Ever Bound (13 page)

I followed the two women, but when I tried to get a look at the woman in the hood, she kept her face down. I could imagine a woman in her position would be very modest and possibly embarrassed.

“Here, in the last room. Let’s put your things here, and if you wouldn’t mind, could you keep your reason for staying a strict secret. No one is to know,” Mrs. Rollins said.

“Yes, ma’am,” the woman said. The guest brought her hood down with long, elegant fingers. They weren’t the fingers of a woman who’d worked all her life. Her hair was pulled back into a smart chiffon, and when she pulled the cloak away to hang it on the rack, her movements all seemed previously and gracefully planned. Her dress appeared to be someone else’s. Not one she’d wear if she had the choice.

“Is there something the matter, young man?” When her eyes met mine, her smile fell away and a look of complete bafflement replaced it. Some invisible thing seemed to have slapped her in the face, but within an instant the look was replaced with refined composure. She was the same woman who’d winked at me from the rear entrance of the house, after the barn fire.

“No, ma’am.” I hurried past Mrs. Rollins.

I just hoped this all turned out as well as Mrs. Rollins anticipated. I didn’t trust the woman as much as Mrs. Rollins did. Her weird wink days before had begun a cold knot in my chest, one that grew with every second.

* * * *

When I came to the ground level, I stepped off the elevator and into the path of someone I hadn’t seen coming around the corner. On instinct, I grabbed for the person so he or she wouldn’t fall, but the contact of our skin almost caused me to lose my balance. I was momentarily incapacitated by the intoxicating scent of freesia and a spring breeze, the soft, warm skin of someone’s arms around my neck, and the sweet smell of her breath on my face.

Annabeth gasped. She had to have been holding me up instead of the other way around.

For a second, deep in her golden brown eyes, she couldn’t hide her love. She melted against me, but when she sobered, she stepped back, untangling herself from my arms. A rosy dash of color darkened her cheeks.

Against instinct, I allowed her to go free.

“Excuse me.” Annabeth started around me.

I hooked her arm, but kept her near with a gentle hold. I turned to stand close behind her and allowed my face to touch the curls that had escaped her elegantly fastened hair. “You still love me. You just hate yourself for it.”

“I can’t be near you. Not yet.” She remained frigid.

I smiled. “You can’t still blame me.”

She reached to cover my hand.

The pain my body had undergone while she was out of my embrace dissipated in one touch.

She pulled my hand from her arm, but didn’t move.

“Please meet me tonight.” I let my lips brush her ear.

She shivered with the touch, but remained rooted in our closeness.

You miss me, I wanted to whisper, but I didn’t want to send her away.

“If you can name a location on this property that you haven’t fornicated with my sister, I might decide to meet you there, but only for conversation.” Her voice was icy.

A maid passed us on the other side of the vestibule.

As of yet, I’d spied no other family members. Allowing my lips the honor of grazing her cheek, I whispered, “The waterfall. I’ve only ever been there alone.”

She straightened up, still not making eye contact. “I wasn’t aware there was such a place.”

“In the cellar, there are doors covered by furniture in dust cloths. I’ll move the furniture. Just after dark, take a lantern and go down the dirt corridor until you discover a fork. Take the left one. You’ll find the man you’re going to marry at the end,” I whispered quickly.

I left her standing in the hallway staring at the wall of family paintings.

The prospect of seeing a waterfall seemed just intriguing enough to get her attention if my lips hadn’t.

* * * *

After readying the cellar for Annabeth’s trek through the tunnel, I pulled the cellar door shut behind me and turned to find the woman I’d just helped Mrs. Rollins escort upstairs.

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes immediately, but if she was on Mrs. Rollin’s side, I had to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“We weren’t properly introduced earlier.” She waited.

“Colby Kinsley, ma’am.” I bowed my head into a respectful nod. When I met her eyes again, I knew I hadn’t been mistaken.

There was a hint of fascination, but not one an older woman would have for a younger gentleman. I felt as though she was glaring into the very makeup of my soul and digging around.

“Well, Mr. Kinsley, would you kindly direct me to the dining area.” She waved me along without returning the courtesy of her name.

“Yes, ma’am.” I slipped around her and hurried toward the dining room.

When I presented the dining area, her weird assessment of me had changed to a wide, friendly smile. Maybe the unfamiliar surroundings had made her uneasy.

“Thank you, Colby,” she said.

Without another thought about the odd guest, I headed out the back door. Birds wouldn’t stop roosting on the gargoyles above the patio. I’d had to wash them every other day during the summer. It was on my chore list for the day and thankfully was the last one.

As I scrubbed, a shadow fell over me.

“Have you given anymore thought to the wedding date, boy?” Mr. Rollins asked without so much as a greeting.

“Actually, Mrs. Rollins and I have begun plans. Not to worry. The wedding will happen.”

His eyebrows perked in shock.

I hid my joy behind a face of stone. I didn’t want anyone to suspect a thing. With no time for obstacles, I needed to spend every bit of my energy convincing Annabeth to marry me.

“Well… Well, that changes things. I didn’t expect—well, excellent. I’m glad you had a change of heart.”

“Why fight it?” I doused a brush in the water.

“Agreed.” Mr. Rollins walked away with a wobble.

I finished swiping the water off the patio. In a short while, there would be an ocean of flowers and a congestion of gregarious wedding guests in huddles all over the property.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the wedding night.

My heart stammered and sweat broke out all over my body. I couldn’t wait to hold her, to show Annabeth that she was the only person I ever wanted in my arms.

I left the fantasy. The time had come to tell Mama and Pop.

Mama would have to get to work sewing a dress for her and a suit for Pop.

Walking toward the cottage, I had a new skip in my step.

Mama stood on the porch, staring into the woods.

Pop stepped out of the woods and stood in a clearing beside the house. In his large hand, he held something by the nape of its neck.

Mama dropped the apron she’d wound in her hands. “Is that…?”

A small animal dangled, limp in each of Pop’s hands. “Someone killed every one of Marmalade’s pups.”

“Don’t you mean
something
?” Mama said.

“No, I mean someone. Do you see the way its head dangles?” Pop laid one of the pups down and held the other flat in his hand as he presented it to Mama. “Their necks were all broken. I checked the other animals, the horses, colts, pigs, chickens, and there seemed nothing out of sorts. The pups were the only ones touched.”

I neared him as he laid the pup on the ground beside its brother.

“I’ll bury them for you. You go in and rest.” A sick feeling churned in the pit of my stomach as Mama hung her arm around Pop’s waist. I went to Marmalade’s dog shed and took the pups out one by one.

Grace needed to pay.

* * * *

I wiped my brow and thrust the shovel into the brown mound of new dirt over the pups’ grave. Twigs broke between the cabin and where I stood.

I turned to find Mama.

“What are you doing out here?” Though I didn’t want to scare her, I couldn’t hide the alarm from my voice.

“He helped raise the pups when Marmalade couldn’t do it. I don’t know if you know how much time he devoted to nursing them. It was sweet to watch him work in the fields, lift heavy equipment, and huff and puff around here like a burly bear, and then witness him handle those pups with the gentleness of a nursemaid. Someone knew this would hurt him.”

I patted the red dirt down over the pups and propped my arm on the shovel.

“He carries on as if he thinks it was a random act, but I see it in his eyes. I’m worried for you. If Grace is this dangerous, what else is she capable of?”

“Let’s not get too carried away. It was probably cruel children from a neighboring farm. I can think of a few who are that vicious.” I smiled and squeezed her arm.

Of course, she was too smart to not make the conclusion that it wasn’t coincidence. Only a few days after we buried the horses, we were now burying our pups.

“Just watch yourself. I have a bad feeling.” Mama wrung her apron in her strong, work-worn fingers. She did that a lot lately.

I hated that she worried so much. If there was anything I could do to make her life easier and worry-free, I would find it.

“I promise.” The moment still wasn’t right to tell Mama of the wild plan Mrs. Rollins had concocted. As superstitious as she was, I was afraid between it and all the horrible incidents on the farm lately, we’d have to pry her away from her Bible.

She believed in signs and omens. Something like this would definitely send her off to extra hours on her knees beside the bed.

Blue light cascaded over the waterfall’s base, transforming the rocks and water to a misty gray and silver. A large boulder beside the water’s edge protruded out of the ground. On the flat spot on the top, my boots stuck up like two misplaced feet. The low hanging mimosa blooms gave perfect cover for a late night bath.

Placing my white shirt over a limb, I slipped out of my britches.

Annabeth wouldn’t appreciate meeting up with me if I smelled of the barn and hog sweat.

I was a half an hour early so she wouldn’t find me unclothed.

Standing on the bank of the large silver pool, I considered my entrance. Toes curling over the side of the rock, I shoved off and broke the cool water with my cupped hands. When I rose to the surface, I found sturdy footing on the side farthest away from the house. My torso poked out of the water. Running my hands through my hair, I was refreshed already.

“You never brought her here? Not even once?” A sweet voice barely sounded over the roar of the falls.

I swung around.

Annabeth’s long flowing hair covered her shoulders and floated around her arms in the water.

Rendered speechless, I almost slipped on the slimy stones under my feet. Had I taken in a mouthful of water? I couldn’t breathe.

“I thought this was what you wanted.” She sounded more like her sister than I ever thought she could. The innocent look in her eyes was so much different. She begged me for something I had dreamed over and over about, but it wasn’t right. Not yet.

“We shouldn’t be here, like this, alone.” I’d imagined this moment to be much different. I wobbled and slipped as I stepped back. The water was quicksand as I tried to swim backward. “You shouldn’t be…”

“You don’t want me?” She took a step toward me. Tempting me. Causing me to remember all the dreams. All the nights I’d lay awake, hoping she’d come to me. But now we were at odds with each other. I couldn’t do something to make matters worse.

I wanted her more than anything, but I wanted everything to be right. Not for me, but because after all she’d been through, after all we’d been through, she deserved me, without all the bad stuff attached.

Taking a chance in sending her back to the house infuriated with me, I slid around her and swam to the rock with my boots on it. Behind the rock, I peeked out. “How long have you been here?”

“Long enough.” She smiled a devilish smile. Pushing back through the water, she found a level boulder she could sit on and yet still be shrouded in water. “Now isn’t this interesting? You’re shy with me, but with my sister—”

“I wasn’t naked when I was with her.” I slipped on a rock and skinned my knee. “At least while I was conscious.”

“You thought you’d get me out here, sweet talk me, and everything would go your way?” The purple light of twilight gave her an ethereal glow. “I ruined your plans.”

“I just wanted a dip before you got here. You know that this isn’t the way I do things.” My breath came in jagged, painful spurts. Her being unclothed and so close sent unfamiliar aches through my stomach to my loins.

“Oh, isn’t it? Aren’t I just getting to know the real Colby Kinsley?”

I shuddered. The summer air was suddenly cold. The full moon looked like a dinner plate floating in the water between us.

“What is it you want to know about me, Annabeth?” Irritation threatened the start of an argument when that was the last thing I wanted. My mouth just started, and all the things I’d ever really wanted to say to Grace spewed at Annabeth. “You want to know how it felt afterward? I wanted her off me, away, so that when the sweat dried, and the feeling of disgust waned, I could vomit until I was cleansed of her.”

The smug look on Annabeth’s heart-shaped face blanched to a white sheet of parchment.

What had I just said? A million butterflies rushed at the walls of my stomach as the deafening roar of the waterfall filled my ears.

Annabeth didn’t blink or move.

I rushed toward her in the water.

Her hands were clasped around her knees as she stared at me.

I’d almost forgotten our nakedness when I stopped in front of her a few feet away.

She finally blinked, and her eyes widened as I moved in even closer. Her lips clamped shut as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her hands shook as she hunched down to cover herself. She looked around her as if she was suddenly aware that she was exposed and un-chaperoned with a man. Her eyes widened as they focused on me.

Night stole the last remnants of the day, and a cloud passed over the moon. The water deepened from silver to cobalt.

“I hate you.” Her voice was weak.

“I know.” I pulled her long hair around to cover the rest of her uncovered nakedness.