“What? Oh. Uh, he probably just got tied up. Don’t worry about it. We’ll make it to Enchanted Hill by tonight. There are a lot of men there.”
He grinned again. Enchanted Hill had its share of men, all right, but most of them were uneducated farmers who ventured into town only when they needed supplies. Roman had met most of the townsmen and knew that in one way or another none would satisfy Theodosia’s requirements.
And the schoolteacher was an elderly woman for whom he’d once built a desk.
“You’ll get to see Enchanted Hill when we get to the town, Theodosia,” he called. Slowing his stallion, he waited for her to catch up with him. “Legend has it that the hill has the power to grant wishes.”
She gazed up at him, thinking his eyes much bluer than the sky. “I have told you before what I think about wishing.”
He stopped Secret abruptly, deciding there was no time like now to change a bit of Theodosia’s thinking. “Are you in a real hurry to get to Enchanted Hill? I mean, is it all right if we get there sometime tonight instead of this afternoon? Today’s Sunday, anyway, so you can’t get those fliers of yours printed. The newspaper office’ll be closed.”
She brought the wagon to a halt. “Why would you delay our arrival?”
He didn’t answer, but the telltale twinkle of mischief she saw in his eyes fairly blinded her.
Holdingon to the treetrunk, Theodosia swallowed the last of her raisin sandwich and looked down to watch her bare feet swing through the air. The ground lay at least twenty feet below. She’d never been in a tree before, and she’d certainly never been in a tree dressed in only her chemise and petticoats.
She smiled, thinking of how she’d gotten up in the tree. Like a big male gorilla, Roman had had her hang on to his back while he’d scaled the tree. He’d brought John the Baptist’s cage up into the tree as well, claiming the bird needed to get back into his natural habitat every now and then.
The man was certainly in a silly mood today. “Having fun?” His arms stretched out to his sides for balance, Roman walked the length of the thick oak limb upon which Theodosia sat, then returned to her.
She cringed as he dodged a thin branch that the wind blew toward his face. “I am not convinced thatfunis quite the word that describes what I am feeling at this moment, Roman. But I will say that sitting on a tree limb while feasting upon raisin sandwiches is undoubtedly theoddestexperience I have ever had. What possessed you to suggest we do such a bizarre thing?”
John the Baptist pecked at a few leaves that brushed the side of his cage. “You look like a short statue, so get out,” he said, then squawked loudly. “What possessed you to suggest we do such a bizarre thing?”
With the greatest of grace, Roman sat down beside Theodosia and tickled the bottom of her foot with his toes. “I used to do this all the time when I was a kid. Up in a tree is the best place to hide from people you don’t want to find you.”
“I see.” She picked a leaf from a slender branch and twirled its stem between her fingers. “And the raisin sandwiches you took with you, they strike me as a lonely food. Something one would eat only in solitude. Did you eat them often?”
“You’re hinting, aren’t you, Theodosia?”
“Would you rather I be frank?”
“I knew a Frank once, and I didn’t like him much. No, I’d rather you be Theodosia.”
She watched him slap his leg as he laughed at his own joke. Biting her bottom lip, she tried to maintain what little composure could be had while sitting in a tree dressed in her underthings. After all,someonehad to keep foolishness in check.
A second later, she realized that thatsomeonewas not her. She burst into laughter, laughter that gradually tapered into giggles, which finally became a soft smile.
Roman could not stop staring at her. He’d always thought her beautiful, but her laughter enhanced her beauty to such a degree that she seemed almost unreal. As if she’d come from a dream, or a wish. But she wasn’t a fantasy, and to reassure himself of that fact he reached for her hand and felt her warmth permeate his senses. “You’re enjoying being up in this tree, huh?”
“Strange though it is to me, yes.” Her smile widening, she reached out and drew her finger across his bottom lip. “I don’t suppose you would tell me who it was you were hiding from when you climbed into trees, would you, Roman?” she asked, her voice as soft as the rustling of the tree branches.
He looked down at the ground, watching as the breeze blew through dead leaves. “The bad guys.”
“Bad guys?”
“They were three women.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Well, one was a woman and the other two were girls who grew up into women.”
Three!Theodosia thought. “Will you tell me about them?”
He heard tenderness playing through the sound of her voice and remembered she was his friend, as he was hers. He squeezed her hand and nodded.
“Yes.”
She hadn’t expected him to yield so quickly. A thrill spun through her. “Truly? Why?”
“Why? That’s a strange question.”
