The Defiant Wife (The Three Mrs #2) - Jess Michaels Page 0,39

her nervous.

“Well, I’ve preparations for supper to make,” Mrs. Barton said. “Please ring if you need anything, my lord, Mrs. Montgomery.”

They both nodded to her as she left. Once they were alone, Pippa leaned up. She kissed Rhys’s cheek first and then Kenley’s before she paced away to the fire.

“As much as I always enjoy a kiss from you, I’m sensing a bit of trouble. Do you want to discuss it?” Rhys asked as he set Kenley down on the soft carpet and handed him his favorite bird toy. The child immediately began crashing it up and down, making some approximation of a bird call. Though he hadn’t yet formulated real words, he certainly liked to make sounds. Sometimes they all but echoed through the small house.

Pippa drew a deep breath as she faced Rhys. “I think I’ve been remiss in my duties and I was reminded of it today.”

“Remiss in your duties,” Rhys said, arching a brow. “That sounds very dire. Where have you gone wrong, Phillipa, and how can I help…or punish?” He winked, and everything in her warmed.

Except she couldn’t allow for playfulness, not when it came to this most important topic of the day. She glanced at Kenley and gathered herself.

“We must talk about the boy, of course,” she said. “You learn more about him and his life and habits each day. But I don’t ask you about his…his future very often. I tell myself it is out of respect for your process in coming here, that you will reveal your thoughts when it is time. But I think, in truth, it is out of fear…and selfishness.”

His expression grew serious. “Fear and selfishness are not ways I would describe you to anyone.”

She ducked her head. “When I’m alone with you, I let myself be distracted. I like being distracted. That is certainly selfishness. And the fear…well, if you do not describe me as fearful, then I suppose I am hiding it well. I am afraid, Rhys. When I cannot see the path of the future, it is incredibly uncomfortable.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, and motioned toward the chairs before the fire. They sat so they could watch Kenley as he scooted around on his behind, swooping his bird and smashing his blocks together. Rhys sighed. “I’ve never been very good at sharing my plans or thoughts. For most of my life, I wasn’t around people who cared much about them, so I learned to keep my counsel and simply do what needed to be done.”

“I care,” she said, probably as close to a confession of love as she would ever be able to make.

His expression softened. “Of course you do. It’s in your nature. Your sweet, wonderful, very nosy nature.”

She laughed at his teasing and it was like someone lifted those weights on her shoulders just a fraction. It didn’t last, but oh, it was heaven.

Until he frowned and continued, “I’ve tried not to put all the complexities of my thoughts, the confusion of my plans, on you since I got here. I didn’t think that it might make things worse for you rather than better.”

She wrinkled her brow. “You and I have talked about this before. We are the only two who fully understand this terrible situation we find ourselves in. I want to be a part of the plans and thoughts, difficult or easy as they may be. Not just because it allows me a voice in my future and his.” She motioned toward Kenley. “But because I want to help you, Rhys.”

“You already do.”

“In your bed,” she whispered.

“Yes. That’s the only time I forget all this.”

“And I’m glad you can. I do too.” She sighed. “But I want to do more than help you forget. This path is thorny. Let me help you navigate it.”

He nodded. “The solicitor I hired here in Bath has been most effective in uncovering all Erasmus’s debts. I believe they’re all fully discharged now.”

She flinched. “I heard you had done that. I hope it wasn’t too high a price.”

He snorted out a pained laugh. “Oh, it was. But it’s taken care of. There was no alternative to that.” He shook his head. “The rest of my time has been taken up with plans for Kenley. I’ve been working out what he might need, both for raising him and for educating him. As well as some kind of fund for when he is a man, to get him started on whatever path he chooses to follow. I want him to