Their Pretend Courtship by Carrie Lighte

Author:Carrie Lighte
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-02-28T19:37:43+00:00

* * *

“Is that all you’re going to eat?” Freeman asked his brother on Thursday after Jonas crumpled his napkin and dropped it onto his plate. They were eating leftover barbecued chicken they’d bought from Millers’ Restaurant on Wednesday evening. “You’re not sick, are you?”

“Neh.” Jonas wasn’t physically ill, anyway. But from his previous courting experience, he recognized that he was suffering from lovesickness. Ever since Sunday, he’d lost his appetite, he’d had trouble sleeping and he couldn’t stop thinking about the woman he was courting.

How did this happen? he asked himself, just as he’d done when he’d gotten the flu earlier in the summer. He’d thought he’d taken the most important precaution—namely, remaining emotionally distant—so he wouldn’t fall for Eliza. In fact, he’d thought he was immune to her charms. But here he was, feeling almost as if he was in physical pain because he hadn’t seen her for four days.

Or maybe he was achy because he recognized that his feelings for Eliza were in conflict with his better judgment. Jonas knew that his past courting experience should have been enough to deter him from becoming vulnerable to a woman again. And Eliza’s past courting experience definitely should have reinforced his reluctance. Yet it was as if he’d lost sight of the reason he’d asked to be her suitor in the first place—because she was a heartbreaker and he didn’t want his brother to get hurt. And somehow, he’d pushed the fact that this was supposed to be a fake courtship to the back of his mind.

“Gut. That means all the more for me.” Freeman helped himself to the last two pieces of chicken. “I haven’t seen Eliza on the bauerei this week. Did you two have an argument on Sunndaag or something?”

Although on Sunday Jonas had mentioned he was going to Eliza’s house, he hadn’t shared any other details about his afternoon with his brother. Until now, Freeman hadn’t asked him about it, either. So his sudden interest in Eliza put Jonas on edge. Was his brother hoping Jonas wasn’t getting along with her? “Neh. Her familye has the flu, so she’s had to stay home to care for them. I’m sure she’ll be back once her mamm feels better.” Then he pointed out, “Not that it would be any of your business if Eliza and I did have an argument.”

“Neh, it wouldn’t be,” Freeman agreed amiably. He speared several green beans with his fork, chewed them and swallowed, then added, “I wasn’t trying to be nosy. I only wanted to know because I haven’t seen Mary around here since the day she got scared by the snake. Since she’s Eliza’s friend, I was concerned that my behavior might have reflected poorly on you. That it might have caused a problem between you and Eliza.”

Jonas relaxed his shoulders. “Neh. Things are going well between us. Very well.”

“I’m hallich to hear that.” Freeman didn’t sound very happy, though; he sounded forlorn. Was that because he was holding out hope

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