Better Than Gold by Laurie Alice Eakes

Author:Laurie Alice Eakes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2013-07-18T16:00:00+00:00

Nine

“I–I’m sorry.” Ben leaped back a step but kept his gaze on Lily’s face.

Her flushed face.

“I mean, I’m not sorry for my sake, but you—uh. . .” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No.” Lily pressed her fingers to her lips and closed her eyes. “We scarcely know each other. We—I. . . Oh.” Her hand still against her mouth, she fled from the kitchen.

A moment later, a door closed with a decided bang.

“What was I thinking?” Ben raked his fingers through his hair.

He wasn’t thinking. That was the problem. He’d let his natural instincts take over his good sense and given in to temptation. He would consider himself a blessed man if Lily so much as looked at him again, let alone talked to him.

Now that the storm had ceased save for the wind, he figured he should go home. Yet he didn’t want to face Great-Aunt Deborah at the moment, and he couldn’t fetch his coat without going through the parlor. Besides, he couldn’t leave the mess on the floor. Cleaning it up would take some hard labor.

Just what he needed.

He stepped over the glass and preserves to fetch a broom. Behind him, he heard the thump, thump, thump of Great-Aunt Deborah’s cane.

“What happened—aah.”

Slowly Ben turned to face Great-Aunt Deborah. “It’s worse than this.” He felt his face heat. “I—uh—kissed her.”

“Did you?” Great-Aunt Deborah’s faded blue eyes brightened with a twinkle. “Imprudent, but understandable.”

“She doesn’t understand.” Ben decided the mess was too sticky for the broom and stooped to gather glass fragments and dump them onto an old newspaper. “It’s bound to push her away.”

“It may.” Great-Aunt Deborah lowered herself onto a kitchen chair. “And you’ll have to let her go. But it might bring her back if things don’t work out the way she wants them.”

“Might.” Ben flung a large chunk of glass onto the pile, scattering the smaller slivers. “It only took me five weeks to realize I’m in love with her. Why should it take another man longer?”

“She’s lived here for three years without marrying.”

“Because no one wanted her for his wife?”

Great-Aunt Deborah sighed. “Probably not. She’s made it so clear all along that Browning City is merely a stopping place for a while that most young men keep their relationships with her as friendships.”

“Wise of them.” Ben gathered up the glass and stalked to the back door. “I should have listened to you about Lily. But I thought. . .” He allowed his words to die as he shoved into the frigid night and deposited the splintered jars in the trash bin.

He was a fool to think he could change Lily’s mind. Of course he could not. He had too little to offer her. Yes, he worked in a good position, but he had no real home. Yes, in five years or so, he could save enough money to afford a farm and a few years after that, provided the harvests remained strong, a house worthy of a wife and family.

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