Page 507 of Conveniently Wed
The door to her bed chamber opened, letting in a sliver of light from the hallway. She didn’t even know what time of the day or night it was. She had gone into labor in the evening. Was it still nighttime?
Ingrid peeked around the door and smiled. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”
Her sweet tone brought a semblance of comfort to Lorinda. Would Ingrid sound calm if something had gone wrong?
“My throat’s dry...and I’m sore.” She tried to lean up on her elbows, but quickly settled back against the comfortable bed.
“Of course, you are.” When the housekeeper opened the door all the way, she carried in a pitcher and clean glass. “I thought you might be wanting this.”
She poured some of the fresh water into the glass before setting the pitcher on the washstand on the other side of the room. Swiftly, she crossed to the bed and slid her arm beneath Lorinda’s shoulders. Carefully tipping the glass, Ingrid helped her sip the cool liquid. After a few swallows, Lorinda pulled back.
“Do you want to see your son?”
“Yes, I do.” The words rushed out of her.
Ingrid went to the door again. “Franklin, you can bring him in.”
Immediately, Lorinda touched her hair. It must look like a rat’s nest. The baby wouldn’t mind, and she shouldn’t care what Mr. Vine thought about how she looked...but she did.
The tall, muscular man stepped into the room, filling more than his share of the space. Something about his strength made her feel so weak and inadequate. And he cradled her son in his arms. An arresting sight. It almost took her breath away. For a moment, she wondered if Mike would have been as tender with him.
Her baby would never have a father to hold him, but if he did, she would hope he was a man like Franklin Vine. In the short time she had been here, she’d discovered him to be a good, upstanding man who could be trusted. Something that had been sadly lacking from most of her life...until Mike came into it.
“You have a fine son, Lorinda.”
The way her name rolled off his tongue caused a catch in her throat. She wondered why the man had started calling her by her first name.
“Thank you...Franklin.” Hearing his name come from her own mouth was even more strange. It would take her a while to get used to saying it.
When he gently laid her baby into her arms, his hands brushed against her. The first time they’d touched since he’d helped her down from Major and carried her into his house. Today, his touch felt different somehow.
He straightened up and looked back down at her, but his gaze didn’t land on her face, or the hair she had worried about. He studied her son. “Get some rest. I’ll be seeing you later.”
After uttering those words, he exited the room, relieving some of the pressure from the space. She could breathe easier.
Ingrid bustled around, taking care of her and her son. Finally, she stopped and stared down at the baby. “Do you have a name picked out for him, Lorinda?”
“Not really.” She studied her son. Everything about him looked perfect. His fluffy almost-white hair, his tiny lips, the dark blue eyes. “Maybe I should name him after his daddy. Mike’s name was really Michael, but he always went by Mike. I’d like to name him Michael and call him that as well.” Calling him Mike would hurt too much.
Ingrid leaned down to kiss his soft cheek before heading out the door. “Just holler if you need anything. I’ll be close-by.”
Lorinda’s son opened his eyes and looked straight into her face. “Michael Sullivan, your mother loves you with all her heart.”
Tears came with the words, and she let them roll unchecked down her cheeks. For some reason, her emotions seemed to be going crazy. She wondered if that was usual after having a baby. So many things she didn’t know. With Ingrid’s help, she had learned a lot since she’d lived on the Rocking V Ranch, but she was always finding other things she had never heard about. She got tired of constantly asking questions that other women evidently already knew.
Lorinda liked it here, and she wondered what would happen to her and her son when she was able to be up and about again.She realized Mrs. Oleson had been making busy work for her. Yes, she’d learned how to do a lot of things she hadn’t known before she came, but the housekeeper had been taking care of this ranch house by herself for a long time before Lorinda got here. The older woman would do just fine when she and her son left. A pain sliced through her heart at that thought, probably because she didn’t want to leave Ingrid.
How soon would she have to leave? And what could she do? She knew how to keep a house…and sew, but who would pay her to do that? Perhaps she could open a dressmaking business, but where would she get the money to start such a thing? Yes, she had the gold Mike gave her, but she didn’t want to use any of that if she could keep from it. She and baby Michael might need the money later.
She had saved all of the salary Franklin had paid her, too, but that money wouldn’t carry them far. The future lay in front of her like an unknown road, completely hidden in shadows. Dare she try to follow where it led her?
Right now she didn’t want to think about going anywhere else. This place felt so much like home.
11
One month old.Michael was thriving, and he was Lorinda’s whole life.
After nursing him, she held him against her shoulder to help him expel air from his tummy before cradling him in her arms. As she looked down at his precious face, his gaze found hers and stayed there. She loved these times when they connected and stared at each other. Their kinship was so strong, the strongest one she’d ever known. Even more so than the one she and his father had shared. With her son, she could be herself completely. He totally accepted everything about her. The feeling empowered her somehow. Too bad that feeling went away when she was around other people.
