“Is it hard to do? Don’t you just follow the horse?”
“You have to keep the plow down.” He could add he’d never seen a woman plow. And if he said that, Leonie might take it up as a challenge.
She considered his statement a moment. “I might need help.”
“I believe you will.”
She smiled at him, an expression so dazzling it hurt his bloodshot eyes. She’d picked up on the dryness in his tone. Perhaps she knew he was teasing slightly, or perhaps she just wanted him to feel more like the besotted fool he was.
And hewasout of his depth. No woman had a smile more potent that Leonie’s. Yes, God had gifted her with looks that could set every male imagination on fire. However, in her smile was just that right touch of uncertainty, as if what he thought of her was important.
“Come,” she said. “Let me show you what I mean to do.”
She started walking out of the stall.
“Wait,” he called. “I need to put on my boots.”
“Do you need help?”
Now there was an offer! Roman blinked a few times to be certain he wasn’t still dreaming. He wasn’t. She stood at the stall door looking fresh as the day’s dawn.
He reached for his boots and gingerly slipped them on. It took him a moment to rise to his feet. That cot was the most uncomfortable thing he’d ever slept on. Stretching, he found his bearings and nodded for her to lead the way. He followed her out of the stables, blinking when he stepped out into the morning light.
“When I feel as you,” she said thoughtfully, “I have learned it helps to wash my face and clean my teeth.”
It would help. “I will be back,” he said. He started for the kitchen in the house. He’d moved his shaving kit and personal items there when he’d left their room.
“I’ll be by the garden door.”
Roman stopped. “The garden door?”
She laughed. “The back entrance. Wait until you learn what I have in mind.”
Was this his wife?Curious now, Roman hurried to bring himself to his senses. Splashing cold water on his face in the basin in the kitchen, he reflected that she was being very generous with him. If he’d caught her in his shape, he would have been... cruel?
Their circumstances were different, he told himself. He’d made a mistake. Drinking was a character issue with Leonie.
Or was he the one with the character issue?
He ran a hand over his rough beard and looked at himself in the mirror. He did not like what he saw. He appeared tired, disillusioned, drink bitten.
This wasn’t the man he wanted to be.
He lathered his shaving soap and quickly ran a blade over his jaw. The use of tooth powder also helped him regain a bit of his own. He put on a clean shirt and headed for the “garden” door.
Leonie stood out on the lawn looking up at the house.
Roman took a moment to savor the picture she presented. While he’d been gone, she had twisted her hair back into a knot at the nape of her neck. She stood on the rough ground that made up the back garden studying the house.
She sensed his presence and smiled her welcome. That was all it took to stoke his heart.
“What are you thinking?” he asked. His voice sounded normal despite everything inside him being a mixture of lust and wonder and wanting.
“How soon do you think it will be until you start rebuilding the side of the house?”
“Two days. Some stonemasons contacted me offering their services.”
“Will you be able to copy the stone mullions in the windows like they are on the other side of the house?”
