Then she noticed a movement in the room beyond the open door. Freeing herself from Joseph and Becky, she ran into the other room. Nathan was curled into a ball in the centre of the bed, his eyes closed. Emma rushed over and sat down beside him, brushing his hair from his forehead. At her touch he opened his eyes. "Ma! I'm real glad you came."
Emma's breath hitched in her throat.
Ma. He'd called her ma. After all this time ...
Never had those two letters ever sounded so sweet.
"Of course we came, sweetheart. Nobody's every going to take you away from us. Are you feeling sick?"
"She wouldn't listen," he said weakly, lifting his head to glare at his grandmother who had followed her into the room.
"Hush, now. Go to sleep. I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning."
"Long rides upset his stomach," she said to Florence. "Didn't he tell you that?"
Florence didn't answer, merely turned and stalked out of the room. Nathan closed his eyes, and moments later, his breathing slowed.
Emma got up and joined the others.
"I told you we should have kept going, Winston." Florence's voice rose in fury. She was becoming hysterical. "But no, you had to stop and rest. Now look at what you've done."
"Be quiet," Winston said.
Florence sucked in an audible breath, but it didn't stop her tirade. "It wasn't enough that you drove Catherine away, now you've ruined this too."
Winston crossed the carpet to his wife. "We'll discuss this later."
The sheriff folded his arms across his chest as he took a few steps to block the doorway. "I think you folks had better come with me. If these folks are telling the truth, you'll have plenty of time to talk while you're serving out your prison sentence for kidnapping."
Chapter 20
The children were finally asleep.
After the excitement of their rescue and the trip home, by the time they reached Charity, they were exhausted. Nathan was still feeling the effects of the long journey. Emma had given him something to help him sleep, and she was sure he'd be completely recovered within a day or two.
Emma closed the bedroom door and tiptoed down the stairs to where a pot of water was heating on the stove. Sam had gone to help Fred catch up on the chores that had been neglected for the past two days. He would be gone for at least another few hours. Plenty of time to take a long, hot bath.
After adding a few drops of scented oil to the bath water she’d heated, she stripped off her clothes and sank into the steaming water.
Breathing deeply, she inhaled the perfume, letting her muscles relax. She leaned back, allowing the water to wash way the tension of the past few days.
Life was perfect. She had everything she'd ever wanted. The children had accepted her as their mother. Even Nathan, sweet Nathan, had finally called her Ma.
And Sam. Sam cared for her, perhaps not the way he'd loved his first wife, but she could live with that. Maybe in time he would come to love her the way she loved him. He'd proven time and again what a good man he was. Heavens, he'd even allowed her to stay covered while he claimed his marital rights.
A faint smile tugged at her lips as she recalled that evening. She'd been shocked at how she'd reacted to him. What she'd always believed to be something unpleasant a married woman was forced to endure had turned out to be ... amazing. There was no other word for it.
Yes, she thought as
she sank further down in the water and closed her eyes. Life was as perfect as it could get. What more could she possibly ask for?
A sound filtered through her brain, and she opened her eyes. The water was cool against her skin, and she realized she must have dozed off. She shivered, and began to scrub her skin vigorously with the washcloth.
She heard the noise again, a thump like boots climbing the porch stairs, then hitting the wooden floor.
Sam!
He couldn't be home already. How long had she been in the bathtub?