He started toward the door but paused halfway. His gaze held hers for a long moment, his blue eyes filled with an intensity she couldn’t name. “I’ll be close by. If you need anything at all, just call for me.”
She nodded, and he finally turned toward the door and slipped out.
She sank back against her pillow, her energy draining like water through a sieve.
Hot tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, and she finally let them come.
CHAPTER 15
Enoch stood at the great room window, the blackness of night pressing in around him. Behind him, muted sounds came from his brothers—James and Thomas’s chess pieces clacking against the board, Robert’s occasional page turn. But they faded to a distant hum as his thoughts circled on the woman in the bed chamber down the hall.
Will’s chamber. Though he rarely thought of the room that way anymore.
Mandie Beaumont had swept in and taken ownership of far too much around here. Including his thoughts.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, his calluses snagging in his beard. He’d been trying to keep from pacing for nearly a half hour now, ever since James returned with Doc Hansen in tow.
The doctor had disappeared down the hall to the bedchamber where Mandie rested, and Enoch had been tied in knots ever since.
Waiting. Worrying. His gut churning with possibilities he didn’t want to consider.
“Enoch, come sit down.” James’s voice cut through the quiet, laced with a thread of exasperation. “Brooding won’t make the doc finish any faster.”
Enoch’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t turn from the window.
Robert spoke up, his tone gentler than James’s. “Worrying won’t change anything, Enoch. Mrs. Beaumont likely overdid it today. With some rest, she’ll be fine.”
Thomas snorted. “He’s probably more worried that Mrs. Wang will give him what-for. He didn’t take proper care of our guest.”
The words were clearly meant to lighten the mood, to draw him out of his dark spiral of thoughts. But Enoch couldn’t find it in himself to respond, couldn’t muster even a halfhearted retort.
Not when his realization of Mandie’s possible condition churned through his mind. After he’d made that comment about Mrs. Jenkins feeling a fluttering when she was with child…Mandie had reacted.
He’d not put the pieces together at the time, but now…
She’d said her husband died three years ago. Had she taken a lover in his absence? Was that the real reason she’d answered Will’s mail-order bride advertisement?
The thought churned bile inside him. He couldn’t reconcile the image of the kind, determined woman he’d come to know with such a scandalous act. But what other explanation could there be?
In truth, why would any beautiful, genteel widow leave her home and family to travel across the country and marry a complete stranger? The very idea seemed preposterous now that he thought about it.
The sound of a door opening jolted Enoch. He spun from the window to see Doc Hansen stepping into the main room, his weathered face unreadable.
Enoch strode forward to meet the man. “How is she?” The words came out harsher than he intended, almost a demand.
The doctor held up a hand, his expression calm. “Mrs. Beaumont will be fine with rest. But I’ll let her share the details with you herself if she chooses.”
His gut twisted tighter at the doctor’s words. So there was something to tell. Something Mandie might choose to keep from him.
He gave a terse nod. “Thank you for coming.”
“I’ll be back to check on her in about a week.” The doctor gathered his bag and headed for the door. “Send for me if anything changes before then.”
As the door closed behind him, Enoch stood rooted to the spot, his mind racing. He had to know what the doctor had said. Had to know if his suspicions were correct.
Ignoring the questioning looks from his brothers, he strode down the hallway to Mandie’s room. Her door stood ajar, lamplight spilling out into the dimness. He hesitated only a moment before rapping his knuckles softly against the wood.
“Come in.” Her voice drifted out, soft and weary.
