I already knew from riding horseback with Pharis there were no equal shares—he was so large, he couldn’t help but take up the majority of whatever he was sharing.
And I’d looked at the bed in that room. It was a small double mattress.
Plus the memory of our sparring session hadn’t even begun to fade from memory.
Did he ever think about it?
I couldn’t tell. Pharis had been nothing but a gentleman since recovering from the fireweed poisoning. When I’d asked if he could remember what he’d dreamed about while feverish, he’d said it was all a big blank.
I love you.
He might have forgotten them, but the words he’d mumbled in his delirium still echoed in my mind.
And no, as long as I was still this acutely interested in who they’d been intended for, we wouldnotbe sharing a bed.
The morning we’d begun this cross-country ride, I’d introduced Pharis to my family as “a friend.” He’d certainly behaved like one.
It was my own behavior I’d begun to worry about. And my own heart.
Because somewhere between Waterdale and Havendor, I’d developed some rather un-friend-like feelings for Pharis.
And when this friendship came to an end, which it inevitably would, I wasn’t sure how my heart was going to survive it.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said in answer to his query about going halvsies on the bed.
“The girls. Don’t want to set the wrong kind of example,” I explained.
His expression darkened.
“It’s a good thing they weren’t in the palace then,” he growled. “To see you willingly and happily sharing a bed with my brother.”
Pharis went to the door, retrieving his cloak from the hook where he’d hung it.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Sleep in the bed or don’t,” he said. “I’m going to sleep in the tent.”
Chapter21
Only One Condition
Raewyn
Eventually, I did sleep in the bed but only after fretting over Pharis’ hasty departure for an hour or two.
I kept thinking he’d return to the cottage at some point during the night, but he never did.
The morning sun was shining brightly through the windows by the time I heard him at the front door. Rushing to let him in, I opened the door and then almost dropped from shock.
Pharis was there alright, but he wasn’t alone.
He carried my father in his arms. My wide awake, very much alive father—and Papa was looking at me.
Though the scars around his eyes remained, I knew the moment I saw them that they were seeing me too.
He wasseeingme for the first time in four years.
“Raewyn,” he said in a wonder-filled tone. He wore a huge smile. “My little daughter has become a woman.”
