The Midwife's Secret by Kate Bridges

Author:Kate Bridges
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2003-08-05T20:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Tom had never bought clothing for a woman before, but he’d do his best for Amanda. After he took care of his pressing business affairs today, he’d visit the dressmaker. It had been three days since he regained consciousness, and he couldn’t lie around another day.

He threw his legs over the bed and sat up. A coughing spasm shook him. When it subsided, he tugged on his pants. How could he coax Amanda to the ball?

He hated what had happened to her. He hated the injustice of her losing her only infant. He hated that her husband had walked out on her, and he hated that she could never have any more children. His children.

But just because Amanda couldn’t bear children didn’t mean he could stop liking her. As a midwife, she put herself in the center of the most painful situations he could imagine, delivering babies in order to help other women.

If the situation were reversed, would he be able to do the same thing? If he were sterile, could he help other men to celebrate the birth of their children?

Not likely. He wasn’t as generous, or as tough.

With a groan, he got moving. After breakfast, he gave his men instructions to move his furniture into the sawmill, then with Wolf at his side, he strode down the street toward the big hotel to speak to Stanlowski. Tom’s arms and legs felt stiff as he moved, but the soreness would ease as the day wore on. He allowed the morning sunshine to warm his skin, concentrating on the cool, easy feel of the invigorating spring air as it slid into his lungs, instead of his deep financial worries.

As for Amanda, did they have to think about the future? Couldn’t they just go to the ball and see how they felt about each other? Didn’t they owe themselves the pleasure of discovery?

He stumbled in the street. Wolf yelped. Leaning against a hitching post by Ruby’s Dining and Boarding House for support, Tom glanced through the dining window and spied Ruby. He saw an opportunity to create business. The place was jam-packed with tourists for lunch, and he knew from experience that business owners had less difficulty spending their money when it was pouring in.

An hour later, after he’d discussed Ruby’s extension—which they’d been discussing for half a year—and she finally agreed to start next week, he visited with Stanlowski. If there was something amiss, the well-groomed gentleman didn’t act like it, welcoming Tom with an arm around his shoulders and questions about his health.

Tom deliberately left his visit to the bank till the end of the day, to give his temper time to cool. Thimbleton, true to character, was miraculously unavailable to speak to him. Muttering a few choice words beneath his breath, Tom found him holed up in his office.

“I’ll move out of the house,” Tom snapped, “and give you the deed as payment for Quaid’s instruments, but I want you to agree you won’t sell it until the end of the summer.

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