A Bride of Convenience by Jody Hedlund

Author:Jody Hedlund
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction;FIC042030;FIC042040;FIC027050
ISBN: 9781493425211
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2020-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

Zoe stretched, waking slowly, praying the throbbing in her head was gone.

The first thing she felt was the cool cloth that stretched across her eyes to her temples. The second thing was the gentleness of fingers intertwined in her hair. The fingers were unmoving, but she recognized the tender pressure as Abe’s.

She shifted to find that his arm was resting on the bed near her head, which meant he’d pulled up a chair as close to the bed as he could get.

Her heart fluttered, and at the same moment, the pounding in her head resumed—albeit not as strongly or as painfully as before.

How long had she been abed this time? Vaguely she remembered Abe taking the basin after the pain caused her to throw up. She also remembered he’d taken Violet’s bottle. Did that mean he’d fed the babe?

Had a doctor come and examined her, or had she only imagined it? She vaguely recollected another male speaking in low tones with Abe as well as Will’s voice ringing with worry. Was the boy still here? She needed to reassure him she would come through the ordeal just fine. She always did.

She pried open her eyes and at the same time lifted the cloth away. She winced against the daylight in the cabin, even though it was dim and gray.

“Will?” she whispered, her voice groggy.

A little foot jabbed into Zoe’s ribs, and she rubbed a hand gently over Violet, who was snuggled against her, bundled loosely in a baby blanket. In the same moment, she took in Abe reclining, his head back, his eyes closed in slumber.

Zoe rolled to her side so that she had a better view of the two. Violet was sleeping contentedly, which meant somehow Abe had figured out how to feed her. Bless him. What would she have done without his help?

His expression was peaceful, his fair hair falling across his forehead, the unruly waves in need of taming. A scruffy layer of stubble covered his jaw and chin, shadowing his face. Even so, his features were well defined, etched in hardness, and yet somehow always tender. From the top of his messy head to his muscular shoulders and arms to his long lean legs stretched out in front of him, he was a handsome man. If he realized how appealing he was, he’d never allowed it to puff him up.

She studied his mouth. Even his lips were practically perfect. And ’course, his smile was always heart-stopping.

“How are you feeling?” he whispered.

She jerked her attention away from his mouth only to find that his eyes were wide open and that he was watching her watching him. “I’m better.”

His expression relaxed, and his eyes softened with what could only be described as relief.

“Thank you for feeding Violet.”

He smiled affectionately at the babe, which only made him all the more endearing. “She’s a sweet baby.”

“Aye.”

The blue of his eyes was cloudless and pure and radiated warmth—a warmth that made a trail down her chest to her abdomen.

“I hope I did everything right,” he whispered.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.