Chapter 27
“Tobin, would you mind taking Etta to her room?” Cressida asked as the buggy came to a stop in front of her house. The last thing she wanted was to give Ambrose or Conrad a reason to remain close.
She bit the inside of her cheek, the proposal and Conrad’s insistence fluttering through her mind, but it was unimportant at the moment. She would deal with him later, but right now, Etta needed her.
Tobin nodded, getting down from the buggy. “It’s going to be okay.”
He reached in and carefully cradled Etta, lifting her out of the buggy and carrying her up the steps to the house.
Cressida waited until Conrad had jumped down from the buggy, getting out herself.
She had been sitting between both men for far too long.
If not for Etta, she would’ve thrown herself out of the buggy just to be away from the two of them.
I’m being mean. They’ve been nothing but nice…apart from the proposal.
Cressida let out a breath, knowing she should invite them in for a coffee, but she didn’t want to.
“I should attend to Etta.” Cressida turned for the house, heading up the stairs.
Much to her dismay, the heavy thud of boots followed her up the steps.
“Allow me to make you both something,” Ambrose said, his tone smooth and low as she turned to face them in the front hall. “I know how to cook a little, and my mother used to say there was nothing soup couldn’t fix.”
“Actually, I think it’s better if I…” Cressida trailed off as Tobin came down the stairs. “How is she doing?”
“She’s weak. I’m sorry. I-I didn’t know that she wasn’t feeling that well. She just kept smiling and laughing, and all I could think of was seeing more of that smile and laugh. I should’ve been taking more breaks with her. I should’ve been keeping a closer eye on her.”
“There’s nothing you could have done,” Cressida said, offering him a smile.
“Nothing. Etta hides how poorly she’s feeling all the time.
It’s nothing new, and I went into tonight expecting it.
I just didn’t think she would allow herself to get so bad as this.
I certainly didn’t think she was going to faint after how well things had been going. ”
Conrad cleared his throat, standing too close to Cressida again. “It’s going to be fine, you know that, don’t you? You can’t blame yourself for what’s happened here.”
Cressida gave him a tight smile. “I know.”
The sound of pans clanging against each other came from the kitchen, but she couldn’t muster the energy to go in there and see what kind of soup Ambrose was making.
Instead, she went to the sitting room and sank onto the couch, running her hands down her face for a moment.
Conrad sat beside her. “For what it’s worth, I think you do the best job you can, taking care of her. You’ve never been anything but a good sister.”
His soft voice and the way he hovered a little too close set Cressida on edge, but she had to admit hearing someone other than Etta tell her that was nice.
Ronan’s told me that I take good care of her, too.
Her heart panged at the thought. If Ronan were here right now, he would know what to say to make some of the worry leave her. He would offer comfort and companionship. He would make her feel at peace.
Conrad brought none of those things, yet here he was trying.
Tobin sighed as he stepped into the room, sinking down into a chair that faced the window, watching the road. “The doctor should be here soon, hopefully.”
“I should go check on her,” Cressida said, getting to her feet.
She took the stairs two at a time, hurrying to Etta’s room. The house downstairs was stifling, but there was at least a little reprieve with being upstairs. She let out a wavering breath, leaning against the wall beside Etta’s door for a moment.
She could go in there. She would step in there and hold her head high and pretend that nothing was wrong. She wouldn’t let Etta see how scared she was.
Etta didn’t need to worry about the possibility that she might not get better, that she might get worse after all the progress she had been making.
She couldn’t have one night of happiness.
Cressida pushed the thought away, opening the door and seeing Etta curled on the bed, weeping into her pillow.
Without a moment of hesitation, Cressida crossed the room and climbed into bed with Etta, wrapping her body around hers. She looped an arm over Etta’s side, cuddling her close.
“Whatever the doctor says, we’re going to get through just like we get through everything else.”
“You can’t keep putting your life on hold for me,” Etta said, her voice wavering and cracking. “I need you to promise me that if the doctor tells us it’s not going to get better, that we’re going to live our own lives. You’re not going to pause your life for me ever again.”
Cressida’s throat was thick. “I’m going to be there for you in whatever way you need me to, and if that means I have to pause things, I’m happy to do it.”
Etta rolled over to look at her, eyes watery. “I need you to be my sister, not my caretaker.”
Sighing, Cressida brushed a strand of hair out of Etta’s eyes. “I’m going to be here for whatever you need, that’s part of being your sister.”
“I know.” Etta closed her eyes, leaning into Cressida. “You need to live your own life, though. You need to go out and have fun, and I need to be able to live without you hovering over me all the time.”
“I don’t hover over you all the time.” Cressida grinned and pressed a kiss to the top of her sister’s head. “Ambrose and Conrad are both still downstairs.”
Etta looked up at her and wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like that. And why would Conrad think that proposing to you was a good idea? You should have told him no right then and there. Taught him a lesson about what happens when you keep pursuing people who aren’t interested.”
Cressida laughed and untangled herself from Etta. “I’m going to go wait for the doctor. You try and get some rest in the meantime.”
Etta nodded, yawning and rolling over with a smile on her face. “It really was a perfect night, but I’m sorry Ronan didn’t show.”
“I am, too.” Cressida eased the door shut behind her, taking a moment for herself.
She went back downstairs, sitting down on the couch once more.
“Why are there men surrounding the house?” Tobin snapped, his gaze narrowing as he looked out the window, getting to his feet.
Cressida turned to look, and sure enough, there were large men dressed in black riding up to the house, hopping down from their horses, and taking up positions around the property.
Men flooded into the house, straight into the sitting room, grabbing Tobin immediately. Cressida screamed as Tobin turned and threw a punch into the face of one of the men, but it was useless with the other two grabbing him.
Cressida lunged for the poker beside the fireplace, darting to take up a defensive position at the bottom of the stairs as more men stormed into the house.
“Get out of my home!” she shouted, jabbing at one man with the poker before swinging it at another’s head. Two men came from the sitting room, one of them catching the poker on her next swing and ripping it from her hands.
She was grabbed in an instant, none of the men saying anything.
“What’s going on?” She thrashed against them, trying to break free from the fingers holding her tight. “Who are you, and what are you doing in my home?”
“Cressida!” Etta called from upstairs seconds before heavy boots started pounding up the stairs.
“Etta!” Cressida fought hard, digging her nails into any of the arms she could reach, kicking out, and trying to catch one of the men in the leg so she might have a chance at getting to her sister.
Cressida’s hands were wrenched behind her back, held in place even as she struggled. One of the men brought out a length of rope, binding her wrists behind her back. Another grasped her upper arm, dragging her into the sitting room and shoving her in there with Tobin and the man standing over him.
“What is this?” Cressida asked, her gaze snapping to Conrad. “What did you do? What did you bring into my home?”
Conrad swallowed hard, shaking his head as Ambrose strode into the room with a smile. Conrad shook a little, his lips pressing into a thin line, worry in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t want to have to do this, but I’ve been left with little choice.” Ambrose smirked, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
“If you hurt Etta, I’ll see to it that you spend the rest of your life rotting in prison,” Cressida spat, venom in her words.
Tobin scoffed at Ambrose, anger radiating from his every pore. “Whatever this is, we’ll be lucky to live through it. This man is nothing but a criminal.”
“Now, now,” Ambrose said, taking a seat in the chair.
“I don’t go calling you names, so perhaps you shouldn’t call me them either.
Especially if you all want a chance of making it out of here alive.
You see, I might do some…questionable things at times, but I’m a man of honor.
I don’t see the point in killing unnecessarily. ”
“But you see plenty of point in killing.” Cressida’s stomach turned.
“Only when it’s warranted.” His gaze locked on hers, something cold and dead in his eyes. “If you do what I ask, it might not be warranted.”
“What do you want?” Cressida asked, willing to give him anything to get him out of her house and away from her sister.
Conrad cleared his throat, seeming to find some shred of courage as he looked at Ambrose. “Really, do we have to do this? It’s clear that Ronan has left town. I don’t think either of them knows anything about it either.”
“He left town?” Cressida’s head snapped to Tobin, looking for confirmation. “Without a goodbye? Did you know he was going to do this?”
Tobin swallowed hard. “I found out tonight. I saw him, and he said he was going to have one last look, but honestly, he’s been acting strangely for days.”
Cressida turned that over in her mind for a moment, but it didn’t matter. Not when there were criminals in her house, and Etta was alone with a couple of them upstairs.