Page 16 of Moonstone Landing
She nodded. “I’ll be all right in a moment.”
He remained beside her, worry filling his eyes. “You hit your heart,” he said, almost to himself.
She ignored the comment.
She had come here to avoid just this discussion with her brother. She refused to have it now with Brioc.
She straightened the bottle, ignoring the fact that most of the lemonade had spilled onto the sand. After wiping off the bits of sand, she took a swig and then replaced the cork. “I just need to lie back a moment and close my eyes.”
He took her hand as she lay back.
How could she feel his kisses last night and now his big, warm hand wrapping around hers? She dared not say anything, for this ability seemed to go only one way. She felt his touch, but he did not feel hers.
She sat up a few minutes later and tore off the end of the loaf of bread. She nibbled a little of the cheese, as well, needing little more than a few bites to satisfy her hunger.
Brioc stared at her. “You eat like a mouse.”
“I wasn’t very hungry.”
“Because of your heart?”
“There is nothing wrong with my heart.”
He stretched out on the blanket. “Fine, Hen. Keep lying to me.”
“I think I had better return to the cottage. Would you mind getting your oafish body off my blanket so I can fold it up?”
“Go ahead. No one’s stopping you. I am nothing but air. You can easily pull it out from under me. Last night I was your hero. Now I am an oaf?”
She sighed and glanced up the flight of stairs leading back to the cottage. “No. You shall always be my hero. But right now, you are irritating me.” She would never make it up those steps without having to stop and rest. Then Brioc would be asking more questions. “Is there an easy walk further along the beach where the climb is not so steep?”
“No, Hen. Well, there is. But it adds about five miles, and I do not think you can walk that distance. The stairs are the simplest. Take your time. I’ll be right beside you all the while. Take as long as your heart needs. Why hide the truth from me?”
She covered her face with her hands and began to cry. “I did not want anyone to know.”
“You cannot hide it from those close to you, Hen. Does your brother know?”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
“It all makes sense now. You did not care about a ghost haunting this cottage because you came out here to die.” She felt his arm go around her shoulders to comfort her. Why was she now able to feel him? “I wish you had confided in me. Of all people, I think I would be the one to understand best.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Please don’t make me.”
He grunted. “I won’t. But I do want to hear all of it when you are ready. In your own good time. I won’t press you.”
He sat by her side until she stopped crying and then rose along with her when she gathered the blanket and picnic basket. She had tossed her bonnet, shoes, and stockings in the blanket and began to climb the steps in her bare feet.
She climbed the first twenty steps, then stopped to rest, waiting for her heart to stop pounding through her chest before she started to climb again. She made it up the next twenty steps and rested again.
Brioc watched her.
She was about to climb the next twenty when someone at the top called out her name. “Hen, are you mad? You know what the doctor said!”
“Who is that?” Brioc asked.
“My brother.” She waited for Robert to descend to her, his attire the height of London fashion, and his golden hair ruffled by the wind. She hugged him fiercely when he took her in his arms to embrace her. “Robert, what are you doing here?”
She did not object when he took the basket and blanket out of her hands. “I’ve come to take you back home.”
