How had she become so reliant on this man in such a short time? She’d not wanted to marry, yet now she couldn’t imagine the pain of losing her husband. So much had changed.
“Mari, open the window so we can get fresh air,” Abagail said.
She did as she was asked, feeling helpless. She wished she could take her husband’s care into her own hands. She knew a bit about healing, but unfortunately she’d been on the wrong end of it to do any good now. The few times the duke had allowed a doctor to be called, she’d been in too much pain to pay close attention to the practice.
“Mari,” Cam whispered so low she thought she might have imagined it.
When the other women looked at her expectantly, she hurried to his side. “I’m here.”
“Sorry…promise…”
It only took her a second to realize he was speaking of the promise she’d forced from him before he left.
“Shh. Don’t worry. I knew what could happen. I made you say those words so I would feel better. It was wrong for me to ask it of you. Besides, you promised to come back, and you did come back.”
He winked at her.
“Save your strength.”
“Stay,” he said, squeezing her hand.
“Of course. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay as long as you need me.”
“Always.”
She smiled and kissed the back of his hand. “If that’s what you want, then fine. I shall stay forever.”
His lips moved in the slightest hint of a smile.
Moments later, guilt tugged at her heart as she recalled her words. She’d asked him to promise something out of his control, and now she’d just made the same kind of promise. She could be gone by morning if Sir Ridley returned with an order from the king.
She shivered and squeezed Cam’s hand tighter.
He asked about Liam, and Lachlan assured him the lad was fine. He seemed to relax…or maybe he’d lost consciousness for a moment.
She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back. “Did you at least take down the arse who did this to you?”
That got a little more of a smile. “Aye,” he managed, then hissed when Kenna pushed her needle into his skin.
“Hold tight, Cam. Let’s think of other things. Something nice, like…” She tried to think of something she could say in front of the others, but all their best memories were of the naughty variety.
“Trees,” he whispered.
Yes. They’d made love in the cover of the trees. She glanced over her shoulder to see a knowing grin on Kenna’s face and a raised brow from Abagail.
“What about the first time we went for a ride by the river?” she said to him. “You told me I could tell you anything.”
A grunt indicated either he remembered how she’d passed on his offer at first, or Kenna’s needle was not so gentle. Mari wasn’t sure which.
“I’m glad you were the one standing in the field that day,” she whispered by his ear so only he could hear. “Please don’t leave me.”
He opened his eyes to slits and then winked at her again. “Not today.”
Those two words caused the breath she’d been holding to gust out of her in relief. After that, she kept him busy rambling about silly topics. She told him about London. About the strange animals she’d seen on display. He reached out and touched her cheek, and she was surprised to see he’d brushed a tear away. She wasn’t aware she’d been crying.
She smiled. “They’re happy tears. I’m so glad you’ll be all right.”
“There we go,” Kenna said when she’d finished and cleaned the wound with some foul salve.
Mari briefly wondered if it were possible to make something that healed a person smell or taste better.
“Aside from the gash, you have a few broken ribs,” Abagail told him. “Your shoulder is inflamed. And you have a nasty lump on your head. We’ll check it tomorrow after you’ve rested. You’ll have a devil of a headache, I wager. I made you some tea for it, but I doubt you’ll drink it, stubborn as you are,” Abagail complained. Clearly, she’d mended him more than just this once.
“He’ll drink it. Won’t you, Cam?” Mari said. “Please?”
He let out a breath and gave a slight nod.
“Good for you,” Abagail said with a kind smile as she handed over the cup.
Mari coaxed the tea down Cam’s throat and sighed in relief when he drifted to sleep.
“While he rests, you should get your own sleep so you’ll be rested and able to help when he awakes and needs you,” Abagail instructed.
Mari looked toward the window to find it was already dark. The day had rushed by while she cared for Cam. With a nod, she climbed into the bed next to him, careful not to get too close and hurt him.
Kenna smiled and closed the chamber door.
“I’ll be fine,” he said when they were alone.
“I know. I feel like this was my fault. I shouldn’t have made you promise. It put an unfair burden on you. It won’t happen again.”
He let out a breath. “Just know I’ll always do my best to come back to you, with or without a promise in place. Always.”
“I do know. And I’ll trust in that.”
She felt his lips on her forehead as a tear rolled down her cheek into her hair.
All their promises were nothing but empty words. Wishes cast into the wind. Neither of them had any control over what their future held. They only had here and now.
And time, at least for her, was running out.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cam woke with his wife’s hand on his chest. He winced and moved it lower so it wasn’t resting on his freshly stitched wound. He knew she would feel awful to find it there when she awoke. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel worse. She was already dealing with unnecessary
