Miles Before I Sleep (31 page)

A sad smile played on his lips at her surprise but faded quickly. “Right after the midwife left,” he said solemnly. “She seems a bit sickly.”

Waking up from Calvin’s cries, Andrea sat up and reached out her arms to take the baby. Nearly as soon as Maggie’s hands were empty, she turned to take Caitlin from Miles.

He didn’t protest but he wanted to.

“Well, she’s no bigger than a loaf of bread.”

She wasn’t quite
that
small—even if they folded her arms and legs, she would not have fit in a bread pan, but she certainly was the smallest baby Miles or Andrea had ever seen.

He felt bereaved of her presence, the moment the nurse took her. It felt important to Miles, that if the baby should die, she would have felt loved during her short life.

No one was more surprised than Miles, when she lived through her first day, and again when she made it through her first week. For the first time in his life, Miles became superstitious—if he didn’t hold her every day, he was afraid something would happen to her. Even when she began walking and chasing after her brothers and sisters, when Caitlin began getting sleepy, he would pick her up, and let her fall asleep using his shoulder as a pillow—oftentimes with Calvin using the other shoulder.

No Unspoken Promises

Blake Warner is a man who has sworn he will never marry. Therefore, he doesn’t understand how he ended up standing in front of a preacher with the little hellion he met the night before. It was true that he had taken her to bed, but he thought she was already married. Blake may have been one of Chicago’s most notorious rakes, but he would never intentionally break the cardinal rule of rogues—never take a young woman’s innocence. He made sure she understood before he took her to bed that he was offering
no unspoken promises
.

Meredith Vande Linde knew she would die a spinster in her small Minnesota town after a scandal tarnished her reputation. So what harm could there be in letting Blake think she was married, and allowing the handsome stranger to take her innocence. He would leave the next day, and no one would know.

It never occurred to either of them they might get caught, until it happened.

An Officer but No Gentleman

After a fire burns down their home, motherless six-year-old, Charlie Sinclair, is taken aboard his father’s ship. Over the years, he works his way up to the rank of second mate. But Charlie has a secret. He’s not the captain’s son… she’s his daughter. She may be tough as nails, but she’s completely ignorant about life on land and longs for a life other than the one chosen for her. Her only hope for love aboard their ship comes when her best friend, Morty, discovers her secret. Unfortunately, the love she has for him is brotherly at best.

With a jagged scar slashing across his once handsome face, Privateer Capt. Jackson Bloodworthy, has given up all hope of finding love, when Charlie Sinclair is abandoned by her shipmates aboard his ship. He soon discovers her secret, and is amazed when she looks at him, she does not see his disfigurement. To announce to his crew that Charlie is under his protection, Jackson kisses her on deck making her knees weak and the world fade away. Society would have dictated that she slap him for taking such liberties. But Charlie knows nothing about land-rules—she only knows what her heart feels. She doesn’t understand that his restraint is not because he doesn’t love her, it’s because he doesn’t want to take advantage of her naivety.

Coming Soon

For the Love of Pete

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

M. Donice Byrd lives in a small town near Lubbock, Texas, with her husband of 29 years and his three cats, Radar, Tux and Lucky.

They have one daughter, Bailey, and a grandson, Rhys.

[email protected]