Well Kept Secrets (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 4)
Page 25
Vic didn’t normally require assistance, but her bumps were throwing off her balance a bit these days, so she gladly accepted Xavier’s hand. She appreciated Sara didn’t scream or jump away when Tubs offered his hand to her.
Fortunately, the girl had been around Tubs frequently this last year, since she helped out in the kitchen, and that was Tubs’ preferred place in the big house.
Now that Vic thought of it, that was Tubs’ preferred place at work too. The man just loved kitchens, probably because he so rarely saw one when he was growing up on the streets. She hoped Jacko’s cook wouldn’t mind him spending time in her kitchen.
If the cook quit, she’d just have Sara take over. The girl had to know something about food after helping her aunt for a year.
Chapter 24
Xavier and Vic entered their small ship cabin with barely room to move, what with four large trunks and a small bed taking up most of the space. Making the space even smaller, Sara was in the room as well. Using a wire hanger, the girl was attempting to hang up the dress Vic would wear off the ship. She attempted to hang it on a nail sticking out of the side wall, a couple of feet above her head, only the floor beneath her feet kept tilting, sending her two steps back and then two steps forward.
Finally taking pity on the girl, Xavier snared the hanger and dress from her and placed it securely on the nail. She smiled at him with appreciation and set to smoothing out the wrinkles that the short travel in the trunk had created.
Xavier returned to the bed and sat beside Vic, studying his pup’s determined face, and wondered what she was thinking. He had hoped for a better farewell between Vic and her sister, but Claire seemed determined to prick his pup’s temper. Why, he could not imagine…unless she had discovered what Gregory clearly knew: Vic was having a baby.
The more he thought about Claire’s behaviors towards Vic, and her possessive declaration that Pete would no longer work for them, the more certain he was Claire knew. Thank God, he’d kept Vic too busy to visit her home after he received the “House in an uproar, Please keep Vic away” letter.
He was glad he had. If Claire would risk having a scene in public, he could not imagine the fit she would have thrown in the privacy of her house.
“If we bought the house across the street from the office, do you think Gregory and Mrs. Yarrows would defect.”
Vic grimaced. “Not unless you are willing to build the butler quarters to rival a king’s. Have you ever seen Gregory’s rooms?”
“No. Why would I?”
“Well, I have. It’s far superior to any bedrooms upstairs.”
Sara stopped petting the dress and nodded in silent agreement.
Xavier had no intention of building Gregory a bedroom better than his own. That was ridiculous. “What about Mrs. Yarrows. Would she come?”
Sara bit her bottom lip, trying her hardest not to speak, clearly trained that a good servant should be silent.
Vic turned to Sara and ruined her restraint. “What do you think?”
“I think she would love to cook for you, Mr. Vic. You nor any of your people complain about anything. Mrs. Claire finds fault with everything my aunt serves. It’s only you who keeps her there. Otherwise, she would go somewhere else and see Gregory on his day off.”
Xavier’s eyebrows rose at her comment. Gregory and Mrs. Yarrows were an item? He could use that bit of leverage.
“What happened between you and Claire?” he asked the obliging servant.
Her head dropped and her fingers plucked at one another. “She said I had designs on Master Brown, but I don’t. I just smile at him because he’s so nice.”
“He is nice,” Xavier agreed. “I believe I’ve smiled at him once myself.”
Vic snorted. “That was only because he married Claire.”
He couldn’t deny the truth in her observation. He would have smiled at anyone who married Claire. When the young woman was single, she’d approached him while he lay in bed, on morphine, recovering from near death, and attempted to bully him into marrying her.
That betrayal still angered his pup more than she’d admit. To be honest, it still angered Xavier. Thankfully, even half-delirious on morphine, he had the sense to refuse Vic’s conniving sister.
“Actually,” Xavier said, “David’s niceness is reaching sainthood status in my mind. Claire has gotten worse, not better in the years I have had the great misfortune to know her.
The maid nodded her agreement. “She was so mean to Jonas that he quit and went to work far away.”
“When?” Vic asked in a tone of outrage.
His pup hated being left in the dark.
“A week ago.” Sara’s trembling bottom lip warned tears were close by.
“Where did he go?” Vic persisted.
“Boston.” Sara sniffed.
“Boston? As in America?” Vic looked at Xavier trying to determine if he had known. He shook his head.
Sara sniffled and gave Vic a nod. “And once he was gone, Miss Claire came after me. Whatever I did just wasn’t good enough.”
Vic glared at Xavier. “You see! This is exactly why we need to go home at least twice a week.”
Xavier hoped to God Sara didn’t know Gregory sent him a note, because he didn’t think the girl would ever keep a secret from Vic, not after his pup saved her and about a hundred other young people from forced servitude in a house of prostitution.
He waited and when the girl said nothing more, he rose. “Vic, I will leave you with Sara, so she can help you change.” He saw no shock in the maid’s face at his suggestion she help a young man change clothes. “I gather you know Vic is female?”
Sara nodded happily.
“Since when?” Vic demanded.
She smiled, oblivious of Vic’s outrage. “Since Gregory decided you needed a nanny.”
Vic turned and glared at Xavier. “Did you tell him?”
Xavier held up his hands in protest. “Not a word.”
Vic scowled. “I wonder what gave it away.”
“I think it was the day you asked my aunt for pickles and mustard for lunch, or it might have been the day you tossed your breakfast on the floor. Gregory is very smart and sees everything, even if he don’t comment on it.” Sara grasped Vic’s hand. “I will never tell a soul about your secret, but I just want you to know that I think you’re the most amazing person in the whole world and that includes the Queen.”
Xavier could not have found a better nanny for their child. “Upon heartily agreeing with your observation, I will leave you to transform my Vic temporarily into Victoria.” He hoped by emphasizing the key word, his pup wouldn’t panic.
***
Vic wasn’t accustomed to servants helping her dress, given the secret she’d kept since at the age of thirteen when she’d decided being a boy held more potential to do interesting things. Yet having a trusted servant to assist in the massive layers of feminine clothing, which honestly, she didn’t understand at all, helped immensely.
There was no mirror in the small cabin, but if Sara’s happiness was any indication, then Vic must have become the most beautiful woman in the world. She knew that wasn’t true, of course, but it was still nice to think Xavier would have no reason to be ashamed of his wife.
Wife. That was something she never thought she’d be, nor want to be. But with Xavier, even the worst job in the world became something not just tolerable, but desirable.
The baby would only make their life better. Nothing else would change. She would still be Victor and they would raise the child together. Uncle Victor and Father Xavier.
She frowned at Xavier’s choicer title. But she could not be Mother. That classification would destroy her life. She rubbed her stomach as Sara fussed about with her wig.
Uncle Vic would give their child so much love that their baby would never miss not having a mother.
***
When Vic exited the cabin, Xavier’s heart swelled with love and his loins had an appreciative tightening as well.
/>
He stepped forward and took her hands. “If I were not already in love with you as much as humanly possible, if I had been indifferent up to now, I would have lost the battle today.”
She pushed against him and chuckled, having the explanation for his randy amour. “Jacko said pregnancy heightens the attraction.”
Xavier did not want to think about why Jacko would have said such a thing, because he was certain it was related to their passionate kiss that each insisted meant nothing. Instead, he took the moment to enjoy his own searing kiss with his remarkable young woman.
Her response almost sent him back to the cabin, with Vic in tow. Only he had one more objective to achieve and having her heady with passion might improve his chances.
Vic pressed hard against him. “I don’t really need to ensure the ship is headed in the correct direction. Let’s just assume the captain is competent and return to our cabin.”
He chuckled. “Let’s first seek out the captain and verify he’s competent.”
Vic scowled. “I’d rather assume he is.”
Well, that tact isn’t going to work. I’ll have to try another.
“You know, a captain has more than one skill.”
“Not really interested in the captain, right now,” she growled.
God, he loved her. She was so forthright and honest. And short on patience—he needed to move things along.
“Vic, I want the captain to marry us.”
She stared up at him in shock. No hint of outrage. That was hopeful.
“Marry, why? Victoria will be gone in four months.”
“True, and I’ll have my beloved Vic back. But we’ll have a child, and God forbid, if anything happened to me, you may need to prove you are not only a woman, but our child’s mother, or someone may attempt to remove said child from your custody, claiming a young unmarried male cannot be a parent.”
Vic sighed. “This someone being Claire, you mean.”
“It is not beyond her. She has failed to respect what is rightfully yours in the past.”
Vic smiled. “You mean you.”
He nodded and watched as her brow furrowed. Her eyes met his and they were sad beyond measure.
“If I were to lose you, I don’t know how I’d go on, but if I lost both you and our child, I couldn’t go on. But that’s a terrible reason to marry.”
“Then marry me because you love me.”
“With all my heart, I love you. A marriage cannot make it stronger.”
He sighed, wishing for once, she wouldn’t be so bull headed. “Then marry me because I want you to be my wife, even if no one else knows it. I want you protected by laws, if you require such. I want my beloved wife to have a husband if you should ever need one.”
Her beautiful blue eyes scrutinized his face for several long minutes. “You truly want this?”
“Yes.”
Vic burst into a grin. “Then let’s find the captain and test him on his marrying competency.
***
The captain proved not only able, but clearly prepared to marry them. The wedding, with Sara and Tubs as witness, was almost like a dream. Never had Vic expected to be legally married. While she intended to live her entire life with Xavier, and recently accepted they could raise a child with her remaining in her male appearance, never had she contemplated actually getting married.
She expected some fear as she signed the marriage document, but all she felt was happiness. Xavier had not proposed marriage to gain her property or to control her life; he had done so to protect her from future uncertainties.
Had any other woman explained their husband’s reason to marry in such a manner, Vic would have thought them idiots. But with Xavier, she knew it was true. They were partners, and they protected each other. Xavier had seen a weakness in her disguise and set about to fix it.
And now she was truly married to the man she loved more than life itself, with a child on the way.
Life was full of unexpected wonders.
∞
If you enjoyed this book, please write a review.
A positive review is candy to an author’s soul.
OTHER BOOKS BY LIZA O’CONNOR
HISTORICAL
The Adventures of Xavier & Vic
Humorous, Late Victorian Sleuth Series
The Troublesome Apprentice
The Missing Partner
A Right to Love (a romantic spinoff)
The Mesmerist
Well Kept Secrets
Pack of Trouble
The Darkest Days
SINGLE HISTORICAL NOVELS
Untamed & Unabashed
Spinoff from Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice
CONTEMPORARY
A Long Road to Love Series
Humorous Contemporary Disaster Romance
Worst Week Ever
Oh Stupid Heart
Coming to Reason
Climbing Out of Hell
The Hardest Love
CONTEMPORARY SUSPENSE
White Oak Mafia Series
Snarky, Romantic, Suspense Thriller
A Fortune to Die For
Unexpected Love — Coming Soon
Dance or Die — Coming Soon
Requires Rescue Series
Often Humorous, Contemporary, Romance/Suspense
Standalone books with a special twist
Even the strong can use a helping hand when life gets hard.
Saving Casey
Saving Molly – Coming Soon
SINGLE CONTEMPORARY BOOKS
Ghost Lover
Humorous, Contemporary Romance with Ghost & Ghost cat
SCIENCE FICTION
The Multiverse Series
Sci-Fi Soap Opera with humor, romance, and science
The Gods of Probabilities
Surviving Outbound
Surviving Terranue
Surviving Sojourn
Artificial Intelligence Series
Sci-Fi/Romance
Public Secrets
Birth of Adam