Judith Bowen by The Man from Blue River

Author:The Man from Blue River [River, The Man from Blue]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

MARTHA DROVE to meet the school bus, her mind whirling, her body numb. Had she really just asked a man to marry her? Had she really just asked a man, practically a stranger, to father her baby? Dear God— she felt one burning cheek with an icy palm—what would Gran Thomas think if she were still alive?

Martha had been raised a lady, in an old-fashioned home. And ladies didn’t ask near strangers to marry them. They certainly didn’t ask near-strangers to father their children, although Martha was pretty sure the topic hadn’t been covered all that thoroughly in the usual society bibles. She wanted to giggle, but recognized the urge as a crazy reaction to the events of the past hour.

That sobered her. She blinked rapidly to clear sudden tears. What hell had Fraser been living all this time? How long? Three years, had Birdie said, since his wife had died? Four? Too long to go on blaming himself for something he couldn’t have prevented. Of course, Fraser would say he could have prevented it— if Charlotte hadn’t become pregnant, if his ranch wasn’t so remote, if he’d made sure one of the hands was always around when he couldn’t be there. But as Gran Thomas would have said, “If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there’d be no work for tinkers.”

Who would have planned so meticulously for disaster? No one. No one would expect such a tragedy and then make complicated plans to avoid it. As Fraser had pointed out himself, the fact that Birdie, a trained nurse, wasn’t home, and that all the hands happened to be away, was just a freak situation.

Did he intend to go on blaming himself forever? She had to convince him that he wasn’t to blame. Her entire happiness depended on it.

And so did his.

Martha frowned. Where had that thought come from?

She saw the school bus just coming around the bend. At least she wasn’t late. She pulled to a stop at the side of the Westbank Ranch road and switched off the ignition

But then, considering what he’d just told her, she didn’t think it was very likely he’d change his mind. Still, he might.

No, she thought with a sigh and a glance at her reflection in the rearview mirror to make sure she didn’t look too disheveled. If things didn’t work out here, she’d just go on, as Fraser had suggested and as she’d known she must one day. She dug in her bag and pulled out a brush, quickly tugging it through her hair.

She’d never been an unhappy person—that wouldn’t change. If she didn’t end up married, with children of her own, one day fairly soon, well, she’d just throw herself back into her work. She’d always enjoyed that. There was always work for a clever writer. Perhaps she’d go back to the television people and relaunch her food show, or go into business for herself doing something exciting. There were a million things to do if a person had a bit of imagination and some energy.

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