“Really?” he said, a smile coming to his lips.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but he’s a bit of a jackass.”
He touched her face then softly kissed her. “Are you almost finished here? I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“Another ten minutes, Captain,” Mabel said pushing a red lock of hair behind her ear.
“I’ll wait outside.”
After they heard the door shut, Mabel turned to Charlie. “I think he’s handsome, too. I hope someday I’ll meet someone who loves me as much as Captain Bloodworthy loves you. Every time he looks at you, his eyes light up. He’s really sweet.”
Charlie wasn’t sure Jaxon would fully appreciate be called sweet, but she smiled in spite of herself.
Jaxon never made it to his fitting. He had seen Jayne on the way and she suggested he take Charlie riding and on a picnic. When he commended her on the idea, she ran home to make all the arrangement with the family cook. Although she was not as tall as Charlie, she felt her riding habit would fit well enough and her mare was gentle enough for any first time rider.
When Charlie finished her fitting, Jaxon took her to his mother’s home where everything waited on them. Charlie changed then met Jaxon in the barn for a quick lesson in riding before leaving. She had been a little nervous since she had never ridden before, but found it less scary than she anticipated. They ate their lunch at a scenic little pond then dipped their bare feet into the water. But it was so late in the year; the water was too icy to keep their feet in long.
“I bet you used to swim naked here when you were young,” she said.
“A couple of times,” he admitted. “We’ll have to come here in the summer some time.”
“I’m not swimming naked.”
“We’ll go at night.”
“And I’ll be sitting right here fully dressed.”
23
Seeing what joy new experiences brought her, Jaxon tried to find something new to expose her to daily. It was the more mundane things he was having better luck with.
When he took her to the fanciest hotel restaurant in town for a cup of chocolate, she told him in Mexico, they put cinnamon in it. This cup was the way it was served in most of Europe.
When they walked around town, if she saw flowers growing she had to stop and look at them up close. She always had to ask the flowers’ name and smell it, even if that meant getting down on her hands and knees to do so. Jaxon only knew the names of a few, so he stopped at the booksellers and ordered her a book about flowers. He bought her paper and a charcoal pencil to try to draw the blooms, but found she was easily frustrated by her lack of skill. It was an unnecessary talent on the ship, so she’d never been encouraged to draw.
Two days before their engagement dinner, Jaxon informed Charlie that they would be staying at home because they were expecting a special guest.
“Wait here,” he told her when the heavy brass knocker tattooed the visitor’s arrival. He was at the door for a few minutes before he came back carrying two baskets. He set the smaller basket down on the table, but carried the larger basket to her. When she saw the blanket move a moment of nausea hit her. Puppies?
“Imelia has lent us her baby for a couple of hours.”
Jaxon laughed at her expression. Her eyes were as big as saucers. He could tell the baby filled her with both apprehension and fascination. Hesitantly, she pulled the blanket back as if a snake laid coiled ready to strike underneath.
The baby cooed as the blanket was lifted, making Charlie jump. Large blue eyes stared back at her.
“Does it have a name?”
“Her name is Clara.”
“Clara,” Charlie echoed.
“Do you want to hold her?”
Charlie shook her head. She was terrified of the small pink being. Rarely had she been this close to a baby and she had never held one. But she knew, they often screamed for no reason.
Jaxon set the basket on the floor and reached in for his niece.
“What are you doing?”
“We can’t leave her in the basket for the next two or three hours.”
“Don’t drop her.”
“I’m not going to drop her and neither are you. I’ll hold her until you’re ready. Come sit over here next to me.”
Charlie moved to the settee, but kept her hands folded in her lap.
Jaxon bounced Clara and spoke in a high register. He was rewarded with a smile and a coo from the six month old.
“How do you know how to do that?”
“I have six younger brothers and sisters and tons of cousins and another niece and nephew.”
Charlie had a hundred questions and asked most of them before she got her nerve up. Jaxon began to pass the baby to her, but pulled Clara back.