Travis chuckled. “You’ve done a fine job raising your son.” His tone turned serious. “He’s a blessed young man to have a mother who cares so much.”
A sigh escaped her lips. “Father accuses me of not caring enough. Says I spend too much time traipsing the countryside. He’s never understood my passions. Any of them.”
Travis’s heart sped up. Did she mean him, the passion they had shared? If her father had not interfered, he could be Annie’s husband this very moment. Permitted to hold her in his arms. Love her, with a license to make it legal.
It went against everything the Lord taught, but at this moment, Travis loathed Brock Parker.
“Well, he can’t stop you now. You belong to no one.” Conviction filled his tone. It was true. She could give herself to whomever she pleased. He hoped it might be him.
The time passed in minutes all too fleeting. He could’ve sat with her for hours, studied her smile as diligently and as often as he had old anatomy textbooks.
But he’d kept her long enough as it was. So after he paid the bill, they made their way outside, past the hotel, and toward the secluded road heading away from town.
“Thank you.” A chill stole over the night, and she wrapped her arms around herself with a slight shiver. “I needed that. It comforts me to know that we can remain friends. We can still work together and enjoy each other’s company. You don’t know how glad that makes me.”
He could only smile. And wrap his coat around her shoulders, his fingers skimming her collarbone, the warmth and softness of her skin almost more than he could bear. His gaze fell to her lips, to the gentle pulse beating in her throat. She looked up at him with the wide eyes of the girl he’d fallen for first.
What was a man to do? A man who had waited, wanted for so long?
He pulled her to himself, like the day when she’d cried in his arms. This time, he let himself press his lips against hers. She jolted in his arms, but like a particle of ice laid upon a scorching fire, melted quickly, molding against him like this kiss was their thousandth, instead of their first. Her lips tasted of sweet apple pie, of desperation and regret. Losing himself in their sweetness was the easiest and at the same time the most difficult thing he’d ever done.
A soft moan escaped her lips as she tunneled her fingers in his hair. Then she stilled, became a statue in his arms. Before jerking away and putting a foot of space between them, eyes wide with shock.
His heart pounded in his ears. This time, he would speak first. This time, he would make his feelings known. Come what may. He sucked in a breath.
“That kiss was an accident. But I’ve dreamed of a moment like this for so long … I may not be as decisive or as reckless as some men, but this I know. I love you, Annie Parker-Lawrence. I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you in that barn, that kitten in your lap. All throughout the war, I loved you still, even though you were married to somebody else. But that somebody else is gone now, so there’s nothing to stop me.”
In a single stride, he had his hands on her shoulders, gaze meeting gaze, though hers shone with tears. Her breath came in jagged gasps, her body trembling like a frightened colt. “Nothing to stop me from loving you. From wanting you. From fighting for you. And even if the man I’m fighting with is dead, I’m not quitting. So get used to it, Annie Lawrence. Get used to knowing there’s a man who loves you. One who is very much alive and well and longing to cherish your heart till the end of our days.”
Chapter Eight
Get used to knowing there’s a man who loves you. One who is very much alive and well and longing to cherish your heart till the end of our days.”
The sun beat down upon Annie’s head, her gloved hands expertly holding the reins as she steered her mount in the right direction. By all outward appearances, she was collected, calm. Inwardly, her heart cried out in answer to Travis’s words.
Get used to it, Travis Hart. I love you, too. But that’s as far as it will ever go.
When their lips had met, every thread of her being soared skyward. Every beat of her heart sang out with the pure sweetness of holding and being held.
At least, she could hold tight to that memory, though guilt would always nip at its heels.
Once again, she’d been a failure to Stuart. Broken the promise she’d made before God during her wedding vows, and to God when she’d returned to Hartville, determined to start afresh.
Perhaps it would be best to flee from this temptation and return to Galveston. Never mind that she’d be running away like a pup with its tail between its legs. Never mind that Robbie thrived in the wide-open spaces of Texas. Never mind that she loved her patients, bringing their children into the world.
Travis would never leave Hartville.
And she must leave Travis.