At the Corner of King Street by Mary Ellen Taylor

Author:Mary Ellen Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2015-04-20T04:00:00+00:00

March 1, 1751

Dr. Goodwin remains fragile, but he is getting stronger. I saw Mistress Smyth at the market and she told me she heard Faith attended my son’s birth. She tells me also that Faith delivered the pastor wife’s baby. A girl. Mother and child are doing well. Mrs. Smyth heard Faith spun magic around the woman and relieved her birthing pains. “It’s a sin,” she whispered. “A sin.”

Chapter Fourteen

“What do you mean you’re leaving?” Scott stared at me over a toasted bagel loaded with cream cheese.

“I’ve got to run into Alexandria.” I wriggled into clean jeans and a white top that floated above my waistline. “It’s going to take me a couple of weeks to sort it all out.”

“A couple of weeks?” He sat up, leaning heavily on his elbow. “But you just got back. I thought you’d handled your family crisis.”

“I’ve gotten some of it handled, and I’ll fix the rest in the next few weeks.”

“Weeks?”

“Two or three.” Okay, it was four weeks, but I’d tell him that later.

“Shit, Addie. You’re going to be gone almost a month. Who’s going to take the orders or coordinate the press?”

“I will. I’ve forwarded the phones to my cell and George will keep the day-to-day operations in play like he always does.”

“What’s going on with your family?”

From my top drawer, I grabbed clean underwear, T-shirts, and shorts. “Truly, it’s not that exciting.”

“If it’s taking you away for three weeks, I want to know.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed, pulled on his shorts, and crossed to me. He cupped his hands on my face, the worn callouses brushing my cheeks. “What’s going on with you?”

His hands, warm and welcoming, tugged at the secrets locked away. “Family stuff.”

His darkening gaze searched mine. “I don’t know any information about your family. You never, ever talk about them.”

“Because they’re a lot of drama. And I hoped I’d left them behind for good, but more drama has caught up to me.”

He rested calloused hands on my shoulders. “Let me help.”

As much as I wanted to share this burden with him, I feared the telling of one secret would lead to another and another and then one day he’d know the darkest part of me that I could never share. “I don’t want to drag you into this.”

“Honey, you’re important to me and whatever is an issue for you is an issue for me.”

Scott believed what he was saying. He wanted to believe it. But Janet and Carrie were not sprint races; they were twin marathons that would exhaust the toughest of runners. Scott could lend his attention to events outside the vineyard for short bursts, but for him to put all this on hold to take care of a fussy baby and her mentally ill mother, well, that went beyond what he could handle. I wasn’t sure if I could handle it.

His thumb traced my jawline as he held my face. “Honey, let me help.”

I pulled his hands from my face and kissed the palms.

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.