Through the Darkness: Of Love and Loss Series Book One

40

Elyria jerked awake, her heart hammering in her chest from being startled from a deep sleep. Rubbing her eyes, she covered a yawn and pushed herself into a sitting position on the couch to the sound of keys jingling in the lock.

Seconds later, Everett muttered a string of expletives and stumbled through the back door. "Pegleg?"

"How did it go?"

He grunted and flicked the light on, filling the room with the quiet hum of electricity. Then, limping over to sit beside her on the plush sofa, he let out a weary groan and rubbed his right thigh. "I need a new cane."

"Why?"

Everett hesitated before murmuring, "Because Bert Wagner broke my old one with his face."

"I have a strong suspicion there's more to the story than that." She arched a brow at him.

Everett shrugged, his arm rubbing against hers with the motion. "He tried to hit me with a stool."

"A... stool?"

"Mrs. Wagner kicked him out, so I went to the Iron Door Tavern to have a few words with him."

A moment of silence, then Elyria nudged him. "And?"

Everett cleared his throat. "And... the savage swine took exception to the ones I chose. Although how he understood some of them when he can barely string together a coherent sentence boggles my mind."

She bit back a grin and ran her fingers through the hair at his right temple, making him hiss in pain. "Full-blown Captain Rattlesnake?"

"You did give me your permission to introduce them." He chuckled, taking her hand in his to press a kiss to her palm. "I simply made sure I left a lasting impression."

The smile slipped from Elyria's face, and her brow lowered with concern. "How's Carson? Was it just as you feared it would be?"

Everett let go of her hand and sat forward. When she thought he would speak, instead, he held quiet, the silence speaking louder than any accounting of injuries the boy suffered. Then, at last, he said softly, "He's alive, but..." he blew out a breath and set his spectacles on the coffee table with a soft clatter. "For the life of me, I'll never understand how someone can hurt their flesh and blood that way... makes my blood boil."

Elyria rested her head on his shoulder, smoothing her hand up and down his back to ease his tension. "Do you think Bert will leave them alone now?"

He turned and pressed a kiss to her brow. "Men like him don't stop until someone ends up in a grave."

"Then let's hope it doesn't come to that for any of us."

Everett fell silent again for a moment, then shook his head. "I doubt we'll get off that easy." He turned to face her and tucked a lock of her hair behind her right ear. "Did I wake you from a nap?"

She shrugged and smiled. "I don't mind."

"Are you feeling sick again? Maybe you ought to go see Doc—"

"I already have," she whispered, her heart suddenly leaping to her throat, "a couple of weeks ago."

"You did?"

She nodded.

"Well, what'd he say?"

Elyria swallowed convulsively. This wasn't at all the way she'd pictured telling him. She wanted to make it memorable, cook him a nice dinner, and reveal it in some romantic way he would never forget.

But she'd kept the news from him long enough. He deserved to know, especially now that her belly had a gentle slope to it that she could no longer hide.

Her stomach twisted in a knot of nerves, and her mouth suddenly became parched. What would be the best way to say it? There were two options before her. Either she could keep the admission subtle and test the waters or come right out and throw the news at him.

Delicately clearing her throat, she smoothed her right hand against her skirt and decided for the more subtle, gentle approach. "He said I should be better in about five months or so."

"Five MONTHS?" Everett muttered several curses and stood, limping over to his reading nook, then back toward her on the couch. "To think I always thought him to be a good doctor. I'm gonna take you somewhere for a second opinion. Five months. What kind of birdbrained disease is that?"

Elyria rolled her eyes. So much for subtlety. "The kind that gives you a tiny human at the end."

He came to a sudden stop two feet to her right. Deafening silence descended, and then, like tiny gears clicking into place, he slowly said, "A tiny—are you saying... what I think you're saying?"

"Yes," she laughed, covering her mouth with her hands. She chewed on her bottom lip and blinked back tears. "We're going to have a baby."

Everett dropped beside her on the couch and took both her hands in his. "A baby?"

She nodded.

"That's why you've been feeling so poorly?" He cradled her right cheek in his hand and threaded his fingers through her hair behind her ear. "Doc's sure you're not sick with something else?"

"Yes," she whispered, leaning into his touch. "He said all my symptoms point to this."

He cupped her chin and claimed her mouth in a thorough kiss, then pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. "I can't believe it—a baby."

She hesitated a minute before pulling away and asking, "You're happy about it then? You're not upset that I didn't tell you sooner?"

"I couldn't be happier." He took her in his arms and held her. "It doesn't feel real, Pegleg. Things like this don't happen to me—at least they never did until you came into my life."

Elyria ran her fingers through his hair and brushed her nose against his. "I could say the same, Captain."

"How are you feeling right now?" He whispered a few minutes later, kissing first her upper lip, then her lower.

"Pretty good," she breathed, closing her eyes with a joyful sigh under his ministrations. "Better than I have in a long while."

He trailed kisses across her jaw, then to the sensitive spot behind her left ear. She tipped her head to the side, granting him better access. Grinning, he murmured, "You up for a bit of kissing?"

She licked her lips, finding it difficult to concentrate enough to make coherent speech. "Only kissing?"

Standing, he pulled her up beside him and guided her into their bedroom with a mischievous chuckle. "Come on, let's go to the candy store."