“Hopefully another six weeks.” I bit my tongue so as not to blurt out that the child was a daughter instead of a son. “And you need to do everything possible not to start early labor. Drink plenty of water and keep off your feet.”
“I could do nothing else with Matthew following me about like a mother hen. I tell you, it’ll be a blessing to get this baby out just so I can have a moment’s privacy again.” She smiled despite her complaints, clearly amused by her husband’s attention. “He’s a good man, that Matthew, and I don’t care to think of what my life would have been like without him.”
My thoughts immediately turned to Henry and what he had said this afternoon. “Susanna, do you think love can overcome any obstacle that may come between two people?”
“Sure it can,” she said, absentmindedly rubbing her stomach. “Along with trust and a whole lot of hard work.”
“So you don’t think there’s anything two people can’t get through?”
“Not if they’re willing to work. Marriage isn’t easy, but if two people are committed, there’s nothing more rewarding.”
I sat down beside her on the bed, my thoughts weighing heavily from her words. It would have been easier if she had simply said that some things were too difficult to overcome, and weren’t worth the trouble. That’s what my own mother had taught me, and how I’d managed to keep my heart safely guarded for all of these years. Any man not belonging to either the MacBres or Kilbrid clans was off limits—end of discussion.
“And how did you know that you loved Matthew?”
The absentminded expression fell away and she looked at me closely. “Do you want the responsible answer or the real answer?”
“Responsible first.”
“Very well.” She screwed up her mouth and took a minute to think. “Once I saw that he was an honorable man and would make a good husband, then I knew I could love him.”
This sounded reasonable enough. “And the real answer?”
“When he kissed me the first time, and my shoes just about caught fire.”
“My goodness!” I exclaimed. “Were you hurt?”
She looked at me curiously for a moment and then started laughing so hard tears came to her eyes. “Not literally,” she said, dabbing the tears with a sleeve. “Matthew’s a good kisser, but I’ve never heard of any man who’s ever really been able to set a girl’s shoes alight. I meant that I felt a fire inside.”
My face grew warm from embarrassment.
Susanna took my hand and patted it reassuringly. “Don’t worry yourself, Selah. You and Henry haven’t even known each other for two full weeks. There’s no rush and no reason to feel silly. You and Henry might be sleeping in separate rooms while you get used to each other, but you’re a far step ahead of me when I was first married.”
“I don’t even know what it feels like to be kissed properly,” I protested sullenly, opting not to count the time William pecked my cheek or when Henry had kissed me out of anger the day we were married.
“How many babies have you delivered by yourself since your mother died?”
“About twelve,” I said.
“I was an only child and didn’t know one whit how a baby got in or out of a woman’s midsection until the night before I was married. Think about the shock of hearing that for the first time so close to your wedding day. It’s a miracle I didn’t make Matthew sleep in another room. And I probably would have if he didn’t kiss so well.”
I started to laugh from her confession, but it faded quickly, subdued by the sense of guilt steadily growing behind my ribs. If Susanna had known the truth of my marriage, she would have offered very different advice, indeed. I sighed, thinking about what it would be like to have a lifetime with Henry, rather than a just year or two before he sailed back to England. Our little fa?ade was the closest I would ever come to experiencing the rewards of marriage.
“How about if we rejoin the men so Matthew can stop his worrying?” Susanna suggested, pushing herself awkwardly to her feet. “And by the way Henry’s been watching you tonight, I imagine the lad’s just as eager for our return.”
My heart gave a sudden thump. “What do you mean? How has he been watching me?”
She smiled, her hands resting protectively on the top of her belly. “Like a man should when he’s falling in love.”
I shook my head. “You must be mistaken. We...we’ve only just met. It would be...” I clamped my mouth shut. It would be impossible. No matter what Susanna said, Henry and I were too different. He would never be so foolish to fall in love with me...nor I with him.
“Oh, I know what I saw,” she persisted. “And at this rate, I’ll give it two more weeks before Henry Kilbrid is head over heels in love with you.”