are they?” She shook her head. “They’re yours.”
Trying to swallow the lump in his throat, Nathanial tightened his hold on her hands, his thumbs brushing over her knuckles, a comforting motion. “What am I to do? All my life, I’ve wanted to walk in his footsteps, to be the man he was, to…” He hung his head, his gaze searching hers. “What am I to do?”
Stepping forward, Charlaine cupped a hand to his face, a soothing smile upon her lips. “You cannot walk your father’s path and expect to find happiness,” she told him imploringly. “You need to walk your own.” Then she pulled him down into her arms, her own snaking around his shoulders, holding on with a fierceness he had come to expect from her.
Overwhelmed by her words, Nathanial sank into her embrace, breathing in the lavender scent of her skin as he hugged her tightly. She felt so small in his arms, her feet almost lifting off the ground as he straightened, that a part of him feared he could break her. The thought terrified him to the bone, and he pinched his eyes shut.
A soft giggle drifted to his ears. “Oh, would you spin me?” she whispered, exuberance in her voice.
Frowning, Nathanial pulled back and looked down at her, his arms still around her middle. “Pardon me?”
“Would you spin me in a circle?” Charlaine asked, and he could feel her wiggling her feet as they all but dangled in the air. “I’ve always wanted to know what that felt like.” Unadulterated joy stood on her face, and Nathanial found himself swept up in it.
“If you insist,” he said, grinning at her. Then he locked his arms more tightly around her before glancing around them to ensure that no tree stood too close. A moment later, he began to move, his feet stepping on the spot as they turned in circle after circle.
Charlaine’s hands grasped his shoulders as her legs swung outward from the force of the movement. Her eyes were open wide, and laughter spilled from her mouth. “This is wonderful!” she called again and again, and her laughter echoed in his ears long after he went to bed that night. It warmed him and gave him hope because he cared for her.
The thought gave him pause.
After everything that had happened, after his determination not to be made a fool of once more, not to trust another woman ever again, Nathanial realized that he had come to trust Charlaine. She was a good person, genuine and honest. She was a true friend, and he was fortunate that she had found him.
That thought made him smile for it had been her tenaciousness that had led them to where they were now. If it had been up to him, they would have never laid eyes upon each other ever again.
That would have been a grave loss for him.
Perhaps it was that tenaciousness as well as the steadfast belief that happiness could be found anywhere that always led her back to a place where she would not be alone, where people loved her.
It was something to think about.
Chapter Thirty-One
A Storm Approaches
Charlaine clung to the mare’s mane as they raced across the meadow. Her dress had risen to well above her knees for she rode astride and without a saddle. The pressure of her knees kept her upright as she urged the chestnut mare eastward.
Glancing over her shoulder, Charlaine spotted Nathanial slowly gaining ground.
As expected, he had been a bit reluctant when she had proposed they ride without saddles. That adorable, little frown had once more teased his face before his lips had thinned in determination and he had agreed.
Lately, Charlaine had sensed a change in him as though he had come to understand how restrictive his life had been and was now determined to seize opportunities he would have ignored before. It was still an effort for him, but he was trying.
Charlaine was proud of him.
“Do you see those clouds?” Nathanial called over the thundering of their horses’ hooves. He pointed ahead to where the sky began to darken.
“Yes!” was all Charlaine said in answer.
Nathanial rolled his eyes. “What if it rains?”
Pulling on her reins, Charlaine slowed her mare to a trot. “Then we’ll get wet,” she told him with a smirk.
“Soaked, you mean,” Nathanial chuckled before his gaze dropped to her bare legs and then immediately snapped upward, a tinge of red coming to his cheeks. “How much farther do you wish to go?” he asked, urging his