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“She’s downstairs working off the rest of your tab,” she said in a disapproving tone as she flicked one of her hands towards the corner where his suit waited for him.
“What do you mean she’s working off my tab?” he snapped, grabbing his pants as he felt the old anger that he’d worked so hard to destory trying to make its way back to the surface, but he would never let resurface, not after Elizabeth came into his life and changed everything.
Then again, if someone had hurt his wife…
“She only had enough money to cover the cost of the doctor and the room for one night. She had to work off the rest,” the woman said firmly as she headed toward the door, pausing only long enough to send him a scathing look as though this were somehow all his fault and as much as he’d like to scream at the woman and tell her that it wasn’t, something told him that it was.
*-*-*-*
“They’re still waiting for their breakfast,” Miss Bridgett, the owner’s sister and someone that was probably going to give her nightmares for years, said with a contemptuous smile that pretty much said it all.
She’d enjoyed every last minute of misery that she’d inflicted upon Elizabeth in the last seventy-two hours. Not that Elizabeth had ever believed that Miss Bridgett had offered to allow her to work off most of the bill out of the kindness of her heart, because she knew better. Well, that and the fact that Miss Bridgett got a creepy little smile of satisfaction on her face whenever she asked Elizabeth to do something. She seemed to take great satisfaction in finding something wrong with her work and ordering her to do it over again, but this time she had better do it right.
“I’m bringing them out now,” she said, using that same smile that she used to use on her parents when she had to go along with something that she didn’t want to do just to keep everyone happy as she grabbed two plates overflowing with eggs, ham and biscuits and headed for the tavern where the same group of men that had stayed up drinking whiskey and ale all night and offered her a few coins to sit on their laps, were now nursing hangovers and demanding food.
God, she was tired, but she was trying not to think about that right now, because she still had to go make sure that Robert was okay and try to get him to eat something. He was looking a lot better than he had the night before and she wanted him to keep looking that way, so she was doing every single demeaning chore thrown her way so that her husband could get more rest and she had a little more time to figure out who’d stolen the rest of their things and come up with a plan to get them back.
“You need to hurry up and finish the dishes before you leave,” Miss Bridgett said, deciding to push it and see just how much free labor she could get out of her before Elizabeth finally had enough, woke Robert up and start the long walk back home while she tried not to cry over how tired she was.
God, she was exhausted.
She’d thought she understood the word before, thanks to the babies and the schedule she’d made for herself, but working for three days straight for a tyrant like Miss Bridgett had helped her redefine the definition of the word exhaustion. What she wouldn’t give for a nice exhausting day at home where she was at least guaranteed three meals and a few minutes of sleep here and there while she waited for one of her sons to start screaming, making his hunger known, and seriously terrifying her because she’d never seen children, babies really, grow that fast or eat that much before.
Sometimes when she was able to fall asleep, she’d have nightmares about how they were going to keep up with the boys’ ferocious appetites. She used to worry about Robert’s appetite sending them to the poor house, but his appetite had nothing on the boys. It was terrifying and some days she wasn’t sure that they’d make it through the day without the boys breaking down the pantry door and eating everything they had in storage, but thankfully Robert was an excellent carpenter and had fortified the pantry door, ensuring that not even an army could break in there.
She was always so scared that she could never do enough to not only make up for the past, but to show Robert that he hadn’t made a mistake when he’d brought her with him. Even though American had come a long way since it had broken free from England and had become known throughout Europe as the land of opportunity, sometimes there was more opportunity for families if the women and children stayed behind while the men started lives for them here.
Robert worked so hard to put food on their table and keep a roof over their head, she felt like she wasn’t pulling her fair share if she wasn’t putting in just as many hours as him and trying to find ways to earn her keep. She didn’t want to be another burden for him, especially after everything that she’d put him through when they were children. She just wanted to make him happy and she was terrified that she was never going to be able to do that.
Maybe she should take the boys and return to England with James when it came time so that Robert could have a real chance at building them a future here without her getting in the way of his dreams. Leaving him would be the hardest thing that she’d ever done, but if staying away for a year or two gave him the chance that he needed to really establish himself here and make a life for them then maybe that’s what she should do.
It was the right thing to do, she told herself, choking back the tears as she told herself that she was just tired and that her heart wasn’t breaking in two.
She owed it to Robert to do this.
She owed him a real chance.
Chapter 7
“Should I call the magistrate?” Mr. Bridgett asked, shooting a nervous glance between Robert and the large man that he had pressed up against the wall by his throat.
“Yes,” Robert said as the son of a bitch that wasn’t walking out of this tavern without a beating, practically screamed, “No!”
Mr. Bridgett sent the mean old crone that was apparently his sister a nervous glance only to find her looking down her nose at him with a haughty sniff, making it clear, at least to her brother, what she thought of the whole mess.
“The bastard just attacked him for no reason!” the asshole’s buddy argued, but didn’t dare come any closer, Robert noted as he tightened his hold around the piece of shit’s neck and squeezed just enough to get his meaning across.
Struggling to take his next breath, the asshole fumbled inside his coat and grabbed two-silver cases and hand them over to Robert without another word. He didn’t bother to ask about the money that had been with the cases, because he already knew that had been the first to go and probably the reason that this son of a bitch and his friends smelled like cheap ale and even cheaper perfume. They’d spent his hard-earned money living it up with booze and whores while his wife had worked her fingers to the bone to make sure that he was cared for.
For that alone, Robert pulled back his fast and let it fly, breaking the asshole’s nose. He dropped like a sack of potatoes at Robert’s feet and although his friends appeared to want to help him, the way Robert simply stepped away and calmly placed the silver cases in his coat pocket said it all. He wasn’t looking for a fight, but he wasn’t about to turn one down either, not after finding out how truly fucked up this honeymoon was turning out to be.
“G-get out,” Mr. Bridgett all but whispered as he took a healthy step away from Robert until he had a small tavern table between them with his sister by his side.
“Just as soon as you tell me where my wife is,” he drawled, giving the man’s sister a look that told her that she should count herself lucky that he didn’t hit women.
“She’s in the back doing the dishes,” she said in a stern voice that obviously expected to be obeyed.
Giving the brother a pitying look, Robert walked past them and headed towards the back hallway, and found his wife, perhaps one of the strongest woman that he’d ever met, sobbing quietly as she stood there sadly scrubbing a cracked plate clean.
It was just….
The saddest thing that he’d ever seen.
She just looked so helpless and sweet standing there, silently sobbi
ng as she continued to try and wash the crack away, making him wonder just how long it had been since she’d slept. When her bottom lip quivered as a tiny little sliver broke free from the crack and hit the floor without a sound, he just couldn’t take it anymore.
It was just so damn sad….and so damn cute…
He knew that his wife’s near breakdown was serious and that he really shouldn’t really find anything cute about this, but damn if that little lip quiver didn’t have him biting back a smile and making him forget that he wanted to wring the neck of the inn keeper and his greedy sister.
Almost.
Sighs, another sliver fell to the ground, earning another lip quiver and a little sniffle that had him shaking his head and walking over to his wife, who was quietly sobbing over an old cracked plate. Shaking his head, wondering why he hadn’t put a stop to this sooner, he gently took the plate away from Elizabeth’s trembling hands and set it on the counter. He pulled her into his arms.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised her as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
Although she did nod in agreement as she grabbed onto his coat and buried her face against his chest, something told him that she had no clue what he’d just said. It was just another sign that he should have put an end to this sooner.
Taking care of twin boys, cooking, cleaning, taking on sewing and other chores to help make extra money for them as well as taking care of the gardening was too much for any one person to handle. He’d pointed out that she was doing too much in the past, but every time he voiced his concern it was met with a stubborn glare as she took his words as a challenge to do more.
He’d been too damn exhausted to argue with her and to be honest, he hadn’t wanted to fight with her. Things were going so well between them that he hated risking saying or doing anything that would destroy this beautiful truce between them. He liked having his minx in his life and would do whatever it took to keep her there, even keep his mouth shut when he knew that she was pushing herself too damn far.
That all ended today.
