Starfinder by Patricia Potter

Author:Patricia Potter
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504002288
Publisher: Open Road Media

Chapter 17

Fancy woke to the rhythmic sound of wood being chopped. When she opened her eyes and saw the sunlight flooding the room, she sat up with a start, realizing it was late—much later than she usually awakened.

Another angry, shattering noise came to her from outside and she went to the window. Ian was chopping wood as if he were slaying a legion of British soldiers. And perhaps, in his mind, he was, she thought, for each stroke of the ax had a peculiar viciousness to it.

Well, she didn’t blame him. She hadn’t slept well at all, and thinking about the problem that had kept her awake made her want to smash something, too.

She dressed quickly and went into the main room to find that her family hadn’t waited for her to begin the day. Fortune had started a fire, and the aroma of johnnycake filled the room. Her sister had also dressed Amy, who was playing with the cat.

“Should I fetch Ian?” Noel asked.

Fancy hesitated, then nodded. The sound of chopping had stopped. “Have you milked the cow?” she asked him.

He gave her a sheepish look. “I’ll do it now.”

“Sarah can wait until after you eat.”

“All right.” He barreled out the door to call Ian for breakfast.

Fancy watched him run, her thoughts in chaos. She wasn’t quite sure how to act this morning or how she would manage to meet Ian’s gaze without giving herself away. The simple fact was, she loved him. Yet if she told him, she would only be adding to his burden. And he was already carrying enough weight on his shoulders, as broad and strong as they were.

But how could she act as if nothing had happened when her body still trembled from last night? When her blood warmed at the very sound of his name? Odd, but she realized that the shame she had felt over her attraction to him had faded. Somewhere in the deepest part of the night, as she’d lain awake thinking thoughts she’d never dared admit before, she’d become convinced that John had somehow planned this, that he was smiling in approval.

Fancy wasn’t surprised when Noel returned alone. “Ian is saddling Royalty,” he said. “He said he doesn’t want to eat.”

“Royalty needs exercise,” she reasoned in the face of his obvious disappointment. Now if she could only comfort herself as easily.

“Why don’t we take the fox back to the woods today?” she said.

Noel frowned. “Ian said he’d go with me.”

“I wanna go, too,” Amy chimed in. “With I’n.”

“Ian has work to do,” Fancy said more sternly than she intended.

Noel’s gaze fell.

Amy, on the other hand, decided to be stubborn. “I want I’n.”

Fortune gave her a helpless look, then went over to Amy, soundlessly urging her to the table.

“I think you had better eat, young lady,” Fancy said, “before we do anything.”

“Don’t want to eat. Want I’n.”

“After breakfast,” she promised. He would be back by then, surely, by which time it was likely that Amy would have forgotten her demand.

Fancy

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