Whisper His Name by Elizabeth Thornton

Author:Elizabeth Thornton [Thornton, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-80891-2
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-11-23T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Hugh rose as the first rays of dawn began to chase the darkness away. He dressed himself, lit a candle, and looked down at Abbie. He’d always wondered how she would look after they’d made love and now he had his answer. Her lips were turned up in a smile. Sleeping Beauty.

He couldn’t resist. He bent over her and awakened her with a kiss.

She came awake instantly and hauled herself up. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Hugh soothed. “Everything is fine. I wanted to talk to you …” he couldn’t resist another kiss, “since we didn’t do much talking last night.”

Her alarm subsided. “Is it time to go?”

“Not for you. Tom will stay here to protect you while Harper and I go to your bank for the book. I’ll need a note, signed by you, giving me permission to act as your agent.”

“My bank?”

“Isn’t that where you told me you’d hidden the book?”

“I … yes, of course.”

It was all coming back to her. She must remain in hiding, Hugh had said, until he got the book and traded it for amnesty for her and George. She couldn’t hide with relatives or friends or at his house because that’s where the authorities would look first. She would be safer here. And once the bargain was made with Langley, she would be immune from prosecution. Then he would come for her.

And she wouldn’t be here.

“Langley will want to question you,” Hugh said, “but I’ll be with you, and you’ll have nothing to fear.”

His gentle tone and the tender look in his eyes were more than she could bear. “I’ll get you the key to my trunk,” she said quickly.

The last few minutes were taken up with mundane affairs: writing the note that Hugh asked for; his instructions on what she should do in his absence. Then Harper was there, and there were no more precious moments to share.

When Hugh took her in his arms and kissed her, she clung to him. “Don’t look so sad,” he said. “I know what I’m doing. Just be patient.”

“Hugh!” she called frantically as he opened the door.

“What is it, Abbie?”

Her heart was in her eyes. She shrugged helplessly. “I love you.”

A slow, slow smile softened his lips. “When I come for you we’ll talk, when this business is over, I mean, and we can think about ourselves. All right?”

She nodded.

“And remember what I told you. Don’t go anywhere without Tom.”

She locked the door behind him as she’d been told, then sat on the edge of the bed, staring into space. Everything had worked out for the best, she told herself. She could deal with Tom more easily than she could deal with Hugh and Harper.

Don’t think about the future. Take it one step at a time.

It was a long time before she came to herself and a long time after that before she had worked out how she was going to get away from Tom and make for Dover to get the book.

Hugh stared dully at

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.