Filed To Story: Alessia Mistaken as Mistress Book PDF Free
She’d asked how much that had been.
She’d only met him, and already she was indebted to him for the chair, the clothing, the medical fees. And he’d been his usual brisk self and impatient to get going.
No, he hadn’t given her much of a chance to tell him. And admittedly he wasn’t the most open and understanding man she could have been indebted to. He’d been critical and suspicious of her as Claire, and she no doubt dreaded what he would have done if he’d known she wasn’t Claire.
So then she’d planned to tell Mother upon their arrival.
And what had his mother done after setting eyes on the two of them? Immediately cried and professed her need to have them there. William had been her solace, a healing balm for her pain and anguish. And Alessia had recognized that. And been unable to hurt her any more than she’d already been hurt.
When he thought back over the time she’d been with them, Nicholas understood her confusion and her reticence. In her own strange way, not telling them had been a kindness.
He didn’t know what he’d have done if she’d told him the first day…or the first week…or the first month. Each day she hadn’t revealed her identity, doing so must have grown more and more impossible. He didn’t want to think he would have tossed out a frightened young woman with a broken leg and an infant to care for. He hated thinking of himself as being of the same caliber as her father.
He wasn’t.
But he’d been opposed to Stephen marrying someone from Claire’s background, hadn’t he? He had never approved of Stephen’s acquaintances or his pursuit of the theater. He’d seen all those energies as directed wrongly, and constantly urged him to come back where he belonged.
Nicholas rose, wrapping the sheet around his waist, and stood before the window, the humid breeze cooling his damp skin. He’d been so damned hard on Stephen. He’d never given him credit for accomplishments he hadn’t approved of or even allowed him to enjoy his time at home without criticizing and running him off again.
Maybe if he’d been more understanding, less critical, Stephen wouldn’t have rebelled as fiercely.
It had been important to their father that Halliday Iron prosper, and that his sons pass it down to their sons. Nicholas had never wanted to let down his mother or his father’s memory, so he’d done the work of two men.
And resented Stephen.
He understood the weight of guilt.
Tears blurred his vision. Several young women dressed in hotel uniforms passed through the golden halo of a street lamp below. Distractedly, he noted the late hour for them to be leaving their shifts, and went back to the bed.
Surely tomorrow he would hear.
Why had finding Alessia become an obsession for him?
He was concerned for her welfare.
Why? Because he wasn’t like her father.
He needed to clear the air between them and assure her he didn’t hate her as she feared.
Why? Because her guilt and shame weighed on his heart.
He had to see her again. Had to show her she belonged with them…with him.
Why? Because-Nicholas squeezed his eyes shut and looked deep inside himself-he loved her.
Alessia prepared William for the day and nursed him, noticing her breasts weren’t as full as they had been. William had been unusually fussy for two days, which worried her. He could be coming down with something.
She didn’t want to spend the price of doctor’s fees, because after paying for her board and a few supplies each week, she didn’t have much left to save. But William was more important than anything, so she left early, hoping she could see the doctor before she had to be at the hotel.
The office was located above a building a few blocks from the hotel. Climbing the flight of stairs in the side alley, she turned the crank doorbell.
A middle-aged man opened the door and stepped back. He opened another door and ushered her into a small room with an examining table and a row of cabinets. “What seems to be the problem?”
“It’s William,” she said, laying him on the table and holding him in place. “He has fussed the last couple of days. He’s never cranky, even in the heat, but he cried last night.”
“All babies cry, you know.” The doctor looked him over, listened to his heart, looked into his eyes. “He looks perfectly healthy. I don’t see anything wrong with him. He may be getting a tooth.”
“He has two teeth already, and he didn’t behave like this.”
“Most of us get a little cranky in this heat.”
“I don’t think so…”
“Is he hungry?”
She blinked up at him. “Well, he nurses regularly.”
“And your milk supply is sufficient?”
She blushed profusely, but considered his question. “I-I don’t seem to have as much fullness as I did before. Is there something wrong with me?”
“Let’s have a look.”
Alessia overcame her embarrassment to allow the doctor to examine her. “You’re not feverish, and there’s no infection. Your breasts don’t hurt?”
She buttoned up her black dress. “No.”
“What about your diet? Have you been eating properly? Drinking milk? Plenty of water?”
Reluctant to admit she’d been scrimping on food, she hesitated, but confessed, “I eat supper each day. That’s about it.”
“Well, that’s the problem. If you want to produce milk for your baby, you have to eat regular meals and drink plenty of liquids. You young mothers are so concerned over your hourglass figures that you hinder nature’s way of providing.”
Tears formed in Alessia’s eyes and she blinked them away. She’d been making her own baby go hungry!
“If you insist on starving yourself, you will have to give him canned milk or find a wet nurse.”
Alessia picked up William. “I didn’t realize,” she said shamefacedly. “Of course I’ll eat better.”
The tantalizing smell of brewing coffee wafted from the other room. Her stomach growled. “How much do I owe you?”
He told her and she dropped the coin into his hand, feeling more foolish and incompetent than ever.
“Help yourself to a cup of coffee,” he offered.
“Thank you, but I saw a small restaurant on my way here, and I think I’ll have something there.”
“Excellent plan,” he said. “Your William will stop being cranky in a day or so.”
Alessia kissed her son’s head and whispered apologies against his temple all the way along the street. She would not let William down. She would not. She swiped at the tears of mortification that streamed down her cheeks when she thought of his hunger.
With only seconds to spare, she gulped a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of milk. Trying not to begrudge the additional cost, she purchased a sandwich for her noon meal, and ran most of the way to the Hotel Gold.
Hannah, Mattie and a few other girls stood in the laundry room. “You look like you’ve already worked a full day.”
“I feel like it, too.” Alessia slipped William into the sling Hannah had helped her make and adjusted him on her back.
Hannah tapped William’s nose, and he gurgled happily at her. “Alessia, why don’t you let me carry him this morning?”