Love Inspired Historical July 2015 Box Set: The Marriage Agreement\Cowgirl for Keeps\The Lawman's Redemption\Captive on the High Seas by Renee Ryan

Author:Renee Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Love Inspired Historical
Publisher: Harlequin

Chapter Fifteen

Garrick flung himself on his bed in Mrs. Foster’s boarding house. The down mattress felt strange after more than two weeks of sleeping on the ground but would no doubt make for an excellent rest before supper. The bed’s softness enveloped him and straightaway began to soothe away his fatigue. He didn’t even care that Roberts was nowhere to be found to draw his bath. That could come later. Hot water in a brass tub made for better bathing and shaving than icy mountain rivers. Reverend Thomas had urged him to let his beard grow, but that was one concession to Western life he’d forgo. No, he must be bathed, well-dressed and clean shaven when he went to Rosamond, hat in hand, to learn whether or not she would forgive him.

With dreams of her lovely face dancing through his mind, he surrendered to sleep until a soft knock on the door roused him.

“Mr. Wakefield?” He hadn’t been able to persuade Mrs. Foster to call him Garrick.

“Yes, Mrs. Foster.” He rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed. His mantel clock read three twenty-four. He’d slept only half an hour.

“Young Adam is here,” she said through the door. “Will you see him?”

Garrick chuckled. Adam had been dismayed at his departure. Even begged to tag along. “Yes, Mrs. Foster. Send him up.” He yawned and scratched his head. Yes, a bath was in order—the sooner, the better.

Adam knocked and then opened and peered around the door. And grinned from ear to ear. “Welcome back, Mr. Wakefield.” He stepped into the room. “I suppose you heard.”

An odd foreboding sent a shiver up Garrick’s spine. “No, actually, I haven’t heard. You are my herald. Kindly announce your news.”

Adam continued to grin. “Land sakes, you sure do look like him.”

Another shiver. “Like whom, my lad?”

“That fancy Lord Westbourne up at the hotel. Course, he’s a lot older—”

“Lord Westbourne? My uncle is here?” Garrick’s heart dropped to his stomach. Now he must pay for abandoning his post for an ill-advised holiday, leaving the unfinished hotel to common workmen to complete without supervision. An involuntary groan escaped him. After a two-week reprieve, judgment would now fall upon him for his neglect.

“Yessir.” Adam stared at him up and down. “You might want to clean up a mite before you go see him. They’re awful fancy people.”

“They?”

“Yessir. The lady and the boy.” He shook his head. “And a passel of servants. Why do three people need so many servants?”

As Garrick tried to calm his racing heart, he gave Adam a rueful smile. After tending his own needs for these past days, he wondered that himself.

“Can I help you, sir?”

“Indeed you may.” He certainly wouldn’t turn down that offer or correct the boy’s grammar. “I shall be eternally grateful.”

Uncle often spoke of the importance of fastidiousness, so it wouldn’t do to show up at the hotel without bathing. While Garrick soaked away over two weeks’ worth of soil and sweat in a lukewarm bath, he enumerated in his mind the many tasks not completed before he left.

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