different question.
After the service was over, they walked up the aisle between the pews, the old wood and musty smell that always came with small, old churches accompanying them, so that the children could see the manger with the little baby Jesus right in the middle.
“He’s so small,” Christopher said.
“Like me!” Clementine chimed in.
“Yes, just like you,” Joanna said with a laugh.
They all stood there for a moment, taking in the scene before them, and Joanna couldn’t help but allow her gaze to wander over Elijah once more. His dark hair was curled with a dash of debonair, his eyes laughing as they always were — until they looked up to meet hers, and then they darkened with a sense of knowing, telling her that he understood what she was thinking, and wished for it too.
She shouldn’t. He shouldn’t. But the air seemed to go out of the room and she wanted nothing more than for this to be real, for him to want her just as assuredly as she wanted him, for reasons beyond all reason.
“Christopher! Clementine!”
Ophelia was calling the children now, beckoning them back out into the crisp winter air, and when Clementine jumped from Joanna’s arms, she felt the loss of her presence within them.
“Well,” Joanna said, filling the pregnant air that remained as most of the congregation filed out of the church. “We best go.”
“Don’t forget your promise,” Elijah said, one eyebrow quirked.
“My promise?”
“To protect me,” he said, before leaning in close. “Do you know how many times Mrs. Cuthbert’s hand found its way toward my leg?”
Joanna laughed out loud at that, but Elijah feigned insult.
“It’s not funny!” he exclaimed. “I had to keep pushing it back, and I moved so far away I was nearly falling over the side of the sleigh.”
“Well, I cannot recall making any such promise.”
“Please?” he said, turning in her direction, and she wasn’t entirely sure whether his desperation was real or feigned. “I will owe you forever, I promise.”
“Here I thought you already did.”
“But even more so,” he vowed. “Anything you want from me, I will make it so.”
“Well…” she said, biting her lip, knowing that she was making a deal with the devil but unable to resist the temptation.
“Very well.”
“Excellent.” He grinned as they stepped through the door and he swept his hand out toward the sleigh, which only had room for two more, anyway. “Our chariot awaits.”
Chapter 10
Elijah could blame his reaction to Joanna on the fact that it had been quite some time since he had been with a woman. He had been recuperating from his war injury for a few months before he had begun the journey home. Even before then, while he had never been particularly shy around women, he was by no means a rake of any sort.
Of all the women he had met and charmed, he had never responded to a woman the way he did Joanna.
Since he had seen her in the library that first night, he had desired her physically with all of his being.
There was more to it, however. He found himself looking to her every time he made a joke just to see if she would laugh. He wondered what she thought of her meal, contemplated whether or not she fell asleep quickly, was curious about what she spoke of when she was with the women and whether she sewed for fun or if she only did so in order to make a living.
He wanted to know everything about her, and he wanted to be the man that would complement her in every way.
There was one thing he knew without question, he noted as her frame molded into his from where she sat next to him — they would fit together better than any pair ever had before. He was sure of it.
“Thank you,” he said, ensuring to tuck the blanket in more tightly around her. “I am ever in your debt.”
“The real question is,” she said with a sigh, “just what to use my favor for?”
He quirked up an eyebrow.
“Careful,” he warned, “don’t use it too quickly. You might come to regret it later.”
“I never regret anything,” she said quietly. “Every mistake made is something to learn from. You cannot have made a different choice unless you possess the same information that you have after your first decision.”
“An interesting thought,” he remarked, curious about just how this woman’s mind worked.
Joanna began waving then, and he followed her gaze to see that Caroline was whizzing by in the other