A Notorious Proposition by Adele Ashworth

Author:Adele Ashworth
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2010-07-12T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Garrett knew he had to think quickly. If this had been just a week ago, he would have believed Ivy had set him up with such trickery to make him succumb to her emotions, to give in and trust her without question. But he knew fear when he saw it, and Ivy was afraid. She had been afraid in the tunnel, and she seemed positively terrified now. Suddenly he knew that everything had changed between them, and probably more so in him. She might have been involved in tricking him two years ago, but she wasn't involved now. He waited until they were well away from the house before he considered talking. Instead of walking all the way to the bench that overlooked the lake from the back of the Hope cottage, he decided to lead her toward a more secluded area nearer the house, though away from prying eyes.

They didn't speak until he turned off the forest path and pushed through a bit of brush, walking downward toward a clearing by the water.

At last he motioned to an overturned log, directing her to sit. She did as ordered, noting she still clutched the lock of hair in the palm of one hand.

"Tell me what's going on, Ivy," he insisted in a tone a bit more subdued than he felt.

She shook her head as she gazed out over the water. "I don't know."

"I don't believe you," he said matter-of-factly, lifting a leg to plant his foot on the wood next to her hip. "At least," he amended, "I know there's something you're not telling me and that it has to do with your brother."

For a lingering minute she just stared past him, across the lake, and he waited, with a patience that defied his irritation at her for being so evasive at a time when there wasn't anyone else in Winter Garden she could trust.

Finally, she turned her face skyward, keeping her eyes closed. "I told you my brother was in danger."

"Yes," he replied, avoiding the fact that he hadn't exactly believed her.

Her lashes fluttered open, and she looked at him at last, her smooth skin pale, her eyes filled with trepidation. "I don't know who to trust . . ."

In a sudden melting of will, he felt his heart swell with tenderness at her honest disclosure. And it took an endless moment, he thought, to comprehend exactly what her words implied, how even now she reached out for him in a longing she probably didn't understand. He also realized with a bit of rationality, that to tell her she could trust him with anything would cause her to deny him, perhaps even reerect that barrier that had slowly crumbled between them in the last few days. That event would cause more harm than good, and lead him further away from his own search for the truth. If he were to gain her trust, he would need to trust her.

Garrett pulled his foot from the log, and with a gradual acceptance and a slow organization of his thoughts, lowered his body to sit beside her.

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