“Indeed.”
She moved so she was lying across his side to look at him directly. “What about your childhood?”
“What about it?”
“Tell me about it.”
“There is not much to tell. I was young. I grew up.”
Her brow furrowed at his answer, but she did not speak. She laid her head back down against his shoulder, not questioning him further.
Dammit, if those nettles on his shoulders weren’t back. He grimaced and sighed. “I inherited Cloverfields from my grandmother. My father did not put on an appearance after I was born; he apparently disliked having a wife and child. My grandmother raised me after my mother died of a fever. I was five.”
“Oh, Nathan, I am so sorry,” Sara gasped. She raised her head to look at him, sorrow and sympathy in her eyes. She reached up to caress his cheek, her fingers soft against his morning beard.
“It is nothing,” he brushed it off. “It happened long ago and I wanted for little. My grandmother was a fine woman.”
He was saved from saying more by the knock on the door. “Enter,” he called out.
“Morning, sir,” Liam’s voice broke through the bed curtains. “Mam sent me with your tray.”
Nathan rolled away from Sara and rose from the bed, using the bed curtains to shield her from the boy’s view. “Put it on the table,” he instructed as he knotted a robe around him. Sara heard Liam move and do so, then leave after some murmured instructions from Nathan. After the door closed, sunlight flooded the bed as he threw open the curtains. Sara blinked, raising a hand to protect her eyes against the bright June morning sun. She sat up, pushing her hair to her back and pulled the sheets up to cover her chest. She watched as he picked up the tray and carried to the bed.
“Sit back against the head,” he instructed. She did so and he placed the tray over her legs. It was high enough for comfort and she adjusted herself again as he sat in front of her. With a flourish, he took one of the napkins and laid it across her lap, giving her a boyish smile as he did so. Sara blinked and her stomach fluttered.
She looked down at the tray in front of her, piled high with toast, eggs, ham, bacon, early strawberries, butter and jam. A simple floral teapot with two matching cups and cream and sugar accompanied the meal. Her eyes widened when she saw the quantity of the serving.
“I cannot eat all this,” she protested.
He lifted a sardonic eyebrow. “Then it is fortunate that I plan to eat as well.”
She felt her face heat with embarrassment, having not considered that he would share her tray. Yet another adventure to be crossed off the list.
“What would you like to eat first?” he asked.
“Toast, please,” she replied, reaching for the food. He gently batted her hand away and picked up a piece.
“Butter or jam?”
“May I have both?”
“As you wish.”
Sara watched in amazement as he buttered and spread jam over a piece of toast and handed it to her on a plate. “Thank you,” she said and took a bite. As she ate, he prepared another piece and placed it on her plate as well before taking a piece of bacon and popping it into his mouth. As he chewed, he poured two cups of tea and put milk and sugar into both.
She swallowed. “You don’t have to prepare my breakfast for me.”
He ignored her. “Would you like some eggs? Bacon?”
She shook her head. “Just the toast is fine. It is all I need.”
He frowned. “This is not about what you need but rather about what you want. Eggs are good for you and Mrs. Taggert has cooked this bacon to perfection. Have some.” Without waiting for her response, Nathan began putting some on her plate. Strawberries were added to the pile as well as a piece of ham. “I expect you to eat this all,” he ordered, a stern look on his face. “There are children in the rookeries who don’t see this much food in a week.”
Sara ate a forkful of eggs, bemused at his behavior. He was gruff and sometimes callous, of that there was little doubt, but there were moments such as these that he betrayed a kinder disposition. For some reason to hide it.
She sipped some tea, washing down her food. “The children in the rookeries, were you involved in any causes to help them?”