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Fia stepped away from the bed to give Ella and Marsh time with their son. Merry did the same, fussing with the pile of linens that would swaddle the bairn.
Varrick watched his wife, amazed at how gentle yet skilled her hands had been and how calm she had remained throughout the whole ordeal. Seeing her that way made it difficult to deny she was a healer and a highly skilled one at that. Had her exceptional skills marked her a witch?
A loud burp startled them all.
Ella laughed, a joyous smile on her face. “Like father like son.”
“That’s my lad,” Marsh said proudly and turned anxious eyes on Fia. “He will be all right, won’t he?”
He will do well and grow into a fine man.
Fia almost sighed with relief, though said a silent thanks for her knowing at that moment before she smiled and said the same. “He will do well and grow into a fine man.”
Ella let out a breath she had been holding, her smile returning after it had faded upon hearing her husband’s question.
“Please instruct me in all I need to know to look after my son,” Ella pleaded as the bairn continued to feed.
“Much you will learn through instinct as most new mums do, but there are things I can tell you that will help and ease the worries you are sure to have,” Fia said.
“My lord,” Marsh said, turning to him. “May I have a word with you outside while the women talk?”
Varrick stood eager to get some air, the cottage having long grown too confined for him. “Aye.”
Marsh kissed his wife’s cheek, then his son’s tiny, warm cheek, and with eyes that still glistened with tears he looked at Fia. “We are indebted and ever so grateful to you.”
“Aye! Aye!” Ella said. “Forever grateful.”
“And I owe you an apology, my lady, for speaking poorly to you and accusing you of something you are not,” Marsh said. “I hope you will forgive me.”
“There is no reason for forgiveness, but I will accept your apology for it is given with true sincerity,” Fia said, profoundly grateful.
Three more… another lad and two lasses. All easily and safely born.
“Three more bairns you’ll have, a lad and two lasses. All born easily and safely,” Fia said without thinking and realized her mistake when they all stared at her.
Surprisingly, it was Marsh who spoke first. “We are grateful for such news, for it will leave Ella and me to worry less each time she is with child.”
Talk returned between the women as the men headed to the door.
Once outside, Marsh spoke. “I was wrong. Lady Fia is a good woman and an exceptional healer. We cannot send her to the woods… to her death.”
CHAPTER12
Varrick watched as person after person left the cottage where Fia had tended people the last three days. Marsh, Ella, and even Merry had spread the news of Fia’s remarkable healing skills. Marsh and Ella’s son, Owen, was proof of that, the bairn growing stronger by the day. Willard continued to heal remarkably well as did Harold and Seth, which made some in the clan willing to take a chance with Fia. Of course, there were those who remained skeptical but as Fia helped soothe or heal minor ailments, some had suffered endlessly with, more began to trust her healing skills. Unfortunately, Brother Luke was not one of them.
Varrick had addressed a few clan matters outside the small cottage where he had granted her permission to practice her healing. It allowed him to keep watch over her, not sure who to trust and that included his wife. She had been busy all morning tending to people, and he had been amazed to see so many leave the cottage with a smile.
When there was finally a lull in people seeking her help, Varrick was going to suggest a short respite and was surprised when his wife stepped outside, her cloak around her, and smiled softly at him.
“A short respite would be good. Will you walk with me?” Fia asked once reaching his side.
“I was going to suggest the same,” he said, questioning their often-identical thoughts as they fell in step together, their hands instinctively joining in a firm hold.
He tried to keep his glance away from her face, but too often got lost in her deep brown eyes that swirled with an intensity that could very well devour a man. And her lips… rosy, plump, luscious, and bloody hell, far too tempting.
Women had come and gone in his life, none ever leaving him with a memory he cared to recall. They had served no more than a purpose… to ease a need. Fia was the first woman to linger in his thoughts in far too many ways.
Fia enjoyed the comfortable silence that lingered between them as they walked. While there was much to be said, she preferred to relish the quiet… until. She felt his worry.
