Nordin, Ruth Ann - South Dakota Series 02 - Bid for a Bride by Frederique

and his mother and there was nothing he could do to change any of it. She was still buried in the cemetery in Wyoming, and his father had gotten rid of him without enough concern to even give him food or water.

    Brian recalled there being three days of walking through tall grass, crying until he was dehydrated and weak. That was when John and Eliza found him in the fields. He was so grateful to find another human being that he didn’t wonder if it was safe or not. Fortunately, John and Eliza turned out to be the type of people an eight-year-old blind boy could trust.

    Footsteps brought Brian’s attention back to the coffee pot in front of him. He lifted the lid and smelled it, assured it was ready and took out two cups from the shelf above the cook stove. Whatever got him thinking of the past? He rarely did it anymore. Then he recalled Lucy’s situation. It was the possibility of her having Adam’s child that brought the memories back. Another man treating a woman wrong and then running off to potentially abandon his child. Few things angered Brian more.

    Pushing aside the unpleasant feelings, he called out a greeting to Lucy, hearing from her footsteps that she was still in the bedroom.

    Grinning, he walked to the bedroom, and from the direction of the rustling skirt, he turned his head toward the dresser. "Good morning. This time I made you coffee."

    "Morning, Brian."

    He frowned when he detected the worried tone in her voice. "Is something wrong?" She didn’t answer, and from the way all sounds stopped, he gathered she stood perfectly still.

    "Lucy?" He reached out toward where he’d heard the rustling of her skirt.

    "I’m still here," she whispered and took his hand.

    Caressing her cool hand in his warm one, he asked, "What’s wrong?" He heard her bare feet scuffing across the floor before her arms went around his waist and she rested her head on his chest.

    Surprised, but pleased, he wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on the top of hers so he could better smell her lavender soap.

    They stood there for a full minute, and he was beginning to wonder if she’d ever tell him what was on her mind when she softly said, "I’ll find out in a couple days if I’m expecting a child or not."

    "You have nothing to fear with me. I’ll love the child."

    "I know you will, but I’m afraid I won’t."

    "Sure you will. A mother can’t help but love her child," he said, thinking of his real mother and how much she loved him.

    She loved him to the point of taking the brunt of his real father’s anger. He didn’t doubt for a minute that Lucy would lay down her life for her child, regardless of who the father was.

    "I didn’t love Adam," she confessed. "I was fond of him. I thought he’d make a good husband and father, but I never loved him."

    He wondered if it was wrong for him to be happy to hear her say those words. Obviously, she didn’t love him when she married him. Theirs was a marriage borne out of necessity. But at least he didn’t have to worry about her mourning the loss of someone she loved.

    "I would have been faithful to him," she continued. "I meant the vows when I spoke them. I would have done what I could to be a good wife for him."

    "I know."

    "I meant those vows with you too, Brian."

    "And I meant them with you. For better or worse, Lucy. We’ll get through this."

    He felt her body relax.

    "You feel better?" he guessed.

    "A little."

    "Good. We’ll take it one day at a time."

    She remained in his arms for another minute before she stepped back. "Are you hungry?"

    "A bit, but I can wait until I get to Ma and Pa’s place if you don’t feel up to cooking."

    "No. I want to cook. I like to keep busy so I don’t worry."

    "Whatever you feel up to is fine, Lucy."

    "I’ll go out for a minute to take care of personal business and then I’ll be back."

    He listened to her leave the house before he returned to the kitchen to pour their cups of coffee.
    Maybe it was