The Ride of Her Life (24 page)

Nick leaned against a tree and watched Lilly move from place to place, digging beneath a bush or overturning a pile of leaves, apparently energized by the conquest.

He joined her near a tree stump. When she moved to step over a log, she slipped a bit. He caught her waist. “Whoa. Careful.”

“Look!” She pointed to a spot beyond the log. This time she sat on the log and swung her legs over in front of her. She hurried to the area and plucked the morel mushroom from the earth. “Our first one.”

Nick joined her and examined the sponge-topped mushroom lying on her outstretched hand.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“Not bad for a fungus.”

“I promise you’ll love them. I’ll cook them tonight in butter and you’ll see.” She dropped her find in the basket. “Don’t stand there staring at it. Start looking, Captain.” She scampered off, seeming much more like Levi than herself.

He had to hurry to catch her. “I think you like the thrill of the hunt as much as finding the mushrooms.”

“The huntin’ is the best part.” She ducked beneath a branch.

He liked her relaxed, playful tone. “Hey, wait up.”

“You’re supposed to be hunting mushrooms—not me.”

“Who says I can’t do both?”

“Nick—”

“I found one!” He bent and snapped the mushroom off above the roots as Lilly had instructed.

“Keep looking in that area,” Lilly called from several yards away. “Sometimes if you find one, there are more.”

As he hunted, he became engrossed in the task and discovered three more. A twig snapped, and he turned his head but saw nothing. Probably a rabbit or a deer. The woods always made him a little jumpy.

In a matter of minutes, he’d picked another three mushrooms. “Lilly, look at the size of this one!” He held a four-inch mushroom in the air, but she didn’t answer. He scanned the area. Where had she rushed off to now? “Lilly?”

“Over he—” Her words cut off. Branches snapped. Lilly gave a muffled scream.

Nick raced toward the sound of her voice. “Lilly?”

“I’m down here.”

Peering over the embankment, Nick spotted her in a heap at the bottom. Her hat askew and her dress muddied, she looked at him and smiled with a mushroom in hand. “Look, I found one.”

Embarrassment warmed Lilly’s cheeks as Nick lifted her to her feet.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes. I heard a noise. When I turned, I lost my footing.” After shaking the dead leaves and sticks from her dress, she adjusted her hat. She sighed. She must look a mess.

He plucked a twig from her hair. “Did I mention how lovely you looked today?”

She laughed. “
Looked
, as in past tense.”

“You still look beautiful even with dirt on your cheek. Come here.” He withdrew his handkerchief and tipped her chin up with his thumb. With a gentle touch, he wiped the smudge. “I’m sorry about your Sunday dress. I shouldn’t have brought you out in it.”

Lilly’s heart skipped at his nearness. She swallowed. “It’ll wash.” Tearing her gaze from his face, she looked down and noticed the black piping on her bolero jacket had come loose.

Nick followed her gaze. “Washing won’t fix that.”

“Mending will. I can work miracles with a needle.”

“I think you can probably do miracles with about anything.” He cupped her elbow. “Let’s take a break for a minute and catch our breath.” He led her to a nearby log and drew her down beside him, then released a long sigh. “So much for our fun afternoon. I’m sorry.”

“I’m the one who fell, and I’m fine. Do you take responsibility for everything?”

He shrugged. “Natural big-brother response?”

“So, you think of me as your sister?” Her peaked eyebrows issued the dare, and the words were out before she could pull them back. What was she doing?

Nick stood and held out his hand. She slipped her hand into his warm grip and let him pull her to her feet. But instead of releasing her hand, he brought it to his lips and touched the back with the softest kiss. Warmth spread over her body. She should pull away, but she couldn’t. It was as if she were held in place by the earth itself.

“Lilly Hart, I certainly don’t think of you as my sister.” His gaze dropped to her lips.

Her heart hammered and fear shot through her. Was he going to kiss her? She needed to step away. To Nick, a kiss would be a promise of possibilities, and she wasn’t ready to give that to him or to herself. She didn’t dare.

Looking into her eyes, he paused for a second before lifting her hand again. He pressed another kiss to it and smiled. “It’s getting late. We should probably be heading back.”

She blinked and nodded, not trusting words to come. After exhaling the breath she’d been holding, she bent to retrieve the basket of mushrooms. She hurried ahead of him, needing some distance to sort out her feelings.

If she didn’t want him to kiss her, why did she feel so disappointed?

Fear. Nick saw it in Lilly’s eyes. Oh, how he’d wanted to kiss her, but she wasn’t ready, and now she’d bolted away like a frightened bunny.

Lord, give me wisdom and patience.

Nick caught up to her but didn’t try to walk too close. “Do you want to find some more?”

“This should make a good batch.” She didn’t look his way. “Nick.” She swallowed. “Has there never been anyone special in your life?”

He grinned. She might be scared, but curiosity was winning out, and that had to be a good sign. But did he want to tell her about Ruby? Did he even have a choice? If he ever wanted her to open up to him, he had to go first. Taking a deep breath, he slipped his hand around hers. If he was going to bare his soul, Lilly was going to know his intentions.

“I was engaged before.” He paused when he saw her bite her lip. When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “Her name was Ruby Rawlins. She broke off the engagement.”

“Why?” Lilly halted and faced him. “I apologize. That’s none of my business.”

“Yes, Lilly, it is.” They began walking back toward the boat again. “It was two years ago. Ruby was a stage actress and had hopes of making it into silent films.”

“Did she make it on screen?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve avoided films for that reason alone. Ruby wanted more than I could give her.”

“You must have been devastated.”

“I was. I loved her.” He drew in a deep breath. “But love isn’t always reciprocated.”

“And you’ve never spoken to her again?”

“No.” A rustle in the bushes made them stop at the edge of the woods. He glanced around and spotted a doe and a buck emerge from the tree line several yards away. He grinned. Spring had a way of bringing out the romance in everyone.

He looked down into Lilly’s face. Doubt clouded her eyes. He swallowed. “I won’t lie to you, Lilly. I’ve thought of her. I’ve wondered where she is and if she got what she wanted.” He cupped her cheek. “But she doesn’t hold my heart anymore.”

A hint of a smile curled Lilly’s lips. “I guess we’d better go.”

Reluctant to sever the connection, he let his hand slide from her check down the length of her arm.

They walked for another minute before Lilly spoke again. “Was she beautiful?”

Nick shrugged. “You could say that, but I wasn’t smart enough to look beyond the outside and into her heart.”

They reached the shore, and after helping Lilly seat herself, he pushed the boat off the sand and hopped in. Using an oar, he pushed them out into the water, then faced Lilly. “Your turn.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You want me to row? I can, you know.”

“I bet you can, but no. I mean it’s your turn to answer a question.” He dipped the oars into the water, which rippled away in circles. “If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?”

“To keep Levi safe.”

“No, I mean something tangible.”

The smile that broke across Lilly’s face made his heart stutter. “That’s easy. I want a house of my own. I’ve always lived with someone else. First with Marguerite’s family, then with Ben’s, and even now, with Emily. I want Levi to have a home, a place that says, ‘This is where you belong.’”

“You were a part of Marguerite’s household since you were a little girl. Didn’t it feel like home?”

Lilly sighed. “Maybe a little, but Marguerite’s mother was a difficult woman. She made it clear I was not a member of the family. I was help, and nothing was guaranteed.”

“But your mother worked for them for years. It wasn’t like she could throw you out, right?” He stopped rowing for a minute and studied her face. “Lilly, tell me what you’re thinking about.”

“Mrs. Westing isn’t like Marguerite. She wanted to be someone in society, and she felt treating Mama and me as a lower class was part of that.”

The boat bobbed in the water. “Go on.”

Her gaze dropped to the bottom of the boat. “One time, when I was about four, she caught me in her dressing room, trying on her powders and perfumes.” She laughed a bit. “I must have been a sight, all dusted and smelling like an old lady’s boudoir.”

“What did she do?”

“She beat me with her brush and said if I ever did anything like that again, she’d throw me and Mama out on the streets. She said we were only there because she and Mr. Westing were good people, and I should thank God they’d taken Mama and me in after my daddy died. She said we’d have to live on dog scraps, and if my mama died too, it would all be my fault.” Tears laced her long lashes. “I was a little girl. I wanted to smell pretty like she did.”

“Did she ever try to make you leave?”

“I heard her threaten to send me away several times, but Mr. Westing always stopped her. The summer before Marguerite married Trip, she was ready to let me go, but then he said Marguerite would need her lady’s maid at the lake.”

“So you never felt secure?”

“I wouldn’t say never.” Lilly forced a smile. “It’s over now, but I don’t want Levi to go through that.” She swept a finger under her eye. “Am I gonna have to row after all?”

Nick frowned, took hold of the oars, and began the steady thrust-dip-pull sequence. Anger at what Lilly had gone through burned in his gut. How could anyone treat a child so cruelly?

Lord, how do I take away that pain?

Deep inside, he knew he couldn’t. His own childhood demons told him that, but it wouldn’t stop him from trying.

25

“I think you could use this information to convince Lilly to see the wisdom in your plans for Levi.” Mark Westing laid the report he’d completed after Sunday’s picnic on Claude Hart’s desk. “Simply suggesting you could use this to prove she isn’t morally fit to raise the boy should be enough to make her go along.”

For two days he’d considered whether he should share the report’s contents with Mr. Hart. At last, his need to impress Mr. Hart trumped his conscience. It was the former maid’s own fault. Lilly had gone off alone with Nick Perrin, and now his employer would be pleased with the news he had to offer.

Mr. Hart picked up the report and thumbed through the pages. “Alone, I doubt it would be enough. Spending an afternoon unchaperoned picking mushrooms after attending church services would hardly make her look morally bankrupt.”

Standing, Mark paced the floor. “I’m sorry. I thought—”

“You did good work, Mr. Westing, but we’ll need more. Obviously our efforts to dissuade her interest in him have not worked. Eventually I had hoped Lilly would be forced for financial reasons to submit to our wishes for Levi.”

“And now it appears Nick Perrin has come to her rescue.”

Mr. Hart glanced up from the report and held Mark’s gaze. “And as I said before, that is why I hired you. We simply need to make sure Lilly sees it’s in her best interest to keep away from that man. I can use this as added leverage to that end.”

“Nick Perrin seems pretty determined. Even the delays at the roller coaster site haven’t slowed his courting efforts. I’m planning something more significant, but it will take time to get everything in order.”

“Keep working on it. I want their courtship to come to an abrupt end.” Mr. Hart rubbed his beard. “In fact, perhaps I’ll pay my former daughter-in-law a visit and suggest her presence may be drawing Mr. Perrin’s attention from his work. If I know her, she’ll give him up before she’ll let him suffer because of her.” Mr. Hart redirected his attention to the report. “You’ve done a thorough job researching Nick Perrin’s past.” He flipped a page, grinned, and tapped the center of the paper. “Ah, now this, Mr. Westing, is information we can use.”