Page 61 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage

Briony, who happened to be sipping her porridge, accidentally made a loud slurp.He does na sound pleased at all.

When she peeked over, she realized that he and Niall were locked in a staring match, both looking like they’d just swallowed a jar of lemons.

Suddenly, Santiago’s gaze shifted to hers, wherein all the animosity vanished. He seemed to be trying to tell her something with his eyes.What could he—

“Briony?”

Briony jumped and turned to Adaira. “Aye?”

“Lucia was wondering how long you’ve been a midwife fer.”

Lucia nodded, giving Briony a smile that would have seemed sincere if not for a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

She almost looks like she’s in pain. Did she notice the look her brother was giving me? I better be more careful; otherwise, everyone will know something’s going on.

Briony reflected the false smile the best she could and said, “Oh, I apologize! I’m far too easily distracted. To answer yer question, my mother shared her skills as a midwife with me over the years. I helped her more and more as I grew older. ’Twas only after her passing last year that I began doing it by myself.”

“What about yer da’?” William asked as he munched on a biscuit.

Mr. Burgess elbowed his son and cleared his throat.

“What? What did I do?” William looked from his father to Briony to Adaira, completely confused.

“’Tis all right, Mr. Burgess. ’Tis an innocent question. William, I…” Briony expected Lucia probably knew this already, and Niall surely had heard about it from Daniel Calhoun.

Even so, ’tis hard to say it out loud.

“I never knew him. Na even his name. Just that he was lost to the sea—”

Niall huffed, cutting her off. “Lost? That’s an interesting way o’ putting it—”

Briony’s attention whipped around to the dark-haired man. “What do you mean? Do you know something about my father?”

Niall blushed and looked down at his plate. “Uh…nay, I just had na heard it put that way before?”

Briony grabbed the man’s chin and jerked him her way, forcing him to meet her eyes. “Listen to me. If you know something about my father—”

Adaira tapped her friend’s shoulder and leaned close to her ear. “Briony, this may na be a good place ferthatkind o’ conversation.”

Briony looked around at everyone, only then remembering they weren’t alone. Adaira’s big brown eyes were full of sympathy, John Burgess was visibly uncomfortable as he kept his attention on his food, William was staring blatantly at Briony and Niall, Lucia appeared scandalized by the whole affair, and Santiago was—

She couldn’t tell; there were far too many emotions swirling in those green eyes, each one swallowing up the next so quickly that she couldn’t identify it before it was gone.

“We’ll talk more later,” Briony whispered to Niall. The man nodded and sent her a small grin.

William opened his mouth. “So did you—”

“Lucia, would you tell us about yer home in Portugal?” Adaira interrupted.

“Certainly!” Lucia said a little too cheerily. “It’s in the city of Aveiro, right on the coast. It’s one of the loveliest places you could ever go. There are so many colors and interesting people. We travel a lot in boats called barcos moliceiros since canals run through the whole city. Merchants are always out selling their wares, and the ladies wear such fine dresses! It’s so diverting. You’d probably be overwhelmed at first by all the sights and sounds, but once you got past that, you’d love it as much as I do.”

“Have you two always lived there?” Mr. Burgess asked.

“Aye. Our parents met in Aveiro and fell in love, both with each other and with the city itself. It’s so full of energy that I cannot imagine living anywhere else.”

“It sounds amazing! I should like to visit it someday. I hope you don’ find our village too dull fer yer tastes,” Adaira said.

“Quite the contrary. I’m liking it very well. Everyone has been so kind and helpful that I can see why my brother’s so taken with it.”