Am I supposed to fly into a rage and smash crates against the wall? Lay my head in your lap and weep while you croon sweet words and stroke my hair? Or … or I know. “Tell me what reaction you’re waiting to see. “Just what are you expecting?” he finally asked. I should be happy, shouldn’t I? Goddamned ecstatic. The last fourteen years of torment were all just a big mistake. His emotions, by contrast, remained at a quiet smolder. Others spattered and sparked in the fire. “Why would I be angry?” He sliced the air with his hand, and brandy splashed from his cup.

“Of course you’re upset.” How could he keep denying the obvious? “You’re angry as hell. “I know you must be upset,” she said carefully. Using a nearby crate for support, she rose to her feet on wobbly legs. For God’s sake, she was surprised that standing wasn’t beyond him at the moment. Perhaps conversation was beyond him at the moment.

And to make it all worse, they were trapped in this place where he’d endured so much pain. He must be overwhelmed, just struggling to make sense of it all. After all she’d told him tonight … about the fire, about her feelings … she’d altered everything he knew about himself, his past. The future.” Could he forgive her, or couldn’t he? “Talk about what?” he asked tightly, sloshing brandy into his cup. Brushing the dust from his trousers, he rose to his feet and tossed a plank on the fire before wiping clean another bottle of brandy.Ĭrash. His breath came so quick, she could feel the cellar’s humidity increasing by the second. But if not …” Despite her quivering lips, she willed her voice to be strong. If you could find true contentment here, I’d want nothing more than to share it with you. But you owe it to yourself, after all this time and all this pain, to find your own happiness. “Don’t you see? You don’t owe this village anything. I understand.” Reluctantly, she let her arms slide from his shoulders and settled back on the floor.

Scrambling to her knees, she turned to him and wrapped her arms about his shoulders. “But what, Meredith? You could have told me sooner. I wish I could have told you sooner, but-”

Tessa dare twice tempted by a rogue