WITHOUT WARNING, A firm hand circled Gwen’s arm and pulled her inside the tiny room. Just as suddenly, soft lips pressed against hers.
After allowing herself a few seconds to be swept away, Gwen broke the kiss. “Andrew!” she admonished. “What are you doing?”
Andrew grinned. “Waiting for you.”
He kissed her again.
She found her arms entwined their way around his neck and her fingers wove themselves into his hair of their own accord as she melted against him. She cursed her betraying body. When she finally got control of herself, she pushed at his shoulders. “You’re not playing fair.” Gwen twisted her body from his arms and attempted not to cry. She failed.
“What’s wrong?” He lifted her chin with a finger and gently wiped her tears away with his handkerchief.
“I have no idea what your game is, Andrew.” She punched his chest. “You pull me in only to push me away again.”
“I’ll never do that again.” He slid his hands down her arms and lifted her hands to his lips. “I promise.”
“How can I be certain?”
“I love you, Gwen.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Do you truly, or will you run from me at the first sign of trouble?”
He pulled back slightly. “Why would I lie?”
“Perhaps because you’ve done it before.”
Andrew frowned. “I have never lied to you.”
“That’s somewhat up for debate.” She jabbed a finger at him. “However, you have run from me… without any kind of explanation.”
“It wasn’t my intention to do that, and it wasn’t by choice, Gwen,” he admitted. “Everything was a mess after Shiloh. I didn’t know if I would ever walk again, I had horrible scars.”
“So?”
“I couldn’t burden you with that—”
“You had no right to make that decision for me!”
Andrew dragged his hands down his face and sighed. “Gwendolyn.”
Gwen tried to put distance between them… difficult to do in the tiny space. One step back, and she bumped into a row of saddles. “No, Andrew! I wanted to come to you when you were hurt. I begged Chris and Quinn to let me, but they refused. They wouldn’t tell me your location or how severe the injuries were. There were a few people who informed me about some of it, but when I asked my brothers, they told me to forget what I’d heard.”
He reached out and swept a stray lock of her hair from her forehead. “You have to understand, my injuries were horrific. I begged your brothers to spare you that.”
“You… you asked them not to tell me?”
Andrew pulled her close. “I had to.”
“Why?”
“The scar on my face was gruesome and it scared people.” Then he added slightly under his breath, “It still scares people.”
“You thought me that shallow?”
“Gwendolyn.”
“At what point did you make the decision that I love you for the way you look?” Gwen frowned. “I spent over a year praying for you every night. I prayed for you to heal. Mind, body, and soul, and for God to bring us back together. I wanted to be the one to care for you. Me only.”
“It would have horrified you.”
“You’re really going to cavil over your stupidity?”
Andrew reached for her. “Sweetheart.”
“No!” She sidestepped him. “I should have been the one to decide what I was willing to do and not do. No one else had the right.”
“I would have died, Gwen.”
Gwen fisted her hands at her side. “You don’t give me much credit. I would have never let you die.”
“You don’t understand.” Andrew leaned against the wall. “If you’d come and seen me and then walked away, it would have killed me. I knew you wouldn’t have dealt well with it… you were so young.”
“You’re still as patronizing as ever!” she hissed. “I was almost eighteen!”
“Too young to see the horror of war.”
“Stop belittling me!”
“But the scar, Gwen.”
She reached up and ran her fingers gently over his scar. “I have thought you were the most handsome man on earth since the day you pulled me off that horse, and that hasn’t changed.”
Andrew pulled his face away from her touch. “And yet, you ran into the arms of Samuel Powell.”
“There was no running into anyone’s arms.” She turned away from him and focused on the stitching of one of the saddles. “Besides… Sam and I are no longer courting.”
“Really?” He didn’t sound convinced.
She faced him and crossed her arms. “Not that you have any right to be angry. As far as you were concerned, we were courting, and that didn’t stop you from… from…”
“From what, sweetheart?”
Here comes that vexing smile.
She faced the saddles again. “From kissing me without permission.”
“I couldn’t stop myself from kissing you.”
Gwen squeezed her eyes shut and tried to control her breathing.
“Why are you and Sam no longer courting?” Andrew asked.
Gwen shrugged. “He broke it off.”
Andrew spun her to face him, his eyes narrowing. “What do you mean, he broke it off? What possible reason would he have to discard you?”
“He didn’t discard me. He’s still one of my closest friends. He just knew we didn’t suit as more than that.”
“And what was his reason for you not suiting?”
Gwen shrugged again.
“Gwendolyn?” he pressed.
She wasn’t going to say anything further… she really wasn’t. But then, “Because I’m still in love with you.” She slapped her hand over her mouth and groaned, glaring at Andrew when he grinned.
He pulled her hand gently away from her mouth and kissed her palm. “As I am with you, beautiful.”
She yanked her hand from his grip. “And you prove that by lifting that… that woman into a carriage, carrying her to and fro?”
“As I said before, she’s a friend.” Andrew smiled softly. “Nothing more.”
“Are you certain she knows that?
“Why?”
Gwen wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I saw you with her at the church and she looked at you as though she was in love with you and you smiled at her and carried her everywhere and completely ignored me—”
“Gwendolyn, take a breath,” he interrupted. Gwen let out an inelegant snort, but did pause in her rant. Andrew pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. “May I respond?”
She glared at him through a sheen of tears as she waited for Andrew to “respond.”
“Ann’s a nurse at the hospital and a close friend of Christine’s. She was one of the few people who cared for me after my injuries at Shiloh. She’s a kind person and is very strong in her faith, which is probably why she is so close to my family.”
“It should have been me.”
Andrew cupped her cheek. “I couldn’t put you through that.”
“Why not? I loved you. I was sick with worry and no one would tell me anything. I hadn’t ever experienced pain like that before.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “No one would help me go to you.”
He wrapped his arms around her, running his hand down her back. “Forgive me.”
She shook her head into his chest. “I won’t.”
Andrew smiled. “I’ll do whatever I need to do to make you forgive me.”
“I won’t, Andrew. Ever. There’s nothing you can say to make me.”
“Is that a challenge?” He raised his eyebrow in question.
Gwen bit her lip in an effort not to smile.
“Do you remember the first time we met?”
Gwen nodded. “You saved my life. That’s not something easily forgotten.”
Andrew grinned. “Perhaps not, but it wasn’t the first time I saw you.”
“It wasn’t?”
He shook his head. “The first time I saw you was when you were in the open pen with the goats.”
Gwen groaned. “Really?”
“I thought you were one of the servants.” Andrew chuckled. “One of the kids got stuck in the gate and was making a pathetic sound. You worked to free its leg, but it kept trying to butt you, so you wrapped your arms around its neck, spoke softly to it, and then pulled as hard as you could.”
“And landed in the mud.”
“Yes, you landed in the mud. You were so angry and your hair flew everywhere as you stomped out of the corral, muttering under your breath. I remember you reached up to try and push your hair from your face, but only achieved smearing mud over your cheek.” He stroked his hand down her right cheek. “This cheek,” he whispered. “I remember standing there staring at you, knowing that I’d never seen a more beautiful sight.”
“A muddy fifteen-year-old?”
“A muddy you. I fell in love with you then and there.”
She blinked several times to force the tears away. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It was my own precious memory, and I wanted to keep you all to myself.” He gently cupped her face in his hands and leaned down to kiss her.
Gwen lost all train of thought. Finally in the arms of the man she loved, she couldn’t breathe. The reality, far more intense and satisfying than her years of fantasy. Andrew broke the kiss and it appeared as though he was having a difficult time catching his breath as well.
“I hate the way you do that to me,” she admitted. “I’m still angry.”
He grinned. “But I’m forgiven.”
“I don’t know just yet.”
“My beautiful Gwendolyn. You will forgive me.”
Gwen studied her hands. “It would appear you’ve been practicing the art of kissing.”
“That was my second kiss since meeting you.” Andrew grinned at her hiss. “The first being in the library earlier today.”
She tried again to put distance between them. “Don’t lie to me, Andrew.”
“Gwen, look at me.” He tipped her chin up with his finger. “When I met you, I fell in love with you, and that has never changed. There has never been anyone other than you.”
“It’s hard to believe you when you wanted nothing to do with me. I’m certain there were several ladies who would have been thrilled to kiss you.”
“Perhaps. But they weren’t you, and I had no desire for anyone but my beautiful girl.” Gwen raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief and Andrew grinned. “Truly, sweetheart.”
“I had no desire for anyone else, either.” Gwen sighed. “Even Sam said as much.”
“Let’s not mention his name, Gwen,” Andrew warned.
“What will you do if I say Sa—”
He covered her lips with his, cutting off anything else she had to say. Gwen groaned and forced herself to pull away. “What do we do now?”
“I plan to marry you,” Andrew said.
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, soon. But for now, I will court you officially.”
A noise sounded from outside the tack room. “It appears you two have reconciled.”
“Hello, Charity.” Gwen smiled. “Did you see Mr. Madden’s horses?”
“Yes. Richard gave me a tour.”
“He’s Richard now, is he?” Gwen widened her eyes. “I saw you run into him. We must talk about your habit of looking at your feet.”
Charity blushed.
Gwen stepped away from Andrew, only to be pulled back against his chest.
Charity changed the subject. “The horses are ready. Are you?”
Gwen nodded. “Absolutely.”
Andrew stepped in front of Gwen. “Let me check your saddle first.”
Gwen smirked. “I’m certain the saddle is fine, Andrew. The soldiers are well-trained.”
“I’ll check it first.” His tone left no room for argument.
Gwen sighed as she followed him to her horse. He checked the girth, readjusted a few things, and then assisted her to mount. “Ride with caution, please.”
She gathered up her reins and grinned down at him. “Don’t I always?”
With a click of her tongue, Gwen urged her horse forward and followed Charity to the Wades’ stables.