And then he’d made her feel dirty.
“You’re overreacting.” He waggled his eyebrows in the manner she’d once considered to be charming. Dear God, she’d found him irresistible. And now she felt nothing but sadness, regret, and revulsion.
“I am not.”
“Luke poisoned you against me, didn’t he? In that letter he sent.” Suddenly, Arthur’s expression wasn’t so amiable at all. His entire face turned dark with suspicion.
Naomi was shaking her head. “I never got the letter. I didn’t realize you were even alive until you arrived and found me in the garden.”
“But he’s been telling you lies. You think I caught a disease by rutting with some trollop? These are simply sores… from the fever.”
She flinched. He’d never spoken to her with such disrespect and callousness before. And that he would lie… that he would put her in danger.
He had changed in so many ways. She wanted to believe he had not been this way before. If he had been, then what did that make her? Because… she had loved him. Not in the way sheloved Luke, but she had found contentment and happiness. Yes, she’d found some happiness with him.
Amelia chose that moment to squirm and make a cooing sound.
The darkness fled from Arthur’s face and he was once again looking nothing if not amicable. Had she imagined his outburst?
“May I hold her?” His brown eyes warmed into a pleading look.
Naomi never could have imagined the turmoil his return would bring. Arthur was Amelia’s father. But he was also ill and unpredictable and a little bit… frightening.
“Please?” For all his misdeeds, she couldn’t refuse him this.
Naomi liked to wrap Amelia so she was snug and safe inside her blanket. She was easier to hold this way. Arthur wouldn’t drop his daughter. The blankets wouldn’t allow any of the scabs to touch her baby soft skin.
For all his ugliness, he seemed to genuinely care for their daughter. It was in his eyes.
Arthur adjusted his posture and reached out to her. As she settled her most precious darling into his arms, a wave of memories washed over her. Of their wedding day, when he’d clasped her fingers in his and solemnly recited vows as instructed by the man at the anvil. Those few weeks had been exciting and fun and filled with new adventure. And then other memories crept in.
The doubt that had niggled at her when he hadn’t written to her from the front, when the funds necessary for living hadn’t arrived, and then that day when Luke had arrived. Her hands shook while she helped arrange Amelia in his arms.
“Luke’s been nothing but kind to me.” She took a half step away but hovered anxiously, to take her baby back if need be. “He informed me of the assault in person. When he saw that the house needed repairs, he stayed at the coaching inn atHull Crossings so he could take care of them.”And when we discovered your ultimate betrayal, he protected me.
“She looks just like me, doesn’t she?”
Something unraveled from around her heart. “She does.” This was a special moment for him. Despite his unfaithfulness, he would always be Amelia’s father.
“Hello there, little darling. I’m your father.”
Naomi clutched her hands in front of her as Amelia reached a tiny fist up to Arthur’s chin.Don’t breathe on her.It made her anxious. His sores. The ague.
She could not allow it any longer. “It’s time for her nap.” Arthur was Amelia’s father, but Naomi would protect her child first. Always. It was what mothers did.
Arthur slumped into the chair after Naomi removed the baby from his arms. Such a small thing had tired him. It had been good, though, for him to hold her.
“Once I’m well again, we’ll return to Milton Cottage as a family. It will be good again, you’ll see.” But the whites of his eyes appeared even more yellow today. He was weakening.
It wasn’t necessary for her to remind him that they would never be a family.
“You must rest now. Mr. Webbs can assist you back to your chamber.” She crossed the room and tugged at the bell pull.
“Mimi?” His voice had her turning back to meet his gaze.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry.”
