The other female was skinny. Black curls tumbled over the back of her tattered shawl. Simple blue homespun skirts rustled as she turned from the hearth to face him.
Tessa Bradford had come to call on him?
'Jonah. Did you brew the tea I left for your father?' Her voice held a low bite.
But he remembered the softness in her eyes, the vulnerability. And the gentleness he'd witnessed behind the terrifying spinster mask.
'Father hated the tea and told me next time you were to leave something more palatable or he would come after you himself.'
'Tell the stubborn old man he's no match for me.' A sweetness warmed her eyes, even if the tight line of her mouth did not ease. 'I'll head upstairs and check on him.'
So, she hadn't come to call, but to keep her promise. Why his gaze followed her through the parlor, he couldn't begin to speculate. She was a completely disagreeable female, but his blood thickened simply watching her. He remembered her hot kisses and an unspoken promise of seductive passion, and his breeches grew tighter.
He wondered about her lover, the man she'd been meeting on the night he fired on the wolves. Was she passionate and wild with him? Jonah could see it, could sense beneath the unbending primness that Tessa Bradford could drive a man beyond all control.
'Major Hunter?' a low voice rose and fell over his name like a caress.
He snapped his head around. Plump and pretty Violet Bradford looked up at him through her lashes.
'I baked berry tarts just for you.' She held out the wooden platter, probably the best the family owned, and dipped her chin.
He did not miss the shine in her eyes when her gaze swept the room.
'You baked these tarts?' He took the cloth-covered plate. Disappointment, nay, it was worse than disappointment, flooded his chest. 'From what I hear Tessa does all the domestic tasks.'
'She lies. I'm quite capable-'
'She had to leave my father's side this morning to prepare breakfast for your family,' he ground out, illogically furious. 'That is a daughter's duty. Aren't you the eldest daughter?'
'Aye, but-'
'So tell me,' he demanded, 'even if you did bake these tarts yourself, which I doubt, then why were you making foolish sweets to impress me when you should have been preparing the meals so Tessa could tend my seriously ill father?'
Violet's seductive mouth crumpled and tears filled her eyes. She flew from the room.
'You were harsh with her,' Andy observed from the kitchen doorway.
'Aye, I regret it.' Confusion tore at him. He stared down at the plate. 'I don't know what came over me.'
'I distinctly heard berry tarts mentioned.' Andy bounded into the room. 'Here, let me take that terrible burden from you. A man contemplating marriage has no use for berry tarts.'
'And I suppose a man not contemplating marriage does?'
'Aye, a serious need.' Andy peeked beneath the cloth. 'Hmm. These smell heavenly.'
'Thank you.' Tessa breezed into the room, dark curls falling into her eyes as she managed a small smile. 'I hope you like them, even if you probably have an entire kitchen of baked goods by now.'
His heart knocked hard against his ribs. Jonah took a step back. 'You take my brother's compliment, but not mine.'
A small smile twinkled in eyes as dark as night. 'That's because your brother is not an overbearing oaf.'
Andy chuckled. 'True. Thank you for the tarts, Mistress Tessa. These are the best we've received today. I'm off to devour them.'
Jonah waited until his brother had left the room. His throat dried. He lifted his gaze and saw her face, half hidden by a few thick untamed curls falling from her muslin cap. 'Whilst Father is improved from last night, he is still so weak and frail. Do you think he will live?'
'I wish I could say for sure.' Tessa hugged the ends of her shawl tight around her, drawing the knit wool to cloak her well-shaped breasts.
Fire sparked through his veins, making it damn hard to think. 'His fever has broken.'
'A good sign, but his lungs are greatly affected. Your father is still gravely ill.' She dipped her chin, and he could not read her face. As if she were suddenly shy, she took a step toward the door, then hesitated. 'I know you can afford to bring in help and you may not want my services, especially after the way I lost my temper this morning.'
'I hardly noticed.'
She took another step toward the door. 'I have a terrible flaw in my temper, I know, but until your father is stronger and if you want me to help out, I wouldn't mind.'
Silence filled the house, as if her softly spoken, amazingly quiet words had been blasted from a mountaintop.
Jonah's heartbeat stuttered. 'Wh-what did you say?'
'I know the indentured servant Sarah left last month after fulfilling her contract with your father, and you've no female help to care for him.' Tessa looked longingly at the door, as if she'd rather be anywhere but standing before him. 'I'm usually asked to help in times like these, but I already understand why you might not want me here. I just can't abide the thought of a dear old man so ill without wanting to help.'
'I have to sit down.' Jonah's knees buckled, and he eased onto a nearby footstool. 'You like my father?'
'He was kind enough to help me when I needed it once, when not even family would.' Tessa's eyes filled with tears, amazing tears that shimmered like silver in her eyes, then spilled down her creamy cheeks.
Honest, genuine tears that reminded Jonah of the woman who'd turned down the fine wool cloak when she needed one.
'Long ago, my mother required a doctor, but there was no money for one. The colonel sent one and paid the fees. I hadn't even spoken of it to anyone but the minister. Yet your father brought out a fine doctor all the way from Boston, and it truly made a difference in easing my mother's suffering.'
Jonah remembered Tessa's ill mother, a thin woman so pale and weakened by a palsy and other afflictions that she couldn't walk.
Tessa swiped at her cheeks, drying her tears. 'It would mean much to me to care for your father now, to repay him in this small way. I need to do this. If you will let me.'
Andy cleared his throat from the kitchen threshold. 'She bakes a perfect berry tart, Jonah. Aye, a fine cook indeed.'
His heart stopped beating for an entire minute. Jonah saw Thomas' shadow in the stairwell and knew he'd heard Tessa's plea.
His entire body quaked, but he managed to stand. Reached out and took Tessa's small, work-reddened hand. 'I would be honored if you would help us.'
A small smile warmed her face and lit up her eyes like a morning sun. He saw the goodness within, a genuine happiness that he'd accepted her offer.
'I think I'll go upstairs right away and see what the colonel needs. Thank you, Jonah. You have allowed me to repay a long-standing debt, and it means more to me than you know.'
She spun away, darting up the stairs with a grace that bewitched him. Fire licked through his groin, filled his chest with longing. And dread.
Andy's laughter filled the silent room. 'I bet you ten pounds she'll refuse to marry you. She hates you, Jonah.'
He rubbed his brow, confused, enamored, horrified. 'Aye. I don't think I have ever been this terrified in my life.'
Chapter Seven
'Andy is scared of you,' the old colonel croaked, his voice nothing more than a whisper.
'I did my best.' Tessa smoothed the clean sheet across Samuel Hunter's chest. 'I'm glad to see I was
