"Krys is free to do as she chooses," Jason answered stiffly.
"I would like that, Thaddeus," Krystyna told the officer softly.
Around them, the crowd had dispersed and the burial detail had formed to undertake the task of putting the spy into his grave.
"I'll just go on ahead," Sin-Jin volunteered, sensing that Krystyna and Jason needed to be alone as they waited for Thaddeus to return.
Krystyna watched Sin-Jin go, not really seeing him. Her mind was humming with half-a-dozen different thoughts and emotions. Her father's murderer had been made to pay, and Thaddeus was back in her life. There were things to decide, sentiments to lay to rest. Her eyes drifted over to Jason. She saw that his rough, handsome face was lined with concern.
"You're going to go with him, aren't you?" he asked suddenly.
His question caught her completely by surprise, rendering her speechless. How could he even think that after he'd asked her to marry him?
He took her silence to mean that he had guessed correctly. "I thought so." He took a deep breath. This was the hardest thing he had ever done. "Krystyna, I'd do anything in the world to keep you, but you have to follow your heart. I want you with me because you want to stay, not because I make you stay. I wouldn't be able to face that longing look in your eyes. Since the day I met you, all you ever wanted to do was go home. Thaddeus, or whatever his name is," he waved a hand impatiently in the direction the man had taken, "can take you back. I can't. I can't offer you anything but me. You won't be titled here. You'd only be my wife. That's not quite enough to offer someone like you."
Her heart was touched by his words, by what she saw as his sacrifice. She didn't speak for a moment, and then Thaddeus approached them.
"Krystyna," he called. She turned in his direction.
"Go ahead," Jason urged. "I understand. He's waiting."
With that Jason left to join Sin-Jin.
The latter was readying the horses in preparation to leave. He was uneasy in this camp overflowing with American soldiers, afraid that someone might recognize him and think him a spy.
He was surprised to see Jason approaching alone. "Where's Krystyna?"
"She's not coming." Jason refused to look back at the two people he'd left behind him.
"Not coming?" Sin-Jin scowled. "What do you mean, not coming?"
"Just that." He didn't want to talk about it. "I told her to go back to Thaddeus."
"You did what?" Sin-Jin demanded in disbelief.
Jason shrugged. "She's always wanted to go home. He can take her there. Besides, she told me about him once. She was in love with him —probably still is."
Sin-Jin studied the man before him, shaking his head. His voice was kind. "That was all very noble of you, but if you don't mind my saying so, you're a fool." Jason's head shot up as he looked at Sin-Jin. "If she were mine, which she regrettably is not, I would have fought to hang on to her. You don't let someone like that walk out of your life, my friend."
"Sin-Jin, she'll never be happy out here. Her heart is with her home."
"How do you know that?" Sin-Jin demanded. "Have you tried to talk her into staying? What arguments did she raise?"
"None."
"None?" Sin-Jin couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Colonial was crazy. "What did she say about going with him?"
"Nothing. I was the one who told her to go."
Sin-Jin shook his head sadly. "Very noble of you. Stupid, but very noble. God, you're a bigger fool than I thought. Oh well," he sighed, "you still have me."
"I won't comment on that." Jason tried to smile. It didn't quite hide the pain he felt inside.
"So you are happy here?" Thaddeus asked, looking down into Krystyna's face. How she has matured since I last saw her, he thought. She had been a small rosebud back on the dock that day she'd left Poland. Now she was a full-blooming rose smiling into the face of the sun. He envied the man she loved.
"Yes. There is nothing back there for me anymore, only memories. I know that now. Out here, there is life, a new life I want to be a part of."
"I understand." He nodded. "I have the same feelings, the same reasons for being here and helping them fight this war of theirs. But I shall take what I learn back for the good of our own revolution."
"One revolution is enough for me," Krystyna said. "Write to me. Let me know how things turn out. Remember me to all those who were once friends."
"Friends," Thaddeus said, taking her hand and raising it to his lips, "are forever. God has so decreed."
She smiled at him. She was fond of Thaddeus, as she would have been of a beloved older brother. That was all there ever was, she realized. Just a fond affection. Not love. That belonged to Jason alone. And she would always keep it alive.
"Take care of yourself, Krystyna. Keep our heritage alive in this wonderful country."
"I shall," she promised. "I shall." With that, she turned away.
Jason was mounting his horse when Sin-Jin placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. The Englishman grinned as he said, "Look behind you."
Jason turned just as Krystyna reached him.
"Where are you going?" she demanded, out of breath. She had seen him getting ready to leave and had run all the way. "Why are you not waiting for me?"
"Waiting for you?" He looked over her head. In the distance, Thaddeus was watching them. The tall man waved goodbye and then turned away. "But I thought . . . Thaddeus—he could take you home again, just the way you wanted."
Tears stung her eyes as she laughed. "Oh, you big, wonderful fool. Do you not understand anything?" She stood on her toes as she threw her arms around his neck. "You are home. All the home I shall ever need or want."
Sin-Jin grinned as Jason took Krystyna into his arms and kissed her. "That's the second time he's been called a fool today. No," he reconsidered, "the third."
But neither of them was listening to him. They were far too busy to hear.
Marie Ferrarella
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And read the second book in the Moonlight series!
Moonlight Lover
Sin-Jin and the Irish Spitfire!
Rachel needed nothing but her brother and a good musket to hold off the men who came at her like hungry wolves--until Sin-Jin Lawrence taught her what love was really for.
An unforgiving heart
In the bitter wake of devastating tragedy, Rachel O'Roarke and her brother had fled Ireland to seek refuge on the shores of Colonial America. But Rachel could never forget how the British had destroyed her family, and knew she'd hate them until she died. Then a tall, blond-haired stranger showed up on the doorstep of their Virginia home. His name was St. John Lawrence, he was obviously English…and far too handsome for his own good. Though she vowed to have nothing to do with him, the spirited, flame-haired beauty soon found herself unable to resist his virile charms…especially when he swept her into his arms in the silvery moonlight and claimed her lips in a heart-stirring kiss that made her senses reel and her heart cry out for his loving caress!
An unrelenting passion
St. John had turned his back on his oppressive homeland to throw in his lot with the rebels. But the former officer found himself facing off against a very different kind of adversary when he escorted drunken Riley O'Roarke home…and was confronted by a fiery Irish beauty wielding a loaded musket! Headstrong Rachel made clear that he was unwelcome in her home. But the reluctant passion blazing in her emerald eyes told a different story indeed! And now all the enflamed Englishman wanted to do was draw her lush curves close against him, kiss her until she begged for more--and posses her forever in love's ultimate embrace!
Buy it at Amazon now!
The Women's Contemporary Originals from Marie Ferrarella--Read them all!
SAPPHIRE AND SHADOW
"A look at the grit beneath the glitz and one woman's triu
mph over both"--Nora Roberts
SAPPHIRE AND SHADOW is a vivid and compelling story of heart break and betrayal, of facing the death of dreams you've built your life on, of picking up the pieces and learning to live again. Johanna Whitney somehow draws from deep inside to find the strength to triumph in the end.
CHOICES
Shanna Brady has spent her whole life living in the shadow of her family, from her mother the socialite to her father the senator to her husband the aspiring politician. When she finds her husband in bed with his secretary, she vows to stand on her own. But a brilliant speech writer desperately wants to stand beside her. .
FLASH AND FIRE
She's smart, she's tough, she's beautiful. But can she type?
Never mind. Amanda knows what she's doing and she doesn't need the incredibly annoying Pierce Alexander, who thinks he's the world's gift to women, trying out his latest seduction techniques at every turn. But there he is, getting under her skin, being adorable with her baby, befriending her nanny, and ambushing her at the supermarket. She gives in--just a little--only to find him taking over her job when her main antagonist at the television station where she's an anchor sets her up for dismissal. Can she fight them all on her own?
Just watch her!
Marie's Women’s Contemporary Originals
USA Today and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author Marie Ferrarella is releasing her three hard-to-find women's contemporary novels written in the tradition of Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts and Debbie Macomber. Finally available again, these heart-tugging stories explore the tangled emotional lives of three women. Buy them now.
Marie’s Originals
are reprints of books published earlier by Bantam’s Loveswept line or Berkley/Jove and made available again in e-book form. There are six books currently being published in this format only.
1. Irresistible Forces
2. No Way to Treat A Lover
3. December 32….And Always
4. Smoldering Embers
5. Scenes From The Heart
6. Claimed by Rapture
They can be read in any order. Enjoy them all!
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