Dangerous Illusions (Hearts of Hays Series #1)
Page 16
Between sipping tea and praying, Kate and Joanna waited and listened for hoof beats.
Kate had time to replay her conversation with Josh in her mind. “I’m afraid I was abrupt to Josh when I found out I wasn’t included in the plan. I hope we can fix things.” Kate was thinking of that and his kisses and how she craved more.
Joanna gave Kate a sympathetic look. “Perhaps we should have included you in our plan. But Josh was adamantly against it. He thought that your reaction to the plot would be more convincing to Arthur if it were genuine. You have no idea how worried Josh was that Arthur would call our bluff. He’s very smart.”
“But I should have—“ Kate stopped short. “I hear a horse! Do you?”
They ran to the window, but neither could see anything in the darkness.
“C’mon,” urged Kate. “Upstairs to my room there’s a perfect view. We can see better in an upper, darkened room.” Joanna raced behind her.
Within moments they received small visual hints of approaching riders. A belt’s buckle glinting from the sliver of a moon, a flash of a horse’s eye, and vague, dark, shadowy figures against the somewhat lighter sky.
“There are at least two riders,” Joanna said, with her nose pressed against the glass.
“They’ve ridden around to the stable. That means it has to be Josh and someone else.” Kate pulled Joanna back downstairs with her. They waited patiently beside the back door, a kerosene lamp held high.
It seemed forever before figures approached the house. Finally Kate and Joanna let out a sigh of relief when Josh burst into the kitchen, carrying a sleepy child. Phillip came in behind him.
“Anna!” Joanna rushed forward, arms extended.
Josh placed the child into her grasp. Joanna rocked the half-awake girl and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. Motioning for her to put Anna to bed, Josh whispered to Kate, “We’ll talk afterwards.”
A few minutes later, when Lydia returned from her visit with Geoffrey at Victoria, they filled her in on what had happened since that morning at church.
Joanna poured coffee while Kate cut the apple pie she and Lydia had made yesterday.
“What happened?” Josh asked his sister tenderly, as if knowing what she’d been through.
Joanna dabbed her nose with her handkerchief. “I explained to Anna that Phillip was her real father, and she went into hysterics. I’ve never seen her like that.”
“Where did you find her?” Kate asked Josh.
“Find her? She found me!”
He exclaimed. “I was on my way to the dugout, to tell them about Arthur’s agreement. About a half mile away, I spotted a weaving little figure, running frantically. I could barely believe my eyes. So I scooped her up onto my horse and held her sobbing, tired, and shaking little body. Luckily it wasn’t so dark yet. I could see that big white bow in her hair, or I might not have spotted her at all.
“Then I rode to the dugout and found Phillip, and here we are.” He shrugged sadly. “Poor Anna.”
“What have we done to her?” Joanna sobbed. Phillip put his arm around her.
“She’ll get over it,” Kate comforted. She sipped her coffee. “Especially when she learns that Josh can still be a part of her life.”
“Thank God,” breathed Joanna. “We’ll make her see that uncles are extremely special.”
“How would you two like to build about a quarter of a mile from here?” Josh asked. “The land is yours, and so is the lumber. That’s a better deal than you’ll get anywhere.”
Joanna looked up expectantly at Phillip, excitement sparkling in her blue eyes.
Her husband smiled. “Thank you, Josh. We accept. But I would like to make one small request.” When Josh nodded, he continued, “I’d like as much time as possible with my daughter. We have a lot to make up for. I don’t mean that you shouldn’t see her, but if you could just give me a chance with her to build a relationship ...”
Josh threw his arms around Phillip. “Brother, it’s the least I can do. After all, if I’m lucky, I’ll be busy starting my own family!” He gave Kate a wink.
Despite the initial shock, Kate found herself smiling. His remark thrilled her too much for her to hide her emotions
“Is there something we missed here?” Joanna’s confused gaze flew from her brother to Kate several times, as if she were watching a Victorian tennis match.
He shrugged and had the grace to look embarrassed. “No, I missed the most important part. I haven’t proposed yet.”
As he saw Kate’s face flush, Josh added, “This is rather personal. Don’t you people have something else you could be doing—like turning in?”
Lydia smiled smugly. “It is really is late.” She yawned. As she passed Kate she kissed her and whispered, “I knew it!”
A now smiling Joanna pulled Phillip toward the back door. “Good night everyone,” she called loudly. To Josh she added softly, “I hope she says ‘yes’!”
When they’d disappeared, confusion overtook Kate. None of her romantic tales had prepared her for this moment.
Josh emptied the contents of the coffeepot into their two cups. He didn’t seem much more at ease than Kate. “I’ll explain,” he said quickly. “Then you can…” he faltered, and then pushed on. “I wish I could say I fell in love with you from the moment we met. Your romantic novels probably say that’s the way it should happen.
“I’ve never fallen in love before, and I guess it happened more slowly than that.” He frowned to himself. “But despite that, I do love you, Kate. It sort of sneaked up on me, is all.
“I think it began when I knew you’d chosen our old home for the schoolhouse. Though all the gossips passed on their stories, you chose the best thing for your students. Even though you barely paid attention to me, I admired you for that stand. It took courage to risk the anger of some of the town’s people.
“Then I saw you with the children—especially Anna— and I knew you were one in a million. How many teachers would have cared so for one lost, hurting, little girl? The way you touched her heart seemed like a miracle.
“Of course I knew you hadn’t eyes for anyone but Geoffrey Grandville. When I compared you to Lydia, I thought the man extremely foolish. Couldn’t he see what he was missing? At the same time, I was glad, for it meant I had a chance to win your love. That’s why I told you to take a chance at winning. I figured you would have to know sooner or later—and I couldn’t bear to see you hurt too badly.”
“I never loved Geoffrey, Josh,” Kate comforted him. “I saw that soon after you told me to try to win his love.”
Josh’s eyes brightened, and he ran one hand through his hair. “I’m not good with words; you know that. I’m sorry for deceiving you about Anna’s disappearance. I never meant to hurt you so. But I didn’t want anyone to blame you for anything that happened, and I needed to have someone there who’d be as shocked as father, to make him believe it.
“If you’ll marry me, Kate, I’ll never deceive you again. I don’t think I could bear to, after all the troubles we’ve had today. Why, if we’d lost Anna, I’d never have forgiven myself.” He stood and pulled Kate up with him.
Kate’s heart thumped wildly. She slowly nodded, and Josh took her in his arms.
“We’ll build a small set of living quarters by the school-house for you. ...”
Confused, Kate looked up at him. “You want me to leave?”
“I want you to share my life at Hannah House, but it wouldn’t be proper, now that we’re betrothed. Besides, the teacher who takes your place could use them, once we’re wed. Though I think we need time to know each other better, I’m not going to wait forever, though. Have you an answer to my question?”
Kate laid her head on his shoulder. Strange, she thought, how real love didn’t necessarily mean goose bumps and bells ringing. Hers had developed out of liking, and then deepened slowly. Yet today she could hardly doubt her emotions as a thrill coursed from her head to her toes.
“Here’s your answer”, she leaned over and
kissed him passionately. He groaned in delight and pulled her closer.
This was exactly what she’d been waiting for, and it felt more wonderful than Kate could have imagined.
Joshua laughed. “I take that as a ‘yes’.”
THE END
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Other books by Barbara Goss:
1. Forbidden Legacy
2. Captured Heart
3. Stolen Heritage
4. Dangerous Illusions
5. Silent Love
6. The Final Vow
7. The Kissing Bridge
8. Drawn from Darkness
9. Temptation by Moonlight
10. The Romantic Ruse
11. Shadow of Shame Book 1
12. Shadow of Deceit Book 2
13. Shadow of Regret Book 3
14. Shadow of Hope Book 4
15. Shadow of Love Book 5
16. Shadow of Second Chances Book 6
17. Shadow of Faith Book 7
18. 7 Shadow of Shame package: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KAAWFP2?tag=faceboocombar-20
19. Sunshine in the Rain and Yesterday’s Rain Part 1 and Part 2
20. Mail Order Mishap Book 1
21. Mail Order Vixen Book 2
22. Mail Order Ruse Book 3
23 Mail Order Calamity Book 4
24. The Guilty Proposal, coming soon.
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