Free Unexpected Treasure: A High Seas Adventure by Tammy Andresen Page B

walking her again. He obliged.
    “Since becoming a countess, you’ve grown quite stubborn.” Mrs. Flannery crossed her arms.
    Sarah raised her eyebrows. Mrs. Flannery had joined her household as a companion but her role was really more of a mother. Anne had also stayed with little Thomas and Captain Sanders was making regular visits. Sarah imagined a wedding was coming soon.
    Her stomach tightened again she leaned more heavily into Rex but kept moving her feet.
    “You really should―“ Mrs. Flannery started.
    “Not yet,” Sarah held up her hand.
    The next few hours passed in a blur and the contractions came with more frequency. In a strange way, she found it easier to give birth than it had been to watch Anne. Seeing her friend suffer had made her feel helpless.
    Rex still held her in his arms and as she finally retired to the bed, he climbed in behind her, holding both her hands as he cradled her body. “I dare say, this is most unorthodox,” the doctor grumbled.
    “I’ll not leave my wife” Rex all but growled.
    The doctor gave a single nod and Sarah let out a wail. An intense urge to push took over every fiber of her body.
    “It’s time,” the midwife called. “Fetch hot water and rags,” she said to Anne.
    Holding her husband’s hands he whispered softly in her ear. “You are so strong, my love. So brave. I love you. I know you can do this.”
    “Here comes the baby, keep pushing Sarah,” Mrs. Flannery urged her on.
    “Gah…” Moaning, she pushed again, as the distinct sound of a baby crying filled the room.
    “It’s a boy.” The doctor’s triumphant call echoed about the room.
    “Oh Sarah,” Rex’s voice caught as he spoke. “A boy.”
    “Give him to me,” Sarah demanded and the doctor obeyed.
    “Have you ever seen anything more perfect in your life?” Sarah asked as she wrapped her arms around her newborn son.
    “Nay, other than his mother.” Rex wrapped his arms under hers and kissed her head over and over. “What shall we name him?”
    “Alexander, of course.” She turned to smile at her husband.
    “Alex, for short.” He grinned back at his wife.
    “Do you want to go tell your father?”
    “It can wait. Nothing in the world could tear me from this bed. You’ve made me the happiest man in the world. My angel, my love, providence has brought you to me and I will never leave your side.”
    She leaned back against him, looking at the baby in her arms. How could she have ever guessed that her life would turn out so perfectly? She smiled to think of how she had thought Rex was a pirate. “You’ve stolen my heart.”
    “And you mine, my treasure.”
     

 
    EXCERPT

    STEALING A LADY’S HEART
    Cumbria, 1812
     
    The Fairfield boys had scattered to the four winds. More precisely, their father, Baron Fairfield, had sent each of his four sons to learn a trade. The baron grew poorer by the day. Should his house fall to ruin, his sons would have something to fall back on, a means to support themselves and help reestablish his title.
    Everyone, but the baron himself, knew that it would take more than his sons learning a trade to save his barony. It would take a miracle. 
    All was not lost for the Fairfields, however. For miracles don’t always happen suddenly.  Sometimes they creep along, winding their path with the course of men. And they stay with the men who are truly worthy.
    So it happened on May the 25th, the year 1812, that the four Fairfield Brothers made their way home.  Each returning from a different direction. Each having traveled a different path. Each bringing a different skill from his new trade. Each reaching the final crossroad before their home in Cumbria at the exact same moment.
    It was astonishing to come upon one another in such a way after four years, but Graham, the third brother and the handsomest in that rugged, manly way, recovered first.
    “You have all gotten fatter and uglier,” he chuckled good-naturedly as he climbed off his horse. His brothers