«Curse Caleb?» Willow sounded and looked appalled. Impulsively, she took Jessica’s cold fists, uncurled the fingers, and placed Jessica’s hands on the firm mound of her pregnancy. «Feel it. Feel the baby kick and turn and wriggle. Can you feel it?»
At first, Jessica tried to pull away, for the gesture called back more of her own childhood, when her mother had grabbed her daughter’s hands and pressed them against her womb, shouting at her daughter to feel the babe, to feel it moving, proof that this one would not be stillborn. But not once had Jessica felt a babe move. Not once had the pregnancies ended in a live birth.
Willow’s belly was warm and firm and resilient, and beneath the supple skin something drummed against Jessica’s hands.
«It’s moving,» Jessica breathed, shocked. «It’s alive!»
«Of course. The blessed little thing is as active as a flea.»
«No, you don’tunderstand.It’salive.»
Willow laughed softly, bemused by the wonder on Jessica’s face.
«Yes, it’s alive,» Willow agreed. «Another life is growing inside me. A beautiful miracle. How could I curse the man who created this new life with me?»
Jessica said nothing, for she was too transfixed by the vigorous life in Willow’s womb to think coherently.
«Here,» Willow said, shifting one of Jessica’s hands. «Can you feel the baby’s head, all round, just fitting in your palm?»
Breathlessly, Jessica nodded.
«Now give me your other hand,» Willow said. She moved it to the other side of her abdomen. «Feel it kick? A tiny little foot, but already so strong. Every week it gets bigger and stronger. Lately, it seems to grow an inch a day.» She laughed. «Soon it will be strong enough to be born, and then I’ll see Caleb hold his child and smile at me.»
«You aren’t afraid?»
«I’m strong. I’m healthy. My mother had babies without difficulty.» Willow hesitated, then admitted, «Caleb wanted me to go to the fort months ago, but the weather has been too bad. Besides, I wanted our child to be born here. I didn’t want to be in a strange place with strangers around me.»
«When the time comes, I’ll help you,» Jessica said. «If you wish it. Lady Victoria saw that I had some small training, though I’ve never used it. She wanted me to be prepared if my future husband owned a remote country estate.»
Willow said simply, «I’d like to have you nearby.»
«Then you shall.»
With a lifting of her heart, Jessica picked up her embroidery again and resumed working on the christening gown. For the first time, she allowed herself to hope that the gown wouldn’t serve as a tiny shroud for a stillborn babe.
«OH, do play, please,» Jessica coaxed Caleb. «Reno told me you play quite beautifully. It would be wonderful to hear music again.»
«That’s the thing about being a Western wife,» Wolfe said, giving Jessica a taunting look. «You’re deprived of all kinds of civilized things.»
«Not music,» Caleb said. «Not unless you want to be.» He put the harmonica to his lips. A beautiful chord floated through the room. «Of course, a harmonica isn’t some fancy chamber music done in four-part harmony.»
«Do that again,» Jessica said, startled. Then she heard the blunt command in her voice and flushed. «Please. It was very pretty.»
«It wasn’t Bach,» Wolfe said.
«Do hush up,» Jessica said sweetly. «If I had wanted Bach, I would have packed my violin over the Rockies and made all of you suffer through a nightly recital.»
Rafelaughed. «You tell him, Red.»
Despite himself, Wolfe smiled. «Actually, I like Bach.»
«You would,» Reno said. «You spent too long in civilization.»
Caleb lifted the harmonica and blew gently. All conversation stopped as the first, simple notes of «Amazing Grace» filled the room. Reno and Willow began singing, falling easily into the patterns of harmony they had learned as children. Jessica’s breath went out in a sigh of pleasure as brother and sister sang with voices perfectly blended.
After a moment another voice wove through the other two in a rhythmic echo that had no words. When Jessica looked atRafe, she realized that he was humming in flawless counterpoint.
Grimly Wolfe measured the pleasure and admiration in Jessica’s face as she listened to Reno’s voice andRafe’s haunting music. Even as Wolfe told himself that she was every bit as admiring of Caleb and Willow, Wolfe knew it didn’t matter. It was Jessica’s clear appreciation of the Moran brothers that flicked like a whip over Wolfe’s raw nerves.
Nor were Reno andRafe immune to Jessica’s effortless charm. Their eyes kindled with special warmth when she laughed, when she smiled, when she walked into the room. Though neither brother had given her so much as an improper look, the knowledge that Jessica took pleasure in their company — but not in her husband’s — was like an acid in Wolfe’s soul. The fact that he had worked relentlessly to make her uncomfortable in his presence only made the result more bitter.
I never should have brought her here. I should have guessed Reno would be wintering over with his sister. I should have known what effect Jessica’s fey blue eyes and laughter would have on a lonely man. God knows the effect they have on me.
Or rather, the Devil knows. I want Jessica like Hell burning. But I can survive that. What I can’t survive is watching her flit like a silken butterfly around those damned handsome Moran brothers.
I should grabJessi and leave.
But Wolfe couldn’t do that. He cared too much for Willow to deprive her of Jessica’s company, especially after Willow had refused to leave the ranch in order to give birth.
When Caleb began a ballad set in waltz time Jessica began humming and keeping time with her fingertips.
«Wolfe?» she asked hopefully, wanting to dance.
He shook his head. He was tempted, but didn’t trust himself. If he held her in his arms, his body would state its hunger in unmistakable terms.
«I need some water,» Wolfe said, heading for the kitchen.
Jessica’s eyes followed him every step of the way.
«Never let it be said that Matthew Moran sat on his hands when a beautiful woman wanted to dance,» Reno said.
He went to where Jessica was sitting, bowed, and held out his hand. She put her fingers on his and stood.
«Thank you, kind sir.»
Jessica smiled, curtsied, and stepped into Reno’s arms with a grace that had been learned from the finest tutors in the British Empire.
In the kitchen, Wolfe drank one cup of water, then another, cursing silently the whole time. He had wanted very much to hold Jessica, to feel her softness and warmth, to stand so close to her that he could smell her delicate rose perfume and see the intense clarity of her eyes.
Now another man was doing all those things.
The cup hit the sink with a metallic cry that was lost in the music of Caleb’s harmonica. A few silent strides brought Wolfe to the kitchen door. He stood in the shadows there, leaning against the door frame, watching Jessica with a hunger he could no longer hide. Her raspberry silk dress made her skin glow like fragile porcelain lit from within. The simple chignon Willow had taught Jessica to create emphasized the delicate lines of her face. Tendrils of hair escaped to lie in soft curves at her temples, nape, and ears.
Even as Wolfe felt anger snaking through his body at the sight of his wife burning like a candle flame in another man’s arms, Wolfe reminded himself there was nothing improper about the waltz. Though Reno’s unusual size made an intense contrast to Jessica’s fragile femininity, Reno was holding her properly, neither too close to his body nor too familiar in the placement of his hands. Nor was Jessica clinging too much. They were simply dipping and turning and skimming gracefully around the living room to the haunting melody played by Caleb.