Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
When she emerged into the kitchen and saw him sitting by the fire, alive and unhurt, her breath returned for the first time in an hour.
She rushed to his side. “What happened?”
“This happened.” He shifted his arms to reveal a bundle of tiny, knobby joints and fluffy patches of black and white.
A newborn goat.
“Oh, my goodness.” She knelt behind him, peering over his shoulder. “Surely not Marigold?”
“I told you so,” he said irritably.
As if she’d be intimidated by gruff words from a man cradling a newborn goat in his arms. She’d always known he had a capacity for gentleness.
I told you so, too.
She reached to stroke the little goat’s fur.
Gabriel’s shoulder muscle flinched in annoyance. “My shirt was ruined, I’ll have you know. Completely unsalvageable. And then this runtish little thing wouldn’t stop shivering.”
“Would it help if I told you that I’ve never found you so wildly attractive as I do in this moment?”
“No.”
She smiled and reached into her pocket to withdraw a parcel wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine. “Here. You need a biscuit.”
He bristled. “I’m not the goddamned parrot.”
“Of course not. Your vocabulary is much worse.” She held the buttery round of shortbread to his lips. “Nicola made it fresh this morning. Go on, then. You know how you are on an empty stomach. Take this for now, and then I’ll find you a proper supper.”
He gave in, snapping the shortbread from her fingers with his teeth and devouring it in a single bite. “Where on earth have you been?”
She offered him another biscuit, and this time he accepted it without argument. “The shops. Emma helped me choose lace and stockings at the draper’s. That’s where Ash’s errand boy caught up with us.”
“Well, while you were dithering over lace, your goat nearly died. And so did her kid. For that matter, it was a close call for me, Ashbury, and Reynaud, too.”
She paused in the act of brushing a crumb from the corner of his lips. “You delivered it yourselves? The three of you?”
“Mostly me. They were no help at all. At least Chase had this on him.” He shifted the baby goat to one arm and handed her a silver object approximately the size of her hand.
Penny examined the makeshift feeding bottle fashioned from a silver flask. In place of a teat, he’d severed the fingertip of a leather glove, stretched it over the uncapped opening, and pricked a hole at the end.
“Marigold was too weak to let the baby nurse,” he explained. “We had to milk her, which was a miserable adventure on its own.”
“This is ingenious. I doubt Nicola could have devised anything better. Though I do hope you emptied it of brandy first.”
“Believe me, we’d already drained the brandy ourselves.” He heaved a weary sigh. “It was a close thing, Penny. We nearly lost them both.”
“But you did beautifully. Marigold survived, and he’s perfect.” She tilted her head. “Or is it a she?”
“Damned if I know. Never thought to investigate, and I don’t care to. After today, I’ve seen enough of goat hindquarters to last me a lifetime.”
She laughed a little. Hooking one of the baby goat’s hind legs with a finger, she made her own examination. “It’s a he. And he’s darling.”
“The veterinarian’s already come and gone. He said Marigold would recover, but we mustn’t be surprised if she refuses to nurse. Or she might reject the kid entirely. It happens, he said. Sometimes—” He stroked the kid’s velvety ear with a single fingertip, as though he were afraid he might break it. “Sometimes, if she’s ill or weakened, the mother knows she can’t save both her offspring and herself. So she abandons her baby in order to survive.”
Penny’s heart squeezed. She rested her chin on his shoulder. “What a heartbreaking choice for a mother to make.”
He stared into the fire. Amber warmth and cool shadows fought for dominion over his hard, unshaven jaw. “She’s a goat. Goats have instincts. People have choices.”
“You’re right. People do have choices. Sometimes they make cruel, unforgivable ones. But we can choose to keep our little corner of the world warm and safe.” She slid her arms around his chest and hugged him tight. “If Marigold isn’t able to care for him, we will.”
She reached to take the kid from his arms, but he pulled away.
“Oh, no, you don’t. I’m not letting you coo over him. This one is mine, and I’ll do with him as I please. Send him to Ashbury’s estate. Banish him to a parsnip farm. Fatten him up for Christmas dinner. I told you she was breeding, and you didn’t believe me. I delivered the thing, and you weren’t here. You have no say in the matter.”
“I suppose that’s only fair.”
Although, watching him tenderly hold the little dear, she didn’t feel too worried about the kid’s future. Nor Gabriel’s. She would find it easier to part with him knowing he had some love in his life. Even if it came from a bottle-fed baby goat.