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“Aye.” Nathaniel nodded. “The fever took them all despite our best efforts to save them. Their home is now empty.” He turned to William. “In need of care.”
Thomas continued the thought. “The farm is small but provides plenty. A husband and wife would do well there. Could make a good home, just as the Atticks did. Custer and his wife had no family to take the land. It may as well go to someone in need of a fresh start.”
Nathaniel smacked William on the back. “All we must do is find you a good woman.”
“Absolutely not.” His muscles burned. “I’d sooner take the noose.”
“Come now.” Thomas leaned back against the table and crossed his arms with an annoying grin on his face. “A woman can do great things for a man.”
Aye. Such as betray him and leave bare his heart to be trampled by the painful memories of what would never be.
William exhaled a rough laugh as he stood and poured himself another glass of cider. “You may do as you like for yourselves, but marriage could not be further from my thoughts.” He downed the amber liquid. “Do not press me.”
“Of course, if you did marry,” Nathaniel continued, sitting in the chair next to the fire as if William had issued no warning, “you would have to keep your identity a secret from even your wife…at least until the conflict with the crown is ended.”
William grimaced, the stench of the conversation permeating the room like rot. “I will say it again. No.”
Thomas motioned with a finger toward town. “There are plenty of fine women—”
“Gentlemen, please.” William clutched the glass in his hand, fearing it might break from the pressure. “I do not take my plight lightly.”
“Neither do we.” Nathaniel glanced at Thomas without moving his head before nailing his gaze on William, his expression every bit as heavy as his tone. He stood and rested a hand on William’s shoulder. “We would not wish you to think we are anything but deadly serious.”
Thomas neared. His volume dropped and the earnest caring in his voice soothed William’s ruffled pride. “If you mean to defect, we will help you in any way we can. If you mean to stay hidden, then taking on a new life, far from the one you have been living, is the best way to ensure the least amount of suspicion.”
William stared at the bottom of the glass in his hands as a chill crept up his spine. It was true. If he took not only a new name, but a new life, the risk of being found would plummet. He swallowed and shut his eyes against the vaporous memories—her smile, the cushion of her mouth, the scent of her hair—and the way she patted his arm with a grin and turned her back on him forever.
“Fredericks.”
William jerked at the sound of his new name.
The half-smile on Thomas’s face said more than words. “You cannot do something you do not believe in. We won’t press it upon you. We simply mean to help.”
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nbsp; With another forced breath, William exhaled through clenched teeth. “I thank you for your sincerity.” He set the glass down. “I do believe in marriage…” The words stuck in his throat. What was he thinking?
Nathaniel tipped his head. “Then you would consider it?”
Rubbing his temples, William groaned his answer before he could reconsider. “I suppose.”
Such a stark silence followed he jolted up to be sure he wasn’t suddenly alone. Thomas and Nathaniel both stared at him, their expressions knit in thought. Thoughts clearly occupied on the very subject he didn’t wish to discuss but had willingly become a party to.
His friends’ expressions shifted, their eyes thinning, mouths quirking sideways. William’s muscles tightened, ready to snap like the lock of his pistol. He took the open seat nearest the kitchen and slumped back, voice bare of expression. “Do not look at me as if you were fitting me for shoes.”
“Fitting you for shoes? Nay.” A chuckle sparkled in Nathaniel’s eyes. “But if we are to find you a wife then we must consider the options.”
“What’s this?”
The men jumped at the sound of Eliza’s melodic tone. She and Kitty stood wide-eyed in the doorframe of the kitchen.
Thomas reached for his wife’s hand and she neared, taking his fingers in hers. He seemed to relay the entire conversation to her in a single, solemn look. “Fredericks is in need of a bride.”
Kitty’s mouth dropped open and she flung a glance to her husband. “Nathaniel?”
“’Tis true.” Nathaniel answered with such seeming delight William fought the urge to smack the mirth from the man’s face.
Kitty’s eyebrows shot up and she pinned her gaze on Eliza, who nodded slowly and brushed a hand over her rounded belly. After a moment of quiet thought a smile grew on her face and she turned to Thomas. “I know you gentlemen mean well, but if we are to find Fredericks a wife, you cannot simply choose a woman and be done with it.”
