“Trust me when I say I’m in too much pain for this to be a dream.”
He grunted when she shifted and dug an elbow into his side. She recoiled instantly and jumped off the cot.
“I’m sorry, I didnae mean to hurt ye,” she gasped, before turning around to get the flask of whiskey and pour him a dram.
“I’m fine,” Theo said through clenched teeth. “Or at least I will be.”
“I’ll go fetch Amber for ye,” she added, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
The sight made Theo’s heart flutter with anxiety. He wanted to pull her close and whisper her sweet nothings in her ear. How he wished he could scrape the words off his tongue as easily as he scrapes honey off the comb.
“Lavina…” he trailed off.
She stared at him with expectant eyes.
“Aye?” she prompted, her breath hitching as if his words could save her from falling off a cliff.
“If she’s sleepin’, just let her be. I dinnae want to pull her from a good dream, ye ken?” Theo said.
He wanted to kick himself. Those weren’t the words he wanted to say to her. They weren’t even close. But no matter what he did,the three little words he knew she was waiting to hear refused to come out. Not that they couldn’t, but for the life of him, he couldn’t force them out.
“Of course,” Lavina answered, a clear hint of disappointment in her tone.
Theo pursed his lips, resisting the urge to slap a hand on his brow as he watched her leave the room.
I love ye.
He mouthed the words to the empty room. He wanted Lavina to be there to hear them, but they certainly weren’t words he could just toss about haphazardly.
But how was he going to tell her? He had to make it into something she wasn’t going to forget. He turned over several ideas in his mind as he watched the fire pop and crackle in the grate.
“Pa?” a tender voice suddenly called through the dark silence.
He turned to the door to the infirmary just as Lavina entered the room with a very sleepy Amber in her arms.
“See? What did I tell ye? I told ye he was awake,” Lavina murmured.
Amber flashed him a sheepish grin that reminded him of something he would give to his parents. It took her a moment to focus before joy overtook her. She scrambled out of Lavina’s arms and climbed up into the cot next to Theo. She snuggled into the crook of his arm just under his chin, and let out a contented sigh.
“Pa,” she mumbled, her little eyes fluttering shut.
“I found her awake in bed with her doll staring at the beams of the ceiling. What did I say? I kenned she’d want to see ye,” Lavina said, stroking the girl’s hair.
“Hush now, wee lass. All is well,” Theo soothed.
His heart swelled with a joy he couldn’t express.
Amber filled a hole that he hadn’t even known he needed filled. She was his kin, his blood, and the legacy he would leave behind.
“I dinnae think ye’ll be able to peel her off ye from now on.” Lavina chuckled as she pulled the chair from the foot of the bed to the side.
“Maybe nae. But honestly, there are worse things that can stick to ye,” Theo said as he leaned down and kissed the top of Amber’s head.
“I suppose there are,” Lavina agreed.
Theo noticed the way her shoulders slumped.
“What’s the matter?” he asked in a low voice, trying not to disturb Amber as she slept on him.
