Rebellious Bride (33 page)

“What’s wrong?” Evan asked anxiously.

“A rather sharp pain. One I haven’t experienced before,” she said and took a deep breath.

“I think it wise we return you to the house immediately,” he suggested and slipped his arm around her waist.

Lil gave a hasty nod. “A good idea, though the pain has passed.”

Evan guided her slowly along the path, her endless chatter alerting him to her anxious state.

The next pain would have sent her to her knees if it hadn’t been for Evan’s supportive arm around her.

“Oh, dear,” were the only words her labored breath could manage.

“Lillian, though it is most inappropriate, I feel I should carry you the remainder of the way,” Evan said, his authoritative tone leaving no room for debate.

To Lil’s surprise, he lifted her with little effort and walked in quick, long strides to the house.

The muffin pan that Jonathan held clattered to the floor when the pair entered the kitchen.

“Lady Sherborn is experiencing episodes of extreme pain,” Evan explained more calmly than he felt.

Feeling quite the fool, Lil insisted that Evan put her down. “I’m feeling much better,” she assured him when he failed to comply.

Both men ignored her.

“Jonathan, send for the doctor while I take her upstairs to her quarters,” Evan directed and marched out of the room.

Lil argued with Evan as they entered the foyer. “I can walk, I tell you. I can walk.”

“What’s going on?” a familiar voice snapped.

Evan spun around with Lil in his arms to face his brother’s obvious ire. “She’s experiencing pain.”

“I’m fine,” Lil said quickly. “Evan was just being cautious. I can stand on my own now.”

Rolfe ignored Lil’s comment and focused his concerned look on his brother. “Evan?”

Evan described the incidents of pain, finishing with the instructions he had issued to Jonathan.

“You’re going straight to bed,” Rolfe ordered sternly.

“I am not,” she argued back.

“I think your husband’s decision is a wise one,” Evan joined in.

“I’m the medical expert around here,” Lil shot back.

“You will obey me on this, Lillian,” Rolfe insisted, raising his voice.

“I thought we had settled that obedience issue,” Lil returned in a shout.

“Do not upset yourself,” Evan ordered, his own voice raised.

“I will do as I please,” Lil informed them both.

“You will do as I direct.” Rolfe advanced on her.

She opened her mouth, intending to argue when another pain struck. A sharp yelp leapt from her mouth instead, and she tightened her hold around Evan’s neck.

Rolfe instantly reached out for her, and Evan gratefully relinquished her to her husband.

Lil immediately buried her head in Rolfe’s chest, her hand frantically grasping the front of his white shirt. “I shouldn’t be having these pains. It’s too soon.”

Her words were mumbled against his chest, but he caught every one and his stomach convulsed. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

“You’d better take me upstairs,” Lil said, her worry apparent in her trembling voice.

With a quick troubled glance at his brother, Rolfe headed for the steps and took them rapidly. He wanted desperately to reassure Lil, but how could he? She better understood any difficulties she would face.

Jonathan appeared from nowhere soon after they entered the room, and quick as a flash he had the quilt pulled down to the end of the bed and the pillows fluffed and stacked for her to rest upon.

Rolfe was gentle in his care of her. Once she rested on the bed, he sat beside her. His one hand held hers, and his other hand brushed back, in a soft caress, the wisps of hair that had fallen across her forehead. “You do too much,” he berated her.

Lil relaxed in the comfort of their bed, the pain having dissipated and her husband’s presence having calmed her.

Feeling like herself once again, she reluctantly admitted that the episode was her own fault. “You’re right; I have been doing too much.” She hugged his hand. “I don’t do it on purpose. I just can’t seem to help myself.”

“No, you can’t help yourself,” he said, slipping open the stubborn little buttons on her blouse. “You’re too busy helping other people.”

“Does my work trouble you?” Her question brought a frown to her face.

Rolfe eased her blouse open at her throat and ran his hand languidly up and down the column of her neck. ‘‘Your work makes me jealous.”

“Jealous?” she repeated, surprised by his answer.

Rolfe nodded but a fraction, then leaned down and kissed her lips so delicately that it gave Lil gooseflesh. “Jealous. Your work takes you too often away from me.”

Words failed Lil. She hadn’t expected him to admit to being jealous of the time she spent away from him. Could her husband be warming to her more than he had expected to?

Her hand moved to touch his face when she was seized by another spasm of pain. She reached for her stomach.

“Damn!”

Rolfe rubbed her belly, her suffering stabbing at him like a sharp knife. “You shouldn’t be having these pains?”

Lil shook her head and forced herself to respond as the ache receded. “Not for at least six weeks.”

“What’s the problem here?” Doc asked, hurrying into the room and over to the bed.

“Labor pains,” Lil informed him. “I haven’t been able to determine whether they’re false or the real thing.”

“Let’s hope they’re false,” Doc said and shook off his jacket, tossing it onto a chair. “You know how difficult it is to save a baby born this prematurely. “

Rolfe paled to a deathly white.

Lil noticed his reaction immediately. “Nonsense, Doc. We’ve done it before.”

Doc was about to argue when he caught the short jerky nod of her head toward Rolfe. Understanding immediately, he amended his answer. “You’re right about that, gal.” He turned to Rolfe, “Get Jonathan up here. I need him to prepare a few things we might need. Then join your brother. I’ll call you if I need you.”

Rolfe moved to protest, but Lil tugged at his hand. “You can best help by doing as Doc says.”

“Fine,” he grumbled, “but if you want me—”

‘‘Nothing in the world will keep me from calling out for you,” Lil finished.

Pleased with her answer, Rolfe deposited a quick kiss on her cheek and walked to the door.

“Rolfe,” Doc said, causing him to turn. “Send for Holly. I could use her help, and I’m sure Lil would appreciate her being here.”

Lil nodded vigorously to him.

“I’ll have her here right quick.”

Doc looked at Lil and smiled. “He’s catching on to our way of talking, though it sounds kind of strange with that fancy accent of his.”

“I like his accent,” Lil said defensively.

“You like a lot of things about him, don’t you?”

Lil never thought of denying it. “I certainly do.” Another pain started, and Lil tensed.

“Relax, Lil, relax,” he said. “It’s going to be a long night.”

~~~

At ten o’clock Rolfe, Evan, and Sam sat in the parlor staring at the clock on the mantel. Cedric had long since lost his patience and taken himself off to Susie’s saloon for some entertainment, after insisting they send word if anything developed. Holly had maintained a steady flow of reports throughout the long hours, informing the men of when the pains subsided for a time and when they began again. Doc had yet to decide if the labor was false. The wait continued.

Evan, nervous for his brother and Lil, sought to direct Rolfe’s thoughts elsewhere. “Is there any good property available nearby?”

“You’re serious about purchasing land here?” Rolfe seemed surprised by his brother’s inquiry.

“Yes, my visit here has three purposes. One was to see you again and meet your lovely wife. The other was to repay the money you so graciously loaned me. And the third was to purchase land.”

“Plenty of land available,” Sam said, pouring a cup of hot coffee from the pot Jonathan had left for them.

At one time Rolfe wouldn’t have dared to question his brother about his finances in front of a stranger, but this land had a way of breaking down barriers and bringing people closer together whether they wanted it or not. “Are you certain you would be able to handle the financial end without any difficulties?”

Evan laughed, another surprise to Rolfe. “Several months back I would have had to say no. But with your help and some sound business investments and sales, I have finally returned the Sherborn wealth to what it once was—sound and substantial.”

“Then by all means we shall search for property for you to purchase,” Rolfe said, satisfied that he had lent a hand in helping his brother restore the family wealth.

“How about that Cedric fella? Is he interested too?” Sam asked, having settled back with his coffee.

Evan shook his head, his face registering disgust. “Cedric is almost penniless. His gambling and mishandling of the Moorehaven fortune, since his father’s demise, have brought him to the brink of financial ruin. How he even managed this trip is beyond me. But he insisted on joining me, insisted on seeing you, Rolfe, and your new wife.”

“I’m not surprised,” Rolfe said. “He never could handle his finances. He often approached me when I was married to his sister to help him pay off his gambling debts. I dreaded the consequences that would follow Lord Moorehaven’s death.”

“Don’t concern yourself over it,” Evan responded. “The Moorehaven lands you acquired upon your marriage to Beatrice are doing splendidly.”

“Rolfe, are you going to take my daughter to England someday?” Sam asked a bit apprehensively.

“Only for a visit,” Rolfe assured him and added, “I have been meaning to ask you if you uncovered anything concerning those accidents.”

“Not a blessed thing,” Sam said. “What’s even more puzzling is that the incidents have stopped. The fire was the last one. I’m beginning to wonder if my imagination got the best of me. This is the West, and one can’t always account for what happens. Yet another part of me—the father part—worries like hell about his daughter.”

“You have my interest, gentlemen,” Evan said, leaning forward in his chair. “Since I believe this concerns Lillian, please explain.”

Rolfe talked at length about the accidents, Sam throwing in his opinion from time to time. When Rolfe finished, Evan sat back in his chair, looking perplexed.

“I take it from your expression that you understand my concern,” Rolfe said.

“I most certainly do. Let me think on this. Something troubles me about it, and I—”

Holly burst into the room, interrupting Evan. “The labor was false. Lil is worn out, but she’ll be fine. Doc says she’s not to exert herself. She’s to take it real easy until the baby arrives.”

All three men looked at one another and shook their heads.

Rolfe spoke for them all when he said, “Impossible.”

Lil slumbered peacefully, and although the ordeal had left her a bit pale she looked none the worse for wear. To Rolfe she actually looked beautiful. With her eyes closed, her pale lashes shadowed her fair cheeks, casting just the slightest trace of color on them. Her hair, so tempestuous in its strange color, spilled riotously around her head and onto the white pillow. Her lips had lost some of their usual rosy color and were slightly parted. Her warm steady breath whispered against Rolfe’s fingers as he softly touched her lips.

He had felt so helpless tonight, just as he had the night Bea died. He recalled how Evan and Cedric had stayed with him throughout the ordeal. How they had offered him hope and support. He remembered how, when the doctor delivered the news of Bea’s death and that of the baby, Cedric had cried uncontrollably and Evan had placed his hand firmly on Rolfe’s shoulder and spoken not a word.

That horrible night had rushed in upon his thoughts like a bad dream. All evening he had waited for that terrible night to repeat itself, only this time it would have been Lil who died.

A shudder ran through Rolfe, forcing him to shut his eyes against the madness of his thoughts. Life, he was sure, would not be worth living without Lil beside him.

His eyes flew open and he stared down at his sleeping wife. She tormented him, teased him, defied him, and made love to him without reservation. He could not lose her.

He shook his head at his crazy thoughts and admitted to himself that he was a man beset by love. His only troubling doubt was that Lil might not be as beset by love as he. His experience with women was extensive, but his experience with love was negligible. He had imagined at times that she returned his feelings in kind, by a look, by a word, or by a touch she passed along to him.

But then doubt would sneak into his thoughts, and he’d find himself unwilling to voice his love for her, his greatest fear being that he had misunderstood her signals and that she did not love him at all.

The urge to touch her assaulted him, and he reached out and caressed her cheek.

She rubbed her face against his hand like a kitten craving affection. “Rolfe,” she whispered.

“I’m here, Lillian,” he said and bent down beside the bed.

Her eyes drifted open, yet remained heavy with sleep.”Come to bed with me, I don’t want to be alone.”

“But—”

“I need you close to me,” she pleaded.

Rolfe had thought to spend the night in the nearby chair, not wishing to disturb her. Her soft plea quickly changed his mind.

He rid himself of his garments, slipped beneath the covers, and slid close beside her.

Lil turned with a sigh and much effort until her back was braced against him. She snuggled her backside into the crook of his body and rested her back firmly against his midriff and chest.

A contented smile splashed over Rolfe’s face, and he slipped his arm over Lil’s round belly, steadying her position against him.

Her hand automatically sought his, and she entwined their fingers. “Much better,” she announced drowsily, and within seconds she sank into a much more comfortable slumber.

Rolfe listened to her soft, rhythmic breathing, felt the baby stir beneath his hand, and with the satisfaction of a mighty animal keeping watch over his family, he fell into a light repose, ready in an instant to protect those he loved.