AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He tried to control his anger. He shouldn't be surprised. He'd known this was what was going to happen.
Newt was still babbling. "I'll be checking out," Justin said, cutting him off. "Send one of the bellboys up to carry my things. Prepare the bill and have someone watch the buggy. Bonnie's sleeping inside." Then he took Megan's cold hand and led her into the building.
It was nearly dark by the time they arrived at the large house on the edge of town. Justin stared at the structure. Old man Bartlett's house. He was going to live here now. But it wouldn't be his home. He knew that. Megan had barely spoken to him the entire time they'd been in the hotel. They'd worked quickly, in separate rooms. The maid, Alice, had come up to offer her assistance. At least having a third person there had taken some of the edge off the tension.
Who would do that tonight? Where would he spend the night? In Megan's bed? Or alone?
"Are we there yet?" Bonnie asked as she stirred on the seat behind them. She bounced to her feet, making the buggy rock slightly. "Oh, we are. Are we going to stay here forever and ever?"
Justin didn't know how to answer that. Were they? His plan had always been to leave in a year. But he was a married man, now. Could he still think of leaving? Did he want to?
"Can I have my own room?" Bonnie asked, holding on to the back of their seat.
"Of course. I'll even let you pick it out," Megan said as she turned and smiled at the girl.
Justin waited, but she never answered Bonnie's original question. She didn't say if they were going to live in the house forever or not.
"And are we a real family? My mama always promised me a real family."
Megan smiled at the child. "We'll do our best, Bonnie."
He wondered if their best would be good enough. After climbing down from the rented buggy, he walked around to the other side and held out his arms to Megan. She placed her hands on his shoulders as he lowered her to the ground.
Just for a moment, before he released her and she stepped back, their eyes met. He searched for some hint as to what she was feeling. He could see that apprehension was foremost, mingling with fear. He turned away. He didn't want to know what else swirled through the hazel-gray depths. Not yet. He wasn't strong enough to face her censure. Not when he could still taste her passion on his lips.
Bonnie jumped down and ran up the steps to the porch. Megan moved after her and opened the front door. Justin unloaded the luggage and started carrying it inside.
Half expecting to see old man Bartlett jumping out to bar him entrance, he crossed the threshold. The house was cool and dark inside. It smelled faintly musty, as if daily cleaning wasn't enough to disguise the fact that only one person lived in the three-story mansion.
While Megan removed her hat and shawl, Bonnie danced impatiently at the foot of the stairs.
"Go on," Megan said, and laughed softly. "Go pick out your room."
"I know exactly which one I want," the girl answered as she tore up the stairs. Her footsteps thudded loudly on the wooden floor, then muffled as she reached the landing and ran across the carpet.
He set down the small trunk Megan had packed Bonnie's things in, then lowered his valise next to it. "Do you knowj which one she'll choose?" he asked.
"I think so. There's an oddly shaped room in the corner. It's tucked under the eaves with a view of the forest. She seemed to like it the best."
**Is it close to your room?"
She suddenly seemed to find the ribbons of her bonnet fascinating. She looped them around her fingers. "No, it's on the opposite side of the house. I have a small bedroom up on this side."
A small bedroom. With a virgin's narrow bed. He looked at the expensive wallpaper brought out from St. Louis, or maybe even New York. The floors under his feet gleamed with polish and care, the furniture was large and substantial. Hard to believe he was less than half a mile from the room above the saloon where he'd grown up.
This wasn't his home; it never would be. It was Megan's. For the hundredth time since morning, he wondered why she'd married him, and what he was going to do when his year was up.
"There's a large guest suite just off the stairs," she said softly.
He glanced at her. She was staring intently at her hands as if the task of removing her gloves required her full attention. There was little light in the hallway, no flicker of a candle to catch the gold-blond color of her hair. He could see her profile, the straight line of her nose, her full lips. He knew that mouth in exquisitely intimate detail, yet he ached to know it, to know her, again.
