AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll never let go,” he said. “I promise.”
And Kendricks never break their promises.
She couldn’t help but smile at the memory of the first time he’d said it to her.
“Go on, brave lass,” he quietly prompted.
Sighing, she rested her forehead on his shoulder. “All right. It’s an awful thing, but I was addicted to laudanum. It controlled my life for a long time after Roger died and I lost the baby.”
Just saying it made her feel ill. Those horrible months had passed by in a dark, drug-induced haze. The laudanum had made everything worse, dulling her senses and yet seeming to trap her in a spiral of grief. Even though she’d been desperate to escape that nightmare, she couldn’t. She’d grown too dependent on the drug, and began craving it more than she craved the will to live.
Braden stroked a soothing hand down her back. “I know. It’s all right. It wasn’t your fault.”
Samantha jerked up her head. “What do you mean, you know?” She couldn’t help scowling. “Did John tell you?”
“Of course not. He would never betray a patient’s confidence.”
“Then how do you know?” she said sharply.
“It wasn’t that hard to figure out, sweetheart. More than once, you stated your strong aversion to laudanum, which was a bit unusual. Then I put together the bits and pieces of information I knew about your condition after the miscarriage and came to the conclusion that someone—probably your idiot of a doctor at the time—must have put you on laudanum.”
“Oh, well, that makes perfect sense.” She grimaced. “I’m sorry I yelled.”
“It’s fine. Yelling is generally a daily occurrence in my family.”
“Still . . .” She sighed. “It’s just that I hate talking about it.”
Braden shifted, gently rolling her onto the carpet. Then he reached over and swiped a pillow from the nearby sofa, slipping it under her head. Then he settled back and tucked her against him. Samantha snuggled close, and immediately felt some of the tension drain from her muscles.
“I know, but do you think you could tell me more?” he asked.
She nodded. “Dr. Lane first gave it right after my miscarriage. I was in pain, but I was also emotionally agitated. I . . . I didn’t even think to say no.”
“Love, your husband had been murdered and you’d just lost your baby. You were in deep grief.”
She had been indeed harrowed with grief, but it had been more than that. “I was also furious. I kept trying to tell Beath and the police that Roger wasn’t a victim of some random robbery, but no one would listen. Dr. Lane said I was becoming too agitated, and that I needed the laudanum to calm me down.”
“In other words, he and Beath wanted to keep you quiet.”
“I suppose. Beath wished for the whole thing to just go away, and I was insistent that there be a proper investigation.”
Braden held her close. “I’d like nothing better than to throttle that old fool. And Iwillthrottle Lane the next time I see him—or toss him off the nearest bridge. God knows his patients would greatly benefit.”
“That is a lovely thought, but I would prefer not to have to visit my new husband in a jail cell.”
“Who says anyone would find out?”
She let out a watery chuckle. “Spoken like a true Kendrick. In all fairness, I did develop terrible migraines during that time. The laudanum was the only thing that helped.”
“How much did he give you?”
“I don’t remember the details, but by the end of it, it seemed Lane was practically pouring it down my throat.”
Braden muttered a surprisingly vicious curse. Not that it bothered her.
“Eventually, John took over my care,” she added. “Things got much better after that.”
“Not right away, though, I’ll wager,” he grimly stated. “Not with a laudanum addiction.”
