Page 19 of Bryce

“All right. Iprobably won’t be available until after supper. Say aroundeight?”

He smiled and had herwondering if she had made a mistake.

“That’sperfect.”

*****

So, they took thewalk. She served the meal in the dining room with stars shining theirlights in the velvety sky that had been washed clean by the shower ofrain. The air was clean and sweet, mingled with the sweet potatocasserole and the chicken and dumpling stew that was so delicious, hehad been compelled to ask for seconds.

And had laughinglytold her that if he kept at it, he would gain several pounds. She hadnot responded, just simply smiled and be on her way.

The couple hadretired early to bed, admitting ruefully that they had spent theentire day and half their money buying trinkets and several antiquepieces that had been hard to resist.

Jessica had gone forthe day and after clearing the table of the coffee and raspberrycream cake that had been dessert, she had gone upstairs to don ajacket and a pair of sensible boots.

“Ready?”

“Yes.” Hehad put on something to ward off the cold as well and was waiting forher by the door. “Thanks for this.”

She nodded brisklyand made her way out. “We should take this route.” Sheturned left and he jogged to keep up with her. The rain was still inthe air, a wispy sort of scent that was actually pleasant.

Everything looked asif it had been washed clean and scrubbed thoroughly. Several petalshad been dislodged and mingled with the gold and russet of the leavesthat had fallen to the ground. Their boots made squishy sounds in thegrass and for several minutes, they walked in silence.

“I ventured outthe first night I came here and had the crap scared out of me when Iheard rustling in the brushes.” She shook her head as sherecalled how she had rushed back towards the building and very nearlypacked her bags in her fright.

And had wondered whatthe hell she was doing. She had left her comfort zone and had come tothis place she did not know.

“Any idea whatit was?”

She slid him a glanceand admired the touch of moon playing silver over his unruly blackhair. His hands were shoved in the pockets of what she knew was acashmere jacket and his faded denims suited his lean hips and longlegs.

“More thanlikely, badgers or squirrels. I was all alone in an area where thereare more trees and bushes than I have ever seen in real life, and itfreaked me out.

It was too quiet, thekind of silence that surrounds you and enters your very soul. I spenthalf the night cowering in a corner and cursing my aunt for leavingthis godforsaken place to me.”

He glanced at her,amusement curling his lips. He had forgotten her sharp wit and theway she had of making fun of herself. And of course, how lovely shewas. Her skin was luminous under the lights of the moon andscattering of stars. Her hair was caught up in some sort ofcomplicated twists and coils on top of her head, leaving her neckbare.

She wanted to befriends; he reminded himself and he was damn well going to have torespect her wishes. He owed her that at least. “What happenedafter?” They had come to the lovely stream and stopped there.

“I met Jessicathe very next morning. She came bearing coffee and pastries towelcome me to the place and laughed when I suggested that there waseither a big ass bear or poisonous snakes living in the yard.”

“And?” Heturned to face her.

“She insistedwe go and take a walk and assured me that there were no bears in thisarea and certainly no poisonous snakes. And said that they could notwait for the inn to be up and running again. She said my aunt hadallowed the place to go to pieces and that was a shame as it hadattracted a lot of tourists for the area.”

She laughed softly.Leaning against the trunk of an enormous oak tree, she looked over atthe lights of the town. From this vantage point, she could see thechurch, the steeple spiraling upwards, the park that had beenrecently renovated and the rooftops of several other buildings. “Ithas become home for me.”

“It’squite a place.” He also turned to give the place his attentionand felt the peace stealing over him.

“Has yourmother ever visited?” He asked her quietly after a period ofsilence.

Her grim laughter hadhim turning to look at her.

“You’rekidding, right?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“She wouldn’tbe caught dead in a place like this and that’s indeed ablessing.” She hunched her shoulders unconsciously. He knew howpainful the topic was and probably should not have brought it up.“She told me I was making a gigantic mistake and not to comerunning to her when it all fell down in a heap of disaster. I almostlistened to her.”

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