Page 47 of The Gambler Wagers Her Baron

It was then that she saw Abram wade into the water.

“Lord Ashford,” she screamed before gathering her skirts and running toward the pond’s edge. “Joy! Joy!”

Payton didn’t hesitate before flinging herself into the cold, murky pond, rushing past Abram deeper into the water, her body threatening to freeze from the sudden, unexpected chill of the water as it enveloped her. Her head dipped below the surface, and her gloved hands clawed at the water, searching for Joy.

The commotion beside her said that the baron had followed her into the pond. She adjusted her position, bringing her head above water to scan the area for any sight of Joy. She gulped air, polluted pond water sliding down her throat and making her cough.

“There, there!” Abram called from the shore, but Payton didn’t take her eyes off the water as she continued to search for Joy.

“I’ve got her.” The baron threw himself farther into the pond, swimming about ten feet toward the center before ducking under the surface.

Payton held her breath, waiting for him to resurface, knowing she’d never again be able to draw air if Joy did not.

Finally, Lord Ashford broke the water’s surface, Joy clinging to his chest, and waded toward the shore. Payton’s entire body trembled at the sight—the baron, as soaked as she was, clutching his child to his person as his knuckles whitened from his hold. While Joy clung to her father, shocked from the surprise of it all, Ashford gripped the girl with such fierceness and terror, it was like he hadn’t realized he’d saved her.

Payton’s hair hung limply about her shoulders, and her gown and cloak were molded to her body as she followed them from the water. Her half boots sloshed. She shivered from the cold when the afternoon breeze assaulted her as it whipped off the pond and across the park.

A group of onlookers had gathered during their brief time in the water, but Ashford pushed past them, stalking toward their blanket, leaving Abram and Payton to hurry behind. Rigby arrived at the picnic blanket at the same moment the baron did and pulled the cloth free before wrapping it around both the baron and Joy.

Lord Ashford didn’t pause as he continued on to their carriage.

Payton pushed Abram to enter the coach before her and then pulled herself up, not caring that she dripped water all over the baron’s cloth seats.

“Is she well?” she asked in a whisper.

“She will be.” He lowered the blanket until Payton could see the girl, her skin tinted slightly blue with cold. “She needs to warm up, but I am soaked to the skin, too.”

The carriage surged into motion, throwing Payton forward slightly as she latched on to the handle looped above the windowpane.

The baron didn’t so much as budge. He remained unwavering, his head tucked against Joy’s neck as he mumbled something in her ear. Payton couldn’t hear what he said, but the child’s eyes fluttered, and she turned her face into his shoulder, burrowing closer to her father.

It had all happened so quickly: Payton realizing something was amiss, Abram standing alone, and golden hair disappearing below the water’s surface.

Neither she nor Lord Ashford had hesitated for even a second before plunging into the frigid pond in search of the child.

Her exterior was freezing, and her heart beat frantically.

She squeezed her hands tightly in her lap to stop her shivering, though her wet hair hung over her shoulder, droplets of water hitting her fists. Her knuckles turned white before she released her hands and wiped them down her skirts, pushing her soaked, discolored gloves to the floor.

Joy was safe. She was alive. They were headed home.

Not her home, their home. Ashford Hall.

“Thank you.”

She glanced up to find the baron staring at her, his eyes meeting hers without reservation. The intensity there was something she’d never witnessed before.

Payton shrugged, attempting to hide the trembling that wracked her entire body. “I am her governess, I should have been watching her more closely. If I had, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“We could not have foreseen this.” He shook his head. “And it is I who should have been paying closer mind. They are my children…my responsibility. I should have kept her safe.”

He spoke the truth, but it did nothing to assuage Payton’s guilt.

Payton watched as he gently rocked Joy, much as she had after the child woke from her night terror. With his other arm, the baron pulled Abram close to his other side.

Part of her wished he hadn’t accompanied them today, that he’d kept this side of himself hidden from her.

However, all of her wished she hadn’t allowed herself to become invested in the baron and his children. If her mother’s past had taught her anything, it was to remain level-headed with her thoughts trained on what was to come. Focused on what came next for her. Something better. Moving on. Thriving.