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“I think you need to go home and get some rest, Selina. You’ve had a long night and day.”
“I’m fine.” She slumped in a nearby chair.
“You don’t look fine. Your eyes are barely open and you look like you could fall asleep any second. I’m taking you home. Now.”
She yanked herself up straight in the chair. “I ain’t going home just yet. I need to be here to help Rainee.”
“Yes, you are going home. Rainee’s fine, the baby’s fine. But you’re not. Besides, Doc Berg is with her now. There’s nothing else to be done here.”
“I said I was fine. Just tired is all.”
“All the more reason for you to go home and get some rest.”
“Michael’s right.” Haydon stepped into the living room. His hair was rumpled and he looked like he’d aged ten years. “Doc Berg is finished. He said Rainee and the baby are doing well and that you did a very good job.” Haydon stepped up to Selina and clasped her hands. “Rainee told him the cord was around the baby’s neck. Doc said you saved my wife and son’s lives. How can I ever thank you enough, Selina?”
“You just did. Besides, I was glad I could help.”
“I’m so glad Michael brought you into our lives, Selina.” He gave Selina a quick hug. “Now, go do what your husband says. Go home and get some sleep.”
“Yes. You heard the man. Do what your husband says,” Michael ordered, winking at her.
She pursed her lips and narrowed her gaze at him. Michael stood and took her arm. “Come on, sweetheart. It’s time to go home.” Had he just called her sweetheart? He glanced down at her. Judging by the way her eyebrows were raised, he must have. Well, what was done was done. He turned his attention to his brother. “Congratulations on your new son, Haydon.”
Haydon stood up straighter. “I have a son. Can you believe it?”
“Did you name him yet?” Michael asked.
“Yes. We sure did. His name’s Haydon. Haydon Junior.”
Michael didn’t think it was possible, but his brother’s chest puffed out even further.
They headed to the door and stopped.
“Tell Rainee I’ll check in on her tomorrow. Unless she needs somethin’ tonight. Iffen she does, you come get me, you hear?”
“Will do. Thanks again, Selina.”
“Take care of little Haydon Junior,” Michael told his brother.
“You can count on it.”
They slipped outside into the darkness and headed for home. All the way, Michael’s heart ached with envy. Would he ever know what it felt like to be a father? To hold a son or a daughter in his arms. To watch them grow up. Take their first step. Call him Father.
He darted a sideways glance at Selina. Over the past several weeks his affection toward her had been growing. There was more to his wife than her strange attire, her lack of education and her different way of talking. And it was time to find out even more about her. Maybe it was time to start courting his wife.
Chapter Twelve
Selina stretched in her bed. Sunlight lit her room. She wondered what time it was, so she tossed the covers aside to check.
“Oh, no you don’t. Stay right where you are.”
Selina froze with her hand holding the blanket midair.
Michael stepped into her bedroom carrying a tray and smiling. His blue eyes sparkled and so did his teeth. No stubble dotted his manly chin. He wore one of the new blue shirts she’d made and pressed for him.
He set the tray on the nightstand close to her bed. “I brought you breakfast. So sit up, okay?”
She eyed him warily.
He folded the blue blanket down around her lap.
He grabbed the extra pillow on her bed, gently shifted her shoulders forward and slid it behind her back. “There. That’s better.”
He set the tray on her lap and turned. With a single yank, he spun the chair around, set it down by her bed and sat. “I hope you like them. It’s about the only thing I know how to make.” His eyes held hope.
Selina glanced at the huge pile of flapjacks. “Where’s your plate?”
“I already ate. Those are yours. The coffee’s a little on the strong side. Isn’t as good as yours, but it isn’t bad.”
Selina kept watching him, shifting one eyebrow and then the other. “Okay, Michael. What are you up to?”
“Up to? What do you mean? Can’t a husband bring his wife breakfast in bed? You did it for me yesterday.”
“Ain’t the same. You were sick. I ain’t.”
“Do you have to be sick for me to do something nice for you?”
She dipped her head sideways, but her eyes stayed on him.
“Look, I know you’re wondering what I’m up to, but please, just eat your breakfast. See, I even heated the syrup.” He lifted the small pitcher and poured it over the stack of flapjacks with a large chunk of butter melting in the center. He cut a triangle out of the hot cakes, and brought it to her lips.
