Read Online Rose in Bloom: Sex and the Season Two by Helen Hardt - Free Book Online

the old upright pianoforte in the sitting room. It was a bit out of tune, and the sound twanged, as though the instrument belonged in a tavern, but Rose hoped the music might soothe Kat. Later, Rose sat with the little girl while Mrs. Price fixed a hearty beef stew for dinner. She cooled Kat with a cloth dipped in ice water and held her wrapped in blankets when she trembled with fever chills. Mrs. Price came in and relieved her, telling her to go to the table for supper.
    The stew and brown bread were delicious, though completely different from the kind of meals Rose was accustomed to. Five courses were the usual on normal evenings, and at least eight for special occasions. Yet Rose found the stew satisfying and her hunger adequately sated. After dinner, she sat with Kat for another hour and read to her from Mr. Dickens’s Oliver Twist , which Aunt Iris had sent in her valise. Tricia came in to relieve her when the sun went down, and she headed out the back door to the cabin.
    Cameron knocked on her door soon after.
    She greeted him with a smile. “I didn’t expect you so soon.”.
    “Actually, I’m not here for the night yet,” he said. “I wanted to see if you needed me to bring you some water for your bath.”
    “Oh, would you, Cameron? That would be heavenly.”
    “Of course. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
    Cameron brought the water, lit a fire, and heated it. “Tell me about when your brother had scarlet fever.”
    “I wasn’t born yet,” Rose said. “In fact, Mummy was pregnant with me at the time, and Lily was just a babe, so the two of them were sent home to my grandparents.”
    “Surely they’ve told you the story.”
    “Yes, of course. Although there isn’t much to tell, Cameron. He was quite sick for about a week, but the fever broke and he recovered. In fact, he thrived. He was a strong and able child, just like Kat. You’ve seen him, haven’t you?”
    “Yes, at the wedding ball.”
    “He’s taller than average, about your size. No residual effect from the illness at all.” She moved behind him and massaged his shoulders. “I know how hard it is when a loved one is ill. When Lily fell over a month ago, and we didn’t know if she would make it, I was distraught.”
    “Kat has always been special to me,” he said. “My father died a few weeks after she was born, and I was twenty, so I’ve basically been her father. I’m not sure I could love a child from my own loins any more than I love her.”
    “I understand,” Rose said, “and I love her too. She’s so full of life.” She sat down on Cameron’s lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. “She’s going to come through this. I just know it.”
    Cameron kissed her chin. “I hope so, sweet.”
    Rose laced her fingers through Cameron’s silky black hair. “Did your mother have trouble bearing children?”
    “Why do you ask?”
    “There’s such a difference in all your ages,” Rose said. “My mother lost two babes after she had Thomas. She had pretty much resigned herself to only having one child, and then Lily and I came along, less than a year apart.”
    “I recall one lost between Tricia and Kat,” Cameron replied. “There may have been some between me and Tricia. I don’t know.”
    “You’re what, twenty-eight?”
    “Twenty-seven.”
    “How old is Tricia?”
    “Fifteen.”
    “She’s a beauty,” Rose said. “She’s a female version of you, the same way Lily and Thomas are. You’re going to have to watch the boys around her.”
    “I already do, believe me. How old are you, Rose?”
    “Twenty.”
    He caressed her cheek. “A fair maiden of twenty.” He stole a kiss. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
    Rose smiled, her heart pounding. “You’re a flatterer, Mr. Price.”
    “But you are. You’re light where I’m dark. Soft where I’m… not soft.” He squeezed her breast. “It’s extremely…bewitching. You’re an angel. No one is as beautiful as you are.”
    “I