Unending Devotion (Michigan Brides #1)(55)
“I’m just tired,” she said. And she was. “I haven’t been sleeping well the past few nights, thinking about Daisy.”
“If you’re not sleeping,” said Vera, heaving herself up from the bench, “then I’ve got just the thing for you. A special sleeping tonic I made from motherwort.”
Lily tried to suppress a shudder at the thought of having to take any more of Vera’s medicines. “I’m sure I’ll be just fine tonight.”
She stared at the diagram of the Stockade again, not daring to meet Vera’s or Oren’s gazes. She wasn’t planning on having any trouble sleeping. Mainly because she wasn’t planning to sleep one wink.
“Now, no sass from you, girl.” Vera crossed the dining room. “We can’t have you getting sick again.”
“I’m not going to get sick again.”
The woman only snorted before she disappeared through the kitchen.
“So next Saturday night then?” Lily asked the men, knowing she needed to say something or she’d raise Oren’s suspicions even more.
“Seems like it will be the best night.” Stuart reached for another cookie. “Can you wait until then?”
She hesitated. How could she answer without lying? They all knew how anxious she was to get Daisy out of the pit of hell.
“It’s an awful long time to have to wait,” she finally said.
“It’s only five days.” Connell met her gaze head on. “One hundred twenty-six hours to be exact.”
The intensity in his eyes probed her, and she quickly looked away. He was always too perceptive, and she couldn’t chance his reading anything in her face. Not when so much was at stake.
“If Daisy’s been there this long,” she said, struggling to find honest words, “I don’t suppose she’ll die if she has to wait for the rescue.”
“Here we are,” Vera said, coming through the doorway. “I’ve got a vial of motherwort tonic and a tiny bottle of a special chamomile potion with enough power to knock out a pack of wolves for a week.”
Lily started to shake her head, but Connell spoke to Vera first. “Too bad I didn’t have your magic potion when I was fighting off the wolves a couple weeks ago.”
“Aw come on, big guy.” Stuart socked Connell in the arm. “Wasn’t it more fun to have to fend them off with your bare hands?”
Connell grinned. “You’re right. That was infinitely more enjoyable.”
Vera held up a square bottle of yellow-tinged glass. It was filled halfway with a clear liquid. “All anyone needs is a couple drops of this, and you’ll be asleep before you can whisper your prayers.”
“I’ll be fine without it,” Lily started to protest but then stopped. What about the dogs? Would the potion work on them? They were still the biggest obstacle to her plans. Her carefully laid plans.
No one could accuse her of not learning her lesson from her attempt to rescue Frankie. This time she wasn’t rushing off without considering every possibility and problem.
Vera pushed the two bottles toward her. “I won’t take no for an answer.”
Would the medicine sufficiently lull the dogs to sleep? Lily took the medicine and lifted the bottles to the light, peering at them more closely.
“One spoonful of the motherwort and two drops of the chamomile potion.” Vera handed her a spoon.
“I suppose. But only if you insist.”
“I insist.” Vera put her hands on her hips. “I won’t stand for you getting sick again. I’m sure your mother, God rest her soul, wouldn’t have stood for it any more than I will.”
Lily pictured the stoic face of her mother in the tiny portrait. She’d looked long and hard at the faces of both her parents that afternoon before she’d stuffed the framed photo into her sack. She’d seen the disapproval in their eyes again over her failure to protect Daisy. And she’d seen anxiety there too. They were waiting, just as she was, for the day of Daisy’s freedom.
Before tucking the picture into the folds of her clothes, she’d kissed the frame and promised them she wouldn’t fail again. She’d get Daisy back.
“How about a flour and onion poultice?” Vera asked, passing her a handful of cookies. “Soaked in a basin of hot water? That’ll help too.”
“Oh, Vera, you’re such a dear.” Lily almost choked over the words, suddenly realizing this would be the last time she’d see her new friend. She wanted to give the woman a hug but knew Vera wouldn’t put up with a gushy display. So she tucked the cookies into one pocket, the medicine into the other, and reached for the woman’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
Then she crossed to Oren in front of the fire. His brow cracked into grooves as deep as tracks left by cutters.
She leaned to kiss his head as she usually did but instead pressed a kiss against his scratchy cheek. The long curled tail of his mustache tickled her chin, and the tobacco scent that was uniquely his brought sudden tears to her eyes.
“What in the hairy hound do you think you’re doing?”
“Just giving you a kiss good-night.” She spun away from him before he could see her sadness. Would this be the last time she’d see Oren too? After she had Daisy, she’d have to run far away someplace safe.
Her heart swelled with a painful ache. Could she really leave Oren? Now that he’d become like family to her? The family she’d never had? After he’d taken her into his home the way no one else had ever done? After he’d given her everything she needed and more?