Chapter Thirty-Nine
“WHAT THE DEUCE DID you put in my water?”
Brooke flinched at Anna Wolfe’s tone. Dominic came forward in concern to take the glass from his mother’s hand, giving Brooke a questioning look. Had she really thought this would be a simple matter? Obviously the mother was going to be a complaining patient just like her son.
With a sigh Brooke said, “A little cayenne and lemon. It’s going to help you breathe easier—if you drink it. And the tea I just poured for you will start clearing your lungs of congestion, and, well, frankly, it’s going to make you sweat.”
“I don’t sweat” came the reply ladies tended to make.
“Today you will want to, so be glad when you do. Sweating is a faster means of removing harmful things from your body, which will help you to feel better sooner.” Since Dominic hadn’t bothered to introduce Brooke, and Anna had already been told she was there to help, she said, “I’m Brooke, in case you were wondering. ”
“I know exactly who you are,” Anna said disparagingly. “His sister.”
Brooke stiffened and glanced at Dominic. He pulled her aside for a moment. “She’s known about what your brother did and what it caused Ella to do for as long as I have. That was something I couldn’t keep from her. I apologize in advance. Treating her may not be pleasant.”
May not be? Brooke felt a hysterical laugh coming on. Did he think she would refuse to help if she knew his mother despised her as much as he . . . ? But he didn’t despise her any longer. He couldn’t, not when he trusted her to help his mother.
She nodded and moved back to the bed. Like mother, like son. They even glared the same way! With a sigh she told Anna, “I’m sorry about my brother, but I’m nothing like him.”
“You still aren’t welcome in my house.”
Dominic began, “Mother—”
“She’s not and never will be. I told you not to bring this viper in here.”
The older woman might be making her feelings quite clear, but her words were slowly uttered, some even wheezed. She’d been helped to sit up halfway in bed. Her eyes were fully open now. Amber eyes like Dominic’s.
Brooke thought she ought to leave. Her presence was upsetting the older woman.
She started to, but Dominic put a hand on her arm to keep her there before he said to his mother, “She’s here to help you at my behest. I already told you this and how quickly she was able to mend me with her knowledge of herbal remedies.
Her brother might be despicable, but she can be trusted.
However, when you are well, we will both leave if that is still what you want. ”
“She put pepper in my water!” Anna said accusingly. “Or did you not know that’s what cayenne is?”
“It does sound odd. But maybe you should see if it does what she claims before you refuse it?” He handed the glass to his mother with a quelling look.
She took it but didn’t put it to her lips. Brooke hoped she would when she was done complaining, but she wasn’t done yet. Anna told him in a half-beseeching, half-commanding tone, “You can’t marry her, Dom. She’s a blatant reminder of what we lost.”
“You no longer make my decisions, Mother. That burden is on me. And you have gotten worse, not better, according to your doctor. He has given up on you. I will not. So you will follow Brooke’s instructions and you will cease your complaints about it. Or do you not want to survive this malady?”
“To see you leg-shackled to her? No, I would rather not live for that.”
He swore, quite foully, and stalked out of the room, telling Brooke to come with him.
But she didn’t move right away, having noticed the tears that came to Anna’s eyes when he walked to the door.
She understood Anna’s point of view. The woman wanted the best for her son. In her eyes, Brooke was the worst.
Dominic was waiting for her at the door. As soon as he closed it, she said, “My presence upsets her too much, when she needs peace and quiet to recover. She won’t get that if I go in there again.”
“So you’re not going to help her?”
“Of course I am. The nice thing about the regimen to combat pneumonia is that I’m not needed to deliver it, merely to do the mixing and steeping. You can make sure she drinks every drop, or her maid can.”
“Thank you. I will leave you to it then and return shortly. I need to dispatch that money to those miscreants we spent the night with.”
The look he gave her clearly told her that he was remembering what they had done that night. It left her blushing.