Chapter 14
Christopher leaned against the uncomfortable bark of an evergreen trunk and gazed out at the swirling mass of laughing, happy skaters.
He had no wish to join them.He had lost his taste for skating.Or laughing.He had meant to leave Christmas on the morrow in the company of a bride.
Only one of those things would come to pass.
The matchmaking had not gone as planned.His careful requirements defining his ideal bride had been the first to go out the window.
Yet his final choice did not waver.He wanted Gloria as his wife.
His fist fell against the tree trunk.He had been smart enough to propose prior to taking her virginity, and foolish enough not to secure the answer until after it was too late.
Butwasit too late?
With renewed hope, he turned from the frozen pond.He cut through the woods in the direction of the cottages.Perhaps he had not been clear enough or romantic enough.Perhaps if he tried again, phrased things a different way, there could still be a chance.
When Madge saw it was him at the door, she ushered him into the parlor without a word.
Gloria looked up, startled.She had been reclining on her sofa with one of her travel journals.
He was tired of books.They needed to embark on the real adventure.Perhaps that was the problem.
“Is this because of India?”he demanded.That was when everything had seemed to change.
She set down her book.“Partly.”
“I would never leave you.”He pulled the tickets from his inner pocket and brandished them toward her.“I bought double passage.We can go together.”
She wrung her hands in her lap and refused to meet his eyes.
“I can’t think of anyone I’d prefer to share this opportunity with.”He jabbed a finger at the spines on her shelf.“Do you see the name on these spines?We don’t have to read about such wonders from books.The great explorer himself will personally show us about.”
Her lip trembled.She closed her eyes as if in pain.
He hurried over to the sofa and dropped down to his knees to force her to look at him.“I don’t ever want to leave you behind.I want you to come with me.”
“I want you to stay here,” she said in a tiny voice.“You see the problem.We are not meant to be together.”
“I’ll be happy to stay here,” he promised her.“Multiple months out of the year if we must.But Christmas is not all there is.I can’t give up the trip of a lifetime at the drop of a hat—”
“I’m a hat?”she said wryly.
He sighed.“You’re an impossible bit of baggage and I want to bring you with me.”
“If you knew me at all, you would know better than to ask.”Her voice shook.“I’ve told you time and again.No boats.No water.I don’t want to leave home.”
“Even as my wife?”
Her eyes pleaded with him to understand.
He did not.His heart ached.
Refusing to come with him hurt as bad as being left.
He looked down at the tickets in his hands.He crumpled them into a ball and sprang to his feet.
“Fine,” he said.“No India.Wherecanwe go?”
