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turning out to be.
G-get out, Mr. Bridgett all but whispered as he took a healthy step away from
Robert until he had a small tavern table between them with his sister by his side.
Just as soon as you tell me where my wife is, he drawled, giving the man s sister a
look that told her that she should count herself lucky that he didn t hit women.
She s in the back doing the dishes, she said in a stern voice that obviously expected
to be obeyed.
Giving the brother a pitying look, Robert walked past them and headed towards the
back hallway, and found his wife, perhaps one of the strongest woman that he d ever
met, sobbing quietly as she stood there sadly scrubbing a cracked plate clean.
It was just& .
The saddest thing that he d ever seen.
She just looked so helpless and sweet standing there, silently sobbing as she continued
to try and wash the crack away, making him wonder just how long it had been since
she d slept. When her bottom lip quivered as a tiny little sliver broke free from the
crack and hit the floor without a sound, he just couldn t take it anymore.
It was just so damn sad& .and so damn cute&
He knew that his wife s near breakdown was serious and that he really shouldn t
really find anything cute about this, but damn if that little lip quiver didn t have him
biting back a smile and making him forget that he wanted to wring the neck of the
inn keeper and his greedy sister.
Almost.
Sighs, another sliver fell to the ground, earning another lip quiver and a little sniffle
that had him shaking his head and walking over to his wife, who was quietly sobbing
over an old cracked plate. Shaking his head, wondering why he hadn t put a stop to
this sooner, he gently took the plate away from Elizabeth s trembling hands and set it
on the counter. He pulled her into his arms.
Everything s going to be okay, he promised her as he pressed a kiss to the top of her
head.
Although she did nod in agreement as she grabbed onto his coat and buried her face
against his chest, something told him that she had no clue what he d just said. It was
just another sign that he should have put an end to this sooner.
Taking care of twin boys, cooking, cleaning, taking on sewing and other chores to help
make extra money for them as well as taking care of the gardening was too much for
any one person to handle. He d pointed out that she was doing too much in the past,
but every time he voiced his concern it was met with a stubborn glare as she took his
words as a challenge to do more.
He d been too damn exhausted to argue with her and to be honest, he hadn t wanted
to fight with her. Things were going so well between them that he hated risking
saying or doing anything that would destroy this beautiful truce between them. He
liked having his minx in his life and would do whatever it took to keep her there, even
keep his mouth shut when he knew that she was pushing herself too damn far.
That all ended today.
*-*-*-*
Do you want to stop for a bit? Robert asked softly even though he was already
leading her towards a copse of trees and gesturing for her to have a seat on one of the
rotted logs blocking what appeared to be a well-worn path.
I-I m fine, she thought she may have mumbled, but to be honest, she was too tired to
know what she was saying or doing. The only thing that she was sure of was that her
hands hurt, her legs and feet were sore, she was starving and she was so tired that
just the thought of taking one more step made her want to cry.
God, she couldn t keep doing this for much longer, but she knew that she didn t have a
choice if they were going to make it home before midnight. She just needed a break,
just a small one, and she would be okay.
Why don t we just sit down here for a few minutes, hmm? he asked in that tender
voice that he d been using on her since he d found her standing in the kitchen,
struggling to hold it together and wondering why she couldn t wash the crack in that
poor plate away.
Close your eyes, minx, Robert said seconds later as she felt his large arm wrap
around her and pull her closer.
She wanted to argue with him, to remind him that they needed to start moving again,
but sometime between the time that they d sat down and the time he d put his arm
around her, her eyes had shut of their own accord and her head had somehow found
its way onto his shoulder where it was more than happy to stay.
Relax, sweetheart, he said in that damn soothing tone that she just couldn t resist.
Well, she did try to resist, but he just felt so incredibly comfortable and she was so
tired that she really couldn t help but take him up on his offer. Just for a few minutes,
she decided as she found herself curling up against him, savoring the irresistible
warmth that emanating from him.
He felt so good, she had to admit as she reached up and gently gripped the lapel of his
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