Amanda guided her away from the painful side and relaxed into the chair, soothed by the feel of her daughter’s head resting on her shoulder and her little hand stroking her neck.
A shiver rippled through Amanda’s flesh. “Noah, add a log to the fire.”
“Yes, Mama.”
Amanda closed her eyes as the room warmed then jerked awake. The clock on the mantle showed a quarter past three—it had felt like only minutes, but she’d dozed for the better part of an hour!
Her pulse sped as she took note of the children. Jewel was still nestled against her side, and Noah was sitting on the floor nearby, playing with a wooden horse.
The rabbit soup she’d made that morning was being kept warm on the back of the stove top, but the bread still needed to bake.
“Mama has to get up,” she said to Jewel.
Biting back a groan, Amanda slid from under her daughter and stood. “Just a little longer,” she muttered to herself as she walked to the kitchen and stuck her hand in the oven to judge the temperature. Jackson would be home soon.
She returned to the chair and rested while the bread baked.
At the sound of hoofbeats in the distance, Amanda stood and straightened her apron. She plastered on a smile and went to greet her husband, praying that a good night’s sleep would bring relief.
“Supper smells good,” Jackson said as he stepped inside and removed his hat.
“Papa!” Jewel ran to him.
“How’s my girl?” He hoisted her up and planted a smooch on her cheek then made a comical production of sniffing all about her neck and head. “Have you been rolling with the hogs?”
“No, Papa.”
He sniffed some more. “Kissing frogs?”
Jewel giggled. “No, Papa.”
Jackson leaned down and gave Amanda a quick kiss. “Haveyoubeen kissing frogs?” he asked with a grin.
Amanda lifted her chin and cast him a superior look. “I just did.”
“Ha!”
Noah set his wooden horse aside and got to his feet. “I helped Mama make the bread.”
“You did?”
“Yes, sir. I helped her with the laundry, too. I handed Mama the clothes, so she could pin them.”
“That was kind of you, Noah.”
He shrugged his narrow shoulders. “I didn’t mind. Mama was tired. She took a nap like Jewel.”
Jackson looked at Amanda with an odd expression.
She averted her eyes and slipped past him. “I’d better take the bread out of the oven before it burns.” She kept her spine straight despite pain that made her want to hunch over like an old woman, but still, she could feel the weight of Jackson’s gaze.
Jackson kept his eyes trained on his wife. Her movements were stiff and halting as she bent to retrieve the loaves, and she stood stock-still for a full minute once she was done. He wished he could see her expression, but she was facing away.
She’d gasped and pressed a hand to her stomach twice over the last few days, but she’d insisted it was a female complaint.
It must be something more. With the exception of labor, feminine pangs had never affected her this much.
Jackson set Jewel down without taking his eyes off Amanda. “Need me to carry those to the table for you?”–the completely empty table that hadn’t been set for the evening meal, as it usually would have been this time of day.
