Before she walks out of the office, she turns back to him, “I love you, Dad. I know you mean well. Forgive my tone. I pray every day that I will find the love that you and Mother have. I’m trying to be patient, but until then, I’m also living the life the Lord gave me. It’s hard to enjoy it when everyone is constantly reminding me what a failure I am.” Tears shimmer in her aqua eyes. She leaves before he can say anything.
Charles sits back hard and looks down at the design. Failure? Is that how she really feels. “Who’s the true failure, Charles?” he murmurs and drops his pencil.
Aiylin walks without looking around. She passes the shops in town, the bakery and the general store on her way to the livery. Her father’s carriage is inside. Nazareth is a small town, set in a beautiful lush background of green rolling hills. It is the reason her mother convinced her father to move here to start the factory.
Langdon walks a customer to the door of his tailor shop and watches Aiylin walk past without stopping, and he frowns in frustration.
“Thank you for your business, Mr. Potter,” he says before calling to Aiylin.
“Miss Miller, a word please.”
Aiylin stops walking and turns with an inward groan of frustration. “Hello, Mr. Barnett.”
Langdon is handsome. Tall, lean and muscular, with blonde hair and brown eyes. Aiylin frowns and glances over at him. It would be much easier to like him if he weren't' so busy pushing himself at her. She's grown tired of continually rejecting him. He holds the door open to his shop, but Aiylin refuses to take the hint.
“I’m just on my way home, Mr. Barnett. What can I do for you?” she asks.
His eyes trail over her face, down her curvy body, lingering a little too long for her liking. She pulls her coat tighter around her dress and waits for him to meet her eyes.
“I could think of many things you could do for me, Miss Miller,” he grins, thinking he’s funny. “For starters, you could have dinner with me tomorrow.”
“You have no leave to speak to me with such disrespect, Mr. Barnett! I have plans, good day.” Aiylin turns to go, but his hiss of anger has her stopping in her tracks.
“What sort of plans?” he demands, stepping out onto the sidewalk in front of her. His cheeks are flushed with anger, and his hands are fisted at his sides, causing her to step away from him.
Every instinct in her body tells her to run, but she’s trying not to cause a scene.
“That’s none of your concern, Mr. Barnett,” she snaps back.
“Come inside, we need to talk,” he’s in front of her in two strides and grabs her wrist squeezing it enough to cause her to flinch in surprise. When he tries to pull her towards his shop, she stands her ground, attempting to wrench her wrist away from him. He squeezes harder causing her to inhale in pain.
“Take your hands off me, Langdon Barnett!”
People are starting to notice, and some are staring at them, causing Langdon to release her. “Forgive me, it’s just that you’ve left me no choice. We should talk about our future, Aiylin.”
Aiylin rubs her wrist and glares at him. “Let me say this one last time.” Her voice trembles and her eyes flash with anger. “There is no future for us. There is no us!” She spins and walks quickly away.
His gasp of anger follows her down the street towards the livery. “We will see about that,” he grumbles and storms back inside his shop. Trembling hands draw out a small brown vial, and he drinks from it before getting back to work.
He needs this arrangement to work, and Aiylin is causing problems. It should’ve been easy to seduce her. She’s lovely to look at, but her strong personality is making things difficult. Everyone knows the Miller family has money. The factory is the center of employment for Nazareth.
“It’s not like she has better prospects. You will be mine, Aiylin, one way or another,” he glares at her as she disappears inside the livery. A few minutes later, her father’s carriage drives away.
Aiylin sits back, trembling and rubbing her wrist. She shudders, thinking of the way he’s looking at her body and now touching her so freely.
“Perhaps it’s a good thing I’m going away,” she mumbles. “Langdon needs some time to cool off.”
Aiylin hurries inside the family house and hangs her coat and gloves, rubbing her hands together to warm them up. “How are you?” her mother says from behind her.
“Frozen. It’s getting colder by the day. Do you think it will snow?” she asks, turning to look at her.
Ida frowns, “It better not. I’ve been looking forward to this trip for weeks.” She grins at her daughter. “Come warm up by the fire, I have some hot tea ready.”
“Thank you, Mother, but I think I need to play.”
Ida nods in understanding watching her oldest daughter hurry to the library. A few minutes later, she hears the sound she’s come to love. Aiylin is a gifted musician. Instruments love her, mostly string. Nothing compares to the haunting tones she can create with her music.
A sound at the door has her spinning in surprise. “Charles!” she hurries to him and is greeted with a sound kiss. “What’s wrong? Why are you home early?” Ida demands.
“Can’t a man kiss his bride? Perhaps I missed your touch,” he tugs her into his arms.
“You never need a reason to touch me, my love,” she says, kissing him back. The music breaks through, and he puts his forehead to hers.
“Ida, I think I’ve failed her,” he
