Free Brotherhood 02 - Broken Promise by Laura Landon Page B

his attention. She was waking.
    Her eyes opened, slowly at first, then fluttered as if fighting to stay open. She frowned, as if she needed a moment to remember where she was. When she did, her eyes filled with fear and she sat upright in bed.
    “Jonathan!” She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and searched the room.
    “He’s here,” Austin answered. “He’s safe.”
    Her gaze found him, then lowered to the bundle in his arms. Relief flooded her features when she saw him.
    She clasped her hands to her flushed cheeks. “I’m sorry. I must have—”
    “You lost consciousness.”
    She shook her head. “I don’t—”
    “You did.” Austin wanted her to realize she was vulnerable. “You fainted because you were exhausted. Because you went without sleep longer than your body could stand. And without food. Your body was telling you it was tired of being pushed so hard.” He wanted her to know she couldn’t manage on her own. But more importantly, he wanted her to realize she could trust him. Wanted her to understand that he could have taken the baby while she slept, but didn’t. “Would you like to go back to sleep or do you want something to eat first?” He cast a glance at a small table that held a tray of food. “Mrs. Pollock brought up some warm milk for Jonathan and a tray for you before she went to bed. If you eat now it might still be warm.”
    “I’m not—”
    “Yes, you are. Maude said she didn’t think you’d eaten all day.”
    “I wasn’t—”
    “My guess,” Austin said, interrupting her again, “is that you were probably hungry, but didn’t want to leave this room because you didn’t want to risk being seen.”
    Her eyes narrowed. He saw her anger and enjoyed the fact that he could rile her.
    She rose from the bed and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. Her gaze focused on him as if he was the target at the end of her rifle barrel and before she fired she wanted to make sure her aim was accurate.
    “Are you always so argumentative?”
    “Argumentative?” He feigned a look of surprise. “None of my friends or acquaintances has accused me of being so.”
    “That’s because I doubt you have any friends. And your acquaintances are undoubtedly afraid to tell you your faults.”
    He placed a sad expression on his face. “What a low opinion you have of me, my lady.”
    “A well-deserved opinion, I’m sure.”
    “I can’t imagine what I’ve done to earn such disparaging remarks.”
    She took a step toward him. “Would you like me to explain?”
    “By all means, yes. That would be ever so helpful when I meet my next acquaintance . But first, perhaps little Jonathan would like to have something dry on his bottom.”
    Her gaze darted to the babe in his arms and her face paled. “Oh.” She rushed over and lifted the babe.
    Austin watched with fascination as she carried the wet babe across the room and placed him on a blanket spread atop a small table. The second she released him, his arms and legs kicked as if he was a four-legged fish paddling in water.
    She removed his wet clothes and covered him with a dry cloth, then tied it shut. She talked to the babe while she worked, smiling, and laughing, and gently blowing noisy kisses against his skin. He laughed with excitement.
    Austin didn’t doubt that this was an age-long ritual that all mothers instinctively knew to do because he’d seen Liddy behave the same with little Rachel. There was a special connection mothers developed early on with their babes, a connection that excluded fathers.
    A strange feeling settled over him, one he didn’t like to admit to—an emptiness that ached to be filled.
    For several long moments he evaluated this strange sensation, then brushed it away as if it were an unwanted piece of lint. What was there about watching her that made him pine for things he’d never considered before? What was there about her that caused him to consider how hollow his life would be without someone to