Marriage By Arrangement by Anne Greene

Author:Anne Greene [Greene, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian Fiction
ISBN: 978-1-61116-289-9
Publisher: Pelican Ventures Book Group
Published: 2013-08-23T16:00:00+00:00

19

The nursery door still stood ajar, but no sound came from within.

Cailin hesitated. Normally she would have rushed inside, eager to talk with Megan. But her time alone in the armory with God made her more sensitive. She tilted her chin high. It was way past time she begin to think of others’ needs above her own.

Megan had questioned the time she spent alone with Brody. She needed to explain herself more fully. She fingered the small, gold cross she wore every day above her engagement diamond. And so she would.

She knocked gently.

“Who’s there?” Megan’s voice floated from behind the closed door.

Her voice sounded muffled, followed by a series of sniffs, and then a delicate blowing of Megan’s nose. Was her always-confident sister crying?

“It’s Cailin.”

“Oh. Just one minute, please.” Rustling inside showed that Megan was preparing herself. “Come in.”

Cailin pushed open the door into the bright, cheery room. Megan sat in a cushioned rocker.

Wooden toys, carved boats with canvas sails, miniature furniture, and toy horsemen lay scattered around her feet. She hugged a baby-blue knit blanket to her chest, and Megan’s dewy-eyed gaze didn’t quite meet hers.

“Am I intruding?”

Megan’s brows lifted. Surprise lightened her sad face. “No, come in and sit with me. I’m glad of company.”

But her sister really didn’t look that happy to see her. Cailin couldn’t quite put a finger on Megan’s attitude. Her eyes were rimmed with red. She hid sadness behind a tight smile, and smoothed a frown from her forehead with her fingers.

Behind her sister, the clothespress gaped open, revealing dainty white and blue muslin along with fine linen baby clothes piled in uneven rows. Pink and blue bonnets, tiny white booties, pastel parasols, and a silver rattle clustered over small wicker chairs like loving promises waiting to be fulfilled.

Cailin hugged her arms. She so wanted this baby. A son to give Avondale the male heir he needed…and Papa. The realization of just how much she wanted this child swept over her, leaving her knees weak.

But if she bore a daughter, and daughters far outnumbered sons in her family, Papa being the last male in his line, knowing what she now knew of Avondale, could she ever let him touch her again? What if she carried a lass?

God, please give me a normal son.

A son. The thought brought warmth to her cheeks and love to her heart, chasing the fear into a thin vapor.

As she walked into the sun-filled gold and blue room she trailed her hand over a child’s wooden table and chairs. Sweet memories nestled inside this place. When they were children, she and Megan had loved this small upper corner of the castle.

Megan sniffed again.

Cailin brushed her memories aside. “You’ve been crying.” She hurried to Megan’s side and perched on the footstool beside her rocker. She took one of her sister’s slender, cool hands, which dangled forlornly from the rocker’s arms.

“Yes.”

“You’re unhappy with Brody?”

Megan lifted a tear-streaked face. “He’s always with you!”

Cailin’s throat caught.

Had Brody spent that much time with her? He did seem to seek her out most days.

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