Cook. “She can’t be hungry. I sent up a pile of scraps not two hours ago.”
“I reckon she can’t forget being hungry,” said Ethan. He rose. “I’ll go and make sure she’s back in Miss Lizzy’s room.”
It took awhile to corner Callie. Once he had, and returned her to her place with only two or three scratches to show for it, Ethan got an idea. He lingered in the back hall, waiting for Lucy to come up from the kitchen, praying she’d be alone when she did.
His luck was in. Some while later, she appeared on the stairs, alone. He pretended to be just returning from his errand. “She’s a handful, that cat,” he said.
“Did she bite you again?”
“No, we’ve reached a better understanding.” As Lucy started past him, he added, “It’s a fine night.” He hoped it wasn’t too cold, anyway. “Care to step out for a breath of air?”
“I need to…”
“Lovely moon out there.” Lucy gave him a look, and Ethan acknowledged it hadn’t been his smoothest approach. “Where’s your favorite place to see the moon?” he added before she could leave.
That made her pause and think. “In the gardens, back in Hampshire, there was a whole patch of white roses. I was out there once when they was blooming, and the moon was full. It was right beautiful.” Her voice had gone softer.
“Mine’s the forest.” Ethan edged her toward the back door, and she went. They turned right and walked into the small garden behind the house. “’Course, the forest is pretty much my favorite place for anything.”
“Like, the woods, you mean?” Lucy wondered.
“‘Woods’ says small to me,” Ethan answered. “The Wyldes keep a good bit of land in trees, for timber mostly. And it’s good for some of the steeper bits, keeps the soil down. You get deep in that forest, and it’s… a different world.”
“Different how?”
Moonlight poured over the neat flower beds as Ethan struggled to put it into words. “The light’s all green, coming through the leaves, and the air like to… smells green. Sounds are softer, some of ’em, or sharper. Crack of a twig can seem like a gunshot. And there’s no sign of another person, anyplace; you might be the first ever to step in that particular spot.”
Lucy stared up at him as if she hadn’t really seen him before. “Don’t you worry about getting lost?”
“You could; it’s that big. But old Elkins taught me how to find my way about.”
“Elkins?”
“He’s the forester. He trained me. That’s what I mean to do—take his place now he’s ready to leave it.” The words just slipped out of him. He’d never told another soul about his plan for the future. But once started with Lucy, he couldn’t seem to stop. “Forester gets a cottage of his own, out at the edge of the trees. It’s all I’ve wanted—to look after a piece of land, and maybe a family, someday.” Ethan had never cared for possessions; he wasn’t like his sister, always longing for new things. “My dad’s going to see it as a step down for the family. He already thinks I’m feckless, and this’ll properly enrage him.” Why was he telling Lucy? It seemed he had to, that she had to hear it.
“Your dad doesn’t know what you mean to do?”
“Nobody knows. I haven’t told anybody… else.” What if she talked about it, Ethan thought? “Appreciate it if you wouldn’t mention it.”
Lucy stared up at him with parted lips. Was she amazed, or just bewildered? Ethan couldn’t tell. All he knew was—the world had fallen away. He couldn’t see anything but her face, silvered by moonlight, familiar and strange, wildly appealing. He stepped closer, reached for her. He bent his head to take those lips for his own.
She tasted of cider and cinnamon. Her body was supple and yielding under his hands. Ethan pulled her close, and closer as her mouth softened under his. Desire and response flashed between them and set him afire. He pushed the kiss, wanting more.
Lucy stiffened, struggled, pushed away from him, and backed up. She raised a hand to her trembling mouth. “I almost believed you weren’t…” She sounded near tears. “I reckon you’re right pleased with yourself now. You can brag to your friends that you got round me after all. Another conquest to add to your long list.”
“It isn’t like that, Lucy. I’d never…”
She turned and ran.
Now he’d done it. Ethan cursed himself for a fool. He’d behaved like the bad sort she thought he