A Bride for the Prizefighter - Alice Coldbreath Page 0,28
on her back. “I will in a minute.” Her sore eyelids drooped shut.
She heard Nye click his tongue and the next minute two strong hands had reached beneath her tent of a nightgown to drag the fluffy towel down her legs. Mina gave an outraged squawk but could not muster the energy even to bat his hands away. The next thing she knew, she was jerked into a sitting position, the towel enveloped her head and he was vigorously rubbing her wet hair with it. Mina gasped, feeling her back against his warm front. Was she sat between his thighs? Oh God, why did it feel so good?
In general, she had never been much of a one for physical closeness. Such a prickly little thing, her mother had always objected when Mina wriggled off her lap as a child. Mama’s little hedgehog. Now though, she felt weak as a kitten and certainly in no fit state to object to his familiarity. In any case, it gave her an excuse to just sit there with her eyes closed and feel his strength surrounding her. She wished she could tuck her knees up and just lie back against him, but of course, she could never allow such a thing.
A knock on the door, startled her eyes open. It was Edna carrying a tray with the brown teapot and a cup on it. “She’ll get an inflammation of the lungs, if you’re not careful,” she warned direly as she set it down on the small bedside table. Mina tried to sit forward, but Nye’s firm hold on her did not permit it.
“Make her some soup,” he ordered. “And pass me that brush.”
“There’s oxtail on the stove,” Edna replied, picking up the hairbrush and passing it to him. “But it needs another two hours.”
He didn’t reply, but it was still the most words Mina had ever heard them exchange. Edna nodded to her and left. Nye set the towel aside on a chair and started running the brush through the ends of her hair at her waist.
“You don’t have to do that,” Mina said wearily, as her head drooped forward.
“If I don’t, you’ll sleep on it wet,” he said dryly. “And we both know it.”
Mina’s eyes drifted shut as she submitted to the strokes of the hairbrush down her back.
“Put your feet under the bedspread,” he recommended at one point. “Your toes will get cold.” But Mina was already fast asleep.
When next she woke, she was tucked in bed, extra pillows behind her head and her nightgown ribbons neatly tied. Someone was bustling through the door with a tray. It was Edna, and this time it bore a bowl of soup.
“You didn’t drink your tea, Mrs Nye,” she scolded.
“Sorry,” Mina muttered guiltily, sitting up. “That smells good.”
Edna set the tray down across her knees and thumped the pillows until they gave enough support to Mina’s back. She stood a moment, watching Mina take her first mouthful, then allowed her eyes roamed over the room. “That’s a fine silver teapot,” she said with grudging admiration.
“It was my mother’s.”
“You ought to have a fine parlor to set it off.” Mina had no reply for that. “Shall I make you another then?” Edna asked, nodding to the cold pot of tea.
“I would love a cup of tea,” Mina admitted. “Thank you, Edna.”
Enda picked up the tray with the earthenware teapot and hesitated. “Will I use your things?” she asked casually. Mina looked up in surprise to see Edna’s gaze fixed longingly on the yellow floral cups and saucers.
“If you would not mind, that would be very nice.” She hesitated. “Will you join me for a cup? If you’re not serving this evening.”
“Ivy always serves evening bar,” Edna replied, visibly brightening. “I’ll be glad to join you, Mrs Nye.”
She reappeared twenty minutes later without her apron, carrying a tea cloth and a pot of hot water. She laid the small table in Mina’s room with exquisite care, setting out the silver spoons, cups and saucers and the little jug and sugar tongs.
Mina, finishing off her soup watched as Edna warmed the silver pot and added the tea leaves, setting it aside to brew as she polished the delicate cups with a tea towel, admiring their gilded and fluted edges.
“As pretty a tea set as I ever did see,” Edna commented.
“Thank you. It used to be a lot bigger, but alas I could not bring much with me.”
“Fancy having to leave your things behind,” Edna said with a shocked