The Lightkeeper's Bride Read Online Free PDF

reacted very quickly and everyone escaped injury.”
    “Thank the Lord,” Miss Russell murmured. She glanced at the baby on Will’s shoulder.
    “I don’t know what I’m going to do about the child,” the constable said. “The director of the orphanage is out of town, and we are having difficulty placing the children in temporary homes.”
    Those eyes . So like Philip’s. This baby was likely his responsibility. His grip tightened on the child. “I’ll take her,” Will said at the same time as Miss Russell.
    He wished he could recall the words. What was he thinking? Since he was new to town, finding a woman to care for the baby might be difficult.
    Miss Russell batted a strand of hair that had come loose from its pins. “What do you know about caring for a child?” Her tone held a challenge.
    The baby smelled sour again. Miss Russell was right. What did he know? Still, he wasn’t a man to back away from duty. “Not much. But I can learn.”
    “Why would you want to care for a baby?” the constable asked.
    Will let out a sigh. “She might be my niece.”
    The constable squinted and took in Will’s face. “Your niece, you say? And might your brother have something to do with Miss Bulmer’s disappearance?”
    “Of course not! Philip has been in the city.” Will clamped his mouth shut short of revealing his brother had been in town today. Surely Philip had nothing to do with this situation.
    “I don’t think a man is the right person to care for a baby girl,” Miss Russell said. “I doubt you have any idea how to change a diaper.”
    He lifted a brow. “How hard can it be?”
    “Do you know anything at all about what a baby eats? When she’ll need to nap?”
    “Do you?” he shot back. They glared at one another, and he realized she wasn’t backing down. She was a busybody. Will had seen them before. Spinster women who had nothing else to do but interfere in other folks’ business. “Why do you want the baby?”
    Color rushed to her cheeks. “She needs a place to stay until her mother comes back. You’re a stranger to all of us. For all we know, you did away with Eliza then came back for the baby.”
    The constable took a toothpick from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. He fixed Will with a stare. “That so, Mr. Jesperson? I must admit you seem to show up wherever there’s trouble. You saw the problem with the ship earlier, then you show up here.”
    “I have never met Miss Bulmer. I came to see her at the request of my brother.”
    “For what purpose?” Brown asked.
    Will suppressed a sigh. He was going to have to tell them everything. “My brother is a private eye. He has been retained to investigate the piracies that have occurred in the past couple of months. When the owner of the Paradox spoke with him, he said Miss Bulmer had called with information. My brother asked me to speak with her since she might not be inclined to discuss anything with him, given their past relationship.”
    The constable’s lips tightened. “I won’t have him interfering in my investigation. I’m in charge in Mercy Falls.”
    “He isn’t even here. He’s back in the city.”
    “Have him stop by my office when he comes to town,” Brown said.
    “What about the baby?” Miss Russell asked.
    Brown took another chew on his toothpick. “Sorry, Miss Katie, but he seems to have a claim to Jennie. If he’s a relative, it’s his right to care for her.”
    Her cheeks turned even redder. “But you don’t even know if he’s telling the truth! For all we know, he could be a kidnapper. Or worse!
    We found him here with Eliza gone. Surely that is disquieting, to say the least.”
    “If it will calm your fears, I can prove I’m the lightkeeper.” Will passed the baby over to her then dug his posting duties out of his pocket. He handed the paper to the constable, who skimmed it and handed it back.
    “He’s got all the right credentials, Miss Katie,” Brown said.
    “That still doesn’t prove he’s