Thing With Feathers (9781616634704) by Anne Sweazy-kulju

an’ get that lovely bride a yours an’ get out of here.”

Chapter 19
    T hey were Mr. and Mrs. Sean Marshall. It made Sean feel like he was someone else, an altogether strange sensation. He wondered what his bride was thinking. He was surprised and pleased that Blair had not been too nervous about their being together. If anything, Sean was nervous enough for the both of them. He wasn’t concerned he’d fail in any way, but he was worried about hurting Blair. To his relief, there’d been nothing to worry about. Blair had taken him by the hand, sensing his doubt, and had led them both through a wondrously tender union. He placed his hand over her belly and felt the warmth through the lacy white dressing gown Mavis had given her as a wedding gift. After long minutes of blissful silence, Sean spoke first.
    “Blair, are you…okay?”
    She smiled, and her hand joined his over the top of her belly. “I feel fine, Sean. I was just thinking about the baby.”
    “Say, Blair, do you already have a girl’s name picked out? Because if you don’t and if it is a girl, do you think we could name her Leslie?”
    It would not be a girl, Blair knew. Her father always got what he set out for, and he’d said it would be a boy. “I wouldn’t mind it at all. Leslie…it’s a pretty name for a girl, Sean. But what if it’s a boy?”
    “Think it will be?” His thrill at the thought was evident.
    “Could be just as easy.”
    “Hmm. Just before we left Cloverdale, Pa gave me, you know, a fatherly talk. And he gave me some advice for the both of us. He said we’d come across some battles in our life together and we shouldn’t expect to win them all. Battles against evil, you know—”
    “I reckon I do,” Blair interrupted with contempt for the thoughts Sean’s words brought to mind.
    Sean turned onto his side and stroked his wife’s cheek and gently tucked some stray curls away from her temple. “Anyhow, Blair, he said that we should leave it to God to fight the big trials since that’s what our belief is all about, knowing He’ll save or avenge us from the larger evils, so long as we keep faith. But Pa also said that we can hope to win the little battles for ourselves, little victories, he’d said. So I was thinking that if it is a boy, maybe we should name him Victory.” He looked at her relaxed face, her deep brown eyes. “Whaddya say, Blair? No one but us knows we even won this little victory over evil, no one but us and the preacher. I think it’s a masterful name for a son of ours.”
    “Victor…our little Victory.” She squeezed his hand. She’d been surprised at her level of grief and worry over whether the music man might have harmed her baby. She was growing to love the small mound that was forming in her belly. It was time to give that love a name, wasn’t it? “Yes. I like it, Sean. In fact, I love it.”

Chapter 20
    T alk around town said that Blair was made pregnant by the man who raped her. Rebecca wasn’t so sure. She was the only person who knew that Sean had decided to step in and marry Blair before the act of rape had occurred. Sean could not have predicted such a horrible fate would befall Blair. But he’d known something.
    Is it his child? A tight, frayed little voice in her head wondered. No! You must not think such thoughts, Rebecca admonished herself. She knew in her heart of hearts that Sean would not have done such a thing. His was an act of mercy, of charity. Without him actually saying so, Rebecca suspected that Sean’s intentions concerning Blair were for her salvation. She’d promised Sean that she would never ask him why, and she wouldn’t. But it was a black secret that concerned Blair’s pregnancy, and Rebecca only prayed that Sean would not be harmed by it.

Chapter 21
    “G uess tomorrow we ought’a be getting that barn roof finished, eh, Preacher? Rain’s gone for a while, and things dried up. Best get to it while the gettin’s good, make hay while the sun shines, as