A Texas Christmas Reunion by Carol Arens

Author:Carol Arens [Arens, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488087035
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-11-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Juliette dragged Joe’s cradle out of his bedroom and into the lobby.

She built up a fire in the large hearth. From out here she could not hear him fussing and fretting on her bed, but she knew he was.

He’d fallen asleep feeling fine but woken near ten o’clock, unable to find comfort unless she walked and swayed with him.

It was eleven thirty now, and she still had not completed the last thing on her list of chores.

Hurrying back into her bedroom, she scooped up Joe, then her sewing kit. Sitting in her private quarters put her too close to Lena and Warren. The last thing she wanted was for them to wake up, too.

There was still the chance that the wind racing about the building would wake them. Or that the loud banging on the piano, carried from next door on the gusts and sounding worse than normal, would.

“All right now, my sweet boy.” Settling into the chair, she held him close and nuzzled his hair with her nose.

Did he feel feverish? It was hard to tell. He might. She had never dealt with this before. With all that might cause a fever, this was something every mother dreaded.

If he fell ill it would be her fault. She should have devoted more attention to him instead of trying to save the town. And, yes, he did need a good place to grow up in, but what if her focus on the hotel and not her family caused...no—no she would not think of that.

But if he did get sick, perhaps her father-in-law had the right of things when he said she ought to have stayed at home.

Stayed home...which would mean doing nothing to help her town survive. Sit by and watch while it became a place unfit to raise her children.

No matter what she did, it was wrong.

She took a breath, pushed back at the as-yet unfounded worry.

It was very likely that all he had was gas...or colic. Both of those were normal for babies and nothing to fear.

A fever, on the other hand? She did fear that.

He was so young and vulnerable. It broke her heart to see him in such distress and not know why or what to do about it.

The wind howled. The clank of the piano shivered faintly in the air. The grandfather clock ticked away the seconds.

Suddenly it was an hour closer to Christmas... Joe’s suit an hour further from being finished.

“Hush, now, love, morning’s coming. Things will be better then.”

Did he feel hotter all of a sudden? Sometimes a sudden elevation of temperature would bring on a seizure. Hadn’t she heard that before?

If only Suzie Fulsom’s son was here. Juliette would feel much better with a doctor across the street. Without a husband to turn to, Joe’s health was in her hands alone.

Her hands, along with everything else in her body, were bone weary.

“Hush, hush, baby Joe,” she half sang, half said. “Sweet little baby.”

Standing, she wondered if more walking might help. Of course, it wasn’t walking so much as pacing.

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