Page 58 of A Secret Heart
She stepped closer, her eyes on his face. Curious and serious and…“Kaitlyn told me?—”
“Miss Rebekah, you have to come see!”
The chorus of voices made him want to howl.
Rebekah sent him a chagrined smile and traipsed in the direction the kids had called from. He followed.
Kaitlyn had told her what? About his feelings? About the letters? The questions chased around his brain as Tillie and Jo swarmed them in their impatience to reveal the surprise.
“It’s a frog.” Jo opened her hand. The frog jumped away as Tillie screamed in delight. Both girls ran after it.
“I caught another one.” David’s call came from near the porch, causing Jo and Tillie to leave the frog and run in his direction.
Ed saw his chance.
“Why don’t we walk out by the barn? We can still keep an eye on them from there.” He’d never get the words out this way.
She nodded, then looped her arm in his, her warmth so close, creating goosebumps on his skin despite the mild night. They outpaced the children, the voices becoming hushed. The darkness offered an intimacy that made his heart race.
As they stopped close to the corral, Ed looked over his shoulder to see the children still chasing fireflies near the house. Rebekah unwound her arm from his and leaned on the railing, giving him her profile. The night air filtered between them, making him suddenly cold.
“When you delivered that ad for Isaac, I tried to control everything. The letters, the ones I gave you the other day, they were from the other women. I…I hid them. I figured if he didn’t get any other letters, things would have to go my way.”
He heard the hint of shame in her voice.
“Rebekah, I?—”
“Let me get this out.”
Ed swallowed back the words he’d worked so hard to push forward.
“I thought I wanted Isaac, tried to bend the circumstances to suit me, but it turns out that I don’t want to marry him after all.” Her speech that had begun so strongly had fallen to a whisper. Her eyes held his gaze for a long moment, then dropped.
“You don’t?”
She shook her head.
He reached out to touch her arm, letting his hand slide down to cup her elbow. If only he were more eloquent like she deserved. If he knew what she wanted him to say, he’d say it.
She rubbed a hand across one arm as if she were cold, trembling as she did. He stepped closer, close enough to kiss. Her head tilted. The look he’d wanted from her for so many years captivated him—if he wasn’t mistaken in his interpretation. He hesitated, then slowly lifted his hand to cup her chin, tilting it further, closer.
Maybe we shouldn’t have done that.The words from five days ago filtered through his mind.
“I don’t want this to be a mistake,” he murmured.
Rebekah leaned up toward him on tiptoe. The warmth of her breath kissed his chin right before her lips met his. So tender and soft. He wrapped her in his arms, pulling her closer as goosebumps prickled his neck. This beginning felt more right than his stolen kiss before. His heart raced all the quicker from their closeness.
Rebekah had kissed him. She didn’t want Isaac.
He let himself linger in the glory of their kiss, then pulled away. He needed to tell her the truth. Words that might ruin everything.
He slid a finger across her cheek.
He had to clear his throat before he could speak. “Rebekah, I have to tell you something.” His mind was spinning with joy. It was hard to think what to say. What if he messed everything up?
A rush of commotion descended on them.
“There you are.” Jo careened to a halt, placing her hands on her hips, with Tillie close behind her.
