“Just one. I’ve heard it helps after a night of too much drinking. But then it’s water the rest of the day for me.”
“Water is good when you drink too much. I learned it well from my brother, Robert.”
“How many brothers do you have?”
“There are five of us, like you and your five sisters.”
But she did not take the bait, simply smiled, waiting for him to continue.
“Of course, I am the most pleasing. Then there’s Henry, Robert, John, and my eldest brother Edward. They’re all married, and all but two have children.”
What would it be like not to have family? To be alone in the world, as Ashley was? As Christian spoke of his family, he thought she should not go back to New York, where she would be alone. He would find her a cottage, and she could do whatever she wished. Though he felt ill at the thought of her married to another.
Yet as he spoke, he did not tell her about his brothers’ wives, not from whence they came. When they arrived home, he vowed to tell her, but while they traveled, he would remain the merchant.
The way she looked at him made him want to aid her, protecther. But she would return home, marry that dolt Ben, whilst he would marry a girl he had never seen or spoken to. Life would continue, and perchance she would remember him with fondness.
“I wanted to ask you about something you said last night.”
She paused, cup in her hand, a wary look on her face. “Did I? What exactly did I say?”
“You said love and relationships are hard. That you must labor over them.” Christian shook his head. “I must disagree—my brothers and their wives are in love, all of them married for love. Whilst most nobles marry out of duty or to increase land and title, they all found love, and it does not seem difficult. Yet sometimes they bellow at each other rather loudly.”
She shifted on the bench, not meeting his eyes. “Maybe they’re just lucky. I think it’s only me who finds the whole love thing so difficult.” Ashley raised her eyes to him, a shy smile on her face. “But it’s funny. It’s easy to talk to you.”
There was a tear in her sleeve, many stains on her dress, and she was still the loveliest woman he had ever seen.
“Do you ever feel all alone?”
“What?” How did she know his thoughts?
“When you’re surrounded by people. Do you ever feel utterly alone? I do. All the time. But with you, I feel whole,” she whispered.
Christian did not trust himself to speak. He had dust in his eye, he told himself, as he rubbed his face with a dirty sleeve.
“Aye. I too feel alone. Until I met you.”
CHAPTER 15
The horse Ashley’sring had purchased had flecks of gray in his coat, but he plodded along happy enough from what she could tell. She swore she hadn’t thought about what time it was. Not since her singing debut at the inn a couple of days ago. Though she still glanced at her wrist out of habit and touched the now fraying pockets in her dress, imagining the nonexistent phone vibrating with urgent calls, emails, and texts.
Time. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours, and hours to days. Time ebbed and flowed, and there was nothing she could do about it except go along.
Now she accepted the day as it unfolded. They would arrive at Christian’s home when they got there. It had snowed last night, not much, just enough to be pretty. The woods were quiet, the occasional bird singing or the crack of a branch the only sign there was anyone else on the planet besides the two of them.
The next thing to figure out was how to get home. It wasn’t like she could walk through a doorway and find herself back in present-day Wales.
Mitch, Mr. Havers, and the merger seemed a lifetime ago. EvenBen. By now he’d guessed she stayed in London or broke up with him by disappearing, ghosting. He’d be seeing a supermodel, and she wished him well.
As to the rest of her life? The people she called friends she could count on one hand, the rest acquaintances. Those from the gym and the people she saw out and about. The ones she ran into over and over at the same restaurants and gym classes. There were the virtual friends, made on social media, but she certainly wouldn’t call them real friends. What would happen to her stuff if she was stuck here? With no remaining family, she guessed the super in her building would pick through and take what he wanted, then trash the rest. Someone was going to drop to their knees and thank their lucky stars when they moved into her apartment.
Modern conveniences were what she’d miss if she had to make a new life here in medieval England. It was disconcerting to wake up and not have an office or job to go to, not have the constant ringing of her phone. She’d worked through high school and college then started her job in finance three days after she’d graduated—enough time to pack up her stuff and make the trip.
If she could get a message to her own time, she’d tell people to take up horseback riding. It was better than the spa or meditating. Ashley yawned, leaning back against Christian, inhaling the scent of man, horse, and something else that smelled like winter. A scent, she’d come to decide, was the way he smelled. The rhythm of the horse made her drowsy, and she struggled to keep her eyes open.
When she woke, they had stopped, and she found herself on the ground, sitting next to a small stream.
“I didn’t want to wake you. The horse needs rest.” Christian eyed the animal, and Ashley smiled at the look on his face. It was the same look she was sure was on her face whenever she held up a clearance item in the store—was it worth the price? Would it break right away?
