The Emerald Heart of Courtenay by Anita Stansfield

Author:Anita Stansfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: castle;lord;lady;lords;castles;romance;clean;LDS;latter day saint;mormon;sweet;proper;courtenay;heart;emerald;sword;fantasy;stansfield;love;murder
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2019-05-15T17:31:56+00:00

Chapter Eight

THE COCOON OF WINTER

The following day Sarah was pleased to realize she did feel more relaxed around Poppy since she’d shared all her secrets with her dearest friend. If she’d realized how much subtle tension her holding back had been causing them, she would have had that conversation a long time ago.

Breakfast with Poppy and David and Daphne was relaxed and enjoyable—in spite of the obvious absence of Darius. After supper was over and Sarah hadn’t seen any hint of his existence all day, she asked Daphne while they were washing dishes, “How does he manage to eat his meals and avoid me? This is ridiculous.”

“He manages to eat . . . barely,” Daphne said. “But I agree with you; it’s ridiculous. Personally, I believe he’s lost perspective, probably thinking far too much about what happened years ago instead of focusing on the present. But I’ve said all I can say.”

“Then I should talk to him,” Sarah said and saw Poppy’s eyes widen from where she was drying a pan that Daphne had just rinsed and handed to her.

“I wouldn’t argue with that,” Daphne said, and Poppy’s expression filled with mock fear as she glanced toward Sarah, but Daphne didn’t see her.

“Has he had supper yet?” Sarah asked.

“No,” Daphne said, “it’s in the oven keeping warm.”

Sarah hurried to dry her hands, anxious to act on her instincts before she lost her nerve. “Is he in the barn? It’s dark outside; I can go to the barn, can’t I?”

“I don’t see why not,” Daphne said, seeming pleased. Sarah opened the oven to see a small frying pan there covered with a lid. “Careful, it’s hot,” Daphne said and handed her a small, clean towel with which Sarah carefully removed the pan from the oven, holding it in both hands while Daphne closed the oven. Daphne also hurried to lift the lid slightly and stick a fork into the pan, with the handle poking out slightly.

“Good luck,” Poppy said as Sarah left the kitchen.

“And God bless!” Daphne called a little louder.

As Sarah went out the back door and headed down the well-worn path toward the barn, where the lights from its windows guided her in the right direction, she felt increasingly nervous and knew she could use all of the luck in the world right now—or more accurately, she needed divine intervention, which made Daphne’s words especially significant.

Sarah pulled open the barn door while balancing the warm pan on her other hand. She tentatively stepped inside to see a single lantern burning nearby which illuminated a typical-looking barn—as far as she knew. The only other barn she’d ever seen inside was the one at Castle Courtenay where cows, chickens, and pigs were kept. At Courtenay, the horses were kept in the stables; here all the animals were in the same structure but separated into different pens and stalls.

Sarah quickly realized that the woodworking space she’d heard so much about was actually a large room built into the corner of the barn, with a door that stood between her and Darius.

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