A Mail-Order Illusion

by Janelle Daniels

  Like a man at the end of his life, Jimmy wobbled to his feet, breathing hard with each movement, and gathered kindle for a fire. He reached into his pocket for his fire striker, grateful he hadn’t lost it in the water.

  He wiped it off as best he could, but it still took a few attempts to get a spark. Once the kindling caught, he blew on it and slowly added larger branches to the pile. Smoke curled in the air, and when it started popping, he held his hands close to the flames to warm them.

  Violet shifted, and he hurried over to her, kneeling beside her. “Take it slow,” he cautioned her.

  She flinched at his voice, and he put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. “You’re okay. You’re safe now. I pulled you out of the river.”

  Her eyes fluttered as she struggled to sit up, and he knew she was fighting off unconsciousness.

  “Are you injured? Did you hit your head at all?” he asked her.

  She lifted fingers to the back of her skull and winced. “I must have. What happened?” She finally looked up at him, and it took a moment, but recognition filled her eyes. She knew who he was.

  “I don’t know exactly. I heard you scream, then saw you in the river. I jumped in after you.”

  She paused at that, as if surprised. “You jumped in a raging river to rescue me? You could have drowned.”

  “I almost did. But if I hadn’t, you’d be dead for sure.”

  She swallowed hard as the truth sat heavy between them. “Thank you. I’m not sure many others would risk themselves in such a way.”

  It had never crossed his mind to let her die. He didn’t care how much it put his life in jeopardy, he’d always try to help if someone was in trouble. “You’re welcome. Can you walk? I started a fire over there to help us dry off.”

  She nodded, but it was clear she was still weak from fighting against the river. He’d recovered a little of his strength, so he scooped her in his arms and walked the few steps over to the fire.

  She squirmed to get comfortable once he set her down. “Thanks…but I would have managed.”

  He noted the uneasy way she watched him. “You need to build up your strength for the walk back. Hopefully, with a little rest, you’ll be up to it.”

  “How far do you think we are?”

  He glanced at their surroundings. “About two or three miles, I’d guess.”

  She whimpered.

  He wanted to smile but held it down. He didn’t blame her at all. Normally, a two or three-mile walk was easy enough, but right now, the task would exhaust them both. “It’ll be all right. We’ll take it nice and slow, and if we need to, we’ll take breaks. If we’re dry, it won’t be as difficult as it would be in our current condition.”

  She nodded and lifted her hands to the flames, her eyes closing on a shiver. “Thank you, Mr. Thornton.” She slowly opened her crystal-blue eyes once more and met his. “I owe you my life.”

  “You owe me nothing. I’m just grateful I was in the right place at the right time,” he said softly.

  “You’re too modest.” She cocked her head to the side. “Do you remember me?”

  He sat next to her, relishing the warmth of the fire. “Of course, Miss Morgan.”

  “I wasn’t sure,” she said, but when he lifted his brow, she continued, “I think most people who have met me, or at least shared a two-minute conversation with me, would’ve left me in the water.” Her lips quirked as if she were amused by such a thing.

  “Do you do it on purpose then?”

  “Do what?”

  “Alienate people?”

  “I beg your pardon?” Her voice rose, and he was glad to see a little color return to her cheeks along with her feisty attitude.

  He might be more injured than he first realized, because he found the combination charming, and he wanted to coax out even more of her fire. “Well you seemed amused by it. I figured it must be intentional.”

  Her shoulders drooped from their indignant posture, and the reaction intrigued him. He thought she’d snap back, not withdraw. Interesting.

  “It’s not intentional, although I can see why people might assume so. I’m not very good at expressing myself. Not honestly, anyway.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, if I had done so while growing up, the people I was surrounded by would have used it against me. You learn early to only project a certain image once you enter society. If not, they bury you.”

  At her words, Jimmy looked at Violet with new eyes, and decided the woman wasn’t irredeemable. She might have a sharp tongue, but he saw it now as more of a defense mechanism. In the right environment, she might even lose it. He couldn’t guarantee it, of course, but it intrigued him. “You don’t need to hide anything here. It’s a pretty nice town.”

  “I know that. It’s just a hard habit to break.” She shook out her still sopping skirts. “This is never going to dry.”

  “Make sure to take them off before swimming next time.”

  She snorted. “There won’t ever be a next time.”

  “You never know, you might fancy a cool dunk again soon.”

  She shook her head, but said nothing more.

  “You’ll never swim again?”

  “I don’t know how to swim,” she gritted out.

  She didn’t know how to—

  He froze. She’d fallen into the river and hadn’t known how to swim? It was a miracle she’d been able to stay afloat as long as she had. “At all?”

  “No.”

  “How is that possible?”

  She pressed her lips together. “When would I’ve needed to? I’m either on land or a boat. I don’t need to swim to get anywhere.”

  “But what about for fun?”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “I’m serious.” He touched her shoulder, forcing her to look at him. “If you’ve never been swimming before, you’re missing out.”

  A hard glint entered her eye. “Well, how unfortunate for me then.”

  “Hey now.” He held up his hands. “There’s no need to get frosty. I’ll help you.”

  “You’ll help me? Help me what?”

  “I’ll teach you to swim.”

  She studied him with a look of pure skepticism. “Why would you do that?”

  “Why wouldn’t I? I have plenty of time, and I enjoy swimming.”

  “But why would you offer to teach me?”

  He knew she’d had a hard time connecting with people, but this level of distrust felt like something so much more. Had someone taken advantage of her? The thought made his blood simmer. Although why he would feel that way over Violet Morgan, a woman many considered to be the town shrew, he hadn’t a clue. But he was beginning to sense there was something more to her. Something inside she hadn’t allowed others to see. “Because you could have died today. Because if you drown sometime in the future, I’ll feel responsible. Because I have nothing else to do with my time, and this seems like it would be a challenge. And why not?”

  She cocked her head, and a thrill went through him over the fact she was at least considering it. Although...why did this matter so much to him?

  “All right,” she agreed at last, and nodded slowly. “I’ll allow you teach me.”

  “Thank you very much,” he replied sarcastically, and her lips twitched in response.

  “When do you want to start?”

  “Tomorrow?” he suggested.

  She winced. “The water is really cold.”

  “It’s going to be for a while.” He shrugged. “But I know some spots where the current isn’t as strong. The sitting water will be a bit warmer from the sun.”

  “All right. But I have one condition.”

  He should have guessed. “What is it?”

  “That we don’t tell anyone about this.”

  “You want to keep it a secret? Why?” Was she embarrassed about not being able to swim?

  “Because it’s none of anyone else’s business. And I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about us.”


  Ah. So she didn’t want others to see this as a failing, but she also didn’t want to be connected to him. He should feel annoyed over someone not wanting to be associated with him, but he wasn’t. In fact, he found the whole thing intriguing. For the first time in months he felt alive, and excitement simmered just below the surface. He had something to work toward, something to do. And he realized it involved more than just teaching Violet how to swim. He could help her. “I agree.”

  “You do?” Her brows furrowed, as if she wasn’t sure how she felt about his quick agreement, but then she shook her head, apparently deciding it didn’t matter. “Good. It’s settled then. You can teach me how to swim.”

  He had a feeling he’d be teaching her a lot more than that, and he couldn’t wait.

  Chapter 2

  For almost ten minutes, Violet had waited at the large boulder just off the path from town when Jimmy finally arrived.

  “Sorry I’m late,” he said, before she could snap about his punctuality. “I had to stop by the mercantile and pick something up, and it took a little longer than I’d planned. Seems they got a new shipment of cloth in, and apparently, every woman except you felt a need to touch it.”

  Violet swallowed the caustic comment she’d been prepared to unleash on him, wincing at the bitter taste. Why had she almost berated him? He was here to help her, and ten minutes late wasn’t a big deal. “It’s all right, and I do plan to touch the new cloth once we’re done and the rush settles a bit.”

  He flashed her a dimpled grin, and her heart fluttered. Heavens, he was gorgeous! It would be so easy to become enamored of someone like him. She’d seen it happen time and again back home. A sharp suit, a quick smile and a charming demeanor, mixed with obscene wealth, tended to blind most women and hurl them straight into love. Violet herself had fallen prey to such a man before as well.

  The reminder straightened her spine. She wasn’t here to drool over Mr. Thornton. She was here to learn how to swim. “Where are we going?”

  “The spot I picked isn’t far. Let’s head over there now.”

  She nodded and motioned for her horse to follow him off the path. It unnerved her to leave the worn trail. When she’d done so yesterday, she’d gotten into trouble, and being a city girl, she hadn’t dared to do such a thing at any time previously. One wrong turn, and she would likely become lost, without the skills needed to survive or return home on her own.

  But Jimmy knew what he was doing. He’d lived here a long time, and she could sense he was a survivor. Besides that, she really knew very little about him. He had money, of course. Lots of it. She’d heard that about him when he’d courted Aria last summer, but other than his bachelorhood status, and that he was well off after striking it rich, he was a mystery.

  She felt safe with him though. He’d saved her, and if he’d had nefarious thoughts, he would have acted on them yesterday when she had been weak and essentially laid out before him, unable to fight back.

  She blew out a long breath when she thought of how Juliette and Willow had fretted over her upon her return home the previous day. They’d been worried sick when she’d disappeared, and even though they were relieved she was alive, they’d taken her straight to her room and tucked her in bed for the rest of day, making sure she had plenty of broth to keep her warm and help build her strength.

  They’d been so kind to her, and Violet knew not even her mother would have treated her with such care.

  Jimmy led her through a grove of trees, holding a branch out of her way so she could maneuver past without hitting her face. “Thank you.”

  He nodded. “It’s just past those rocks over there.” He pointed to a cluster of boulders not far off, before leading her forward.

  Just after the rocks, he stopped his horse and dismounted. “This is it.”

  Violet eyed the slow-moving water. “It looks calmer and lower than yesterday. Why would there be less water today?”

  “There isn’t. It just appears to be through this section. It’ll be ideal to learn to swim here.”

  Violet stepped closer to the bank of the river, bent over, and ran her fingers through the water to check the temperature. She inhaled sharply. “It’s still cold.”

  He shrugged as he dug through his saddle bags. “It’s warmer than yesterday, I guarantee that. Maybe not by much, but you won’t freeze to death.” He pulled out two thermoses and added, “Still, I brought some soup to help us warm up once were done.”

  She shifted her feet at the thoughtful gesture. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had done something so considerate, at least, not for her anyway. “Why are you doing all this?”

  He repacked their lunch for later and glanced over his shoulder. “Doing what?”

  “All of this?” She waved her hand toward the water, and then to his bag. “Teaching me to swim, bringing soup... I don’t get why you’re making the effort. You must have something better to do with your time.”

  “There’s always other things I could be doing. But better? I guess that’s a matter of opinion. I don’t think there’s anything better than this right now. Do you?”

  She blushed, but simply shook her head and looked away. “So how do we do this?” She closed her eyes and groaned. “I didn’t even think about what I would wear. I can’t swim in this.” She pinched the full skirt up slightly and gestured to all the undergarments that would immediately drag her under.

  “Take them off then.”

  “What?” she screeched. “I can’t just take my clothes off and swim naked!”

  He smothered a grin with his hand. “No?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  He gave an exaggerated, long-suffering sigh. “I guessed you would say that.” He grabbed a brown paper-wrapped parcel from his bags and tossed it to her. “This is what I picked up from the mercantile.”

  She looked at the paper suspiciously. “What is it?”

  “You’ll have to open it to find out.”

  She’d never been good at waiting for surprises. Even as a child, she’d hounded her nannies without mercy, until they’d finally had enough and told her about her birthday gifts.

  With the self-control of the same child she’d been back then, she deftly ripped open the paper, and uncovered a garment made of black material, trimmed with white. Unraveling it, her jaw dropped. “A swim costume?”

  “Yeah. I thought you might object to swimming in the nude.”

  She held the fabric and continued to stare at it. “You bought me a swim costume?” she repeated, before looking up at him.

  “I did.”

  He gave her a side smile, and she studied his eyes, looking for a trick, but all she saw was genuine pleasure. “Thank you.”

  He nodded and stepped forward. “You seem unused to getting gifts.”

  “I am. At least from anyone except my father and mother. Even then, they didn’t pick them out for me, they had servants who did that.”

  “That’s a shame. I think picking out a gift, trying to find something perfect just for that person, is half the fun.”

  “What’s the other half?”

  “Watching them open it.”

  She flushed again at his words when she saw appreciation fill his eyes. She didn’t understand him. He was being kind to her, giving her gifts, taking time to teach her to swim, and he was happy about it. “I don’t understand you.”

  He laughed and pulled his shirt over his head, revealing a muscled chest peppered with dark hair. “Maybe you will eventually.”

  Any comment she had was swallowed as she took in his bare skin. She’d spied men with their shirts off when they were working a time or two, but she’d always averted her eyes, not wanting them to notice her interest, but Violet couldn’t pull her eyes away from this man if she wanted to.

  She’d never seen such perfection. Her ex-fiancé had attended a boxing club, and while his clothed form had been pleasing, she couldn’t imagine he possessed this type of raw, masculine strength.

&n
bsp; She wanted to reach out and trace the contours of Jimmy’s muscles, to see if his skin was as warm as she felt inside while looking at him.

  She cleared her throat, shutting down those thoughts, and tore her gaze away from him. “I should probably change.”

  He nodded toward the boulders. “Go behind those. I’ll stay over here so you’ll have plenty of privacy.

  “Thank you.”

  She walked the short distance and laid out the bathing costume on the rocks, fretting over the tight pantaloons that went under the short dress. She chewed her bottom lip as she imagined herself in it. She’d never worn anything so revealing—so scandalous—in her entire life.

  But this is appropriate attire for the activity, she reminded herself. Besides, it’s not as if the entire town will me in such a state...only Jimmy.

  That thought made her stomach flutter. He would see her true shape. The outfit definitely wouldn’t hide the curves of her hips and calves. She would be fully on display.

  Letting out a slow breath, she started removing her gown, slipping out of it quicker than she would have imagined a year ago. She was embarrassed to admit, before she’d arrived in Promise Creek, she’d never dressed herself. The first time she’d had to undress by herself, it’d been impossible, and she’d ended up cutting off her blouse.

  She snorted as she thought about how far she’d come since then.

  She slid her legs through the pants and pulled them snug over her hips, before smoothing the material in place. It fit her perfectly, and made her wonder how Jimmy had judged her size so well. He must be very familiar with the female form to have guessed her size so accurately, and why that thought bothered her so much, she had no idea.

  After she lifted the top over her head and settled the fabric over her body, she twirled in a small circle and watched as the inky material spun out. She looked like the girls she’d seen bathing on the shore back home. She’d been so jealous of their freedom, as her own parents had forbidden her from ever participating in such an activity. If they could only see her now...