Page 11 of Lost with a Scot
“Dr. MacDonald?”
“Aye, lassie. Mr. Aiden had him look ye over straightaway when he brought ye here.”
So she was even more indebted to Aiden than she realized.
“Ye truly canna remember a thing?” Molly asked. “Nothing at all?”
“Only that I tied myself to a broken mast while I was at sea so I wouldn’t drown.” She showed Molly the bruises on her arms caused by the ropes. “But I only remembered that a few minutes ago.”
The innkeeper tapped her chin. “Maybe yer memory will return in pieces.”
Anna hoped it would. “Do you know Mr. Kincade very well?” she asked.
“No, not well. He’s been here a few days. He’s waiting on a ship from France to arrive, and one can never guess exactly when a ship will come into port. Running an inn, ye see every sort of person, ye ken. The good and the bad. Mr. Kincade is one of the good ones. He is kind, respectful, and makes no trouble.”
“But he just struck a man outside. I saw him do it from up here through the window.”
Molly grimaced. “The bastard he hit deserved far worse than he got. Mr. Kincade bought the man’s injured horse, fair and honest-like. Then the man comes back this morning, saying he sold it to a butcher. Now Mr. Kincade won’t hear of an animal being killed, especially one he can help.”
Anna relaxed, and Molly smiled at her. “Dinna worry, lass. If I thought he wasna a good man, I wouldna let him keep ye here. But that does remind me—ye need proper clothes for when ye’re feeling more like yerself. I’ll have one of my dresses brought up for ye to try on. Ye have more curves than I do, but I can let out the seams and get it to fit.”
Molly’s kindness was such a relief that Anna felt much of the tension still inside her fade. “Thank you, Molly. I am in your debt.”
“Ye owe me no debt,” Molly insisted. “Womenfolk have to help each other wherever we can. Now finish yer supper and I’ll come back to check on ye.”
Anna finished her soup and then found herself exhausted again. She crept back between the sheets of Aiden’s bed to sleep. She felt safe knowing that he and Molly were nearby. She had been blessed to wash ashore here and not somewhere else.
A hesitant smile tugged at her lips as she thought of Aiden and the way his gaze burned through her. He made her feel like she was the only person on earth. She couldn’t explain why that mattered, but it made her feel safe and cared for... and it made her want to care for him the same way. He’d suffered much, she could see that so clearly in his eyes, and she wished she could heal him the way he was healing her. Something about them together felt right... And she knew that sounded mad, given that she remembered nothing of her past. She could only trust her instincts, and her instincts told her to stay with Aiden.
* * *
Aiden rappedhis knuckles on the quaint home that belonged to Dr. MacDonald. An elderly housekeeper answered and looked him up and down from behind her spectacles.
“Ye dinna look sick,” the woman said bluntly. She was a plump creature with gray hair and a short nose, which her spectacles perched precariously on. Aiden could tell she was a brusque woman who responded best to politeness and honesty.
Aiden smiled at her. “I didna know that was a requirement. I’m not a patient, but I have one I need to speak to Dr. MacDonald about.”
The housekeeper beckoned him inside. “He’s in his surgery, but ’tis empty. Ye can go on back.”
Aiden passed by a bedroom and a kitchen before he found the room, which had a sign that read “Surgery” in gold painted letters. The door was partially open. MacDonald was at a desk behind an operating table with his back to the door.
Aiden cleared his throat. “Dr. MacDonald?”
The doctor turned around. “Ah, Mr. Kincade. How is our young patient?”
“She is awake but doesna seem to remember a thing other than that her first name is Anna.” Anna’s beautiful honey-brown eyes flashed across his mind at the mention of her name. She’d looked so frightened when she’d realized that she couldn’t remember anything. He’d wanted to pull her onto his lap and cuddle her and kiss away the worries. He’d also wanted to do more than that, but he couldn’t take advantage of her like that.
“She doesn’t remember the shipwreck?” The doctor’s eyebrows rose as he set aside the papers he’d been making notes in.
“Not the wreck or anything else. I fear she’s lost her memories,” Aiden said. “I know it can happen sometimes. Ye mentioned she’d struck her head. Perhaps that’s what did it.”
The doctor pursed his lips in thought, then stood and reached for a large book on his desk.
“Do ye happen to know much about the country Ruritania, Mr. Kincade?”
Unsure of where Dr. MacDonald was going with this question, Aiden shrugged. “Isna it some country on the Continent?” He’d heard the name tossed about... mainly by his sister, Rosalind, whose shipping company did business with Ruritanian ports. He usually got distracted when she started talking about business, and now he wished he had listened more.
“It’s on the coast. Prussia surrounds it everywhere but on the sea.” The doctor opened the book he held to a page he had marked and handed it to Aiden.
