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As Emma led Mary back to bed, the girl lamented her situation. "He
saw everything, Ma!"
Josiah scowled as Emma turned to him for verification. He sure wished that child
was a boy. Boys would be less trouble.
"Well?" asked Emma. "How much did you see?"
By the cautious look on Emma's face, Josiah understood she didn't want him to make
a big deal out of whatever he HAD seen. Even so, Josiah's sleep had been interrupted,
and now he was being questioned for opening his eyes.
It was too much.
"All I saw was a runty mixed-breed who couldn't keep herself on a bucket,"
he heard himself mutter. "Quiet her down, Emma, so I can sleep." With that,
he shut his eyes. If Emma didn't like him for speaking his mind, then it was just
too bad. After all, how much was a man supposed to take?
Feigning sleep, Josiah half expected to hear Mary sobbing something about how terrible
he was. Instead, all he could hear was silence. Unable to contain his curiosity,
Josiah peeked open one eye. Instead of crying, Mary was happily snuggled under her
blankets beside Emma. Getting comfortable in the small bed, Emma whispered something
into Mary's ear that made the girl smile. Josiah heard a "Goodnight, Little
One," and then the girls closed their eyes to sleep.
Josiah swallowed hard. Emma wasn't coming back to his bed. Tossing onto his side,
he tried to pretend that he didn't care.
The next morning, Emma awoke to find Josiah already awake, and working on his coat.
He didn't say a word as she started breakfast, and wouldn't even look up when she
placed his cup of hot broth beside him on the robes.
Feeling tired, Emma wasn't up to soothing Josiah's ruffled pride. He had behaved
terribly last night, and for once, she didn't feel like trying to make things better.
At least Mary was in good spirits. She knew the child had enjoyed sleeping beside
her, and Emma was already making plans to repeat last night's sleeping arrangements,
if Josiah didn't soon apologize.
Having already had their broth, Emma took Mary to the small bed to begin their daily
Bible reading. More than once, Emma was aware of Josiah watching them, though she
resisted the temptation to see if her intuition was correct.
Finally, Emma heard Josiah's deep voice rumble above the Bible story.
"Ain't you going to say nothing to me, Emma?"
Emma paused, collecting herself before lowering the book.
"You're the one who needs to speak, Mr. Brown."
Josiah noticeably grimaced as he heard the "mister" in her address. "I
reckon I was a bit harsh on Mary last night."
"Is that an apology?" Emma's eyebrows raised expectantly. |
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