Page 35 of Beneath the Harvest Moon

For heaven’s sake, it was like beating her head against a brick wall!

Gabriel stood, sending the hen at his feet fluttering away. “We should have married before I left for Edinburgh.”

“You could not support a wife while you studied. It was better to wait until you completed your education and I mine.”

“If we had married, that insipid insurance salesman would not have stolen you.” He stepped towards her. “You would have been mine, as we had always planned.”

Her back hit Daisy’s side. “Life does not always go as planned.”

“Why did you marry him, Blythe?” He continued towards her, but there was no escape.

“I thought we were to leave the past behind us. Why must you continue to ask?”

“Because I know you.”

“You knew me once. There is a difference.”

“No, Blythe. You have not changed. You are still the same hardworking, determined woman I used to know. One who wishes to take care of others and still tries to appease her demanding mother.”

She tried what she hoped was a venomous gaze. How dare he suggest she was still under the thumb of her mother!

“Tell me it is not true. Since you returned, you have taken on every role to prove yourself to her. You have tended to your father and Jane, and you nursed a sick and dying boy. We made plans, and I do not believe that you gave up on them simply for money.”

“But that is the truth.” She raised her chin.

“You loved me; I know you did. You are not fickle in your affections.”

“Please leave this be.” She croaked through her tightening throat. “Did you not say it was better to move on⁠—”

He silenced her with his mouth on hers.

She should resist. She should push him away. But her body yearned for the opposite. She could not stop her hands from roaming up the firm planes of his back to hold him close.

Their tongues tangled and caressed. Their breaths sharp and short between kisses.

Her heart pounded. She had missed this man so much. For fifteen years, she had tried to fill a gaping hole with love for her children and her duty to her husband, but part of her had remained hollow.

You will only hurt him again. Her eyes flew open, and she clamoured for the strength to push him away. “No!” She slid out of the tiny space between him and Daisy. “I should not. I am not…”

“Not what?” Gabriel stepped forward, and she stepped back.

“You deserve better, Gabriel.”

“I want you, Blythe. No one else will do.”

“Do not say that!” Tell him the truth! The truth would only hurt him more. She squeezed her eyes shut while holding out her hand to keep him at a distance. If he kissed her again, she would not have the strength to resist.

“Please leave, Gabriel. We are not young and impetuous anymore. I have children and work that requires my attention.”

She picked up the milk pails and headed to the dairy.

Gabriel forced his feet to remain fixed on the straw-ridden floor. Daisy turned her head towards him, her big brown eyes blinking while she chewed a mouthful of hay.

“You are correct. I am a fool.” He kicked at the loose straw in the corner of the shed before he stamped across the yard.

He should have gone straight home. But no, he had come here, like he had when he was younger, to see Blythe even though he had seen her a few hours ago when she had delivered the fourses.

He slunk out of the gateway to Silverdale and headed towards Midthorpe. A silver sickle, the last of the harvest moon, glimmered amongst a blanket of twinkling lights above.