-EIGHT

  30. TWENTY-NINE

  31. THIRTY

  32. THIRTY-ONE

  33. THIRTY-TWO

  34. THIRTY-THREE

  35. THIRTY-FOUR

  36. THIRTY-FIVE

  37. THIRTY-SIX

  38. EPILOGUE

  39. LAWFULLY CHARMED

  About Kate

  Also by Kate Cambridge

  Introduction to Hero Hearts

  Welcome to Hero Hearts, a historical and contemporary Christian romance series.

  Join Annie Boone, Hayley Wescott and Kate Cambridge in a world unlike any other; a world where Heroes are honored with unforgettable characters and beautiful, Christian love stories.

  The authors of this series are committed to writing stories of faith, hope and love centered in fictional heroes who sacrifice daily to protect and save. A mix of historical and modern-day.

  We hope you enjoy the Hero Hearts Christian romance!

  Annie Boone, Hayley Wescott and Kate Cambridge

  PRELUDE

  “Mother?” Magdalena Allen whispered as she opened the door to her mother’s bedroom.

  Her mother’s breathing was labored, her eyes closed, eyebrows furrowed, yet she didn’t stir. Magdalena slowly backed out of her room, closing the door quietly.

  She hastily brushed away the tear making its way down her cheek. Her father had told her it would probably be only a matter of weeks before her mother passed, but Magdalena hadn’t believed it until recently. Her throat tightened as she made her way downstairs to her father’s medical office. Tears never solved anything and they wouldn’t start now, she told herself with her hands clenched by her sides.

  She paused halfway down the stairs, grasping the railing, her forehead against the cool plaster wall. Approaching her father while she was upset would accomplish nothing, she’d learned that a long time ago. She needed to be calm and logical, and she also needed to find a way to suggest that they bring Doctor Chatham, or even Doctor Standish in to confirm her father’s diagnosis, or see if there was something else that could be done?

  But in her heart, she knew that it would be wasted breath. Her father was a well-respected physician in Philadelphia, and the likelihood that he would welcome another physician or opinion into their home was zero. Zero. She knew it as sure as she was standing in this stairwell.

  She took a deep, shaky breath and turned around, making her way back up the stairs toward the bedrooms. No—confronting her father would do nothing—and there was no way to bring another doctor in without his knowledge because they would, of course, reach out to him before ever agreeing to see her mother. He, of course, would never allow it.

  When she reached the top of the stairs, she noticed their maid, Rachel, opening the door to her mother’s room. She moved quickly to join her.

  “Miss. Magdalena,” Mae acknowledged her with a whisper.

  “Miss. Rachel,” she acknowledged back, her voice soft.

  “She’s sleeping more and more,” Miss. Rachel observed.

  “Yes, she is. I’m worried.”

  “I know, Miss.” Rachel reached the side of the bed and took the washcloth from the rack, dipping it in the basin, gently wiping my mother’s brow, but she didn’t stir. “Your father is leaving town for a day,” Rachel suggested quietly.

  “When?”

  “I overheard him telling his last patient that he would be away tomorrow but back the following day if they needed him.”

  Magdalena moved to Rachel’s side. “You’re sure?”

  “Yes, Miss., I’m sure.”

  “Bless you, Miss. Rachel. Bless you.” Magdalena took her mother’s hands gently into hers, then felt for her pulse. It was weak and thready. She heard the door open behind her but didn’t turn. She knew it was her father.

  “Magdalena, can I see you?” He asked in his ever-present commanding way.

  Magdalena sighed, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and turned to join her father, closing her mother’s bedroom door behind her.

  “Father?”

  “Join me in my office.” He demanded, making his way down the stairs, not bothering to pause to see if Magdalena followed. Of course, she followed. “I have to go out-of-town tomorrow. I’ll be gone for the day,” he continued. “I’ve asked Dr. Standish to be available should your mother need—anything.”

  He opened his office door, moving aside to let Magdalena enter before him, then gestured to a chair across from his desk.

  Magdalena took a long, hard look at her father. He looked tired—exhausted even. This had been difficult for both of them.

  “Have you consulted with Dr. Standish?” She ventured.

  “Of course I have, Magdalena!” His voice was cross. He placed both hands on his desk and moved forward.

  Magdalena could barely withstand his glare.

  “Do you really think I would risk your mother’s health? Not consult another physician in the event I missed something—anything?” His voice was ragged, tinged with desperation.

  “I’m sorry, father.” She whispered.

  In a rare moment of compassion, he reached his arm across his desk. Magdalena placed her hand in his, fighting back the tears. “How long?” She asked quietly, unable to hold back the water that welled in her eyes.

  “Your mother is a strong woman, Mags,” his voice hitched, “but I think she has days or a week at best.”

  Magdalena’s breath caught—it had been years since her father had called her that. “If that’s true, why are you leaving her?”

  “This guest lecture has been scheduled for months, Magdalena,” he scolded. “I can’t back out of it, and I’ve made sure Dr. Standish’s schedule is open in the event—in the event he is
needed. I’ve arranged for round-the-clock care, and I’ll be spending tonight with her.”

  Magdalena nodded, then rose and walked through the door without looking back.

  ONE

  “Father, this is barbaric! We’re not living in the dark ages any longer, and I can’t believe you’re giving me this ultimatum.” Magdalena Allen snapped, her chest heaved, and she narrowed her eyes at her father.

  “Three months, Magdalena, you’ve got three months to find a husband and set a wedding date, or I’ll choose one for you. It’s not an ultimatum—it’s a promise.” Her father waved his hand in dismissal, his eyes moving back to the papers on his desk. “Close the door behind you.”

  Magdalena’s hands balled into fists at her sides. He couldn’t even say please, she fumed. It was all she could do not to stomp out of his office and slam the door—but she’d learned a long time ago that kind of behavior wouldn’t result in what she wanted.

  The truth was, she didn’t really know what she wanted from her life, but she knew for certain that it didn’t include a husband. One domineering man in her life was enough, and she wasn’t about to add another to the mix.

  Magdalena closed the door to her father’s office softly behind her. “Kill them with kindness,” her mother had always said.

  How she missed her! Magdalena leaned against the outside of the office door, slowly uncurling her hands.

  Her father was a surgeon—the best in Philadelphia—and he had saved many lives, but he couldn’t save the single most important person in her life—her mother.

  She slowly released the breath she’d been holding, brushing a lone tear from her cheek. In fairness, it had been difficult on her father, too. She knew he missed her mother as much as she—but now that her mother was gone, so was the buffer between Magdalena and her father.

  Where her mother was gentle, kindhearted, good, and wise—her father was cold, authoritative, logic-driven, and he rarely, if ever, showed emotion.

  On some level, she knew he had a heart, but now that her mother was gone, the occasional soft side of her father—the side that loved her mother—seemed to be closed off. His heart may be beating and keeping him alive, but that was the only function it played in the successful surgeon’s life.

  “Miss. Magdalena?”

  “Yes, Miss. Rachel?” She sighed as she turned away from her father’s office door toward their housekeeper and Magdalena’s personal maid.

  “Your father is still grieving. Men do it differently than women. Just give him time.”

  “Time, Miss. Rachel? There is no time. He’s given me three months to find a husband or else he’s promised to choose one for me.”

  “Tsk, tsk. Surely he doesn’t mean that, Miss. Magdalena,” Rachel’s knowing eyes filled with sympathy, “but even if he does, a husband wouldn’t be such a bad thing would it? Someone to take care of you?”

  “I don’t need a man to take care of me, Miss. Rachel,” Magdalena seethed, “I just need a world where women are considered equal with men, able to own their own businesses, make their own choices, and live their lives as they please—with—without the interference and suffocating dominance of men!”

  “Shh, Miss. Magdalena. Your father will be furious if he hears you.” Rachel gently tugged her further away from the doctor’s office and toward the kitchen. “Why don’t you run to the bakery for me? They have two loaves of bread that I need for dinner. Would you do that for me?” She asked as she limped toward the kitchen.

  Magdalena sighed. “Of course, Miss. Rachel, anything for you. Did father looked at your knee yet?”

  “I don’t need Doctor Allen fussing at my knee. It’s old age, Miss. Magdalena, and there’s no cure for that.”

  “You don’t know that,” Magdalena argued. “There might be something he can give you for it to help with the stiffness.”

  “Miss. Rachel!” The women heard the doctor bellow.

  “Run along, now, Miss. Magdalena,” Miss. Rachel whispered. “Quickly, through the back door before your father sees you.” She prompted urgently.

  “Coming, Doctor Allen!” Miss. Rachel called, giving Magdalena a gentle push in the direction of the door.

  TWO

  Magdalena waited patiently behind two women as the smell of freshly baked bread and honey made her mouth water and her stomach grumble.

  “Mags, is that you?”

  Magdalena turned at the sound of a familiar voice—her best friend, Claire Clarke.

  “Claire! When did you return from Bareglen Creek?” Magdalena quickly opened her arms to embrace her friend.

  “Sully and I returned yesterday,” Claire breezed.

  “How long will you be in town?”

  Claire’s brow creased. “I’m not sure yet. Sully is working with the governor on something or other, but he’s not sure how long it will take—but you know him—he never likes to be away from Bareglen Creek for long.”

  Magdalena smiled for the first time that day. “Yes,” she begrudgingly agreed, “he is a bit of a nudge about that, isn’t he?” She wrapped her arm around her friend’s. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you, too, Mags. I’m here for baked goods, what do you say we walk together? Could you come to the house for tea? We need to catch up.”

  “I have to get this bread back to Miss. Rachel, but I could spare time for tea.” Magdalena looked into the clear blue eyes of her friend. “And yes, we do need to catch up.”

  “Why do I have a feeling there’s a story behind that?” Claire asked with concern, turning toward Mags.

  “I’ll fill you in, just not here. I’ll wait for you outside.”

  Claire nodded, paid for her baked goods, and joined Magdalena outside the bakery, linking arms with her again. “Come, we’ll have the house to ourselves. Mother and father are away, and Sully is at his meeting.”

  “How is married life?”

  “It’s amazing, Mags. Better than I ever could have imagined,” a dreamy smile crossed Claire’s face.

  “I’m happy for you,” Magdalena squeezed Claire’s arm. “I really am.”

  “Don’t get me wrong—Sully and I have our moments. He’s a sheriff and used to getting his own way. Learning how to navigate all of that has been a challenge for me, well, for both of us,” she admitted, “but when you truly love someone—the right person—it makes the compromise and adjustments more than worth it.”

  “He does seem a bit bossy,” Magdalena agreed with a glance at her friend.

  “Understatement!” Claire laughed. “But I’ve slowly begun to realize that he’s usually that way when he’s worried about me, or my safety, or thinks I need to take better care of myself,” Claire confessed as they reached her parent’s home and turned up the walkway. “Although this might sound odd, it’s comforting and only makes me love him more.”

  Magdalena stole a sideways at her friend. She couldn’t imagine finding the dominance of any man comforting. It must be newlywed bliss, she decided.

  Walking through the front door of Claire’s family home, they were greeted by Josie, the Hawarden family’s cook, as they entered the kitchen. “Miss. Allen, how wonderful to see you!”

  Magdalena’s brown eyes warmed as she opened her arms for her second hug of the morning. “It’s great to see you, too, Miss. Josie.”

  “Miss. Josie, could you bring tea for Magdalena and me to the parlor?”

  “Yes, Miss. Claire, right away.” She agreed.

  Claire reached for Magdalena’s hand, leading her toward the parlor. “Come, my friend, let’s catch up.”

  Once settled in the parlor, Claire began her inquisition. “Spill the beans, Mags. I can tell something is bothering you.”

  “Let’s not start with me just yet. Tell me about Mary. How is she?”

  Claire hesitated, but only for a moment. “She’s good—better. She still misses Mike—his loss was devastating to her—but I think it helps to have my brother there to help with the farm, and, of course, my mother
is still trying to get her to leave Bareglen Creek and return to Philadelphia to find a suitable husband.”

  Magdalena laughed, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Jim is a good brother and a good man. Has he fully recovered from his injuries?”

  “Well, Sully says Jim is accident prone, and I have to admit he may be right, but he recovered from the gunshot wounds and Doc Holloway has given him a clean bill of health,” Claire confirmed with watchful eyes.

  “Ah, yes, Doctor Holloway.” Pink tinged Magdalena’s cheeks as she looked away from Claire.

  “Tell me what’s going on, Mags,” Claire’s voice softened. “I can tell something is bothering you.”

  THREE

  Magdalena bared her soul to Claire, quickly telling her about the increased tensions with her father, and his final ultimatum this morning.

  Claire sighed. “Do you think this is in response to the suffragette protests, and what happened to Caroline? Or your mother’s death?” She offered softly.

  Magdalena and Claire’s good friend, Caroline Josephs, had been seriously injured at a recent protest, and Magdalena’s father had forbidden her from attending all future protests. With her mother’s passing just a few weeks ago, and the inability to attend protests with her friends, Magdalena was feeling the double loss deeply.