When Harry Met Molly

much better. At peace somehow.

He added a log to the fire and lay down by it, flat on his back, his hands folded under his head. Looking up, he could see some stars through the branches overhead. Beneath him the ground was hard and unyielding, but he embraced the discomfort.

He would show Molly how much he respected her by staying far away. Closing his eyes, he heard a distant rumble of thunder. Was God going to test him so soon?

But five whole minutes went by in relative silence. Perhaps the storm would blow to the north, he thought.

Then a splash of freezing cold water fell directly on his eyelid. And another, on his forehead. His experience in the army had taught him that in a rain, he’d get no more than chilled. Perhaps he’d suffer a few sniffles later, but he never got colds.

He was too manly for that, at least according to Fiona.

Why, the very day Fiona had run off with the pompous Cedric, she’d told Harry he was the handsomest, most charming man in all of England.

He felt the veriest stooge. The fire sizzled as the raindrops came down faster, erasing all illusions he’d had about his worth as a man. Fiona had been paid to flatter him, and he’d actually believed her. He’d believed every last word.

He’d believed he was a veritable god.

The truth was, he was beginning to think he was a big baby.

The rain came down steadily now. He sat up, drew his knees to his chest, and wrapped his arms around them. He would watch the fire as long as it lasted, which, judging from the increasing intensity of the rainfall, wouldn’t be longer than another ten seconds.

But he wouldn’t move. He’d sit here all night.

For Molly.

Chapter 31

Molly lay on her side, her hands tucked beneath her head, and opened one eye. It was definitely raining. She heard it pelting the roof of the tent, and sat up, surrounded by darkness.

Where was Harry?

A thin slice of moonlight shone through a crack in the tent flap as she padded to the entrance and peered out. There was a small break in the cloud cover, enough to see the fire was out. The rain had seen to that.

She scanned the rest of the campsite.

Heavens. There he was—at least she thought that soaked form was Harry—sitting up against a tree trunk, his eyes closed. Of course he must be awake—the branches of the tree deflected some rain but certainly not all. No one could sleep through being rained on, could they?

“Harry!” she called in a loud voice. The noise of the rain would be certain to drown her out, otherwise. “What are you doing out there?”

He instantly opened his eyes. “Trying to sleep. At least until—”

“You can’t sleep out there!”

“You forget I was in the army.”

“I don’t care.” Molly’s mother hen instincts were clamoring to get him out of the elements. “Come out of the rain. You’ll catch a chill!”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. Get in here, Harry!”

“I’ll just make you wet if I do that.”

“Nonsense.” The rain began to come down even harder.

“Go back to sleep,” he insisted. “I’m already soaked through, and joining you won’t make me any drier.”

She could barely hear him over the tumult. “Come inside! Or I shall come out there after you!”

“No you wouldn’t.”

“Yes I would!”

Their gazes locked. This need for Harry to come into the tent went beyond Molly’s mother hen instincts. She had a hollow feeling in her stomach. An ache. She wanted to be with him as only a false mistress could be, which meant not really with him, but with him in a way.

She hated the ambiguity. But she loved Harry. And she would take him any way she could get him.

“I’m coming to get you.” She thrust one leg outside the flap of the tent.

“Get back in there!” Harry strode over to her.

She pulled her leg back inside.

“Don’t you even think of coming out,” he said.

Despite the threat in his voice, she couldn’t help reaching out a hand to touch his cheek. It was rough, cold, and wet.

Very wet.

“I do trust you, Harry,” she said. “I believe you have good reason not to tell me what happened to you in the army.”

Even in the darkness, and with rain pelting down, she saw his eyes flare with something fierce. And yet there was something tremendously vulnerable in his gaze, too. She was reminded of the days when she’d watch him from a stone wall as he played at sword fighting with Roderick before the church service. They’d both grab long sticks and have at it, Roderick large and looming, Harry full of bravado, even as his smaller hands had trembled on his makeshift weapon.

“Really?” he said.

Now Molly could only nod, too full of emotions to speak.

But she must be practical. “Come inside and get out of those wet clothes before you catch cold.” She swallowed. “You could, um, wrap up in a blanket. Unless there are some clothes for you, as well. I didn’t see any.”

“Thank you for the kind invitation, but I can’t come in.” His tone was warm but firm. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

He turned away.

“Harry!” She gulped.

Slowly, reluctantly, he turned back around.

“If you don’t come in, I’ll quit the competition,” she said, her chin in the air.

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

“Then do it.” He sighed bitterly. “I should have taken you home long ago. We’ll leave at first light.”

Oh, God, he wasn’t supposed to give in like that! He was supposed to want to stay, to win!

She sighed. “Never mind. If we leave, you’ll be forced to marry. And I don’t want that to happen to you.”

She pleaded with him with her eyes. Please, Harry. Come into the tent!

He scratched his forehead and sighed. “All right, I’ll come. But only because you’re too stubborn for your own good. And mine.”

She smiled and felt shy all of a sudden. “I’m glad. About everything. About being stubborn. About you entering the tent. About this week and about our friendship.”

He gazed at her a long moment. “Me, too,” he finally said, and stepped through the flap. “My goodness. You look…lovely.”

She felt heat rise on her cheeks. “Thank you. Wait until you see the rest of the place.”

He held the tent flap higher and peered closer at the interior. “I see a lamp and a pitcher on a wooden chest. And pillows. Lots of pillows.”

“You should see it in the daylight. It’s so exotic. And pretty.”