Kathryn Albright – Familiar Stranger In Clear Springs (страница 9)

Without preamble, he pushed his chair back, making a loud scraping noise, and stood, unfolding until he towered over the both of them. He took a minute to meet Terrance’s gaze before settling on hers. “I don’t mean to interrupt your meal, but seeing as how you are done, I’ll say hello.” The corner of his mouth came up in a spare lopsided smile that did funny things to her inside. “Didn’t get that far yesterday.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Barrington,” she said, feeling her brother’s scrutiny as she spoke.

“Well, well,” Terrance said in his smoothly oiled voice. “This is a surprise. What brings you to town, Barrington?”

Tom broke eye contact with her and faced her brother, the half-smile dissolving into a thin, straight line. “A job.”

Then his gaze slid right back to her. Heat flared in her cheeks. She was sure every set of eyes in the restaurant must be concentrated on them. What in the world did he want?

“Then you won’t be in town long?” Terrance asked.

She felt the press of her brother’s hand against the small of her back, signaling it was time to go. Curious how Tom would answer him, she planted her feet firmly in place.

“I haven’t decided. It depends on a few things.”

“Sorry we can’t stay and join you,” Terrance said, pushing her more insistently.

“That’s all right. I actually prefer to eat with friends.”

She drew in a sharp breath. Why was Tom deliberately taunting her brother?

“Well. Good luck on that.”

The tension running beneath their words puzzled her, like a taut cord of leather made stronger by a soaking. Where was all this animosity coming from?

“Perhaps Miss Morley would like dessert? It is ‘Miss,’ correct?”

He knew she wasn’t married. What was he getting at?

“I’ll walk her home afterward.”

All civility dropped from her brother’s aspect. “I can walk her home myself. She doesn’t need anything from the likes of you. Understand?”

Tom stepped into the space between the tables, successfully barring the path with his body. He narrowed his eyes to slits, his jaw tense. “Understand? As a matter of fact—yes. I’m beginning to understand a heck of a lot. I don’t believe you gave the lady a chance to answer.”

So much for not making a scene in front of everyone in the restaurant! She was sure that all eyes were staring at the three of them. Mutely she shook her head.

“Another time, perhaps.” He took his time stepping out of the way.

She remembered to breathe, and then somehow made herself move forward toward the door. Her cheeks had to be cherry red they were so hot.

Terrance hung back. She couldn’t hear what he said to Tom, but she knew that tone of voice. It wasn’t pleasant being on the receiving end of it.

Yet it seemed that Tom’s words and attitude had done everything to antagonize Terrance when all her brother had been was polite. Well—perhaps until that last bit that she couldn’t hear.

She stepped onto the porch and clung tightly to the wooden railing. For a moment she let the ocean breeze cool the heat emanating from her face. This was a different Tom than the one she remembered. Before, he’d been fun and forgiving of the differences between himself and her brother. This Tom was in all ways a self-possessed man, not taking any aggravation or intimidation from another and able to hand it out if necessary. Had he been like that before and she simply hadn’t noticed? She didn’t think so. What had changed him?

Terrance took hold of her arm and accompanied her down the steps and toward the mercantile. She stumbled, trying to keep up with his long, brisk stride. Her satin hat ribbons whipped across her face and her skirt tangled around her. She wanted so badly to look back to see if Tom remained on the hotel’s porch. She turned her head ever so slightly...

Terrance tugged her around with a firmness that bordered on pain. “He’s there. No need to look.”

They stepped up onto the boardwalk in front of the mercantile and Terrance unlocked the door. “Well, sister. It’s time you and I had a little talk.”

* * *

Inside the mercantile, Elizabeth jerked from Terrance’s grasp and rubbed her arm. Her heart pounded from seeing Tom and then being half dragged down the street by her brother.

“What, may I ask, was that all about?” she demanded.

Terrance scowled as he removed his coat and hat. In one swift motion he threw them with such momentum over the straight-backed chair that they continued on to the floor. “Well, that was unexpected. And by the way Barrington spoke, apparently you knew he was in town. How long has he been here?”

Elizabeth stopped rubbing her arm. Was he accusing her of something? She walked over to pick up his hat and coat, smoothing the latter carefully over the chair’s back. “He stopped in last evening.”

“No wonder he was so casual with you. What did he want?”

She stiffened. What business was that of Terrance’s? “He didn’t want anything. He seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see him. We barely spoke past acknowledgment of each other before Mrs. Flynn interrupted us.”

He paced the length of the store, rubbing the back of his neck and mumbling. “Great. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.”

“What do you mean?” It wasn’t like him to be so agitated. She moved to the counter and removed her gloves and her bonnet and waited for an answer.

He barely acknowledged her words. “Last I heard, the military released him. I didn’t think he would have the nerve to show his face around here again.”

“Why ever not?”

He met her gaze. “It was a dishonorable discharge.”

That caught her attention. She immediately stiffened. “Dishonorable! No. I can’t believe that. He would never...”

Terrance snorted lightly. “It’s been a long time since he lived here. Circumstances, good or bad, change a man.”

“No. Not that much. Not Tom.”

He dismissed her words with an irritated wave of his hand. “You are quick to come to his defense, considering how he treated you in the past.”

“I’m not coming to his defense... I just cannot fathom that he would do anything deemed dishonorable.” Everything about Tom in the military had screamed justice.

“Like I said, a man can change.”

She realized suddenly that her brother had not shared any of this with her at the time. “You knew they let him go and didn’t tell me?”

Terrance did not seem to hear her. “I wonder who he is working for now.” He stopped pacing and looked at her as if she could supply the answer.

Slowly she removed her shawl and hung it back on the peg. She didn’t know anything about Tom’s job here, and whatever she revealed her brother would try to twist and turn to his fortune. He’d always been that way. It didn’t seem her place to say anything. If he wanted to know more, he should ask Tom. “Why are you upset, Terrance? I’m the one he left. I’m the one who had to face things before. Not you.”

He swallowed, his expression a curious mixture of speculation and worry. Then his shoulders relaxed. “I don’t want to see you hurt. That’s all. What he did before took you years to put behind you.”

He had always blamed Tom...and she was tired of it. “That was as much due to what Preston did as it was due to Tom. Preston nearly ruined this town when he pulled out his backing. That wasn’t Tom’s fault at all.”

“No. It was yours.”

She refused to feel any guilt, although Terrance tried his best to blame her. In her heart she knew that she’d made the right decision. With Tom, she had realized what love was for the first time and she couldn’t go back to the watered-down affection she felt for Preston even if it did mean giving up the man’s fortune—something her brother couldn’t seem to understand. She felt that way even though in the end nothing had worked out as she had hoped. She had learned to adjust, learned to live with her choice. She had moved on. Terrance was the one who wouldn’t let it go. “It wasn’t my fault and I wish you would stop saying that. I made the right decision for me. It’s in the past and it’s over.”

“That’s just it. You are different whenever Barrington is around. I don’t like it and I don’t trust him around you. He’s not good enough for you.”

She knew what he meant about being different. She felt it inside herself. It seemed that Tom was the only one who kicked up emotions and nerves that ran shallow beneath her surface. In the intervening years she’d had opportunities to be courted, but had always rebuffed her would-be suitors—finding gentle excuses as to why she wasn’t interested. Tom overshadowed everyone and everything for her—he always had. And now even the thought of him back in town caused a reaction, a tightening in her gut. She hated the sharp, anxious sensation that had taken up residence inside. It would not control her. She would not let it. And yet she hadn’t been able to stop thinking of Tom since he rode into town.

“I don’t know why you are worried. He’s not in town to renew anything with me. If that were the case he would have contacted me years ago after I wrote to him. Like he said, he’s here about a job.”

Terrance eyed her as if he wasn’t sure he believed her.

“In my limited experience, any job he takes has precedence over any other part of his life. He’ll be gone in no time and without a second thought toward me, I assure you. You have no need of concern.”