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Listening to her labored breathing, he cradled her boneless body in his arms. Damn, she was perfect for him. And she planned to stay!
A smug smile broke out across his face, making him glad her eyes were closed and she couldn’t see it.
“I’m not giving you your surprise now,” she said huskily. “You don’t deserve it.”
“That’s okay.” He nuzzled her hair. “I don’t think you could hold your breath under water that long anyway.”
She barked a laugh and snuggled into him.
“I love you too,” he told her.
“I know,” she whispered before she promptly fell asleep.
Chapter 24
Agnes took a deep breath. Then another. She pressed her hand flat to her stomach and willed it to settle. This was ridiculous. She never felt nervous. Never.
“Are you sick?” Darcy asked as she came into the kitchen, where Agnes was going over her notes for the meeting with the town council. She checked the clock. In just over an hour.
“No. Just a bit nervous, and I don’t know why. I don’t usually get like this.”
“I get nervous all the time,” Darcy said as she jumped up to sit on the counter. “I was so nervous before a dance recital once that I puked all over my dance teacher. It stank because I’d had ice cream, and Gran says that curdles in your stomach. My teacher cried, and Dad had to sort it. You should get Dad to go with you to your meeting. He’d help you too. He always makes me feel less nervous when he goes with me to things.”
“I don’t think it’d be very professional if I brought him along.”
“Well, do you want to talk about it? Gran says a problem shared is a problem…yeah, I can’t remember, but it’s supposed to help.”
Agnes couldn’t help but smile. “It’s that simple, huh?” She frowned as she noticed a mark on Darcy’s face. “How did you get that bruise on your cheek?”
Darcy looked around the room before answering. “You won’t tell Dad?” she asked cautiously.
All of Agnes’ nerves disappeared as she focused on the girl. “I think your dad is going to notice that bruise anyway. Now spill, how’d you get it?”
“It’s Samantha. She picks on me and, when no one’s looking, she hits me.”
Oh. That was not happening. Agnes got up out of her chair, crossed to the sink, and dampened a tea towel with cold water. “Hold that to it. Is it sore?”
Darcy shook her head. “Not now.”
Agnes folded her arms over her gray work suit. The one she didn’t bother wearing to the pub now that she was only there in a casual capacity. “Who’s Samantha?”
“A girl in my class. She lives in Fort William, and she’s pretty mean. She picks on all the kids that come from other places, but she really hates me, and I don’t know why.”
“Probably because she’s a nasty little…girl.” She’d been going to say bitch but caught herself at the last minute. “Hasn’t Drew stepped in to stop it?” Agnes and her sisters had always stood up for each other when one of them was picked on.
“I haven’t told him, because she’s a girl and he can’t hit girls. Dad says that’s wrong.”
She had a point. “How big is this kid?”
Darcy held up a hand, a couple of inches above her head. “To about here.”
“Right.” She took off her suit jacket and hung it over a kitchen chair. “Come here. I’m going to show you how to hit back, but only on one condition.”
Darcy eagerly jumped off the counter and rushed to stand facing Agnes. “Okay.”
Agnes nodded. “I’ll show you how to fight, but if this Samantha hits you again, you have to promise to hit her back and hit way harder than she hit you.”
Darcy started giggling and covered her mouth with her hands. “I thought you were going to say I had to tell a teacher.”
