Once Upon A Wedding Night by Sophie Jordan Page B

mean it. From now on your father can sleep in the barn."
    They all laughed, the levity welcomed.
    "God has a way of making you forget the pain. Then you're left with a beautiful babe who soon grows and leaves you pining for another." Maree grinned from between Sally's sweat-slick legs. "Right, love?" she asked in soothing tones.
    Sally gave a wobbly smile. "Aye."
    "Fine, whenever you feel it building up on you, push," Maree instructed.
    Sally pushed, her face purpling from the strain.
    Tiny wheezes of breath escaped noisily through her gritted teeth. Before long Sally's groans grew into agonized screams. Over the din, Meredith heard a toddler weeping in the loft.
    "Hannah?" Meredith commanded. "Take the little ones outside. They don't need to be here."
    Hannah obeyed, fetching them from the loft and ushering them out while their mother labored.
    At last a mewling, slippery life arrived. Maree held it upside down, slapping its bottom and eliciting a furious howling. Sally fell back on her pillow, a contented smile on her face. "What is it?"
    "A girl," Maree beamed.
    "Go get the family, Hannah." Sally weakly waved her daughter to the door. "Tell them to come greet their little sister."
    Maree rubbed the baby vigorously with a blanket before handing her to Sally.
    "She's beautiful," Sally pronounced, watching her new daughter latch onto her finger.
    "You do make pretty babes, Sally," Maree agreed.
    The entire Finney clan filed into the room, laughing and exclaiming over the infant. Sally relinquished the baby to her proud father. It was a happy time for a happy family, and Meredith felt a little lonely and apart from the scene. She took solace in the knowledge that she would soon have a child of her own, a baby to hug close. Even if she would not give birth herself, she would forever have a child to love. Someone who would not reject the offering of her heart.
    As Maree tended to Sally, Meredith watched Tom Finney kiss his wife. Holding his daughter in one arm, he placed his other hand on Sally's sweat-beaded brow in what could only be described as a possessive, devoted gesture. Looking on, she felt like an intruder, acutely reminded of her aloneness in the world. For a brief second she wondered how different her life would have been if Edmund had been a real husband, if he had not turned from her on their wedding night.
    Meredith moved to stand by the door, unnoticeable and out of the way, but near enough should Maree need her. A chill draft fluttered the hairs along her nape and she rubbed her arms for warmth. Through the happy clamor, an all too familiar voice spoke near her ear. "It's quite a celebration."
    She looked over her shoulder at Nick standing in the threshold, before turning back to observe the Finneys. "What did you expect? They're a happy family."
    "Well, I have no experience with that."
    Meredith gave him a long, considering look. "No," she murmured. "I suppose not." After a pause she asked, "What are you doing here?"
    "I told Nels I would drive the carriage over to collect the two of you."
    "You should not have troubled yourself, my lord." She latched onto his title like old, familiar armor. "One of the Finney boys could have returned us. You should not lose sleep on our account."
    He shrugged. "I sleep little as it is."
    She hugged herself tighter, clinging to any conversation that kept her from lonely thoughts, and at the same time wanting to destroy the kinship she suddenly felt with him—another soul who knew what it felt like to be alone. "Is that so? Have you no need for sleep like the rest of us?"
    With his arms crossed, his eyes glittered like hard chips of coal. "I didn't say I need less, only that I sleep little. For some, sleep does not come easily."
    "My lady," Maree called, waving Meredith over to the bed and saving her from responding to Nick's enigmatic words.
    Approaching, she looked to the bottom half of the bed as Maree indicated. The sight horrified her. The foot of the bed was drenched in