abruptly, hoping to find you, and feel such
disappointment because I'm alone. So please, start
coming again."
So I went back to Troy's cottage with him, and
ate dinner with him there. But I was tired of always
being cooped up in that cottage with him. I felt the
wind of my emotions pushing out so strongly that I
needed to be outside, lest I make a fool of myself. But
before I left, I was determined to make sure I saw him
the next day. For he was softening toward me, I could
feel it. And he couldn't fight his feelings for me if we spent entire days together. I could bring sunshine and life into his melancholy life, and I was determined
now to force him to accept my love.
"Troy, can't we do something outside in the
fresh air for a change? In the stables are beautiful
Arabian horses that only the grooms exercise when
Jillian and Tony are away. Teach me how to ride a
horse. Or swim with me in the pool. Share a picnic in
the woods with me, but let's not stay shut up in your
cottage when the weather is so beautiful. Jillian and
Tony will come home soon, and we'll be forbidden
each other. Let's do now what we can't do then." Our eyes met and held. A flush of color rose
from his chest to flood his face, forcing him to half
turn and break the bind of our eyes. "If that's what
you'd rather do. Tomorrow at ten we'll meet at the
stables. You can learn on the most gentle mare there." Almost as if I'd swallowed a powerful drug, I
fell under the spell of something beyond my control.
The next morning shortly before ten, I met Troy at the
stables. Troy was waiting for me, wearing casual
riding clothes. The wind had tousled his hair, and
already the sun had put healthy color in his cheeks,