Page 60 of Midnight Rider
“I love it here,” she murmured. “And if you notice, my lungs give me less trouble than they ever have before.”
“I’ve noticed.” His eyes narrowed as he studied her.“¿Bernadette, es posible que tu me entiendes cuando hablo en español?”Is it possible that you understand me when I speak Spanish?
She glanced at him and put on her most bland expression. “I’m sorry. What did you say?” she asked.
He repeated it, more slowly.
She frowned. “Dear me, you’ll have to say it in English. I’m sorry,” she said with apparent sincerity. “What did it mean?”
“Nothing,” he replied, and seemed to relax. “Nothing at all. Shall we go?”
She urged her mount to keep pace with his and let out a relieved sigh. That was too close a call for comfort!
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CLAUDIA,WHOWORKEDINTHEkitchen, arrived late to fix breakfast, and apologized profusely to Bernadette because she had her two children with her.
She explained in rapid-fire Spanish that her sister was ill and she couldn’t leave the little boy and girl, ages three and four, alone with her.
Bernadette chuckled and told Claudia to get on with her chores while she read the children a story.
She proceeded to do that, in flawless Spanish, and was oblivious to the appearance of her husband and his grandmother in the archway that separated the kitchen from the dining room.
Eduardo listened to her as she read and paused to explain some of the harder words, still in Spanish, to the little boy and girl on her lap.
His breath caught. He’d never imagined this...and remembered things he’d said in front of her with faint embarrassment, which grew to mammoth proportions when he recalled his uninhibited whispers in bed. And she’d pretended to understand nothing!
His intake of breath was audible. Bernadette’s head turned suddenly and she saw in his face that her secret was a secret no longer.
She smiled sheepishly. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
His grandmother chuckled. “So, finally you permit him to share the secret,” she said with amusement in her dark eyes. “About time, too! Let the children come into the parlor with me and I will finish the story for them. I believe you two have something to discuss!”
* * *
“SOMETHINGTODISCUSS,indeed!” Eduardo muttered as he closed the bedroom door behind them. He folded his arms and stared at her impatiently.
She went close to him and smiled wickedly as she wreathed her arms around his neck. “A woman has to have some way to find out what her husband really thinks of her,” she said. “You never would have told me.”
“You think not?” With a long sigh he searched her twinkling eyes. “I wanted you from the first. You must have known.”
“I knew that you wanted me,” she agreed. “But you could have wanted me without loving me.” She hesitated. “I heard everything you said to Lupe and your grandmother about me, Eduardo, just after the wedding....”
“Querida.”He groaned, holding her closer. “I would have cut off an arm to spare you that! I wanted you to the point of madness, and then to have them tell me that you’d started scandalous gossip about us...” He lifted his head, and his black eyes were apologetic. “Bernadette, my emotions were in such turmoil and I felt at the center of a storm I never thought to weather.” He traced her face with tender fingers. “I believe I fell in love with you years ago, but I was afraid of marriage. I had been through so much with Consuela, and the memories of my father’s marriage were equally bad....” He bent and kissed her softly. “Can you forgive me?”
“Yes,” she said. “I can forgive you.”
“From this moment on, I swear to listen to no one except you...and my own heart.”
She grinned, enjoying his rare apology. “Good! Because I have some very sound advice for you on several matters to do with the bookkeeping around here!”
He chuckled. “Very well. I promise to listen.” He sighed softly. “I love you, Bernadette. I don’t know when it began, really, but I can’t imagine life without you now.”
“Nor can I imagine life without you.” She turned her head and kissed his warm throat.
“Thecondessaknew that you spoke Spanish.”