Mail Order Maternity (Brides of Beckham Book 6) by Kirsten Osbourne Page B

feeling better is the main thing we’re worried about, right?”  She couldn’t keep the slight sarcastic tone from her voice.  Did he think he was the one who was pregnant or something?
    He sighed.  “I know you think I’m being overly cautious, but I feel like God has entrusted me with a wonderful woman and a child who belongs to me and another man.  I need to make sure both are safe.”
    She nodded, looking down at her food so he wouldn’t see her roll her eyes.  Why did he think she was this delicate little thing?  She’d been raised like every other farm girl.  To work.  Her mother had eight healthy children, the last two a set of twins born when she was forty.  Esther had always taken after her mother.  “I’ll be ready to leave in the morning.  I just hope the movements of the wagon don’t nauseate me.”
    With those words she stood and started washing the dishes with water she’d heated before the meal.  She heard his groan from behind her.  “I thought all that was over!”
    She shrugged.  “It probably is, but I think part of the reason it’s over is because I haven’t had to go anywhere in a wagon or by train.”  She smiled as she stared out the window.  “I’m sure everything will be fine.”
    Thomas stared at her back, wondering if she was just trying to make him crazy, or if she really was worried about getting sick again from the motion of the wagon.  Should he risk the drive?
    He stood.  “I don’t think we’re going to make that drive after all.”  He put his hands on the back of her shoulders and rubbed them.  “We can’t have you getting sick again so soon.  You’re just starting to eat again, and you’re not strong enough to get that sick.”
    She smiled and turned to him, pressing a kiss to his lips.  “Does that mean you’re willing to have relations?”
    He stepped back, shaking his head.  “Not at all.  If you’re not healthy enough to ride in a wagon for three hours to see a doctor, then there’s no way you’re healthy enough for lovemaking.”  He took a fig from a small bowl on the counter where she had placed them for guests to snack on throughout the day.  He’d brought some home at the end of the day yesterday to surprise her.  He loved the summer months because there was always some kind of ripe fruit growing wild on the homestead. 
    She glared.  “I won’t get sick going to the doctor.”  She folded her arms across her chest, seriously annoyed that he’d called her bluff.
    “Then why did you say you would?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
    “Because I really think we’re wasting money by missing a day of work and driving all the way to town for a doctor’s appointment.  I think we should stay here and work.  It’s just not necessary.”
    Thomas shrugged.  “You’ll see a doctor, or sleep in the nursery until the baby is born.”  His face told her how serious he was about the subject.
    “You’re actually threatening to keep relations from me?  Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”  She was dumbfounded.  Men didn’t withhold lovemaking.  Only women did that, right?
    He shrugged.  “I’ve never had them to get used to.  You were married for six months.  I think at this point they matter more to you than they do to me.”  He desperately hoped she wouldn’t call his bluff.  He had no desire to spend the next six months alone in bed, but he would rather than backing down.
    She turned her back on him and finished the last of the dishes, drying them and putting them away.  Removing her apron, she walked up the stairs without saying another word. 
    He watched her go with a smile.  He was certain she’d take the trip into town the next day to see the doctor.  He knew he was being difficult, but he didn’t appreciate the way she’d tried to manipulate him. 
    He read for an hour before climbing the stairs and going up to bed.  She was in her nightgown, sleeping on her side, facing away from where he