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Sarah smiled against his lips. “No.”
“Good,” was all he said before his mouth claimed hers in a kiss that would have given her mother a heart attack had she been here to witness it. For many reasons, Sarah was quite glad that she was not.
“I was able to secure two rooms.”
At the sound of Mr. Garner’s voice, Sarah flinched, almost jumping out of Keir’s arms. He, in turn, merely chuckled, giving her one of those looks that never failed to make her toes curl.
Turning toward Mr. Garner, Keir nodded toward the girls. “We’ll have to carry them inside.” The other man nodded, and Keir looked down at Sarah. “Ye ought to wake yer sister now.”
Sarah nodded and stepped up into the carriage again. Gently, she shook her sister’s arm, careful not to wake the sleeping baby. “Kate, wake up! We’re at the inn.”
Only with continued persistence was Sarah able to pry her sister from the claws slumber had dug into her. Eventually, though, Kate was sitting upright, her arms once more wrapped around her youngest daughter. “I’m all right,” she murmured, her eyes blinking rapidly as though her vision had not yet cleared.
Sarah frowned, worried for her sister. In fact, she looked far from all right. “Keir and Mr. Garner will carry the girls inside. Can you walk?”
Kate nodded, and Sarah helped her out of the carriage, Loki upon her heels. He looked suddenly alert, his amber eyes aglow in the dark as he looked up at Kate, a soft meow drifting from his mouth.
In the next instant, Kate swayed, her eyes blinking rapidly. “Keir, help!” Sarah called, wrapping her arms around her sister to keep her from plummeting to the ground and crushing her daughter.
Within a heartbeat, Keir was there. He gently pulled Kate out of Sarah’s claw-like embrace and then swept her and Frederica into his arms as though they weighed nothing. “Dunna worry, my lady,” he murmured in that calming tone Sarah had grown so fond of. “We shall see ye and yer daughters settled.”
Kate mumbled something unintelligible, her eyes still closed, and her head resting against Keir’s shoulder.
“Go ahead.” Sarah nodded to Keir. “I’ll take Thea,” she added when she saw Mr. Garner emerge from the carriage with Augusta in his arms.
Keir held her gaze. “Are ye certain? I’ll be back out in a moment, and then I can take the wee lassie.”
Sarah squared her shoulders. “She’s only four. I can carry her.” Almost desperately, Sarah wanted to be helpful. She wanted others to depend upon her. After all, this was her sister.
Her nieces.
Her family.
Keir nodded. “Go ahead, lass.”
As Sarah gently gathered Thea into her arms, she heard Keir say, “Mr. Garner lead the way.” The girl’s head ended up upon her shoulder, her limp arms slung around her neck. For a moment, Sarah feared the girl would wake, but she merely mumbled something under her breath and then went on sleeping, oblivious to everything around her.
Following Keir into the inn, Sarah could not deny that she felt Dorothea’s soft weight in every fiber of her being. Her arms and legs were exhausted, and her four-year-old niece seemed to grow heavier with every step she took. Still, Sarah gritted her teeth and continued on. They moved past the innkeeper’s desk, who gave them a friendly nod, and then toward the stairs leading to the upper floor.
Sarah suppressed a groan at the sight of it.
“Wait here,” Keir remarked over his shoulder as though he had once again read her thoughts.
At his words, Sarah paused. However, some part deep inside instantly urged her onward, urged her not to hand over this responsibility to another. Was that not what Kate was doing? Was that not what it meant to be a mother? To continue on for one’s children no matter the hardship?
‘You’ll never be a mother!’ came her mother’s hateful snarl, echoing through her head again and again. ‘You could have been, but now you’re ruined, and no decent man will want you.’
Tears gathered in Sarah’s eyes as she took the first step up the steep staircase.Yes, I’ll never be a mother, but I’m an aunt and I can do this.
Halfway up the stairs, a familiarmeowechoed to Sarah’s ears, and she looked up to see Loki seated on the landing, his amber eyes holding hers. Again, he mewed, giving Sarah heart.
Gathering every last bit of strength, Sarah climbed the last few steps to the top, her arms and legs aching beyond compare. Her heart, though, soared, tears of accomplishment running down her cheeks.
Quick strides sent Keir out of the chamber at the end of the corridor and propelled him back toward the stairs. The moment he saw her, though, he slowed, and Sarah could feel his gaze sweep over her. She wondered if he would chide her, ask why she had not waited. Yet Keir understood; she could see it in his eyes, in the soft twitch at the right corner of his mouth. “This way,” he beckoned and stood aside, allowing Sarah to carry Dorothea the last few steps into the chamber.
Mr. Garner tipped his hat and vanished before Sarah even had a chance to settle Dorothea onto the bed next to her sister. Kate lay in the other one, a relieved smile stealing onto her face the moment she saw her middle child laid down gently. Her eyes closed, then opened once more, exhaustion plain as before upon her face.
Now free of Dorothea’s weight, Sarah’s arms ached as she turned back to Keir. He stood upon the threshold, that concerned frown back upon his face. “Ye look pale, lass,” he remarked in a whisper, raising a brow at her. “Ye need sleep.”
