Beatrice looked up at that. “Sally? Is her name Sally?”
Gabriella nodded, getting to her feet. “I’ll leave her with you tonight. When I come back Sunday, you’ll need to let me know if you will keep her or not.”
“What happens if we won’t?” Beatrice asked.
“I’ll find someone else for her. It won’t be someone she belongs with, like you, but someone will take her in.” Gabriella walked toward the door.
“You’re going to use a door?” Beatrice asked, a bit shocked. “You never use doors.”
Gabriella grinned a grin that was anything but angelic. “I don’t want to give Arthur a heart attack quite yet.”
“Thank you for that,” Arthur said, watching the woman open the door and leave. “What are we going to do?”
Beatrice shrugged. “That’s a decision we need to make together, but I want to keep her.”
“I think we need to really talk, then.”
“So do I.”
Chapter Ten
Beatrice walked into the kitchen with Arthur, still snuggling the baby close. She handed the baby to Arthur while she pulled the pot roast, carrots, and potatoes out of the oven. “Will you hold her while I make the gravy?”
Arthur nodded, looking down at the beautiful little girl in his arms. Her hair was so light it was white, and she had big blue eyes. “She’s pretty.”
“She is.” Beatrice hoped that by holding the baby, Arthur would bond with her the same as she had, but she didn’t tell him that. Instead, she carefully separated a tiny bit of each food she’d prepared and put it onto a plate to cool for the baby, then she started to make the gravy.
Arthur frowned at the baby. “So your name is Sally, is it?” The baby patted his cheek in response. She didn’t seem to be talking yet. “Where did you come from?”
The baby sat quietly, looking at him as if she was one hundred years old instead of just a few months. She seemed to know that he wouldn’t hurt her for anything.
“Why did you open the door?” Arthur asked. It was the burning question inside him. He needed to know why Beatrice had done something that would upset him so much. She knew how he felt about her safety.
Beatrice looked down at the gravy she was making, frowning. “I’m not sure really. I went to the door to see if it was Callum, but it wasn’t. No one was there. No one I could see anyway. I opened the door, and pulled the basket in quick. Millie promised me that if something happened, she would come tell you right away.” She knew he wouldn’t like that she had Millie as her protection, but it was the truth, and she wasn’t about to lie to him.
“Well, I guess that’s something. I’m glad she was watching your back, even though she couldn’t have done anything but run for me.” Arthur couldn’t believe how betrayed he felt by her opening that door. Yes, she’d been fine, and yes, there had been a baby out there, and the door had needed to be opened…but she hadn’t known all that, and he’d been due home less than an hour later. She couldn’t have waited that long?
“I’m sorry, Arthur. I know it’s not something you would have wanted me to do. I felt compelled to do it. Like I felt compelled to get out of the wagon when Gabriella appeared to me in the back of it. I didn’t know what else to do!”
Arthur frowned, looking at the little girl with the ancient eyes. Her eyes were truly a bit unsettling. “I guess I understand that. I hope you’ll be more careful in the future. I don’t know how I’d feel if I came home to find you gone.”
“I will do my best.” Beatrice carefully fixed plates for both of them, ladling gravy over their meals, but not over Sally’s. “I hope she knows how to eat.” She sat down and pulled the baby into her arms, holding a small piece of potato up to her mouth.
The baby chewed it hungrily, opening her mouth for more. “She does know how to eat! She probably still needs milk, but if we could get her a baby bottle, she could drink cow’s or goat’s milk.”
Arthur watched Beatrice with the baby. “You’re going to be heartbroken if we don’t keep her, aren’t you?”
Beatrice bit her lip, nodding. “I am. I know it doesn’t make sense, but my heart already belongs to this little girl. Gabriella said she belongs with us.” Well, that wasn’t exactly what she said, but that was the meaning of it.
“Let’s see if I get any responses tomorrow, and if I don’t, we’ll keep her.” He couldn’t believe he was agreeing to it, but they both had said they wanted a big family. “We’ll have to add on to the house to make it big enough for her. Where will she sleep?”
Beatrice shrugged. “We could get her a bed and put it in the corner of our room.” It was the first time she’d referred to the room she was using as their room and not her own.
“Our room?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Was she trying to tell him something?
She nodded. “I do think it’s our room. There’s no reason for us to keep waiting.” She knew she loved him, and whether he loved her or not, she was willing to let their marriage be a real one. How could she not be?
He looked at her, his eyes searching hers. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I love you. Why would I keep making you wait?” She hadn’t meant to blurt the words out like that, but he deserved to hear them. Since she’d come into his life, it seemed that everything he’d done had been for her. He had a right to know she loved him.
“You love me? Really?”
“Really. I never would have let you force me to stay inside otherwise.”
He grinned, wishing he could take her hand, but she had both hands full with the baby in her arms. “I’m glad you stayed inside. I feel like you’re safe when I know you’ll do that. Will it be easier to stay inside with a baby in your arms?” He hoped this was what she needed to be more settled.
“Yes! I won’t be tempted to go out knowing she could be in danger. I could never endanger our Sally.” Beatrice looked down at the baby, who looked up at her when she heard her name. “Do you think we can get a baby bottle tonight?”
“I’m sure we can. I will go over to Mortimer’s after supper.” He was actually excited to do it. He wanted to get everything they needed for the baby. Already he felt like she belonged to them.
As soon as he finished eating, he hurried off to his friend’s house to get him to open the store. Mortimer came to the door, looking tired. “What do you need me to open up for tonight?”
“Someone left a baby on our doorstep.” Arthur wisely decided not to talk about his wife’s guardian angel. Who would believe him? He wasn’t sure he completely believed until he saw her sitting in a chair in his parlor. “We need a baby bottle for her. Maybe a few.”
“I’d get at least three,” Mortimer said, shutting his door and hurrying around the building to the store. “It’s faster than going through the house.”
Arthur didn’t question him, simply following the other man inside. “Can I get this on credit, and pay you tomorrow?”
“I can just take it out of the money I owe Beatrice for the baked goods if that’s easier.”
“Oh, I forgot you owed her money. That sounds good. I can’t believe I left the house to buy something with no money in my pocket. Of course, I wasn’t expecting to come home from work to a baby.”
“Did you try to find her mother?” Mortimer asked. He’d heard stories of babies being left on doorsteps, of course, but he’d always wondered where they came from.
“I sent out several telegrams to neighboring towns. If no one knows where she came from, we’ll keep her. Beatrice is already in love with the little girl.” And with me. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but he knew better. It wasn’t something a man was supposed to do, no matter how happy he was about having the love of his new wife.
Mortimer made a note on a ledger and gave him three baby bottles to take home with him. “What’s this going to do for my baked goods? Am I still going to get a regular supply?”
Arthur shrugged. “Knowing Beatrice, you’ll have the same amount as always.
She needs to keep busy, and I think this baby will help with that, not keep her from doing other things.”
“Good. I don’t know if I could stop the riots if I didn’t carry her cookies every day. The men love all of her baked goods, but they love her cookies the most. I run out by early afternoon every day, and the men who come after that look so disappointed.”
“She’s sure got a way in the kitchen.” Arthur couldn’t believe how blessed he’d been to find a wife like Beatrice. “I’m glad she’s helping your business go so strong.”
“She’s the best thing I’ve done for business in months.” Mortimer grinned. “I’m glad you found her.”
“Me too.” The whole way home, Arthur thought about what a wonderful blessing his sweet bride was. And now it looked like they’d been blessed with a baby as well.
When he walked in the door, he found Beatrice pacing back and forth with the baby, patting her back. “She’s hungry.”
Arthur held up one of the bottles he carried. “Should I just put milk into it?”
“I don’t know what else to do at the moment. Just fill it with the milk we have, and if it seems to upset her stomach, we’ll switch to goat’s milk as soon as we can.” She continued patting Sally’s back and bouncing her slightly as he hurried to the kitchen to get the milk.
“Here it is,” Arthur told her. It had only taken him a moment to fill the bottle, and she sat down, cradling the baby to her.
It only took a moment for the baby to start sucking at the bottle. Beatrice looked at Arthur and smiled. “Hopefully she can tolerate it.” She’d heard of babies who could only drink goat’s milk, so hopefully Sally would be fine on the cow’s milk.
He sat down to watch her feed the baby, not even thinking to grab his book. He loved the way she looked holding Sally, and he knew she would be a good mother. The baby was asleep in minutes, though she continued to suck. When the bottle was drained, Beatrice pulled the nipple from her mouth, and she handed the bottle to Arthur, who carried it into the kitchen.
Beatrice put the baby to her shoulder and patted her back. As soon as Sally let out a loud burp that was incongruous with how sweet the baby looked, Beatrice carried her into the bedroom. She frowned as she looked at the right place for the baby, and finally decided to let her sleep in the basket Gabriella had brought her in.
Once the baby was settled, she went to the kitchen to do the dishes and clean up. She was amazed at how tired just those few hours with the baby had made her, but she felt more fulfilled than she had since her arrival. She loved to feed her husband and keep him happy, but she also loved the idea of raising the tiny little girl lying in a basket at the foot of her bed.
When the dishes were finished, she joined Arthur in the parlor, not taking any sewing with her. She curled up against his side, her head on his shoulder. She was content in a way she hadn’t thought she could be again.
Arthur kissed the top of her head, smiling down at her. “She’s asleep?” he asked.
“Yes, and the dishes are done. I’m surprised at how tired pacing with her made me. She’s heavier than she looks!”
“Are you sure you want the burden of raising someone else’s child?”
“Burden? Don’t you mean blessing? And we’re getting her young. She’ll never remember having parents other than us. We can tell her someday, but for now, she’ll only know us as her mother and father.”
“Yes, I see her as a blessing, too. I just had to think on it a little longer than you did to come to that conclusion.” Now that he’d come to it though, there was no taking that sweet little girl away from him.
Beatrice grinned, looking up at him. “I’m so happy you want to keep her.”
“Just like I wanted to keep you from the moment I laid eyes on you. I hope you know how very much I love you, Beatrice.”
She blinked a few times. “You do? You don’t have to say that just because I did.”
“I think I knew I loved you within three minutes of setting eyes on you. For me, when Reverend Bing suggested we marry, it was an opportunity that I couldn’t let pass. I knew it was what I wanted right away. I was so relieved when you finally agreed.”
She grinned at him. “It took me a few hours. Probably within a few minutes of setting eyes on your bookshelf, I knew that we were meant to be together. You complete me, Arthur.”
He leaned down and kissed her, his hand smoothing back her hair. “I don’t care if it took you hours or days. As long as you love me now, that’s all I ask for.”
Standing on the street just outside their parlor window was Gabriella. She smiled to herself. “That’s three of my charges all taken care of. They just needed to find each other.” She turned and strolled away, knowing that they would be happy, and she needed to go to work on some of her other jobs.
She knew that Beatrice, Arthur, and little Sally would always have a special place in her heart though. What other situations did a guardian angel have where she could make sure that three people are happy all at once?
Now she needed to concentrate on the next man on her list. He was going to take a lot more work than the last three, but after forming that little family, she felt she was up to the challenge. Not only up to it, but she was looking forward to it. She had finally found her stride. Her wings were polished and ready to go.
She walked through the stable and out onto the road leading out of town. It was time to move on.
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Beatrice the Bride (Cowboys and Angels Book 1) Page 11