Page 14 of A Wish Upon an Earl
The sitting room?Down the hall?Was she to hobble all the way there?Rebecca helped her from the bed and then used her shoulder to support Sarah’s weight as she slowly made her way to the door.
She had dressed this morning, a simple pale green gown that was both comfortable and practical, but looking down, she had a twinge of regret.She hadn’t expected to see anyone, least of all her knight.
Her eyes fluttered closed.He wasn’t hers.Far from it.They were barely friends.Acquaintances who tolerated each other at best.
But the moment Rebecca opened the door wider, Sarah gasped out loud.Jack stood behind a wheeled chair of sorts.“What is that?”she asked, pointing at the contraption.
He looked down.“I had to see both the blacksmith and the carriage maker, but they were able to take a chair and fashion it with wheels so that we might be able to move you more easily about the house.I know it’s not perfect, but I hoped to help.”
She softened at that.It couldn’t be past ten in the morning and he’d already had this fashioned.How had he managed it?And why did her heart soften so much at the idea that he’d gone to all the trouble?“What time did you start on this?”
“I can’t remember.”He winked at her as he took her hands and helped her into the seat.
The two wheels in the back were quite large and made of metal and wood.“Are those wagon wheels?”she asked, looking back.“This thing must weigh more than a man.”
“It doesn’t,” he chuckled.“In fact, it weighs less than that ridiculous suit of armor I had on last night.”
Sarah looked back at him as he began to push her down the hall, Rebecca following.“Thank you for this.It’s nice to leave my room.”
“You’re most welcome,” he answered.“I’m glad I could help.”
She twisted her hands together as they arrived at the sitting room, and Rebecca came around them to open the double doors.She’d been angry at Jack for so long, she didn’t know quite what to say now.
He helped her from the chair, settling her onto a settee that stretched out, a high back at one end.It allowed her to sit with her foot still elevated.Perhaps she’d have the piece moved to her room until she’d recovered.She felt less like an invalid when not in bed.
He gently lifted her legs, his hands large and warm.Sarah ignored the way her pulse quickened at his touch as he settled her onto the seat, laying a pillow under her injured foot.
He sat across from her.“I’d like to begin by apologizing for last night.I?—”
Sarah waved her hand.“Accidents happen.”
He leaned forward, giving her a long stare.“May I confess that I’ve missed your considerate nature?”
A lump rose in her throat, but she swallowed it down.“Thank you for that.”Her gaze cast down at the intensity in his warm brown eyes.He likely didn’t miss her flare for the dramatic.She didn’t either—most of the time anyhow.Well, sometimes.But her life was better without it.
“But I should have practiced in the armor.I never imagined it would be so difficult to move.”He scrubbed the back of his neck.
“Does anyone know it was you?”she asked, realizing that he may be in for even more embarrassment than she’d suffered all those years ago.Her heart twinged.She knew all too well what that felt like.
“I’m not certain,” he answered with a shrug.“My family's coat of arms was all over the suit, but they’re not commonly used, so it’s possible no one recognized it.”
She gave a nod.“Anything I can do?”
He looked up at her again.“Sarah.”The way he said her name pulled at her insides.“I don’t deserve that sort of kindness from you.”
“You’re Ash’s friend,” she answered, ignoring the other thoughts in her head that said he’d been her friend too.That he still made her pulse race with his mere presence.
He nodded.“I don’t think you can help me.But I am missing a piece.A gauntlet.If the staff finds it, would you see that it’s sent to me?”
“Of course,” she answered, her brow furrowing.“But where could it have gone?It couldn’t have just blown away in the breeze.”
He shrugged.“I don’t know.It’s curious for certain.But we’ve more important items to discuss.”
“Such as?”Her heart hammered in her chest as she looked everywhere but at him.Ash had warned her where this conversation was headed.He wanted to apologize.Yet now that they were here, she wasn’t certain she wished for him to say sorry.When he did, they’d somehow have to acknowledge a well of feelings she’d been attempting to ignore.
“Such as what I did to you five years ago,” he answered, and then he stood, closing the distance between them.He crouched in front of her until she had no choice but to look at him.“I owe you an apology, Sarah.”
“You’ve just apologized.”
