Tea For Two Read Online Free Page B

coat sleeve.
    “Brendan, what is wrong?”
    Brendan didn’t answer—he couldn’t. He hurried
to the stables and threw a bridle on his horse, Cinnamon, before
pulling himself up on her bare back and racing into the night.
    The ride to Shannah’s cottage took only
minutes, thanks to Cinnamon’s sure foot and the full moon giving
its light. Brendan slid from his horse’s back in the clearing and
took the steps to the porch in one leap.
    He pounded on the door, heedless of the hour
or the fact that the children would be sound asleep. “Shannah!
Shannah, open this door!”
    Brendan kept hammering on the door until he
heard scuffling inside, a dog bark, and saw the faint light of a
candle shine through the crack under the door.
    “Shannah?” he bellowed again.
    The door opened a handful of inches and honey
colored eyes peered out at him. “My lord Brendan?” Her surprise was
palatable. “What are you doing here?”
    He didn’t bother to respond. Instead he
leaned as close as the door would allow and whispered, “Why didn’t
you tell me that your sister bore my brother’s child?”

CHAPTER 7
     
    Shannah’s entire body went numb. “What do you
mean, my lord?” she choked out, hating herself for not being a
better liar.
    Brendan pushed open the door and strode
inside. “Don’t be coy, I’m not in the mood.”
    Matt’s dog started barking fiercely from the
bedroom doorway. Shannah hushed him with a hand signal. Thank
goodness he hadn’t tried to attack the viscount!
    Shannah tried a different tactic. “Please, my
lord. You’ll wake the children.”
    “I don’t care if I wake all Brundidge!”
Though in contrast his voice started out as a roar and ended in a
fierce whisper.
    Shannah almost moaned aloud. What could she
say now that would dissuade him? Her mind raced. “You’re mistaken,
my lord, about Royce. He’s not Garnette’s child. He’s my own son,
not quite two years old.”
    His heated gaze swept over her.
“Impossible.”
    Her chin went up. “It’s true,” she insisted,
trying to keep her voice from shaking—but his look had reminded her
that she only wore a thin shawl over her worn nightgown, and her
body had begun shivering with nerves. “I married quite young, to
the blacksmith’s apprentice in town. He died in the fever but left
me carrying his child. I bore Royce mere months after burying my
husband and my family.”
    His gaze glittered in the near darkness. “You
have proof of this union, I trust. The hall of records in the
village will have recorded the marriage, and the child’s
birth.”
    “Naturally,” she stammered. “But no one can
prove it at this hour.”
    “Show him to me, then.” His eyes scanned the
room. “Show me your son.”
    “He’s sleeping, of course. It’s the middle of
the night, my lord.” Miracle of miracles, all of the children were
still asleep, though she couldn’t imagine how.
    As if to ruin her tenuous stack of lies, Kora
started wailing. Shannah moved automatically toward the bedroom,
sidestepping the dog without a thought.
    “Kora has nightmares,” Shannah explained. “I
have to get her before she wakes the others.”
    She breathed a sigh of relief when she
stepped into their shared bedroom and escaped Lord Brendan’s
presence for a few precious moments. She knew there was no way to
support her lies, and her mind raced for excuses as she picked Kora
up off her sleeping mat and carried her into the main room.
    The child provided a wonderful barrier
between her and the viscount. Shannah sat in her mother’s chair and
wrapped Kora’s blanket around the both of them, as her shawl had
slipped down her back.
    “Hush, love,” she cooed. “You’re okay
now.”
    “It’s a monster,” Kora sobbed. “It’s gonna
eat me.”
    “No, baby,” Shannah said. “There are no
monsters. You’re safe now. I’ve got you. It was just a dream.” She
started humming Kora’s favorite lullaby to soothe her.
    Shannah glanced at Lord Brendan, lurking