Little Love Affair (Southern Romance Series, #1) by Lexy Timms

Author:Lexy Timms
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical romance, civil war, civil war romance, soldier, battle, romance, contemporary, free romance, free historical romance, military, military romance
Publisher: Dark Shadow Publishing
Published: 2015-07-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

She could not be still. She wanted to run until there was no breath in her lungs, but there was nowhere to go. Into the house where she had played hide and seek with Solomon, to the overlook where they had climbed together, to the river where they chased frogs and fish? The world was made of memories she could not forget.

Clara looked up at the blue sky above her and she wanted to scream her fury that the sun dared shine down on her. There should be clouds, there should be rain and storms that tore the heavens open. There should be nothing at all, darkness and a void of grief. The world could not go on, not now.

But it was, and she must go tell her mother what she had heard. Somewhere, she must find the courage to say it.

Her heart was crumbling to dust and she wanted nothing more than to curl into Jasper’s arms, feel his strong heartbeat beneath her fingers. She would hide away from her duty if she could and sit beneath the willow with her fingers twined in his and his soft words to distract her from the fact that the world was not right, would never be right again. That desire was a betrayal. She cursed her own foolishness even as she turned to stare up the hillside, yearning...

It was a kindness, she tried to tell herself, that he had shown himself now. He might have ruined her and left her instead, preying on her weakness. Instead, he had shown where his honor lay: with his fellow soldiers above her.

What a fool she had been to expect anything more. How pathetic must she have looked to him, holding out the package and asking to see his comrade? A naïve little schoolgirl, who did not understand the first part of this war. A stab of shame hit her: perhaps he had never desired her at all and found her kisses repulsive. She wanted to melt into the ground at the thought.

When she remembered the press of his hips against her own, she could not believe that, but what difference did it make? He had turned her away anyway.

Her footsteps, halting and clumsy, led her to the farmhouse. She would go to bed, she thought, and claim she was ill. When she woke, she would put all of this foolishness behind her and she would tell her mother the truth—and all of them could begin to heal. She squared her shoulders, pushed open the door, and stopped dead.

“Cyrus.” She was so surprised that she could think of nothing to say. For a blessed moment, the pain receded.

“Clara?” Her mother was on her feet. “Child, what has happened? We saw the wagon home, but no one could find you...” She meant to be gentle, but the truth tumbled out despite her.

“Solomon is dead,” Clara heard herself say. Her chin trembled, and she gripped the doorframe to stay upright. “I saw Johnny Benson in town. They’re home.

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