Keep My Heart

Chapter 5

Millie stopped just short of telling him what for, and took Quinn to the kitchen until they left.

What right does he have of speaking to me that way? I outta beat his brains out, the blumid idiot. It isn’t my fault he got drunk and is probably having the nastiest headache he’s known in his life.

After the sound of the horse’s hooves faded away, Millie met Clayton out in the foyer. He smiled at her.

“You’ll have to excuse him, Miss Millie. He’s not having a good day,” he said.

Millie smiled at him. The condition of Trey’s day wasn’t her problem.

“I’m taking Quinn outside for a minute or two. It’s warmed up a little and I think the fresh air will do him good,” she said.

Clayton nodded.

Millie opened the door and saw four riders heading west, the only sound being the hoof beats of their mounts. She carried Quinn to the side yard where a grassy spot under a tree provided a shaded area and sat him down. Quinn looked around and touched the grass lightly. He seemed a little frightened to be outside, and it occurred to Millie that he might not have been outside before. His father was obviously a busy man and didn’t have time for such things. Millie tousled the boy’s curly blonde hair and planned to change his view of the outdoors. Quinn looked up at her with his blue, expressive eyes and Millie’s heart melted. She studied the boy, and compared his features. He didn’t have his father’s eyes or hair, but Quinn’s nose was definitely a look-alike of his father’s. Quinn too, had square jaw that wasn’t as strongly set as his father’s, but the resemblance was there.

In the midst of her thinking, it dawned on her that most children were speaking a little eat Quinn’s age, or at least trying. She hadn’t heard Quinn utter a single word since she had been at the plantation. Filing the thought in the back of her mind to ask Trey about later, Millie directed her attention back on Quinn.

*****

“She’s good with him” Mariah commented to Clayton as they both watched Millie play with Quinn in the side yard.

“I agree” Clayton smiled.

“Mr. Shannon needs a girl like her around. She can shoot those daggers out of her eyes as anyone I know when she has a mind to. Thing is, she rarely has a mind to. I still can’t believe she let Mr. Shannon snap at her like that,” Mariah said, wadding her dishtowel in her hand.

“I could tell she wanted to say something to him. Her redhead was starting to show” Clayton leaned on the windowpane.

Millie tickled Quinn’s feet, and the child’s musical laughter could be heard from their place in the house.

“She needs to show it a lot more. The last thing this world needs is another woman resigned to whatever a man tells her, cause they’ll steer her wrong. And don’t think I didn’t see that look in Wes’ eye when he saw her the first time. That boy is bringin’ trouble” Mariah threw her dishtowel over her shoulder and walked back toward the kitchen where she spent most of her time.

Clayton sighed and watched Millie and Quinn. For some reason, he felt this fatherly urge to protect the young nursemaid from whatever his employer’s men thought of her.

“C’mon Clayton. There’s leftover pie from last night and you’re gonna get it outta the way” Mariah called.

Clayton smiled. “Yes, dear”.

*****

Millie stood as the sun was lowering in the horizon and picked up Quinn to carry him in the house. He was dirty and would need a bath tonight. As she started walking toward the house, a young man out at the barn caught her eye.