The Apothecary's Daughter (Romance/Mystery/Suspense)

by Samantha Jillian Bayarr

  “Except my eyes are starting to water, and I’m probably going to start sneezing any minute if we don’t leave. Have you seen enough for today?”

  “Of course. Let’s go get Sophia’s things. I’m anxious to meet your brother. What’s his wife’s name again?”

  “Her name is Hillary. I asked him to bring her if that’s okay. I want you to get to know her. I think you two will get along famously.”

  “Famously, huh?”

  Ben began to sneeze as he walked toward the door with Sophia in tow. “You know what I mean.”

  I shoved the box of tissue into his hands when we reached the car. After punching in the address in his GPS, we were on our way to get Sophia’s things.

  Sam and Hillary were waiting in front of the house when we pulled into the driveway. Ben went to greet them while I unbuckled Sophia from her car seat.

  Sam reached a hand out to me and I shook it.

  “So this is the girl that inherited Peyton Manor? The one you haven’t stopped talking about since you met her last week?”

  I looked over at Ben. “Oh really.”

  Ben held up his hands in his defense. “I admit it. I was very attracted to you from the first day we met.”

  Sam punched him playfully in the arm. “More like infatuated with.”

  Ben grabbed my hand and pointed to the ring on my finger. “Well it doesn’t matter now because I married her yesterday.”

  Sam punched him again a little harder. “Are you kidding, little brother? How did you manage to talk this beautiful woman into marrying you?”

  Ben squeezed my hand. “I don’t know. I guess I’m the luckiest man alive.”

  Sam and Hillary both took turns hugging me and congratulating us until Sophia began to whine a little.

  “So who’s this little one,” Hillary asked.

  Ben took her from my arms. “This is Sophia. And she is the reason I asked you to come here. We need to get her crib and possibly a few other things from her house. We adopted her today.”

  “So you managed to snag a wife and a daughter in two days. I guess you’re finally a grown-up little Bro. But how did you manage the adoption so fast?”

  Ben explained the entire story to Sam and Hillary while I grabbed the house key from my purse that sat on the front seat of the car so we could all go in the house. I was a little leery of taking Sophia into the house with us, but Hillary thought it would be a good idea for her to able to see things that were familiar to her. Being a brand new mom, I trusted her advice and she was right. While the guys took apart her crib, Hillary made herself at home and located a bowl and spoon as I put Sophia in her highchair so she could eat. It was messy, but it made her very happy. Hillary and I talked about the wedding, and I showed her the pictures on my phone. Ben was right. I really liked her.

  When Sophia was finished eating, Hillary and I went to the nursery to assess the guy’s progress with the crib. They’d already loaded the crib, a dresser, a rocking chair, and a changing table by the time we entered the room. The only things left were her clothing and toys in the closet. Sam located a couple of empty boxes in the garage, and we were on our way to packing the remainder of her things. When all was loaded, they followed us to my house, where all was to be unloaded. The only dilemma was where we would put her things. After a few minutes of discussion, it was decided the formal dining room would become a temporary nursery. Ben and Sam moved the dining room furniture into my mother’s room. Her highchair was placed in the kitchen next to the small breakfast table near the window.

  After the crib was put together, Sam and Hillary left because it was getting late, and they were paying a babysitter. Sophia yawned and rubbed her eyes, so Ben heated up formula from a can and filled a bottle halfway. Sister Mary Ellen had advised us that even though she was eighteen months old, she still took a bottle at night, and probably would until she grew more comfortable with us. We both thought she was surprisingly comfortable with us already, but I didn’t want to change anymore of her routines just yet. She also wore the disposable training pants during the day. Thankfully, those were packed in her things from the orphanage because Ben had forgotten them during his earlier shopping trip.

  When she was through with her bottle, I continued to rock her in her birth-mother’s rocking chair until she was asleep. Ben assisted me in getting her to the crib so I wouldn’t wake her. We both stood by her crib and watched her sleep for a few minutes.

  “It’s been a long day, Honey. Do you want me to wait until the morning to get some of my things from my apartment? I have enough to get by until then since I have the things I picked up at Cost-Mart earlier.”

  I leaned my head on his shoulder. “That would probably be a good idea. I’m exhausted. I need to get some sleep.”

  Ben squeezed me with the arm he had around me.

  “Does that mean the honeymoon is over?”

  I giggled as we entered my childhood room. “No, the honeymoon is not over. But we have to be very quiet. I don’t want to wake up the baby.”

  Ben turned on the monitor that the guys set up in my room; the other was near Sophia’s crib. “This monitor isn’t a two-way radio. We can hear her, but she can’t hear us.”

  “Well, okay. I didn’t know how those things work.”

  He kissed me and steered me toward my bed. “Doesn’t matter. I love you, my beautiful wife.”

  “And I love hearing you say that because I love you too.”

  I cuddled my head on his shoulder, my arm resting across his chest, and immediately drifted off to sleep.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  I woke suddenly to the shrill sound of crying. It took me a second to realize it was Sophia that was crying. Ben was already out of the bed and halfway out the door before I woke up enough to act. I could hear him talking quietly to her from the baby monitor, and knew he was bringing her into the room with me, so I stayed where I was. He brought the whining baby into the room and set her on the bed beside me. She cuddled up next to me and closed her eyes. I lay back down, cradling her as she pushed her head up on my pillow. Ben cuddled in behind me, and I halfway dozed off. I thought of Emily, and how she was always complaining that Isabelle was always crying at night and she and Steve would put her in bed with them. From what she told me, it was a hard habit to break a child of, and I didn’t want to get into bad habits from the start with Sophia, but Ben and I were so exhausted, I allowed the child’s indulgence, determined not to let it continue. For now, I was way too tired to begin training her.

  

  When the sun began to peek through the bedroom curtains, I moved slightly in the bed, trying not to disturb Sophia. My neck was stiff, and I tried to stretch it despite the fact I was boxed in by Ben on one side of me; Sophia on the other. I crawled over Ben and sat on the edge of the bed near him, trying to work the kink out of my neck. All that commotion hadn’t disturbed either of them. I slowly made my way to the bathroom so I could wash my face and brush my teeth, hoping it would wake me up a little.

  When I opened the bathroom door after washing up, the smell of brewing coffee entered my nose. Ben was no longer in bed, but Sophia was still sound asleep on my pillow where I’d left her just minutes before. The clock on the nightstand read 6:47 A.M., and I wondered how late the child usually slept. I kissed her forehead and shuffled my way toward the smell of coffee.

  In the kitchen, I found Ben sitting at the table with a fresh cup of coffee, and reading the newspaper. This was usually the time the carrier drove by and tossed the paper halfway up the driveway. I leaned over behind Ben and hung my arms around his neck and kissed him.

  He hugged my arms. “Good morning. Did you get enough sleep?”

  I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down next to him, yawning. “I think I slept with one eye open the whole night. Do parents ever get any sleep, or do they walk around like zombies all day?”

  Ben squeezed my hand. “It’ll get better. And if not, we can always consider getting a nanny.”

&
nbsp; I tilted my head at Ben. “Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of adopting her if we’re going to have someone else raise her?”

  Ben shook his head. “She wouldn’t raise her for us, she’d assist us. I could ask Hillary to help for a few days if you want me to.”

  I shook my head vigorously. “That would be great. I’ll ask Emily, too. Maybe they can take turns helping me next week once you go back to work.”

  Ben pushed the paper aside. “Sounds like a plan.”

  “I think our immediate plan is to figure out where we’re going to live.”

  “I was thinking about that. What if we moved into the cottage? I know you’re leery of the manor, but the cottage is big enough for us. I know the furnishings and appliances are outdated, but I kind of like the style. If we had it professionally cleaned, it could be a nice little starter house. What do you think?”

  I leaned up and kissed him. “I like that idea. What are we going to do about this house and your apartment?”

  Ben pushed back his chair and poured another cup of coffee. “My lease is almost up, and we can sell this one if you want to. Do you think your mother would have been okay with that idea?”

  I held my cup out to him for a refill. “She actually told me before she died that she wanted me to sell the house. She knew she would die in her room and she didn’t want me to have to live with that. At the time I argued with her, not knowing about the inheritance. She told me not to worry. I guess it all makes sense now. She knew how I would feel after she died. I think she knew I wouldn’t want to stay in the house anymore. The only difference was, she knew about the inheritance and I didn’t.”

  “Well that’s all behind you now. Let’s make a list of people we need to call later such as realtors and cleaning services, and whoever else we need to call. I’d like to get this stuff settled in the next few days. I have a trial coming up next Monday, and I’d like to be settled so I can prepare for it.”

  I grabbed a pad of paper and a pen from the kitchen drawer and began to make a list of everything we needed to get done. Ben assured me that Sam would bring his truck and help us move our things. I told him Steve had a truck too, so we could get the moving part of it done quickly.

  I glanced at the clock, knowing that Emily would probably be up by now with Isabelle. I still hadn’t had the opportunity to tell her about Sophia, and thought it best to invite her over this morning so she could meet my new husband and daughter. Not to mention, I could use some help in getting myself and the baby organized for the long week ahead of us.

  Ben picked up the paper to read a little more while I worked to finish the list before calling Emily. I looked up when I heard a noise, and saw Sophia walking toward me. She reached her hands up to me and I picked her up and set her on my lap and hugged her. Ben put the paper back down and got up from his chair. He rummaged through the unpacked shopping bags for a box of cereal.

  “Do we put formula on these, or do you think she can have cow’s milk?”

  I thought about it for a second. I didn’t want to give the wrong answer, but I also wanted to sound like I knew what I was talking about.

  “Maybe we should just give them to her dry and fill the sippy-cup with formula. I’m not sure, but I think that’s the way Emily does it for Isabelle.”

  Ben readied the food for Sophia as I strapped her into the highchair and placed the tray in front of her. He handed me the box of cereal and I poured a handful onto the tray, hoping it was the right thing to do. She immediately began to stuff her mouth, looking up occasionally to see if we were still watching her. As she settled into a rhythm of steady eating and drinking, Ben encouraged me to take advantage of the time to call Emily. I didn’t stay on long with her. She tried to pry the secret from me, but I begged her to hurry over so I could tell her in person.

  I poked my head back in the kitchen just long enough to see that Ben had everything under control, and decided to take a quick shower. By nine O’clock, Ben and I were both showered and I was getting ready to bathe Sophia. Emily arrived just then, and knocked at the open bathroom door.

  “You’re a newlywed to that gorgeous man that just let me in, and you’re babysitting on your honeymoon? Is your marriage in trouble already? Or is she his family?”

  I gestured to the vanity chair pushed under the bathroom counter. “My marriage with Ben couldn’t be any more perfect. But maybe you should slow down and take a seat, and I’ll explain everything.”

  Emily frowned, but she did as I asked.

  I sat on the toilet seat across from her. “This is Sophia,” I said proudly. “Ben and I met her at the orphanage and decided to adopt her yesterday after we got married.”

  “You mean from your orphanage? They let you name her? She’s a little old for that. Don’t you think that would confuse her?”

  “Emily.” I had to raise my voice over hers. “First of all, yes. We got her from my orphanage. Second of all, her name was already Sophia. She reached out to me from her crib when we were touring the orphanage, and she called me ‘Momma’. My heart nearly stopped. But when I heard her name, I knew it was fate and we were meant to be a family.”

  Emily had tears in her eyes. “It’s your dream come true. Is your new husband okay with all of this?”

  I nodded and told her the whole story about how Ben arranged for the adoption and about meeting his brother and sister-in-law when they helped us move the baby’s things to the house. I even told her about our plan to move into the cottage next week after it was cleaned.

  “Don’t worry about moving. Steve and I will help. Oh, but now you’re going to be so far away.”

  “It’s less than an hour. Besides, I’m going to need your help with cleaning out the manor. I think our stay in the cottage won’t last long because I really think Ben wants to move into the manor eventually.”

  “Can we stay in the cottage when you move into the manor? I mean, when we come to visit you.”

  “I didn’t think of that. That’s an excellent idea.”

  “Then it’s settled. Steve and I will help in any way we can.”

  “I knew I could count on you. But first, would you mind helping me give her a bath? I’m not real sure what I’m doing.”

  Emily showed me how to test the temperature of the water, and instructed me not to fill the tub too full, including the importance of never leaving her alone in the tub.

  When Sophia was clean and happy, Emily went home to get Isabelle so the two could have a play date while the grownups could get to work on cleaning the cottage. Being Sunday, Ben was unsuccessful in obtaining any cleaning services. Realtors, however, he was able to reach. And he had one meeting us at my house at seven o’clock, which didn’t leave us much time between driving time and cleaning.

  

  Emily was in awe of the property at Peyton Manor. It almost reminded me of when we were kids. She always wanted to explore, where I became bored very quickly with her games of adventure. I had to admit that now as I watched her childlike wonderment over everything she saw, I was a bit envious of her thirst for adventure; almost to the point of rethinking the whole thing. As the day wore on, we discovered treasure after treasure in the antiques in the home, and it was beginning to intrigue me. At first, I’d thought of most of the things in the cottage as old junk, but as I listened to Emily give a story about almost every item she touched, I began to become genuinely interested in my heritage. It was like getting a lesson in my own heritage through the items that were left behind. I felt fortunate to have such relics, as the average person never gets such an opportunity to explore their ancestors so up close and personal as I was.

  Since the water and electricity were still off, we had to pull water from the hand pump at the old well outside. Bucket after bucket of dirty water was thrown out the door, but the floors and surfaces still didn’t feel as clean as I’d wanted them to be. Even after all the sheets were removed from the furniture, I still felt the furniture would need to be professionally steam-
cleaned. Still, I felt we’d made some progress, though the house was, in my opinion, nowhere near ready to be moved into, much to Ben’s disappointment.

  When there was no more we could do that would satisfy me as to the acceptance of cleanliness, we decided to take a ride up to the manor to look around after we took a break for lunch. We washed our hands in the stream of water as we took turns pumping the well for each other, then, sat in the grass near the lake with the lunch that Emily had packed for us. It was a pleasant day, and warmer than it had been recently. The sun was warm enough that I felt comfortable removing Sophia’s sweater. Emily gave me a few more pointers on feeding her, letting me know that we could feed her regular table food if she tolerated it, but warned me of the common allergy foods and choking hazards to avoid.

  When everything was packed into the back of Steve’s truck, we headed for the manor. The guys rode together in the truck, while Emily and Isabelle rode with Sophia and me. It was the first time I’d driven Ben’s Mercedes, and it definitely felt like something I could get used to. Of course, with the money I now had, I could actually afford to get a car that I didn’t have to wonder if it was going to break down. Maybe I could even look into driving an SUV like Ben suggested. Emily had one and she seemed to like it.

  “I suddenly feel very domesticated,” I said to Emily.

  She laughed. “You wear it well. How does it feel?”

  I had to admit, it was beginning to grow on me. My new husband was getting along well with my best friend’s husband and her daughter now had a playmate in my own new daughter.

  Emily pointed to the manor as we pulled up in front.

  “What’s it like inside?”

  I stopped the car in the curved drive in front of the house. “It’s dirtier than the cottage, so prepare yourself.”

  Emily placed a cautious hand on my arm. “I was talking about the ghosts. Does it seem haunted like you thought it was?”

  “I have to admit, it seemed spooky, but so far, not haunted. Ben was with me the entire time though, and we only went as far as the parlor.”