Page 39 of The Autumn Wife
“And the babe…” Currently being rocked in Captain Girard’s arms in the other room. “Is there something I must do for her?”
“When her daughter cries for milk, Marie will take her up.”
The Huron woman nodded and left, closing the door behind her. Through that door, Cecile heard Captain Girard’s rumbling voice and words spoken in the Huron tongue.
Theo must be in the parlor, too, and the thought was a jolt. Since her arrival here, time had been a blur, but Cecile remembered the beautiful words he’d spoken to her by the banks of the river.
Marie murmured, “Ceci?”
She hurried to Marie’s bed and plopped down into the cane chair set beside it. Her friend lay back on the pillows but could barely keep her eyelids open.
“I’m so glad”—Marie patted the linens until she found Cecile’s hand—“that you made it here in time.”
“Barely.” Cecile gripped Marie’s hand, damp from washing. “You were fighting to push her out when I stepped into the room.”
“All the hours before were boring, just me pacing and complaining.” Marie shifted her head on the pillow, forcing her eyes open. “Did it terrify you?”
“Absolutely.”
Marie laughed, her beautiful gaze weary but suffused with joy. “But it was miraculous, wasn’t it?”
Cecile ducked her head and nodded. If Marie’s breasts were not so swollen, Cecile would have laid her head on Marie’s chest, slung her arms around her, and hugged her tight. She was so relieved Marie had made it through.
“How is Lucas faring?” Marie asked. “I fear we’ll have to replace the porch floorboards after all his pacing.”
“He’s fine.Hedidn’t just birth a child.” Cecile remembered, as Lucas entered the room, how he’d bent over Marie to run his hands through her hair, whispering words so loving that Cecile had found herself overwhelmed by the intimacy. “Right now, he’s in the other room, sitting by the hearth, rocking your daughter who is sleeping. As you should be.”
“I’d love to, but the after pains are starting.” Marie winced as she slid her free hand over the covers above her somewhat-deflated abdomen. “Talk to me, Cecile. Distract me.”
“Drink this first.” Cecile swept up the cup of medicine that Hateya had brewed and, lifting Marie’s head, held it to her friend’s lips.
Marie drank it down and made a face. “Just as bitter as I remember. I don’t understand why I can’t add maple syrup to the brew.” She winced, trying hard to swallow away the bad taste. “Tell me, did that pirate of a stonemason come with you today? I thought I heard his voice on the porch.”
“Yes, he’s here.” Cecile put the cup back on the bedside table and gave Marie a hard eye. “Was it you who planned it, having both of us come here together?”
“Ceci, what a suspicious mind you have.” Marie widened her eyes in an exaggerated way. “Didn’t Mother Superior make the travel arrangements?”
“My goodness.” Cecile leaned closer to her friend as realization dawned. “You saw Sister Martha just yesterday. You two set this up together.”
“Not exactly. I mean, I did ask Sister Martha to send Theo here. But I only joked about how nice it would be for you to come at the same time. Because you hadn’t agreed to spend the winter with me yet.” Marie shifted her shoulders against the pillow, her smile turning puckish. “In any case, I’m thrilled you both made it here. After witnessing the lightningarcing between you two yesterday, I did wonder if having you both in the same canoe would set it on fire.”
“Goodness, Marie, listen to you.” Cecile tried to stop the flush, but it swept over her. “Is there even a plan for a stone church, or is that a ruse, too?”
“Not a ruse, just a convenient excuse.” Marie winced as another spasm gripped her, held, and then released. “Lucas and I have been discussing the matter for some time.”
“Well, your plans—both of them—are doomed to failure.” Cecile sighed at her friend’s audacity. “Theo is going back to France in just a few weeks. So, he won’t be building your stone church, nor spending any more time with me.”
Marie’s brow rippled. “But you’re in love with him.”
Cecile ducked her head. Damn Marie and those all-seeing eyes.
She definitely felt something.
Could it be love?
“Ceci, I know you have feelings for that man.” Marie twisted a little on the bed to better face her. “Don’t you dare deny it—not to me and not anymore. For too long, I denied my feelings for Lucas. That didn’t make them go away. I only found happiness after I came to understand and accept—”
“Please stop.” Cecile pulled away, for every word out of Marie’s mouth felt like a pike through her gut. “I won’t deny that I’m drawn to him. Strongly.” Aprickling showered over her, a thousand tickling needles, as she thought about Theo looming over her only a few hours ago, his mouth shaping the wordsyou deserve to be happy.“But…I’ve never experienced love, Marie. I’m not even sure what it looks like.”
