A Nurse for Connor Read online

  A Nurse for Connor

  Going through the test scores, Nurse Harrow sighed. “Did you see that Josey Beall actually passed.”

  The administrator groaned. “Oh dear, I’m just afraid her patients will too?”

  Nurse Harrow sighed. “There’s no way around it, we have to assign Josey to a patient she can’t kill.”

  ~~~

  Joseph Stark stared at his son after paying off the fourth woman he’d hired to help Connor heal from his broken leg. But there was more broken than his son’s leg. Joseph and Connor couldn’t be in the same room without an argument. Staring at the newspaper ad about nurses for hire, Joseph knew what he had to do.

  Connor had terrified the help long enough. Joseph would order a nurse for Connor. Maybe she would help him heal his leg and surly attitude.

  A Nurse for Connor

  Nursing the Heart Romance

  Book 5

  By

  Patricia PacJac Carroll

  A Nurse for Connor Nursing the Heart Romance Book 5

  Copyright © July 2020

  Published by Patricia PacJac Carroll

  ALL rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, (except for inclusion in reviews), disseminated or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or audio. Including photocopying, recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system, or the Internet/World Wide Web without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Cover Designer: Virginia McKevitt

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  ~~~ A Nurse for Connor

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  A Nurse for Connor

  By

  Patricia PacJac Carroll

  Chapter 1

  Josey Beall hugged the paper to her chest and thanked the Lord that she’d passed the nursing exam. Not that she doubted her abilities, but she had a problem with breaking things. Nurse Harrow had threatened more than once to write her up with a failing grade.

  Then yesterday, Josey had stumbled into the woman’s prized possession, and Nurse Harrow’s statue of Clara Barton in the act of nursing fell and broke into countless pieces. Josey had been so sure she would fail that later that night, she’d asked for a job at the delicatessen down the street.

  Kissing the report, Josey grinned as relief spread over her. Her score wasn’t exactly the greatest, but it would do. Now onto the next problem. That is to find a job.

  Nurse Harrow would be proud of her passing grade. Just the other day, she’d stopped Josey in the hall and declared. “I don’t know what we’re going to do with you.”

  It wasn’t that Josey didn’t try. She didn’t think there was another student nurse that worked any harder. It’s just that Josey had a way of making simple things hard. She had broken more trays of dishes and spilled more bed pans than anyone else. Not to mention her ability to annoy the most patient of patients.

  A passing cloud colored her day. The other girls already had their assignments. Some went to help doctors, even surgeons. Others were on their way to prestigious hospitals across the country.

  While Josey had passed the test, Nurse Harrow had mentioned that so far, she had failed to find an assignment for her. Josey knew the director was working hard to find her placement because just the other day, she’d overheard her say to another instructor. “I’ve been working night and day to find a place for Josey.”

  With a smile that shoved away her clouds of doubt, Josey continued walking down the hall, dreaming of where she might be sent. Denver had some wonderful sanitariums for those with lung disease. Seeing how she knew a couple of patients who had died of the disease, she was interested in working at just such a place.

  Then there was a hospital in San Francisco that needed nurses. Josey had put down her preferences and tried to forget about the forced smile on Nurse Harrow’s face. Well, it didn’t matter where they sent her, Josey would be fine with it.

  In a hurry to show her friends that she’d passed, Josey shoved open the hall doors and heard the familiar clatter of falling dishes breaking on the hard floor. Josey knew she was supposed to slow down and knock on the doors before barreling through them, but she just couldn’t seem to slow down.

  “Josey Beall!” Angela Sutton gently shoved the door open. Her clean white uniform was dirtied with spilled porridge while her usually sweet smile had been replaced with a disgusted frown. “How many times have you been told to slow down. Look what you’ve done. You’re not going to have a paycheck by the time they take all the dishes from your salary.”

  “I am sorry, Angela. I was just so excited that I passed the exam.”

  Angela stared at her. “You passed?”

  Smiling and trying to wipe the mush from Angela’s uniform, Josey nodded. “Yes, barely, but I made what I had to.”

  Angela pushed Josey’s hands away. “I’ve got to go change, but I am glad you passed.” She rushed down the hall toward the locker room, where they kept their change of clothes.

  Josey began picking up the pieces of the shattered bowl. She was an expert at cleaning up. So much so that Nurse Harrow joked that if nothing else, they could find her a job as a maid.

  Josey knew they didn’t mean to hurt her feelings, and she was glad that any stab to her heart only lasted for a minute. For Josey knew that if nothing else, she was resilient and would bounce back from whatever life handed her.

  That was mostly thanks to her trust in the Lord. He’d shown her from early on that He watched out for her. So, any temporary hardship was but a small cloud on her sunny, blue sky. She took the broken dishes to the trash, made a note of what and how many to turn into Nurse Harrow, and then went to look for the mop.

  ***

  Joseph Stark walked toward the parlor where his youngest son was recovering from a badly broken leg. He was almost to the door when Mrs. Barrington came storming out.

  Her eyebrows angled down as she pointed toward Connor’s room. “I quit! He is rude, mean, and insufferable. Good luck with finding anyone else who will look after him. I expect you to send my wages to my house in town. Don’t bother letting me out the door, I’m getting out of here.”

  Joseph turned to persuade her to stay, but she was already at the door. Without looking back, she opened it, slammed it shut, and left. She must have been mad because it was a ten-mile walk to town. Feeling sorry for her, Joseph called for Banjo.

  Banjo came from the office.

  He was Joseph’s right-hand man. Years ago, he and Banjo had come to Texas together and forged a ranch out of the wild prairi
e. “Get the rig and take Mrs. Barrington back to town.”

  With a nod toward the parlor, Banjo nodded. “He chased another one away?”

  “That’s the fourth one.” Joseph held up the newspaper he was carrying. “I might have the answer to our trouble—a nurse. I wired them yesterday and should get an answer today. Connor needs a professional that can help him heal. I figure a trained nurse will know how to settle him down long enough so his leg can recover.”

  Banjo laughed. “I think you’d have better luck getting an old army sergeant. Connor is one ornery son of a gun. Kind of takes after his father. Anyway, I’m just thankful you took me off nurse duty.”

  Joseph grunted. “I can’t afford to lose you. That boy of mine, I’ve tried my best with him. His brothers are good, hard-working men. Then there’s Connor.”

  “They broke the mold with Connor, that’s for sure.” Banjo patted his old friend on the shoulder. “But I got a feeling that the Lord laid that boy on his back for a reason. A good feeling. I’ll be praying for him.”

  Joseph laughed. “If God was still in business, Elizabeth would still be alive.” The rebuke was short. Banjo was his best friend, and Joseph didn’t want to get into an argument over the Almighty again.

  Banjo gave him a warning look but didn’t say anything.

  Joseph put away his own troubles and pointed at his hair. “Connor has given me more gray hairs than I like to admit.”

  Patting his bald head, Banjo nodded. “At least you have some hair. If it weren’t for that Comanche raid back in ’45, I’d have more. Then again, Connor may have made me pull out the rest.”

  Joseph laughed. “We’ve been through a lot, haven’t we? I guess knowing all that we’ve survived, we’ll make it through Connor, too. I better go see to my son and see what I can do with him.”

  ***

  Connor Stark wasn’t proud of sending another woman packing, but a man could only take so much. Maybe if his father didn’t hire older women and would find him a pretty one, he’d be more agreeable.

  Throwing a spoon at the wall, he knew it didn’t matter what woman or man that his father hired, they’d bear the brunt of his wrath. That, Connor knew, he had plenty of. It wasn’t fair. His brothers had good lives. David had a nice sweet wife and kids. Ben was engaged to a good woman. And most of all, they loved working the ranch.

  Not him. Oh, he could do the work, but his heart had never been here on the ranch. Connor had always counted the days when he could leave, but the time was never right. His brothers went to war, leaving Connor to help his father.

  Then they came back, but they’d been hurt and needed him to help them. So, he stayed. Life was passing him by. He thought he had a girl to be his wife, but Colleen turned out to be a two-timing skunk and ran off with his best friend. There was some unwritten law that said Connor Stark was to get the rotten luck.

  Now, Connor found himself flat on his back because his horse, Spanish Bill, fell in a gopher hole, and they both broke a leg. Fortunately, Connor wasn’t a horse and fared better than the prized stallion his mother had given him years ago.

  So now he sat in the parlor unable to stand and barely able to sit. The doc said he had six more weeks in the heavy cast they’d put on him. Connor hated it. Hated the house. Hated his life.

  He hollered at the top of his lungs, which was considerable. “I want my breakfast.”

  To his embarrassment, his father walked in the room. With piercing blue eyes, Father’s gaze nailed him to the bed. “If you hadn’t thrown the porridge all over Mrs. Barrington, you’d have had your breakfast.”

  “I want a steak.”

  “I want peace in my house. It seems neither of us are going to be happy.” His father went and sat in the chair next to Connor’s bed. “Son, I know you’re in pain, and I know you don’t like the way your life has turned out. But this is just a small part of it. Give yourself and others a chance. I’m hiring a nurse, and she’s coming all the way from Baltimore. So, I want you to promise to be on your good behavior when she gets here.”

  Connor knew better than to cross his father when he spoke in his quiet even tone of voice. He nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  Slapping the newspaper in his hand, Father rose and nodded at him. “That’s what I like to hear.” He picked up the silverware strewn about the room and left Connor to himself.

  Angry, disgusted, and in pain, Connor rehashed his promise. A nurse. Well, he’d see about that. Doc said he had another week of bed rest. After that, they could send the nurse packing. Who knows, Connor might just leave Texas.

  He needed a new start to get away from bad memories, his family, and the ranch.

  Chapter 2

  Nurse Harrow stared at the woman responsible for finding placement for their graduates. “Well, Josey did well on her exam. She’s actually quite good at diagnosing problems, but she is so clumsy. Yet, she did pass.”

  Nurse Glasgow stared at her. “What are we going to do, because I’m afraid her patients will too.”

  Nurse Harrow nodded. “It’s simply a case of matching her with a client who has a patient that she can’t kill.” She pulled out a telegram. “I got a wire just yesterday. Joseph Stark has a son who broke his leg and needs a nurse for a month or so to get him on his feet.”

  The director grinned. “Perfect. As long as Josey doesn’t drown him with stew or trip him while he’s on crutches, she should be able to handle it. What do you think?”

  “Unless we want to run out of dishes, we send her to Stark, Texas. Wherever that is.”

  ***

  Josey sat in her room, waiting for her assignment. The school already had a new class, and Josey was anxiously awaiting on Nurse Glasgow to send her somewhere. She’d asked them yesterday, and so far, they weren’t sure where she would go.

  She’d offered to stay and help with the new girls, but both women turned her down, saying that wasn’t necessary. Josey sighed. Sometimes, it was hard to keep a sunny attitude. Almost all her friends had already left on their assignments.

  Well, Josey thought to herself, God must be saving her for a special project. One that only she could do. That helped bring the sunshine back into her day, even if the weather was miserable in Baltimore this time of the year.

  The rain beat on her window as if sent by the devil to try and bring her down. Josey glanced at the drops on the pane. “Not working. I’m happy. I will take care of someone important and help them heal. It’s my gift. The very reason I became a nurse. Why even Nurse Harrow said, they would never forget me.”

  Smiling, she sat down at her desk and read the Bible. She loved the Psalms and especially the 23rd Psalm. She could picture the little sheep and how the Lord watched over them even when they weren’t looking. That made her day just thinking about how God watched over her.

  There was a knock on her door.

  With excitement, Josey opened the door wide, causing it to bang into the wall, which knocked down a picture. Cringing, she bent to pick up the mess, but Nurse Harrow stopped her.

  “Josey, I have wonderful news. We have a place for you.” She looked at a telegram. “It’s in Stark, Texas. North of Waco but South of Fort Worth.”

  Josey smiled. “It sounds exciting.” She had no idea where those cities were and only a vague notion of where Texas was. Just big was all she knew about it.

  “Great. Will you accept the assignment then?”

  “Oh, yes. I’m sure it was made just for me.” She smiled.

  Nurse Harrow handed her the paperwork. “The train leaves today. Then you’ll catch a stagecoach to go much of the way.”

  Josey smiled. “I can hardly wait. What are the patient’s needs?”

  “He’s a young man who has a broken leg.” Nurse Harrow stopped as if there was more but didn’t want to divulge the rest.

  Josey nodded. “I can do that. I’m excited to get on my way.”

  “Good. Hurry and pack. I’ll call the cab to take you to the train station.” Miss Harrow hugged her. �
��You’re a ray of sunshine, Josey. May God go with you and your patients.”

  “Thank you, Nurse Harrow.”

  Hurriedly, Josey left to go to Mrs. Honeycutt’s Boarding House and packed her few belongings and, in minutes, was downstairs waiting for the ride to the depot. She did love the school and staying at Mrs. Honeycutt’s, but it was time to be moving on.

  She read the details on her packet. Joseph Stark, the father of the boy, requested a nurse to help his injured son with his broken leg.

  Josey stared at the packet. Poor little fellow. Good thing, I’m great with children. That must be why they chose me for this client. Soon, I’ll have that little boy laughing and smiling.

  ***

  Connor’s leg pulsed with shooting pains. The nights were the worst. Lying in the dark with no one around, the pain in his leg would increase until he couldn’t stand it. Sometimes, he’d stuffed the pillow in his mouth so he wouldn’t cry out. Father didn’t like any sign of weakness.

  Connor had told the doc, but the old man said broken legs were painful that way and soon it would get better.

  Well, it hadn’t. Not that Connor could blame the pain for everything. His life just seemed to be going nowhere other than wrong. His mother had died when he was ten. That had hurt him, but no one in his family took the time to see how badly. After her passing, he’d felt alone.

  His brothers and father were out on the range, and by the time he turned sixteen, the war between the states broke out, and his brothers went to war.

  Connor was too young, they said.

  Father spent his time taking care of the ranch and worrying about David and Ben, leaving Connor to fend for himself. Anger took over his days and nights. No one cared what he did or needed.

  Finally, David and Ben came home, whipped and broken. Father aged as they came back to the ranch and spent long days and nights with David and Ben while putting Connor off. Connor and his father spent their time in harsh arguments about something Connor had either done wrong or failed to do at all. The worst fights were about staying on the ranch. Connor wanted to do something else and see more than the backside of cattle.