Winning the Gentleman (Hearts on the Heath #2) - Kristi Ann Hunter Page 0,104
hand away after yanking the cord and wiped it on his trousers, drawing a giggle from Sophia.
“I suppose they need those in a house such as this one. Otherwise, you’d spend your whole day running about finding people.” She enjoyed the feeling of a smile on her face. It seemed like ages since she’d worn one. Was it just two days ago that she’d been thinking how nice it was that she and Jonas might not be on their own anymore, that perhaps they could stop living out of a knapsack?
“How do you feel?” Jonas asked.
“Sore. Surprisingly tired. I shouldn’t want to go back to sleep, but the idea of eating and curling back under these blankets is appealing.”
“You might as well.” He frowned at the windows. “I could get my hands on a ladder if you fancy an escape. Otherwise, they won’t allow you two steps past the door until you’re sufficiently healed.”
Sophia looked about the room, searching for something to keep her awake until the food arrived. A sketchpad and pencil sat on the table beside the bed. “Yours?”
He nodded, looking at the sketchbook as if he wasn’t sure where it had come from. “I got paid. It seemed like we were going to be here awhile.”
Now Sophia wanted to burrow under the covers for a different reason. He’d turned down her offer to buy him a sketchpad before because they would need the money later. He had cautioned Sophia not to dream too big, but it would seem he too had felt the security of the past week.
“Can I see?”
He grabbed the sketchbook and climbed onto bed with her. The breakfast tray arrived, and they chatted as she ate and admired his drawings.
Her energy bolstered by the food, she climbed out of bed and walked around the room. They even ventured to the library to select a book. The house was quiet around them, and the housekeeper said everyone was out.
“Probably still trying to locate Mr. Whitworth,” Jonas said.
A day later and they still didn’t know where he was? Worry for him made Sophia forget, at least temporarily, that she was concerned for her own future. “How are today’s races going?”
“One win for Lord Stildon yesterday and another for Lord Farnsworth this morning.”
And because of her, Aaron wasn’t here to celebrate.
ANOTHER TRAY WAS delivered that evening, and if the other occupants had returned, no one saw fit to tell her.
Jonas settled onto the bed with her again to show her the rest of the pictures he’d been working on. He turned the page to a sketch of her riding a galloping Equinox. Her hair was a mess and her face determined.
The image sent a variety of feelings spiraling through her. Pride. Despair. Regret. Anger.
She traced the sketch lightly with her fingers. The horse seemed ready to fly off the end of the page. “Is that really what I looked like?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I couldn’t see the details, but this was the heart of it.” He closed the notebook and kissed her on top of her head. “We’re going to make it through this, Soph. We don’t have to run this time. We have time to plan. Lord Stildon says I have the job as groom for as long as I want it, and I think if you try to leave before the week is out, Miss Hancock will personally tie you to the bed.”
Sophia grinned. “She is rather opinionated.”
“That’s one word for it.”
“I don’t think I could stay in bed for a week.”
“Maybe not, but if you want to go back to sleep now, I say do it.”
Though she was sore and tired, she wasn’t certain she could fall asleep with the thoughts currently churning through her mind. “Will you draw? I like to watch you.”
“I suppose that would be boring enough to put someone out.”
She laughed and snuggled into the pillows.
Jonas flipped the book open, and the pencil slid over the page, the lines of the Heath becoming apparent. “Rest now, Soph, and cast your worries upon God. He can hold them while you sleep, and when you wake, we’ll ask Him what we should do.”
“Sounds simple.”
“Sometimes the answers are simple. It’s doing them that gets complicated.” More quick lines became a crowd of people.
As Sophia’s eyes closed, she prayed God would take care of her and her brother one more time and that somehow the answer would be waiting when she woke.
She didn’t expect that answer to take the shape of three intent-looking women.