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Reeve wished he could share what he knew with the old man, but he couldn’t. The plans that were being made had to remain secret, for the safety of many and for the success of the true king. If things continued as they were, it would be less than a year before the true king could possibly sit the throne. And as matters deteriorated for the present king, they would also worsen for the true king’s supporters. Meaning life could prove more dangerous for Jacob and Willow.
“Stay, and you could lose your life, you old, stubborn fool,” Willow said with more care than malice.
Jacob pounded the table. “I won’t leave my land.”
Willow shook her head and looked to Reeve. “I cannot leave him here on his own.”
“I will talk with my brothers and see what can be done,” Reeve said.
Willow drifted over to Tara, and Reeve moved out of her way, going to sit next to the old man and talk.
Getting the boot off proved difficult, and Willow called out for Reeve’s help.
“I can do it,” Tara said, persistent in her struggle with the boot.
Reeve pushed her hands away and slipped his hand up her calf along the underside of the boot; his other hand took hold of her heel. Then he began to ease the boot back and forth gently, his hand following its descent down along her stocking-covered calf. After a few minutes of tugs and urgings, the boot slipped off with only a modicum of difficulty.
He kept hold of her stocking-covered leg, staring at the area swollen twice its size. “No more walking for you,” he ordered, and before she could object, he explained. “One of the soldiers gladly left a horse.”
Tara simply grinned, and Reeve gently released her ankle and returned to sit with Jacob.
“Reeve is a good man,” Willow said for their ears alone.
“Yes, I find him an honorable one,” Tara agreed, rolling her stocking down.
“It’s odd,” Willow said, “but you seem a good pair, familiar with each other, as though you belong together.”
“That’s foolish. We’ve only met.”
“Yet you appear more than friends,” Willow said, carefully removing the black stocking.
“It’s just that we seem to understand each other.”
“It was like that between Edward and me. We met when we were young, and we seemed to fit, as if we were two matching pieces who found their way back together. We understood each other and”—she laughed softly—“I fit in his arms perfectly, as if God intended me just for Edward.”
Willow tenderly probed the swollen area. “I’ll fetch some snow, and we’ll pack it around your ankle. I don’t feel any broken bones, and I doubt you could have walked a distance if you had broken any.”
Willow had Reeve move Tara away from the hearth before she packed the snow around the ankle so that the heat wouldn’t melt it.
Reeve grabbed his extra plaid and wrapped it around Tara. “For the chill that surely will follow.” He leaned down to tuck it in snugly at her waist, and as he did, his cheek grazed hers. It was warm and flushed from sitting near the fire. His cheek had chilled, and it was like fire and ice coming together, it scorched and melted. He felt the sting all the way to his loins.
He stood rather abruptly. “I better see to the horse.”
“I’ll help you,” Jacob said, easing off the chair.
“No need.”
“Nothing for me to do here,” Jacob grumbled.
“Then do join me,” Reeve said, realizing that the old man didn’t want to be left with the two women.
It had been a long time since Tara had sat in conversation with another woman, and she didn’t know what to say. She needn’t have worried, Willow felt the same, but didn’t let it stop her from talking.
“It has been far too long since I have had the opportunity to speak with another woman. Once this area was thriving with farms, and neighbors visited often. But when King Kenneth claimed the throne, he made heavy demands on the farmers, and it forced many to abandon their places.”
“You stayed?”
“As you’ve heard, grandda refuses to leave, and I can understand why. His family has farmed this land since long before he was born. They have survived wars and nature and have flourished in spite of either. Grandda will never leave here. He will die here and be buried here.”
