Not that it would be easy. But just like seeing Cait give a weak smile had made her heart sing, so would it be to see Arabella strutting around Stonefire’s lands as confident as her brother.
Her motives weren’t entirely selfless, of course. After all, Arabella would be the aunt of her baby, and she very much wanted Arabella to be a part of her child’s life. To do that, Arabella needed to heal.
The kettle clicked off and she put a couple of tea bags into the teapot she’d found in the cupboards before pouring the water. As she let the tea bags steep, she leaned against the counter and tried not to think about the other major thing that had just happened in the other room. Mainly, Tristan’s acknowledgment about his hatred of humans clouding his judgment. Well, it’d been an almost-admission and she’d take it as such.
Between that and the way he’d followed her example of using a direct approach with Arabella rather than dismissing it, a small, very small, part of her started to think she and Tristan might have a chance at a future together. If he could look past the fact she was human and simply try to get to know her, maybe their sexual attraction would become something more. Not that she didn’t love the fact he was attracted to her, but there was more to Melanie Hall than her body or ability to breed children.
She sighed. She needed to be careful about wishing for fairy tale endings because it would be dangerous to hope for too much too soon. They hadn’t even sat down to talk about what would happen with their child.
She placed a hand on her lower belly. Would he try to take him or her away from her? At one time, she might’ve thought so. But after today, she was starting to think differently.
Focus, Hall. All of that would have to wait because, first things first, she needed to make sure Arabella was okay.
She splashed some milk into the cups before picking up the teapot and pouring the tea. Once they were full, she carefully picked up the mugs and maneuvered them out into the living room. As she set them down on the coffee table in front of the couch, she felt Tristan’s eyes on her. She geared herself up for another possible battle with the dragonman when he surprised her by saying, “Thank you.”
Looking up, her heart skipped a beat at the sincerity in Tristan’s eyes. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of his being nice to her.
However, right now wasn’t the time to press him on it. That conversation was something she’d like to do without his sister present. She would wait until after Bram arrived and she could get him alone.
For now, she acted as if he said thank you to her on a daily basis. “You’re welcome. I didn’t know if you took sugar, so they’re just tea and milk.”
He raised an eyebrow. “For someone with a not-quite British accent, you act British in a pinch.”
Maybe it was selfish, but she very much wanted to have a normal conversation with Tristan without him growling or glaring at her.
She darted her eyes toward the dragonwoman to make sure her condition was unchanged, but Ara was still leaning against Tristan’s shoulders with her eyes closed.
Right. If there was anything else they could do to help Arabella, Tristan would’ve done it already, so she looked back to Tristan’s face and said, “Not that you ever asked, but I’m half British. My mom’s American, and I spent my first eighteen years there.”
“Why did you leave?”
She nearly blinked. Tristan MacLeod was asking her a personal question.
She cleared her throat. “At first, it was to go to university here. But later we found out that my brother had cancer. So my dad transferred us to the UK so we could both be close to his family and to avoid going into medical-related bankruptcy. Americans don’t have a national health service, you know.”
“Dragon’s blood can’t cure cancer. So what happened to your brother?”
She decided not to mention it was in her file and just focus on the fact he wanted to know at all. “Oliver, my brother, finally beat the cancer, but his immune system was shot after the chemotherapy and he contracted a CRE infection. Apparently, it’s resistant to antibiotics.”
He tilted his head. “And that’s when you decided to put yourself up as a sacrifice.”
“Yes. My brother deserved a chance to live, and I had the power to give it to him. Or, at least, try. Sometimes I still don’t believe I’m compatible, let alone that I passed all the tests.”
Tristan studied her a moment and then said, “And what do you think now? Do you regret your choice?”
~~~
Tristan held his breath as he waited for Melanie’s answer. His dragon went quiet as well, more eager than he to hear what the female had to say. She couldn’t leave them. She was strong. She should raise their young. She would be a fierce protector.
Melanie took a sip of her tea and said, “I don’t regret it, but...”