M. Donice Byrd - The Warner Saga (28 page)

26

As they entered the lobby, Meredith removed his frock coat and handed it to him. “I’m on the second floor. Maybe we’ll see each other in the dining room for breakfast.”

Although Blake doubted Agnes would have re-rented her room – especially since she had paid for it and still had the key, Blake preferred she not have the option of spending the night anywhere but in his arms.

“Your room wasn’t large enough for the four of us, so I had your things moved into our suite.”

Meredith stared at Blake. She assumed she would be staying in her own room until she made her decision.

Blake could see her hesitation.

“But I rented that room for a week.”

“Agnes applied the credit to our bill. If you’ll give me your key, I’ll get you another room.”

“Hello, Mr. Warner,” the night clerk greeted. “It’s good to see you back.”

“Finnegan,” Blake said quietly. “I need you to tell me you are out of rooms loud enough for my wife to hear.”

Blake handed him the key along with a nice tip.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Warner, we have no more vacancies.”

“Don’t concern yourself with it. The suite has a sofa. I’m sure we will make do.” Blake winked at the man then turned back to Meredith. “If I had only known.”

“I hope you’ll be comfortable on the sofa.”

“Thank goodness Agnes isn’t working tonight or the whole hotel would know you’re going to make me sleep in the sitting room,” Blake said conspiratorially. “She’s the biggest gossip on the planet.”

“Mrs. Billingsham showed me a note she sent to the paper asking if they’d pay for information about
me
.”

Blake considered that for a moment as he guided her away from the stairs towards the elevator. “I wonder how Cloris got a hold of a letter sent to the newspaper.”

“She said her friend writes the society column.”

“Well, that explains why I’m always such a saint when I get a write up,” he said as the elevator arrived.

“Watch your step,” the elevator operator said as they stepped inside. He shut a pair of doors then grabbed a lever. “What floor?”

“Fourth.”

“Oh,” Meredith said as the elevator began moving.

“Never been in an elevator before?”

“No.”

“Neither had Pete and Lolly.
I think they would have liked to have ridden up and down a few more times if they hadn’t been so tired,” he said then turned to the elevator man. “Our children didn’t leave the room, did they?”

“Not that I’ve seen. Here we
are, fourth floor. Watch your step.”

Blake tested the lock on the door before unlocking it to make sure Pete and Lolly had not run away again. He hadn’t thought they would since none of them had slept well on the train and Pete and Lolly were barely keeping their eyes opened as they ate the roast beef and mashed potatoes that had been sent up to their room.

“Let’s check on Pete and Lolly.”

Blake stopped outside the door. “Don’t touch
Pete. He’s a light sleeper and even pulling up the covers wakes him. I feel so bad for him. He’s still having nightmares nearly every night. With a candle burning, at least he can look around when he wakes up to see there’s no one else there. But sometimes he has to check the lock on the door and look under the beds. He’ll even put his hand on Lolly’s chest or back to make sure she’s breathing. It breaks my heart to know I caused this.”

Meredith covered his hand on the doorknob stopping him. “Are you going to continue spying?”

He shook his head. “No, I can’t. I was at peace with putting my life on the line for my country but I never thought I would get an innocent family killed. I know they supported the Confederacy but they were not our enemy.”

Meredith’s thumb stroked the back of his hand before she withdrew it. “I’m glad you won’t be risking your life anymore.”

Carefully, Blake turned the knob, opened the door, and led her inside.

Pete slept on the edge of the bed with his back to Lolly. He wore his long underwear and the bed covers were down to his waist. His chin-length brown hair partially covered his face and had Blake not told her not to touch him; Meredith would have moved the hair off his face.

“That’s where they stabbed him,” Blake whispered pointing at a hole in his longjohns.

Again Meredith had to resist the urge to touch him. She wanted to sit down on the edge of the bed and wake him up just so she could hug him.

Lolly took up the rest of the bed. She was sprawled out diagonally with her head off the pillow near Pete’s shoulder and one foot off the bed.

Blake pulled back the covers and lifted the little
girl back into place giving Pete more room. He pulled the covers up as far as he could without allowing the covers to move over Pete and touched the side of her face.

Blake led Meredith back into the small parlor that separated the two bedrooms. “They look so peaceful when they sleep,” Blake murmured. “When they’re awake, look out. Lolly’s a little shy when you first meet her but as soon as she gets comfortable with you, she’s a whirlwind of energy and Pete is angry all the time.”

Meredith picked up a lantern burning on a nearby table and began backing towards the bedroom smiling knowingly at Blake.

“Really?”

“No unspoken promises, Blake. This doesn’t mean I’m agreeing to stay married to you.”

A wide grin spread across Blake’s face as he followed her into their bedroom, closing the door behind
him. “You will agree to stay married to me when I’m finished with you,” Blake said with a roguish grin and a lick of his lips. “You’re so beautiful tonight; you took my breath away when I saw you.”

At his intense look, her breath hitched. She felt an overwhelming urge to giggle but she wasn’t sure if it was nerves or excitement. Criminy, he was gorgeous with those amazing blue eyes and unruly hair and those lips, so full and kissable.

“Donna and Rebecca insisted I have a new wardrobe to take with me when we divorced,” she said setting the lamp on the bureau.

“I wasn’t talking about the dress. Truthfully, I think you’re more beautiful without it. Turn around.”

Within moments, Blake had divested her of the silk gown, carefully laying it over a wing chair in the corner of the room. There was something erotic about the sight of Meredith dressed only in her undergarments that he always found exciting despite the fact she was nearly as covered as she was fully dressed. He loved peeling away the layers, anticipating what lay beneath, the first sight of her body, the first touch.

Meredith understood without words being spoken that their reunion was an experience to savor not a frenzied rush to the end. He removed his own clothing before returning to her. She loved his body, the lean, muscled planes of masculinity, his wide chest and shoulders, his narrow hips and flat stomach. He was perfection.

As she reached for the closure on the corset, he stayed her hands. “Let me. Turnaround so I can have my arms around you while I take them off.” He nuzzled her neck as he continued to remove her clothing. When she was naked, he cupped her breasts, feeling their weight and teasing her taut nipples with his fingers.

Turning her to face him, he pulled the pins from her hair and watched it fall under its own weight.

He kissed her then, slow and lazy, savoring every nuance of her kiss. “Tell me again. Tell me you love me. I want to taste the words on your lips.”

“Trust me, they’re quite bittersweet.”

“Tell me.”

“I-I love you, Blake,” she said against his lips. “I love you.”

“Your words are like wine, sweet and intoxicating. I feel absolutely drunk on them.”

27

Meredith snuggled back into the warm arms that held her, aware that something had pulled her out of her dream prematurely but unsure of what exactly. The steady breaths of sleep still came from Blake so she knew he had not stirred. Slowly, she opened her eyes and was not surprised to see Lolly looking intently at her. Luckily, Blake warned her Lolly was an early riser and suggested she put on a nightgown after they made love.

“Good morning,” Meredith said quietly.

“Mornin’.  Are you Aunt Meredith?”

“Yes, I suppose I am. Are you the only one up?”

Lolly pointed towards the door. “Nah, Petey’s up, too.”

Meredith lifted her head to
look in the direction Lolly pointed and saw Pete standing in the doorway. “Good morning.”

Pete lifted his hand in a quick, self-conscious wave.

Meredith felt the pressure of Blake’s arm tighten around her and knew he was waking up.

“Why don’t you two go get dressed while I get up and we’ll go down for breakfast in a little bit?” As Lolly and Pete left the room, Meredith push herself to a sitting position.

“Don’t go,” Blake said, groggily.

“Pete and Lolly are up. If you want to sleep longer, I can take them down for breakfast by myself.”

“What would be the fun of sleeping longer if I’m sleeping alone? I’m up.”

Quickly, they got dressed and brushed their teeth and hair and emerged to find Pete working on his little sister’s hair.

“Pete,” Blake said as he entered the room. “Look through Lolly’s hair to see if her halo is being held up by horns.”

He proceeded to check the little girl’s head for devil’s horns and began pointing at her head as if he found them. It was the first time Blake had seen Pete smile. His bottom lip slightly crooked due to the scar on his lip.

Blake stepped over and examined Lolly’s head carefully. “I knew it.”

“Nuh uh!”
Lolly said feeling her head. “I don’t got horns.”

“They’re just teasing you, Lolly,” Meredith said handing a blue ribbon to Pete to tie off Lolly’s braid.
“Pete, any time you want to pass off the task of braiding Lolly’s hair, just let me know.”

He put his hands under his sister’s arms and lifted her to her feet. He grimaced and grabbed his wounded side.

“Are you all right?” Blake asked. “Don’t forget what the doctor said. No lifting for at least six weeks.”

He crossed his arms and glared daggers at Blake.

“Go wash your hands so we can eat.”

As the kids scampered out of the room to wash their hands at the basin, Meredith began looking around.

“Do you have paper and a pencil?”

“I bought them a tablet, will that work? It’s in my bag.”

“That’s perfect.”

Blake retrieved the tablet and a pencil and was waiting for Meredith to use them when Pete and Lolly reentered.

“Are we ready?” Meredith asked.

“What do you want those for?” Blake asked.

“So we can have a nice conversation with our meal. If all we do is ask Pete yes or no questions it’s going to feel like we’re interrogating him. I’m sure he has a lot to say.”

They stepped out of the room and waited while Blake locked the door then headed to the elevator.

“They have this meal at breakfast that’s really good. It’s called French toast. You two should try it.”

When they arrived at the dining room
, Blake ushered them to a back corner where Pete, Blake and Lolly took their usual places. Meredith slid in next to Lolly frowning. “I thought maybe the kids would like to sit together,” Meredith said, not wanting to sound petulant over not getting to sit next to Blake.

“Pete is self-conscious when he eats. People stare because sometimes he has to move his food back with his fingers.”

“Oh. I guess this way I can make faces at Blake.”

Meredith, realizing she still had the tablet and pencil, handed them to Pete.

“Oh, hey, Mr. Warner, I almost didn’t see you back here in the corner,” the waitress said, casting a wide grin at Blake.

He smiled back out of habit. “Good morning,
Lena.”

“Mrs. Donovan mentioned you had adopted some children – but three? You’re jumping into fatherhood with both feet.”

Meredith speared the woman with a glare. She was a pretty blonde, which seemed to be Blake’s preference if the women she met the night before were any indication.

“Two children,” Blake corrected. “This is my wife.”

Lena gave Meredith dismissive glance. “Surely you didn’t actually marry this child.”