Lynette Vinet - Emerald Trilogy 02

by Emerald Enchantment

  “I love you,” she whispered, so low that he barely heard her. But she heard his long sigh, felt his breath upon her face.

  “You shouldn’t love me. I can only hurt you.”

  “But I can’t help how I feel. I don’t know for certain, but I think I’m married, and I should search for my husband. Maybe he was the younger man in the accident. But I don’t want to look for him, can’t remember him. I want you!” Allison threw herself against him.

  He looked at her, stroking her hair, “Suppose I were your husband?”

  “Then I would be the luckiest of women.”

  Sadly he shook his head. “No, my love, I don’t believe you’d think so.”

  The pain in his eyes dismayed her, but she couldn’t think of anything to say to ease it. Clearly, she reasoned he hadn’t gotten over the death of his wife and child. But she would help him. Somehow she’d make Paul Flannery fall in love with her.

  He covered them both with the fur, and she clung quietly to him in the darkness, not realizing just how much he loved her.

  37

  Allison opened her eyes to a hazy purple sky as night gave way to morning. She stretched, feeling wonderfully snug and safe wrapped inside the fur blanket like a caterpillar yet to emerge from its cocoon. She sat up, shaking her long mane of hair about her shoulders and glanced around for Paul. She wondered where he had gone so early. She missed his arms around her and his manly scent which she had inhaled all night long.

  Big Fox suddenly bounded through the bushes and lumbered towards her, his huge brown eyes lighting up at the sight of her. She patted the paw he offered her, then his furry head. “Hello, boy,” she crooned as if talking to a baby. “Have you seen Paul this morning?”

  The dog looked quizzically at her but jumped about playfully and fetched a nearby stick. “Not now. We’ll play later,” she said as she slipped into her now damp shirt which Paul must have retrieved from the lake sometime during the night. Noticing her pants which lay nearby on the ground, she smiled to realize that he must have made a trip back to the cabin to locate them for her.

  When she finished dressing, she grabbed the fur pelt and walked along the lakeshore hoping that he would be there. Not seeing him, she hurried to the cabin. Surely the Millers would be ready to depart and she didn’t want to miss bidding goodbye to Mary. But as she made her way up the trail, she heard Paul’s voice nearby, speaking in low tones. As she drew closer, she saw Dorcas with her arms wrapped around him, her body pressed close against his.

  She felt sorely hurt that he had left her side to seek out Dorcas who was now rubbing suggestively against him. What made it worse was that Paul didn’t discourage the girl. He’s vile! she thought, skirting around them, through the thicket.

  Fuming inwardly, she didn’t know how she managed to speak so calmly to Mary and the others minutes later when they carried their few belongings to their canoe. “You and your husband must visit us,” Mary said, settling Tilly beside her. “I should like to have a friend.”

  Allison only smiled and kissed the little girl on the head, knowing that she’d never visit Mary with her so-called husband. She wouldn’t be in this savage wilderness long enough. Somehow she’d leave and make a new life for herself and forget Paul Flannery.

  Richard and Joshua wished her well. “Where is that confounded Dorcas?” Joshua asked in agitation, but then the girl suddenly appeared with Paul beside her.

  “Here I am, Papa. Don’t get so riled. Mr. Flannery was showing me around.”

  “There’s nothing to see but trees, Dorcas,” Mary sternly admonished her. “Now get in this boat and let’s be off.”

  They waved their farewells, but Dorcas barely looked in Allison’s direction as she blew a kiss to Paul.

  That did it! The tears of anger and hurt she had managed to suppress bubbled over. She stormed from the shore to the cabin where she found Jacques outside, feeding Big Fox. Immediately he noticed the huge tears flowing down her cheeks. “Angelle, don’t cry.” He stood up and took her in his arms.

  She leaned against him, laying her face on his chest, unable to tell him what was wrong. But Jacques knew. He had seen her leaving the cabin the night before, then watched as Paul got up and followed. Jealousy ate away at him, but he realized that she cared more for Paul than for him. Now, though he sensed Paul had hurt her, he would be the one to ease her pain.

  “Sweet Angelle, you must not cry over Golden Hawk. He has way with women. He hurt you. You come with Jacques to Montreal and I buy you beautiful dress and we marry. Oui?”

  She knew marriage to Jacques was impossible. Somewhere she had a husband—she knew that with a newfound certainty—and she must find him. But the main reason she had to refuse was Paul. She loved him and didn’t think she could give her heart to any man save Paul.

  “I’m gone just for a few minutes to tell our friends adieu, and no sooner do I return than I find you two wrapped in each other’s arms.” Paul’s voice startled them both, and they jumped away from each other. He watched them with sardonic amusement, one eyebrow raised. “Does either one of you have an explanation for this intimate scene?”

  “How dare you accuse me! You’d think we did something indecent.” Allison’s eyes blazed as her anger rose anew.

  “Have you?”

  “No!” Both she and Jacques chimed at once.

  “Good, let’s keep it that way.”

  She rushed forward and stood trembling with rage before him. “I saw you with Dorcas, so please don’t pretend you’re above such behavior, because we both know differently.”

  She was pleased to see him look sheepish, only for a moment.

  “I also know how hot-blooded you are, my love, and I don’t trust any man around you,” Paul admitted.

  “I have not touched Angelle but to hold her, but I would like to do more,” Jacques said, as he placed his arm around her waist.

  Though Paul wished to pull his friend away from Allison, he didn’t. He saw how hurt she was at having observed him with Dorcas.

  Though she had seen them, she apparently hadn’t heard him tell Dorcas that he loved his wife and could never be unfaithful to her. Now, within the last few minutes, the embrace she’d shared with Jacques had caused a change of heart. The longer he delayed the truth, the worse it would be for Jacques. “My good friend,” Paul said to Jacques, “I advise you to stop having fantasies about my wife.”

  Jacques laughed. “Angelle isn’t your wife, mon ami. I hope to marry her.”

  “Then your Angelle shall be committing bigamy. I am her husband and have been for over a year now. Angelle is Allison Flannery, my wife and the mother of our two children. I am taking her back to Ireland.”

  Jacques grew rigid with shock, but Allison instinctively knew he was telling the truth. That’s why she had the peculiar dreams concerning him. He was her husband, and deep within her heart she remembered him. However, her anger now reached an uncontrollable stage. Not only had he made love to her last night only to end up in another woman’s arms this morning, she now discovered he had been purposely deceiving her. She propelled herself forward and slapped Paul viciously on the cheek.

  “I hate you! How dare you lie to me!”

  He grabbed her arm, holding her so tightly that she was rooted to the spot. “I wanted to protect you, Allison, to keep you safe from me. Yes, I admit I’ve deceived you many times in the past. When I saw you that first morning in the cabin, I couldn’t believe you had come so far to find me. But think—think of why you’re here. Surely not because you hate me. Somewhere you’ve had a change of heart. I know you’re hurt, but somehow I will win you back. I swear I will.”

  She had an insane desire to kiss him, to feel his hands again upon her flesh, but she drove such thoughts from her mind. Never could she trust such a man again!

  “Your charms may have worked on me before, and though I can’t recall, I know enough about you—and my response to you—to understand how that could happen. But no more. No more!” She pul
led her arm away, and with a detached air she didn’t feel, walked into the cabin.

  “Have you nothing to say?” Paul inquired of Jacques, who looked as if the world had crashed around him.

  Resentment rose in Jacques for the man whom he had trusted, the man he had called friend. “I do not know why you didn’t tell me—or her—the truth.”

  “I had hoped she’d remember and return to Ireland. I didn’t want to hurt her again, mon ami.”

  “I am not your friend! I leave this place and return to my people. You were never one of us.”

  “Forgive me.”

  Jacques spat on the ground then turned to pack his belongings. When finished, he started to leave without a further word to Paul or Allison, but Allison ran from the cabin and threw her arms around him. “Take care of yourself,” she whispered.

  He gave her a hint of a smile. “Be kind to Golden Hawk.” Jacques didn’t know why he said this, but once they had been family, and he remembered the agony that Paul had suffered when his wife and baby died. If Allison could give some love back to Paul, then Little Dove’s death wouldn’t have been in vain.

  Releasing her, Jacques started off, with Big Fox beside him, into the dense forest.

  38

  Flowers! Flowers filled the cabin with their heady perfume, almost as if they grew out of the walls. Unless Paul stopped inundating the tiny room with a myriad of wild blooms, there would be no place for even cooking utensils.

  Allison suspected his motives, and even as she tenderly stroked a wild rose, she was determined not to allow his sentiments to sway her. For three days she hadn’t spoken to him, bolting the cabin door at night to keep him outside, but she knew if he wished he could splinter the door into a hundred fragments. But he hadn’t.

  Each night his voice drifted in, regaling her with snatches of “My love is like a mountain beautiful, brave and true.” And each night she muffled her ears with her hands, not wanting to hear, not wishing to recall the memories he tried to revive in her. She felt certain that those memories would be too painful. However, she couldn’t erase mental images of his face and his warm hands upon her cool flesh.

  Though determined to avoid the past, she ached to know about their children and this finally forced her to seek him out.

  Paul had been gone since dawn, and it was now late afternoon as Allison hiked through the verdant woods filled with the sweet scents of pine and maple. Wild daisies and violets grew along the narrow path to the place where Paul and Jacques had laid their traps. She thought of different ways to phrase her words, not wanting him to think she was eager to learn about their marriage when all she wanted was information about their children.

  Walking with eyes downcast, she startled at the sound of crunching leaves behind her. She jerked around, expecting to see Paul, but there was no one there. The forest remained quiet except for chirping birds and scampering woodland creatures.

  Shivers ran through her as she recalled Jacques’ stories about renegade Indians who kidnapped white women for their own pleasure, then killed them or forced them into bondage. She swallowed, trying to convince herself that no one was there but couldn’t allay her fears. Instead she started to run, plunging heedlessly through brambles and thickets. She imagined eyes watching her, thought she heard stealthy feet padding behind her.

  Running blindly, she fell over a protruding tree root. Pain seared through her foot but she pulled herself up and kept on, hobbling. How much farther? she wondered frantically. Where was Paul? Though she saw no one, she sensed someone was stalking her, matching his pace to hers.

  “Paul! Paul!” Her hysterical cries echoed through the still afternoon. Then her ears discerned the sound of dried leaves crunching behind her again, and she knew someone was closing in on her, ready to pounce. She screamed Paul’s name again, expecting to be dragged down at any second.

  From nowhere Paul appeared, loaded down with traps, but seeing the stark terror in her face, he dropped them. She hobbled towards him and threw herself into his arms. “Someone’s chasing me!”

  Unsheathing his knife, he pushed her behind him and listened. For long moments, the only sound was chirping birds. Then the crunching sound moved closer through the thickets. Paul stiffened, prepared to strike, as Allison waited, barely breathing.

  Suddenly Paul’s booming laughter rent the air as they both watched as a mink curiously eyed them then scampered to the safety of the underbrush. A huge grin split his lips. “There’s your culprit,” he said, putting the knife away.

  Allison’s countenance matched a cluster of red berries, growing nearby. She felt horribly foolish.

  “You’re far from the cabin. Is anything wrong?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “Something must be the matter.”

  Embarrassment outweighed her curiosity about the children. She moved from the protection of his arm. “Nothing is wrong.” She grimaced and cried out as a sharp pain shot through her ankle and forced her to sink to the ground.

  “Allison, you’re hurt,” he said with concern.

  “How astute of you to finally notice.”

  “Now, now, don’t act the shrew.” Kneeling beside her, he gently eased off her boot. He held her foot in the palm of his hand, carefully examining the pulsing bruise with his fingertips. “It’s very swollen. Stay off your foot for a while, but it will feel better once you soak it in the lake. I’ll carry you there.”

  “I’ll walk,” she insisted, but he scooped her up into his arms.

  “Don’t be stubborn, Allison.”

  She felt so tiny pressed against the broadness of his chest, enfolded in his powerful, muscular arms. Despite her resolve to hate him, she relaxed against him, silently marveling at how quickly he traversed the distance to the lake.

  He placed her on the edge of the shore and immersed her foot into the water. “Soak it and keep your weight off it.”

  “Do you intend to carry me everywhere?”

  “Hmm.” He gave her a considering look. “That is a pleasant thought.”

  She failed to conceal the blush which sprang to her cheeks at his lustful grin.

  “When are you going to tell me the reason you came looking for me?”

  She might as well admit it. “I wanted to know about my children.”

  “Our children,” he reminded her. “I did have a hand in making them.”

  “But you left us.”

  Her words sounded so sad to his ears, not tinged with the bitterness he knew she must feel.

  “Yes, I did … but I wanted to protect you. I thought I would only bring you pain if I stayed. We weren’t getting along.”

  She suppressed a laugh. “So your leaving was a supreme act of love.”

  “I thought it was the right thing to do at the time.”

  Allison was confused and didn’t know what to think but refused to probe further. “Just tell me about the children.”

  He moved nearer to her and explained about the night the twins were born but omitted the time she nearly died.

  A smile sprung to her lips at his description of them, and she could almost see them in her mind’s eye. When he finished, she said, “They must be very beautiful babies.”

  Paul plucked a wild daisy growing nearby and traced her lips with the soft petals. “As beautiful as their mother.”

  His gentleness, the love in his eyes, nearly undid her. She almost liked him better when she hated him, but she certainly could imagine loving this man.

  The sun straddled the horizon, and a slight breeze drifted off the take. Withdrawing her foot from the water, she forced herself to look away from him. “It’s getting late.”

  He picked her up and carried her to the cabin. Once she was comfortable, he served up the supper she had prepared earlier in the day.

  “How’s the ankle?” he inquired after they had eaten.

  “Much better, but I’m not certain I’ll be able to sleep unless you stop bringing me flowers. There’s hardly any room left.”
r />   His gaze skimmed lightly over the cabin, and he laughed. “I hoped you’d think that I am an ardent lover.”

  Her eyes fastened on the floor as color flooded her cheeks. She already thought of him that way and couldn’t forget the rapturous night of love they had shared by the lake. Carefully, she eased herself from the chair and hobbled without help to her pallet. Suddenly her head ached and she wished to sleep.

  “Are you feeling unwell?” he asked.

  “Just another headache, but it will pass. They always do.” She laid down and covered herself.

  “If you need anything, just call for me,” Paul insisted.

  “I just need to rest.” She closed her eyes though she felt his gaze upon her, and when she heard him start for the door, she said, “Paul, you can sleep in here tonight.” She suddenly found his presence comforting.

  Allison heard his clothes drop to the floor and the rustle of the furs as he settled himself across the room from her. For hours, wide awake, she stared into the darkness. Paul’s steady breathing and his presence somehow comforted her. In vain she tried to divert her thoughts from him, but always they returned to him.

  Without realizing it, she dozed and imagined she heard a baby’s cry. Half awake, she stood up. “I’m coming, Douglas,” she mumbled sleepily, thinking she was in her bedroom at Fairfax Manor, stepping into the adjoining nursery. But the slight pressure of her foot against the floor caused her some pain and she awakened fully. She blinked in bafflement to find herself standing by the cabin door, hand on the latch. The first thing she realized was that her headache was gone, then her entire past washed over her like a tidal wave. Her hands flew to her face and she turned toward the sleeping figure of her husband.

  Moonlight covered him in a silvery counterpane, and she knew why she had traveled thousands of miles to find him. Without the least uncertainty in her heart, she knew she loved him, but more importantly, she felt assured of his love for her. No matter what had happened in the past, they had an endless future to right all the wrongs. A slow smile spread over her face. He loved her!