infamous spinster smile.'
'She's no longer a spinster.'
'Many think you and she were having liaisons all this time. Her grandfather refused to swear to her whereabouts at night. I think he likes maliciously spreading gossip.'
'Then I'll need to put a stop to it' Troubled, Jonah thought of the work ahead of him, both in his marriage and here, tilling these lands. 'Father is alive because of her.'
'Have you given any thought about how she feels?'
'What thought?' Jonah knew where this conversation was headed, and he spun around, walking fast toward the riverbank. High from snowmelt, the Connecticut swept past as leaden as the sky above. 'Where's Andy? He's supposed to join us.'
'He complained of a headache and asked Tessa for a cure. She steeped tree bark and told him to drink it.'
'Did he fear she might poison him?' Jonah laughed at the image of his brother, cocksure on the outside, but not so on the inside.
'He said it tasted foul, but he drank it all.' Thomas braced his hands on his hips and studied the river, silent and deep. 'You married Tessa to help Father, and 'twas the only reason. What will you do if she falls in love with you? Will you love her in return?'
His chest tightened. Tessa's confession in his arms still haunted him days later. 'I treat her well. I respect her.'
' 'Tis not the same and you know it. Women are different from us. They want romance and pretty words.'
'I have no pretty words, and Tessa knows that. 'Tis the reason I didn't want to marry a young girl who knew little of the real world. Tessa does. Her life has been hard, and I've done what I can to make it better. This afternoon I have decided to take her to a seamstress for new dresses.'
'I'm not arguing over how well you treat her, brother.' Thomas reached over the fence to give the lumbering cow, heavy with calf, a rub on her nose. 'Anyone can see how happy she is. She hums, she smiles, she is pleasant. 'Tis like a different woman. Does she believe you love her?'
'I may have given her that impression.' Jonah knelt to study the cow's underbelly. Her udder was not full or dripping. The birth would not be immediate. 'We'll need to bring this cow into the stable before she calves.'
'But Tessa-'
'Don't worry about my wife, Thomas. We both know what love can do to a man, and no woman will have that kind of power over me. I like Tessa well enough, mayhap even more, but I'll never love her. She will never have me on my knees, doing her will just to see a glimpse of her smile.'
'Ah, we both remember how our stepmother used Father. And the ruin that came from it. But I've been thinking. Mayhap not all women are made of the same cloth. Tessa works alongside the servant, not lording power over her. She has asked for little and puts you and Father above her own needs. I think because she expects affection from you in return.'
'And why are you worrying about my wife?' Jonah ground out.
'Because she gazes after you with puppy dog eyes. As if you are her own personal hero who saved her from a brutal marriage to Horace Walling or a life of servitude in her grandfather's home. She lights up when you smile at her in a way I have never seen.'
Love was an emotion, if genuine, that came from within. His heart had been numbed from years of battle so that, like ground frozen too long, nothing could grow from it. No matter how bright the sun or how temperate the spring.
The village of Baybrooke stretched out before her, the commons a dull winter-grass green beneath a sky as gray as regret.
Jonah set his strong hands on her waist and lifted her down from the wagon. She rather liked the feeling of being in his arms, even just for a moment, the bunch of his muscled shoulders hard beneath her fingertips.
A door swung open and a narrow-faced woman managed a genuine smile.
'Mistress Tessa, I mean, Mistress Hunter.' Rachel Briers grabbed hold of both Tessa's hands. 'Please, come in. Major Hunter, I have tea hot and ready for you.'
'That would be fine. Did you receive the fabric I had sent over from the ship?' How competent and commanding he appeared in an ebony shirt and breeches. A shock of dark hair tumbled over his brow, as black as his gaze that riveted on her. 'Tessa has sworn to cooperate.'
'I'm perfectly capable of making my own dresses.' She blushed, not at all comfortable with such treatment. Goodness, she had been sewing for herself since she was six years of age. But Jonah had explained he wanted to do this for her, because Father's recovery would take time and attention, and she would not have the chance to sew anytime soon.
'Tessa, cooperate?' Rachel hid a smile, though the corners of her mouth upturned with good humor. If there was one person Tessa could call friend in this village, it was Rachel. 'I've known her ever since dame school, and not once have I spied a single moment of her cooperative nature. But you, Major Hunter, seem to bring out the best in her.'
'Only in public,' Tessa piped up, and their laughter rang in the cozy room.
How good it felt here, in Rachel's parlor, safe from the curious gazes of many of the villagers. There was no chance of running into Charity or Violet here either, since Grandfather was not rich enough to hire out the sewing.
'Let me fetch the teapot and we can begin.' Rachel spun away, gesturing toward the simple but tidy benches. 'Please sit and make yourselves comfortable.'
'Let me get the tea.' Jonah, so big he shrank the small parlor, gave an awkward but endearing shrug. 'You women go ahead and do whatever it is you do.'
He tossed her a wink, the devil's own light shining in his eyes. He left her sight, yet the brightness in her heart remained.
'I want you to know I didn't believe one word of those rumors,' Rachel whispered, leaning close to grab her sewing box. 'I think he truly loves you. Look at these wonderful fabrics he bought you. Sensible cottons, but very finely dyed and woven.'
'Aye.' Choosing such beautiful cloth while Charity and Violet watched across the table had been a pleasure. 'Twas her pride again, but just this once it felt fine to have more expensive things. 'No matter what Jonah says, I want a simple design. Not much different than what I've been wearing.'
'He's a man of means, Tessa.' Rachel unfolded a length of green linen. 'He'll want his wife to dress appropriately.'
'Something simple, Rachel. Trust me.' Tessa could not imagine wearing a gown too impractical to do her chores in. 'I still plan on living as I always have, Jonah's bride or not.'
Rachel's lips pursed, but she said nothing more as she lifted the moss green fabric to Tessa's chin. ' 'Tis a becoming color on you. I was thinking a bodice and an underskirt of this green, with the floral over it.'
' 'Twould be very nice.' Tessa tried to imagine how wonderful it would feel to wear such a dress, so different from the drab homespun she'd always worn.
'Tea?' Jonah stood in the threshold, one broad shoulder braced on the doorframe, holding two steaming cups.
His gaze speared hers, so intimate and knowing. She thought of their lovemaking, of her confession, of the silence when he didn't answer.
He had to love her. See how he treated her, all the wondrous cherished words he'd said, standing up for her against Charity, and now buying her such beautiful things when she already had perfectly serviceable dresses.
These were not acts of an unloving man. Unlike her mother, she had not traded security for a cold marriage, a roof over her head in exchange for her usefulness. Jonah could hire nurses or servants. He did not need to marry in order to have someone clear his table or tend his father.
He leaned close, and heat sizzled the back of her neck. 'You look beautiful in green.'
At his words, the love in her heart doubled once, and then again.
