His eyes searched hers for a long time before he answered, “Yeah, I guess you do, don’t you?”
He began kissing her, and she knew it would be all right. All she could think about was him, the heat of his mouth, the feel of his body pressing against her.
But he stopped suddenly, listening.
“It’s only Mack returning,” she said as she heard the hoofbeats.
“There’s more than one horse, Sharisse.”
“Company?” Her spirits sank. “But if we don’t go out, they’ll leave, won’t they?”
“I left the front door open.”
“You don’t mean that whoever it is will just come right in?”
“Most folks do.”
They glanced together at the bedroom door. It was open, too. Lucas swore and got up off the bed.
“Come on.” He sighed. “You keep looking at me like that, and I’m going to shoot whoever is out there.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to do that, Lucas.” She giggled.
She turned away to straighten her clothes while Lucas went out into the other room. When she joined him, she was surprised to see Samuel Newcomb. Mack was with them, and another man.
Mack held out a letter to her. “Hope there was no trouble, ma’am,” he said. “Didn’t think I’d be gone so long, but I got sidetracked by an old coot I ain’t seen in twenty years. We had us some reminiscin’ to do.”
Sharisse hardly heard him. She felt funny all of a sudden. Here was what she had anxiously been waiting for, her letter. But all she could think about was Lucas. Here was her escape, but there was Lucas. The sudden thought of never again feeling his wonderful hands bringing her body to life brought on panic.
“Will you excuse me, gentlemen, for a few minutes? I have been waiting a long while for this letter.”
“Sharisse!”
Lucas was annoyed at her rudeness in ignoring their guests, but she couldn’t wait. “I’ll only be a minute, Lucas,” she assured him, and fled to her room.
Dearest Rissy,
You can’t imagine how difficult it has been for me to find a way to get this letter to you. I have been denied my freedom and denied visitors as well. But Mrs. Etherton has taken pity on me, and she promises to help sneak Trudi into the house for a visit, so I will give this to Trudi to post. I didn’t dare ask one of the servants, for they would tell Father.
Rissy, it has been awful here. With you gone, the full brunt of Father’s anger had fallen on me, and I’m afraid neither of us realized just how angry he would be. He has cut me off from everything. I can’t go anywhere or see anyone. Even the servants aren’t supposed to talk to me. And I haven’t been able to see Joel once! Not even when Father had him and Mr. Parrington over to explain your “illness.” That is what he was telling all our friends, that you were ill and the wedding would be postponed for a while. But that was when he thought he would have you back soon. So much time passed that he’s had to tell Joel’s father the truth. Doing that made his anger even worse.
Oh, he’s been simply horrid, Rissy. I see no hope for me and Joel any time soon. If I even mention Joel’s name, Father explodes. But that isn’t the worst part. Father now says that if you don’t come home within this next week, which is impossible as we both know, he is going to disinherit you.
I could just cry. This is all my fault. I don’t know how you can ever forgive me. But please, don’t give up hope. I promise I will figure something out. It will just take a little more time. At least I am relieved by your description of Mr. Holt. He sounds like a reasonable man, so you should have no difficulty imposing on him a bit longer. Don’t despair, Rissy.
Sharisse put her head in her hands. Don’t despair, when there were no tickets and no money enclosed with the letter? Disinherited within a week? It had taken longer than that for this letter to get to her. What did it all mean, that she couldn’t go home?
That she could never go home? Was she to be stranded there forever?
She sat, absolutely still, for a long time. After a while she heard Lucas open her door. “I think you better get out here, Sharisse. Sam has brought us a little surprise.”
She heard the tension in his voice, but she didn’t wonder about it. She was beyond coping with anything further. She rose automatically and followed Lucas into the other room.
Thirty
Lucas slowed his stallion as the ranch came into view. It was such a pleasant sight, the dawn sky behind it streaked with violet, purple, amethyst…all the shades of her eyes, he told himself disagreeably.
A spiral of smoke rose from Billy’s house, but from the main house there was no sign of life. Sharisse would still be sleeping. There was no reason for her not to be. When he’d left, he’d gone without telling her he was going.
