Page 17 of Beneath the Harvest Moon

The small cottages lining the street gave way to open fields as they headed down the lane towards Silverdale.

Blythe fiddled with the strings of her reticule. “You should return to your work.”

“You cannot run from me forever, Blythe.”

Blythe stopped. “I am not running from you or anyone. I am going home, and so should you.”

Like a twig beneath his feet, his patience snapped. “You owe me an explanation, Blythe. Did you think you could hide in York and never face the consequences of your actions?”

“What good will it do?” With nothing but chirping birds in the hedgerows as witnesses, she faced him. “I broke my promise to you and your mother, and I have endured the consequences every day. I should never have come home, except…” Blythe mumbled, then continued walking.

“Except what?”

She stared into the distance.

He spun her towards him. “Talk to me, Blythe. We always said we could talk to each other no matter the circumstances.”

“That was when we were… friends. We cannot be friends ever again, no matter how desperately I feel the loss.” Blythe’s lashes lowered.

The thick, scarred tissue that encased his heart softened. No! She cannot be trusted!

“Forgive me. I should not have said that. It is unfair to force my self-inflicted burdens upon you.” Her teeth dug into her lower lip. Sunlight glistened on the moist, pink flesh when it unfurled.

His thumb itched to wipe away the moisture, and his loins heated. She will hurt you again when she leaves. He released her and stepped back. “I suppose you wish to return to York soon.”

“It seems everyone is eager to be rid of me.” That enticing lower lip trembled and his traitorous cock stirred.

Damnation! His idiocy knew no bounds when it came to Blythe Dixon. He should walk away, but instead asked, “Who is to say we cannot become friends again?”

She shook her head. “Do not say such ludicrous things, Gabriel.”

“Why are they ludicrous?”

Blood-shot blue eyes peeked from beneath her dark-blonde lashes. “I thought you were an educated man with a medical degree?”

His lips twitched. “I have the certificate to prove it.”

“Then why are you so obtuse? I jilted you and married another man.”

“I know. I read your letter several times.” A ghost of the pain that had scarred his heart haunted him. Bitter bile churned in his stomach again at the reminder that she had married another man, shared a bed with another man and borne another man’s children. Yes, remember the pain she inflicted, for she will only hurt you again.

Blythe tutted. “I see you are still an infuriating, persistent…”

A sudden weariness settled upon him. What happened to being the better man? He ran a palm over his forehead. “Perhaps I do not wish us to be at odds. While your decision to break our betrothal hurt, time has passed. Can we not move forward too?”

“What will your family say?” Blythe rolled her eyes. “They will say you are an idiot, and they would be correct.”

While her rejection had stamped on his sense of worth like a herd of cattle and demanded vengeance, he was a rational man and could rise above his baser instincts. “I do not know how long you will stay, but do you really wish to spend that time hiding from each other? Or would you rather let go of the past?”

Blythe resumed her quick pace along the dusty road. Over her shoulder, she said, “You should not be so forgiving, Gabriel. Go back to your work.”

He should hate her to his marrow. In her absence, it had been easy to dismiss her as nothing more than a faithless jilt. But now, everything cried out to speak with her as they had before: as friends, as equals, as people who knew each other better than anyone else.

Did it make him less of a man for wanting the return of such a friendship, one that could never be replaced and had been sorely missed? Many would say so, but he did not care for their opinion. His parents may rail at his stupidity, but was it not more enlightened to forgive and forget rather than harbour a grudge?

He caught up to her and said, “Let us forget the past, Blythe.”

Her steps faltered, then resumed.