She nodded.
“Wahoo!” he shouted, then he quickly cringed and placed a hand over his mouth as he glanced about furtively. “I’m sorry about that.”
“I don’t mind noise. I was raised with six boys and they were always shouting and screaming.” She rose to her feet, and ruffled his hair with her hand. “You wait here and I’ll bring you some food.”
Again that mistrust came into his eyes, but he said nothing as she left him.
A myriad of emotions whipped through her as she descended the stairs and quickly gathered a tray of food, telling the servants that she wanted to eat alone. No one questioned her.
Once Maggie had enough to fill Connor’s belly full, she headed back to him, cursing his callous family with every step she took.
Why hadn’t Connor’s mother told Braden anyway?
Maggie didn’t know for sure, but she suspected Braden would have gladly taken the boy in. And even if he hadn’t, Lochlan most assuredly would.
Don’t judge his mother, Maggie, ‘tis for God alone to do.
But it was hard not to.
In fact, at that moment, she didn’t know whom she wanted to thrash more, Connor’s mother or Braden.
Laying the matter aside for the moment, she pushed open the door to her room to see Connor sitting on the bed. He jumped off as if terrified she would scold him, and when he saw the food in her hands, he wahooed again.
Maggie placed the tray on the small table by the fire and watched in delight as he crammed roasted beef, carrots, peas, onions and apples into his mouth.
Once he finished eating, she tucked him into her bed, and left him there to dream of better days to come.
He fell asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes.
Maggie listened to his gentle snore as she brushed her hand through his hair.
“Oh, Braden…” She wondered how she was going to tell him he was a father.
On the one hand, she could kill him for leaving the boy, but on the other, she knew he had no way of knowing about Connor. Poor Connor’s mother probably had no idea of what she should do, and the sight of Braden kissing another had probably cut her all the way to her soul.
Had Maggie been in the woman’s shoes, she would have marched herself across the yard and confronted Braden while he groped another.
But that was her, and not the poor woman who had been brokenhearted.
Suddenly, a shiver went through her as she thought about herself. What if she carried his child already?
The answer was simple.
“I will love it as much as I love its father.” And she would. Just as she loved the little part of Braden that was snoring softly in her bed.
Like father, like son.
Leaning forward, she brushed her lips against his forehead in a light kiss. “Happy dreams, sweeting.”
She pulled the covers over him, then went to find his father.
Braden sat alone in the hall. Everyone else had long taken themselves to bed in preparation for what they would do on the morrow.
Even Sin had wandered off, making Braden wonder if his brother had finally found one of the Scottish lasses to his liking. And there had certainly been a number of them to choose from.
The bad part was that, for the first time in his life, none of them appealed to him in the least.
Braden cursed.
