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Cassandra wasn’t certain what in her ma
Lifting her chin in the ma
Yet she couldn’t ignore the tension churning in her stomach. Had she said or done something to bring out Mrs. Tildon’s clearly possessive feelings for Ethan? Or did the woman merely feel the need to warn off every female who visited the Blue Seas I
She covered the short distance to the livery and entered through the opened double doorway. She blinked several times to acclimate her eyes to the shadowed interior. The air inside was cool and redolent with fresh hay, leather, and the earthy scent of horses. Dust motes danced on the ribbons of golden sunlight filtering through the shadows.
The stables were spacious and scrupulously neat; not that she would have expected anything less from Ethan. He’d always taken great pride in his work, and she’d never met a man with a greater affinity for horses. Indeed, he had loved all animals.
As if the thought of Ethan conjured him up, he strode through a side doorway, one she guessed led to the tack room. A large black dog trotted at his heels. At the sight of her, Ethan halted, but the dog continued toward her, tail wagging, tongue lolling.
She pulled her gaze away from Ethan, who was staring at her with an unsettling intensity, and looked down at the approaching dog. She noted the animal’s white-tipped tail, and her eyes widened with recognition.
Crouching down, she scratched behind the dog’s ears, then looked up at Ethan, who still hadn’t moved, and asked, “Is this…could this possibly be T.C.?”
The dog, who obviously knew his name, answered by emitting a deep woof, then ru
A laugh escaped her at the dog’s antics, surprising her, and she realized that it had been a long time since she’d indulged in laughter. Since she’d had any reason to do so. After successfully capturing the snowy end between his teeth, T.C. released the offending bit of white fur, then flopped onto his back and presented his belly for rubbing-his second favorite trick.
“Oh, you were barely more than a baby when I saw you last,” Cassandra said with a chuckle, tickling her fingers over the dog’s thick fur, much to his squirming delight. “What a big, handsome boy you are now.”
She heard Ethan’s boots shifting against the rough wood floor, and seconds later he stood next to her. The fresh scent of soap wafted toward her, and she looked up, taking in his scuffed black boots-clearly old favorites. Clean fawn breeches hugged his long, powerful legs-in a most distracting way. Forcing her gaze to continue upward, she noted his snowy white shirt, casually open at his throat, the sleeves rolled back to reveal strong, ta
Then she found herself staring into ebony eyes that pi
Warmth raced through her, and she was about to rise when he suddenly crouched down. Her relief that he no longer towered over her was tempered by the unsettling realization that he was now so close she could feel the heat emanating from his large body. His face, less than two feet from hers, remained streaked in shadows, his scar barely visible.
For several long seconds they simply looked at each other, and her fingers stilled on T.C.’s warm fur. It seemed as if all the air had left the room. She searched her mind for something, anything to say, but apparently she’d forgotten how to speak. How to breathe.
“It appears T.C. remembers you,” he finally said.
She had to swallow to locate her voice. “I doubt it,” she said, pleased that she managed not to sound as breathless as she felt. “I’d wager he flops onto his back like this for anyone who appears willing to pet him.”
“Obviously you remember him, too,” he said in a dry tone. He shifted his gaze to the dog and patted the animal’s sturdy side. “You remember Cassie, don’t you, boy? She’s the one whose handkerchief you stole. The one you pulled into the lake.”
Cassie. The name reverberated through her mind, swamping her with memories. And relief that Ethan obviously remembered those times as well, a fact that made him seem somewhat less forbidding.
Adopting a mock-haughty tone, she informed him, “T.C. didn’t pull me into the lake. I had every intention of wading in.”
“With your shoes on? I think not. As I recall, he grabbed the hem of your gown between his teeth and dragged you in.”
“Hmm. No doubt because you sat in the rowboat in the middle of the lake calling out, ‘C’mon boy! Bring her here!’”
He glanced at her, and for an instant he was the mischievous young man she remembered. “I don’t recall doing any such thing,” he said, perfectly straight-faced. “You must have me confused with someone else.”
Before she could refute his claim, their fingers brushed, sending a heated jolt up her arm. Her hand stilled and her gaze dropped. Ethan’s large hand rested only inches from hers. She’d always admired his hands, so strong and capable. They were browned from the sun, and hers looked small and white in comparison. Fragile and useless.
Silence fell between them, and again she searched for something to say. And when she looked up and met his gaze, the words simply spilled out of her.
“I haven’t heard the name Cassie since the last time I saw you. You’re the only person who ever called me that.”
A curtain seemed to fall over his expression. “Forgive me. I shouldn’t have-”
“Oh, but you should have. You have no idea how wonderful it sounded. But I don’t know…” Her voice trailed off, and she dipped her chin.
“Don’t know what?”
She drew a bracing breath, then again met his gaze. “I don’t know what happened to her. To that girl you called Cassie.”
“She’s right here. Petting my zany dog.”
She shook her head. “I haven’t seen her in a long time. But I’d like to. Before she’s lost forever.”
A frown bunched his brows. “What do you mean?”
“Only that…I’m not that same person anymore, Ethan. Are you the same man you were ten years ago?”
He raised his hand and ran his fingers over the left side of his face. “I think you can see that I’m not.”
“I’d like to know what happened, if you’d care to tell me. About that, and everything else that has occurred in your life.” Summoning her courage, and with her gaze steady on his, she said, “We have this one day together. This one beautiful summer day before I have to leave. We could walk along the beach and reminisce about Gateshead Manor. Tell each other about our lives these last ten years.” She gave a half smile. “I’d love to see more of this lovely town you’ve made your home. Will you spend the day with me, Ethan?”
For several long seconds he regarded her with an unreadable expression. Then what looked like anger flashed in his eyes. With an impatient sound he rose and strode several feet away, as if he couldn’t wait to put distance between them. Then he halted, his back to her, his shoulders straight with a tension she could almost see radiating from him.
With a sinking feeling she realized she’d made a mistake. He clearly had no desire to spend time with her, to talk about the past with someone he hadn’t seen in years. Still, she somehow hadn’t anticipated his rejecting her request. Rejecting her. She foolishly hadn’t braced herself for the hurt.