With Autumn's Return (Westward Winds Book #3): A Novel by Amanda Cabot

baby, and I want you to attend me.”
    A shiver of delight made its way up Elizabeth’s spine. She had her first patient and for the best of all reasons. “Come into my office.” She gestured toward the next room. “Let’s see if I can confirm your diagnosis.” Ten minutes later, Miriam climbed down from the examining table, her face sober as she looked at Elizabeth. Her own heart pounding with excitement, Elizabeth smiled. “Your diagnosis was correct. By the middle of January, you and Richard should have your first son or daughter.”
    “And you’ll be there?”
    The hesitation in Miriam’s voice surprised Elizabeth. While her colleagues had disparaged female ailments as figments of women’s imagination and claimed that childbirth should be relegated to midwives, Elizabeth believed women deserved the same level of care as men. Childbirth was often routine, but when it was not, a physician’s skill could mean the difference between life and death. “As my mother used to say, I wouldn’t miss it for all the tea in China.”
    A smile wreathed Miriam’s slender face. “I’m so glad. Mama doesn’t speak of it very often, but I know she had a difficult time when I was born. That’s why I’m an only child.” Miriam clasped her hands so tightly that her knuckles whitened and her face grew pale. Concerned, Elizabeth led her patient to one of the chairs in front of her desk and took the other.
    “Mama said she almost died,” Miriam continued, “and she claims it was the midwife’s fault. She won’t tell me what happened, just that it was a ghastly experience, but as soon as Richard and I were married, she insisted that I needed to have Dr. Worland attend me when I was with child.”
    Miriam wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something unpleasant. “You know how determined Mama can be. Richard says she only wants the best for me, but that’s not Dr. Worland. I think he’s a scary old man. The medicine he gave me made me sicker, and he even tried to put leeches on me when I was a child.” A shudder accompanied Miriam’s words. “I screamed so much that Papa sent him away. Oh, Doctor, I hate leeches!”
    “So do I.” Elizabeth had been warned about leeches and purges her first month of medical school. “Modern doctors don’t use them, especially for a woman who’s expecting a child.” Elizabeth gestured at the cabinets that lined one wall of the room. “You can look around if you like, but I assure you that I have no leeches.”
    A smile once more lighting her face, Miriam nodded. “I knew you wouldn’t. Pastor Saylor always said God has perfect timing, and you’re the proof that he does. He sent you to Cheyenne just when I needed you.”
    When Miriam left half an hour later, Elizabeth was stillbeaming with happiness. What a wonderful day! She had her first patient, and despite Miriam’s fears, she had seen no reason why that patient would have a difficult delivery. Miriam and her minister were correct. God did have perfect timing. He’d known that Elizabeth was becoming discouraged, that she feared she would never be accepted as a physician, and he’d sent Miriam to her. What a wonderful day!
    She was humming when the doorbell rang again.
    “You sound happy,” Jason announced as she greeted him.
    “I am. I have my first patient.”
    “Miriam Eberhardt?”
    Elizabeth blinked, momentarily surprised that he’d known about Miriam’s visit. How silly of her. “I should have known you’d see her.” After all, she saw most of the clients who entered Jason’s office.
    He nodded. “There are few secrets in Cheyenne, especially among neighbors.”
    Afterwards, Elizabeth couldn’t imagine what had caused her to blurt out the question. Perhaps it was because she was so happy that she wasn’t thinking clearly. Perhaps it was because the question had haunted her for days. All she knew was that she heard herself saying, “There is one secret. Did you know Adam Bennett had killed his wife when