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An icy chill wriggled over her spine as she tried to push away. “Stop, Samuel! Don’t!”
He stilled, then stepped away and dropped his lifeless hands at his sides. His features went slack and the muscles in his face ticked.
“I care for you Samuel.” Eliza straightened, pulling the shawl back around her shoulders. “But I do not love you. I’m sorry. I don’t believe I ever really did. And how could I marry you now, knowing what you’ve done?” She lifted her chin and straightened her posture. “I love Thomas. We’re to be married.”
His face twisted and flooded with red as he stepped forward. Eliza recoiled as his shoulders heaved from his heavy breathing.
“No. Never! You’re mine, Eliza!” His voice boomed as he spoke through his clenched teeth.
He took a step closer reaching his hands toward her, a wicked desperation spinning in his gaze. “I know you are frightened to make such choices in your life. You could never come to a decision this easily. He’s forcing you to do these things. You don’t have to marry him, Eliza. You’re acting so different from the woman I know and love, and it pains me to see it. I will take you away and help you think clearly again.”
“I am thinking clearly!” Eliza leaned into her words and clenched her fists, holding her arms rigid at her sides. “Samuel, I love Thomas and I am staying with him. I will be his wife! I’ll not go anywhere with you!”
Samuel’s face turned to stone. “Yes. You. Will.”
Eliza charged for the barn door, but Samuel overcame her and held her waist with iron muscles as she struggled to get free.
He wrenched her around and gripped her body against his. “Thomas will be killed for what he’s done, make no mistake. And you and Kitty are coming with me!”
Her knees buckled. She stopped moving and peered into Samuel’s cold stare. “Samuel, I beg of you. Don’t hurt Thomas. I love him. And if you love me, truly love me, you’ll leave us alone and allow us to live our lives in peace. You can end all this, tell them to stop looking for him and allow his cousin’s family to return back to their home.” Hands trembling, she gripped his crimson jacket. “Please, Samuel!”
He held her too close and too tight. He stroked her face with one hand and kneaded her back with the other. “I do truly love you, Eliza, more than you’ll ever know. I can see what you cannot. And because of that, I will rescue you and take you back to Boston where you and I will marry, and we will live our lives in peace.”
Eliza’s blood turned to fire and she pulled away. “Never!”
Samuel leaned forward and jabbed a rigid finger into her chest. “Thomas will die, Eliza. There’s nothing you can do to stop it from happening.”
The room whirled. Her legs melted. She fell to her knees and pressed her hands against her chest. Suddenly, she sucked in a sharp breath as a repulsive yet powerful idea possessed her mind.
After a moment of pressing silence, she stood, keeping her voice void of the emotion that threatened to steal her strength. “If I come with you, if I vow to return to Boston and marry you, will you promise not to kill him?”
Samuel wrenched his neck and looked toward the house through the opening of the barn door then turned back to her as a wicked smile tilted his mouth. “Of course, my love. That’s what I’d hoped you’d say.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Thomas worked with the last few buttons on his waistcoat and marveled at the events of last night. God had given him a miracle by turning ashes to beauty. A cursed situation had been changed to a glorious blessing in his life.
He slipped on his dark brown jacket and pushed his feet into his boots. A smile slid over his face and a reassuring peacefulness settled over his shoulders.
Eliza loved him. She had accepted his proposal and was to be his wife. Thomas could handle anything—even farming—so long as Eliza was by his side. The thought of it made his insides light as the sparse clouds in the stark blue sky.
He left his room and entered the parlor. The regular clanking of utensil on pan drifted through the house along with the mouth-watering fragrance of fresh baked bread. Kitty must be at her usual post.
But where was Eliza? Most mornings, if she wasn’t cooking the morning meal with Kitty, she cleaned or mended.
He explored upstairs and checked the kitchen, his shoulders growing tighter with each passing second.
“Kitty, have you seen Eliza?” he said, entering the warm, sweet-scented room.
Kitty looked up, her hands covered in flour. “I don’t know where she is. Let’s hope she hasn’t disappeared again.” She stared for a moment. “Thomas?”
“Yes?”
Lowering her chin, she spoke quiet. “I do hope you can forgive me for last night. No matter our differences, I want you to know—”
“Kitty.” He walked around the table and wrapped her in his arms. “You and I shall be brother and sister from now on. And though we may believe differently about certain things, our affection for one another will never be dimmed.”
“What?” Kitty shot out of his arms, her bright eyes round and her mouth open. “Eliza didn’t say anything about it—that’s marvelous news—you’re engaged! I’m so happy for you both. I suppose I did see that coming.” She raised her shoulders with a chirping giggle.
