Nathan’s Montana Bride (Sweet Historical Mail Order Bride Romance) (Montana Ranchers Brides series) (10 page)

Emma smiled. "It's not your fault mama. I went playing and I didn't want to wake you."

Nathan looked at Abby and his brow furrowed.
 

Abby stroked Emma's forehead. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop you falling in."

Emma smiled. "It's alright mama."

Abby felt something tighten in her throat and her eyes felt suddenly moist.

Nathan rested a hand on Abby's arm. "We'll leave you alone for a while Emma," he said. "You get some sleep."

Nathan leaned over and kissed Emma on the cheek.

Nathan and Abby left the room door open just a little. Mrs. Wardle said she'd keep a close watch on Emma.

Abby followed Nathan up the corridor and stopped outside their bedroom. He
 
was still wet from his leap into the river. He looked down at his sodden clothing. "I need to wash and change," he said resignedly.

"I'll get you some water," she offered.

Nathan shook his head. "No need. I'll ask Mrs.Wardle to bring some up. I need a bath anyway."

"I can do that," Abby said, turning away.

"No!" Nathan said and the sound of the word was loud in the narrow corridor.

Abby looked at him. "I'm your wife. I want to help you," she said.

Nathan took a deep breath and paused. "You're also Emma's mother and you let her fall in the river," he said bluntly.

Abby's jaw dropped. "Are you just going to blame me for Emma falling into the river?"

"You were asleep when you should have been watching her," he said.

"You heard what Emma said. She was playing and she slipped," Abby replied.

"That's not the issue here. The issue is that I told you my rules. Your role is to protect us. Emma. Me. The whole family," he stated.

"And I accept that. But I only fell asleep for a short while. I had no idea Emma was going to wander off."

"Don't blame Emma."

"I'm not," Abby said and a sob started up in her voice but she pushed it down. She wasn't going to let him see her upset.

"It sounds like you are blaming her," he said.

Abby stepped forward and leaned in close. "I would never put Emma in harm's way. Don't you dare accuse me of that."

Nathan's brows furrowed and he took a step back. Further down the corridor Mrs.Wardle appeared at Emma's door and placed a finger to her mouth. "Shhh. She's asleep. Don't wake her up," she said quietly.

Nathan looked at Abby. "I gotta get cleaned up. We'll talk later. In the meantime leave Emma in peace for a while," he said.

Abby frowned. "Are you saying you don't want me going near our daughter?"
 

Nathan seemed taken aback by Abby's choice of words. After a moment he shook his head. "No I prefer you don't. At least until we've talked about this."

With no further word he turned and walked away from Abby and closed the bedroom door behind him.

Abby went to the kitchen and sat at the table. She drank a glass of water and closed her eyes, needing a moment of reflection.

How dare he forbid her to see Emma. Who did he think he was?

It had been a terrible day. A day she wished had never happened. How could she have been so stupid, falling asleep like that. She should have realized that the river was a danger to Emma.
 

Nathan was right. It was her fault, in spite of Emma's forgiveness. Abby was her mother and mothers didn't let their children come to harm. Ever.

And, Emma was Abby's. That was true. Abby's heart had already been so affected by Emma that the thought of anything bad happening to the little girl was unbearable.

Nathan was right. She had to admit it to herself, albeit reluctantly.

But he was being so harsh with her. The events of the river had obviously touched a raw nerve deep inside him.

Abby wondered what other sensitivities lay hidden deep inside her husband's soul. He had been through so much, had suffered so terribly that Abby felt a strong sympathy for him. She really could see why the whole thing had affected him so much.

Nathan loved his daughter. He had shown that he was willing to place his life on the line for Emma.

Would he do the same for Abby?

She couldn't answer that question yet.
 
But she would have to show him that she was as determined as him to protect her family. He may not believe her right at this minute. And that was understandable. They were only starting out in their journey as man and wife. There was a lot for both of them to learn about each other.

Abby drained the glass of the water. It was up to her to show him what she was made of. She'd show him just how far she was willing to go to keep her whole family safe.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

How could she have been so careless? How could she have let Emma
 
get into trouble?

Nathan finished drying himself off and tried to figure out what had happened down at the river.

He'd told Abby. In no uncertain terms. He thought she'd understood him when he made his rules clear. They were the rules that were supposed to keep his daughter safe.

Their daughter?

Abby had said that in the hallway outside the bedroom. She had described Emma as their daughter.
 

Had Abby already forged such a strong relationship with his daughter that she now considered Emma to be her own?

That had taken Nathan by surprise. He'd tried to hide it. He didn't want Abby questioning the strength of his feelings about what had happened. He felt he had to make a stand on this issue, especially so soon in their marriage.

He thought of how lucky it had been that he'd come back to the house and asked Mrs.Wardle where Abby and Emma had gone. When the housekeeper had told him they'd gone for a picnic at the river he'd figured it would be a fun surprise for him to arrive unexpectedly.
 

It had been anything but fun.

He shook his head. So much had happened in the last few days, his head was almost spinning. His life had been transformed by this woman who had agreed to enter his world, a strange place for her in every way. She had shown herself to be strong and determined and capable.

Except in looking after their daughter.
 

Was Abby committed to them? Or had she come here to Montana simply out of convenience?

Nathan couldn't believe Abby was so mercenary. He was a better judge of character than that.

How far would she go to ensure they had a future as a family?

There was her silence about the issue which had appeared between them. Nathan could not get it out of his head that Abby had some kind of secret that she wasn't being honest about with him. No matter how many times he'd asked her she just wouldn't tell him what it was.

It was burning him up to know what it was.

Nathan lay back and closed his eyes. The silence in the house was comforting. The ranch affairs could be taken care of by his foreman. He had to be here in case Emma awoke and needed him.

He closed his eyes and promised himself he'd take a short nap.

He awoke with a start. The dream had come again and as usual it had woken him up. He pushed the images in his mind away as he always did at such times.

The room was dark. He guessed it was the middle of the night. He felt a sudden need to check on Emma. He looked at his watch. It was nearly four in the morning! He'd slept too much. Emma. What was happening? Who was with her?

He made his way down the corridor toward Emma's room. The door was open just a slight amount. Mrs.Wardle must have been up all night, he thought. That wasn't fair on the woman who had a lot of work ahead of her in an hour or two.

He peered into the darkness of the room. There was the faint glow of a small candle.

Emma was sound asleep.

And seated by the side of the bed was Abby!

She had her back to Nathan so she didn't know he was there. What was she doing here, he thought. He'd expressly forbidden her to be with Emma. And here she was, defying him. He felt a surge of emotion. He drew in a deep breath and considered what to do.

He didn't want to wake Emma. The last thing she needed was to be woken up by the sound of her parents arguing over who should be looking after her.

He ran a hand through his hair. How long had Abby been here?
 

Abby moved her head as if a noise had caught her attention. As she began to turn Nathan stepped back into the hallway and away from the door.

He heard a noise from downstairs. It was faint kitchen sounds. He frowned. Surely Mrs.Wardle wasn't up so early.

Nathan padded down stairs on his stockinged feet, trying avoid the creaking parts of the steps.

Mrs.Wardle turned as he entered the kitchen.

"Why aren't you with Emma?" he asked.

Mrs.Wardle put down the mixing spoon that she was holding. "Because your wife insisted I get some sleep," she said.

"What?"

"In fact I've slept the whole night. Thanks to Abby."

"The whole night. So who's been looking after Emma?"

"Abby. She took over before midnight. She's been by your daughter's side all night," she said.

"But I asked you to care for Emma," Nathan said aware of the irritation in his voice.

Mrs.Wardle put a hand on her hip. "Mr. Grantly. When a child has suffered what Emma had to go through yesterday there is only one person in this house who should be by her side through the night. Since you have a ranch to keep going, then it falls to your wife to look after Emma."

"But I asked her..." he began, but the words trailed off.

"You asked her to do what?" Mrs.Wardle queried.

Nathan shook his head. "Nothing."

Mrs. Wardle took up her mixing spoon and pointed it at Nathan. "I don't pretend to understand what's going on between you two right now. But it's clear to me that you both have a whole lot of getting to know each other to be doing," she said with a frown.

Mrs. Wardle thrust the spoon into a bowl and started mixing. "All I know is that you got yourself a wife up there who will do anything for that child. I can see it in her eyes."

Nathan coughed quietly. Mrs.Wardle had a habit of delivering wisdom, often during the preparation of food.

"She came to me and insisted I go to bed. She wouldn't take no for an answer. And she told me not to wake you."

Nathan frowned.
 

"You're a lucky man. Seems to me like you got yourself a real good wife up there. I think it's about time you started doing something to show some appreciation of that fact."

Mrs.Wardle paused and fixed Nathan with a look. "Forgive the advice, but that's how I see it all."

Nathan sat down at the table. "I guess you're right. I've been an idiot."

"Don't go being all pitiful now," she said.

"I'm not. It's just that this whole thing has been such a big change in our life. Me and Emma. We have to get to know Abby."

"Well start doing it!" Mrs.Wardle said firmly. "Time's a moving on. Now let me get back to my cooking. You've got a lot of hungry men going to be waking up anytime soon. If they don't have their chow, you know what's going to happen," she said.

Nathan stood. "Thank you Mrs.Wardle. I know you're right."

There was the sound of rushing footsteps coming downstairs. Nathan frowned and glanced at Mrs. Wardle.

Suddenly Abby burst into the room, her face pale with fright. "Nathan. Mrs. Wardle. It's Emma. She's got a fever."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

They all ran to Emma's room as fast as they could.

Nathan could see the sweat on Emma's brow. He knelt down by the bed and touched her forehead.
 

She was burning up!

Mrs.Wardle said she'd get some cold water and towels. They needed to try and keep Emma cool.

Emma's eyes were closed. She shifted her head imperceptibly from side to side.

Nathan looked at Abby who had her arms wrapped protectively around herself. "How long has she been like this?"

Abby shook her head. "I touched her forehead a couple of hours ago. It was fine then. But I've been here all night," she said.

Nathan nodded. "I know you have." He gave Abby a reassuring smile. "It must have been hard staying awake all night, especially after the day you had yesterday."

Abby looked surprised at his concern. "Well...I guess you're right. But I had to do it. You know that. Don't you?"

Nathan smiled. "I understand you wanted to make sure she was okay. But right now we need to keep her cool. I'll get one of the hands to go into Billings and get a doctor."

"A doctor!" Abby exclaimed.
 
"You don't think it's that serious. Do you?"

"We're not taking any chances," he said firmly.

Mrs.Wardle arrived with the water and towels. They soaked them and covered Emma's forehead. The little girl sighed, her eyes still closed tight shut.

Nathan went to send one of the hands to get the doctor. While he was gone Abby took her rightful place, by the side of the bed, right next to her step-daughter. Or was it real daughter, she thought.

She was alone in the room for the moment. Mrs.Wardle had gone downstairs. Abby replaced the damp, cool towel and drew the blanket away from Emma.
 

Nathan had changed, she thought. He had been almost kind to her. It was such a contrast to yesterday. What had changed his mind? She couldn't guess. But he had changed his attitude toward her.

When she had looked into his eyes as he squatted by the side of Emma's bed, she had seen raw emotion. But not the anger of yesterday. It was fear she had seen on his face, tempered by a deep and intense love for his daughter. She realized that Nathan was a man driven by passion. It was a passion to protect and nurture. He'd been forced to take responsibility single-handed for bringing up his daughter. He'd fought hard to win Abby and won her.
 

Little wonder then that he was a man with strong rules. Life had been harsh to him but he'd pulled through. The loss of a wife couldn't have been easy. The finding of a new one certainly hadn't been simple for him.

Abby's brow furrowed. Nathan was a very special man and she was only beginning to understand him. It would take time. But, if Emma pulled through this crisis, Abby was going to make darned sure they would all have a long future together as a family.