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Attempting to process what Kitty had unwittingly divulged, Thomas stared at one sister, then the next.
Eliza was engaged?
His heart sank for a moment before he talked himself back to reality.
What was he thinking? He didn’t even know Eliza. His responsibility for them would end after he brought them safely home when the hunt was over—which is the way he wanted it, certainly. But his mind whirled despite his vigorous efforts to stop it until curiosity got the better of him.
“You’re engaged?” The words splashed out.
Eliza looked back at him, gifting him with a tiny sparkle in her doe-like eyes. “No. I am not engaged.”
Thomas released a long breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding and continued walking, pretending her answer didn’t matter to him. Because it didn’t.
His mind drifted away until all he could hear was the crunch of the ground beneath his feet. Right now, back in Boston, some man was no doubt searching for the woman he loved. He must be worried about her—frantic. Any man would be.
Who was this . . . suitor? Did she miss him?
Lengthening his stride and pounding his feet a little harder than necessary, Thomas shook his head. He had no hold upon her heart and he didn’t want one. It was better that way.
Much better.
The sun relaxed low in the October sky, fashioning long skinny shadows as its caramel light bounced through the trees and across the quilt of red and gold hues that draped the surrounding hills.
After another day of ceaseless walking and another night suffering the elements, Eliza prayed with every painful step that they would reach their intended destination before her burning legs buckled beneath her. Thomas believed that the Redcoats would close in on them if they didn’t continue moving, so they journeyed as fast as their weary bodies would take them. The continuous scraping sensation against her heels made her hands shake and she promised her bleeding feet that once they reached Sandwich she would never walk again. For the rest of her blessed life.
As she trudged across the soggy ground, crunching leaves with every step, her thoughts somehow always found their way to the man at her side. And the man that wasn’t. Thomas and Samuel were similar to a degree. Both were handsome, strong in body and mind, and cared for those around them. Each held strong to their beliefs and were valiant in their respective causes.
Then again, the two men could not be more different.
She lifted her skirts to avoid a stagnant puddle and stepped around it. Still, she would like to believe they could be friends. After Samuel learned what Thomas had done in protecting them, how could they not be? But her conscience told her that despite their common interest in keeping her and Kitty safe, those two men would be enemies.
Eliza peeked at Thomas, who walked a few paces ahead with his cloak draping his broad shoulders, and her insides performed a pirouette. She had to put a hand
on her middle. She shouldn’t be thinking about him, studying the lines of his face when he wasn’t looking, memorizing the color of his hair and the shape of his smile. Not when Samuel waited on her answer.
But she couldn’t help it.
Such close proximity to undeniable masculinity and gentleman-like manners made it impossible to focus on anything else.
A grin teased her lips at the memory of the mysterious emotion that had flitted across Thomas’s face when she’d said she wasn’t engaged. What was it? Surprise? Amusement? Whatever it was, it vanished as soon as it appeared. What made her think he cared about such a thing? She and Kitty were nothing more than a responsibility to him. It would serve her well to remember that.
“Good news, weary travelers.” Thomas stopped and turned. “We are very near to Sandwich now—only about two miles. But before we make our way straight into town, I need to make sure it’s safe and that no Redcoats are there, already looking for us.”
“What would you have us do?” Eliza asked.
“I need you to wait here. I won’t be long. I promise to return before sundown.”
Kitty laughed and sat beneath a large oak, closing her eyes and resting her head against the trunk. “I’m more than happy to rest. My only concern is whether my legs will be able to move again once they’ve stopped.”
Both Eliza and Thomas chuckled and exchanged shy smiles.
His gaze pinned her feet to the ground. A nervous excitement bubbled in her chest and suddenly she didn’t know what to do with her hands. She looped them tight around her waist.
He came to her, standing closer than he ever had before. His eyes, pools of deep blue, roamed her face and Eliza’s lungs refused to function.
His low, honey-like voice melted around her. “Will you be all right while I’m gone?”
Eliza forced her lashes upward and her heart patted wildly against her ribs. The lines around Thomas’s caring eyes deepened, causing her legs to grow weak. Why did he have to be so kind?
