' 'Tis your choice. You will have to live with her a long while. Just consider that.'
'I have.' He had done nothing but think of it all day. He'd watched her move around the house, slim and graceful and as proper as could be, but he knew different. He'd caught a glimpse of her passionate nature, had tasted her seasoned kisses, and knew the rest of her would be as sweet.
He pulled back the curtain to watch Tessa, but she was nowhere in sight. If she had been heading home, she would have cut across their backyard, taking the way through the woods. He headed toward the parlor, where only a single bayberry candle tossed a weak light across polished floors and furniture.
He tugged back the draperies and gazed out into the darkness. Fog misted the ground and obscured much of the road. Damn, where did she go? Then he saw a faint movement, nothing more than a shadow.
Wherever she was headed, it wasn't toward home. Jonah remembered how he'd come across her his first night in town, alone in the woods. No decent woman crept around in the dark like that. And never alone.
He grabbed his coat and headed out into the night. Cold crept through his clothes, but he kept walking. She moved quickly, and once again he lost sight of her. Soon, his eyes adjusted to the thick bleak darkness and he caught sight of her again, nearly running full out down the rutted lane.
The fool woman was going to twist an ankle in one of those ruts or slide on the ice. And worse, who was her lover that she ran so fast for the comfort of his arms? Jonah had no doubt the day had been difficult for her. She still believed she was bound by law and ethics to wed Horace Walling.
Jonah wasn't big on ethics and he didn't give a damn for the law. Whatever it cost him, that drunken wife- beater would not walk down the same road as Tessa Bradford, let alone call her wife. He had seen how she was treated at home by a grandfather more moved by greed than family bonds. This woman, who cared for Father with such tenderness and honor-bound devotion.
Only one question remained in his mind, and it had been troubling him since the morning. Who was her lover?
He followed her to a grove of maples where a path cut off the road. Her shoes left clear tracks in the snow. He kept back, so she would not know he followed her. She glanced over her shoulder several times but hadn't seen him. He made sure of it.
She stopped at the edge of the pond, frozen and dark. 'Twas as if she expected to meet someone. She dropped to her knees at the water's edge, now nothing but a dark sheen of thick ice, and put her face to her hands. The faintest sound of tears, of racking heart-deep sobs carried on the wind.
His heart cracked in two. Lord, she was crying. Hard and unrestrained, thinking she was alone. He could guess what troubled her. She'd barely spoken to him today, and then she would not meet his gaze.
She thought he cared for her, and she'd said it herself. She wanted to marry him. But she was already bound by oath and a paid dowry to another man. He hadn't considered how his proposal might hurt her feelings. Surely she could see the solution as easily as he did.
Her tears did not cease, her sobs did not fade. Every bit of his soul wanted to step out into the clearing and go to her. He wanted to hold her tight against his chest until her crying stopped. He wanted to tell her he would pay Horace Walling whatever he wanted, but the agreement between him and her grandfather would be broken.
Father had little time and besides, Jonah wanted no other. Tessa was the right choice. She would not make his life hell, not as their stepmother had done. He knew in his heart that Thomas was wrong. The notorious spinster of Baybrooke was little more than a tender mouse inside, and a woman capable of great passion.
Time passed, and he stood shivering, waiting. Finally her tears stopped. The moon peered out from between thick clouds to glow on the shadowed snow. She wiped her face and stood, then stepped out on the ice. She ran and slid and twirled with her hands out, gaining speed and momentum.
Jonah stepped out of the shelter of the grove, amazed at the sight. Her hair had come down and trailed behind her, sailing and shimmering as dark as the night, and she looked so free, so different from the dutiful woman who had hurried to her grandfather's stables or the angel of mercy who cared all night for his father.
She had been playing on the ice that night he'd come across her. Not meeting a lover. There was no sign of anyone in these peaceful woods, solemn and silent except for Tessa's joy as she slid and frolicked.
His heart cracked, and he hated interrupting her. He suspected her life was severe and held no joy, except for this one freedom, this way she sailed across the frozen pond.
'Tessa.'
'
'I followed you.'
'Why? Oh, I know. You thought I might let you lift my skirts next after I entertained my first lover?' The words tasted so bitter.
'Nay.' How sad he sounded. 'I only wanted to see who you met with.'
'Why, so you can ruin my life further?' She climbed up off the ice. 'I heard what you said to your brother.'
'Go ahead and get angry at me. Then give me a chance to apologize.'
He actually looked contrite. Tessa would have laughed if it didn't hurt so much. She fisted her hands and sorely wished she believed in violence. She would give that man a good smack to the head for what he'd put her through today. Proposing to her! And now this. He almost had her believing-
'You're crying again.' He sounded surprised.
'What do you think I would do, enjoy being made sport of? Just like in school when you teased me and pulled on my braids?'
'I did it because I thought you were pretty.'
'Except, I'm not pretty. Don't start with the lies. I can take anything tonight but more lies.' She stalked off the ice, skirting him intentionally. She didn't trust her self-control right now. Her fist might somehow accidentally connect with his jaw.
'You are bad tempered, but pretty. I have always thought so.'
How sincere he sounded. 'What do you think? That you can sweet talk me into pulling up my skirts for you? Is that why you're here? Is that why you proposed to me?'
'Tessa, you seem overset. Why don't you calm down-'
Overset! Before she could stop her hand, it was scooping up a fistful of snow. Anger blasted red before her eyes and she aimed and threw. 'If you think I'm overset, you just wait.'
He sidestepped, but the snowball hit him square in the forehead. 'Damn it, why in blazes did you hit me?'
'Why? You have to ask why?' She sent another snowball sailing at his head. He managed to dodge this one, but her anger flared higher, hotter. 'Maybe you don't understand, because a big brute of a man like you, who has everybody worshipping every step you take, probably doesn't have a single feeling in that big old swelled head of yours. But when something hurts me, I feel it.'
'You're right.' He held out his hand. 'Please, no more snowballs.'
'Maybe I should try using a stick on that head of yours.'
He laughed, a deep gravelly sound. 'Fine. I'm big and stupid. End of argument.'
'Well, I'm far from done. The only reason I even stepped foot inside your house tonight is because of your father. He's a nice man, unlike his ungrateful son.
'True.' He stalked after her, swift and as cunning as a wolf. He seemed more shadow than substance. 'I am not arguing. You're right and I'm wrong.'
'What's this? The great Jonah Hunter is being agreeable? I can't imagine why. Wait, I think I know. And let me tell you right now that I'm not going to let you lift my skirts-'
'If you are my wife, you will.' A smile flirted along his mouth. 'I made an offer to you today, and as far as I'm concerned it still stands.'
Tightness filled her chest. 'You offered to marry me. But you know full well why I can't.'
'Why not? You said you wanted me.'
Panic tore through her chest. 'I said no such thing. I would never want a man like you.'
'A man like me. You say that often.' Something snapped in his eyes, intriguing and spellbinding enough to steal her breath away. 'You seem to know much about men like me.'
'Not as much as you think.'
'Maybe you aren't as innocent as you seem.' He halted before her, so big he was all she could see. 'Mayhap I should find out for certain.'
