The Bargain by Jessica N. Lane

Author:Jessica N. Lane [N. Lane , Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jessica N. Lane
Published: 2017-12-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Humming softly I stared out the nursery window at the falling snow, the blazing fireplace at my back as I rocked Clara to sleep in the rocking chair made of gleaming caramel-colored wood Adam had brought home after conducting some business in the village earlier in the day.

The house was still now: the tutors were gone, dinner had been eaten, the children bathed and put to bed, and the last I'd seen of Adam, he was quietly reading over a stack of papers on his desk in his office. All was still except my mind. It turned over and over what had happened that morning between Adam and me. Yesterday he'd offered me one scenario of what life with him would be like. One where I'd suffer though my heartbreak in silence knowing that he'd never love me back, and sucking it up for the sake of security for my brothers and sisters. I'd convinced myself -rather unconvincingly- that I could live with that.

And this morning, he'd offered me a second scenario. One in which ours was a union built on love instead of obligation. Had he really pined for me just as long as I had for him? I wanted so badly to believe that what he'd said to me about his feelings were true, but how could it be? It was the stuff of those romance stories Mama used to love so much, and things like that... things like knights in shining armor and happily ever afters just couldn't exist out here in this harsh world of death, hunger, and air so cold it froze the air in your lungs. It was just too good to be true, therefore, it wasn't, or if it was, it wouldn't last. That was how it had always been. I'd loved the little injured lamb I'd nursed back to health as a child, and a wolf had come into the makeshift pen I made for her, and killed him. I'd loved my humble, happy life under the love and protection of my parents, and They'd both been ripped away from me, and now, I had a chance to be happy once more with Adam, but this time, I wouldn't take the bait. I I knew that it would only end in agony just like all the times before.

“It's beautiful, isn't it?” A dulcet voice came from the doorway to the left of where I was sitting.

I glanced over, and found Adam walking toward me. His dark hair was mussed in the front as if he'd run his fingers through it several times, and there was a tightness in his shoulders -a rigidity in the way he carried himself- that told me something was bothering him.

“The snow? Yes, it is,” I answered. “You'll probably think me a touch mad for saying this since you it was the very thing that threatened to kill me just yesterday, but winter always has been my favorite season. This time of year is so enchanting; not everyone can see it though.

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