Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
“Inever been on one before,” Tommy was explaining excitedly as he shoved eggs and sausages into his mouth. “Never thought I would do.”
“Never?” Alison said, laughing at the way he was eating. It was as if he had never seen food before, as if he worried it might be the last time that he did.
“Course not!” Tommy scowled. “When would I?”
Alison shrugged. “Knowing you, I thought you might have sneaked onto one. You do seem the type.”
He grinned. “Maybe this is the year. I’ve been good, after all. Bout time it pays off.”
It was the morning following the events at Alison’s manor, and she and Tommy were breaking their fast. Seeing how rattled the boy was, and feeling guilty for putting him in such a situation, she had suggested to Daniel that he stay the night.
Daniel had very nearly denied the request, until Alison pointed out that it was thanks to Tommy that Daniel was able to rescue her.
“He did come and find you, did he not?” she said rightly. “Without Tommy, who knows what might have happened?”
She regretted saying those words almost immediately, as Daniel had looked away in shame. The words were true, because indeed Tommy had raced to find Daniel. But that he had needed to at all, clearly upset Daniel beyond words.
He ended up agreeing to allow Tommy to stay the evening, and Alison had not seen him since.
Once he had taken her back to his manor, he made sure once again that she was not too shaken and then left them to visit the mayor and tell of what happened.
He was furious that such an occurrence should be allowed to occur in the first place, and so close to his own estate, insisting that the mayor needed to be told so punishments could be doled out once the criminals were caught.
In truth, Alison had wondered if he would see her when he returned. In fact, she had hoped he would. She lay awake most of the night, listening for the sound of his return, her body shaking with nerves as she pictured him coming into her room and…
No. I should not have expected him to come. That he saved me was one thing. But to want more than that, I need to be realistic about what this is.
She was still confused about the Earl. No doubt he cared about her.
No doubt he wanted to see her safe. But was that as far as he was willing to go?
Or would this incident change him, bringing back that same man who had kissed her on the night of the Winter’s Ball? Not to mention what else he had done.
“How about this.” Alison shook her head, refusing to go down that path again. She had to stop thinking such things about the Earl. That he was willing to look after her was more than she could have hoped… even if she wanted more. “Let us ride one today.”
Tommy had a forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth, pausing with wide eyes and confusion. “What do you mean?”
“A sleigh ride,” she said with laughter. “Whitehaven is hosting them, no? What say you and I rent one and take it for a ride?”
“Really?”
She pumped her eyebrows. “Really.”
“Yes!” Tommy cried. “Yes! Now? Should we go now? I’m ready!”
“Ready for what?” Daniel walked into the room, catching both Tommy and Alison by surprise.
Alison, more so. She whipped her head around, saw him coming, and her heart began to race in ways that were becoming all too familiar to her.
Gone were the days when she was able to pretend that she hated him.
And gone were the days when she was able to mask her feelings through arguing and trying to beat him.
Now, when she looked at him, she saw a rescuer. More than that, she saw a man who watched her closely. All yesterday, she had been so certain that he was set on ignoring her and pretending that she did not exist. But that could not have been further from the truth.
“Oh…” She looked away, cheeks flushing. “It is nothing.”
“We’re going on a sleigh ride!” Tommy cheered.
“Is that so?” Daniel reached the end of the table, and she felt him watching her.
Just that feeling, his stare trained on her, made her body tremble.
“We were discussing it,” she spoke softly. “But we do not have to go,” she added quickly. “I mean… if you do not think it is safe or… or if you would prefer that we stay here.”
How things change. That she was now asking him permission. That she needed it, knowing that if he said no, she would happily do as told.
“Please say yes!” Tommy cried. “You have to say yes.”
“Maybe,” Daniel mused. “It will be just the two of you?”
An idea came to her suddenly, and before she could stop to think if it were a smart one, she snapped her head up and spoke it. “You should join us.”
Daniel leaned back. “On a sleigh ride?”
“Oh, yes!” Tommy said. “Come! You have to come!”
“Why not?” Alison shrugged. “If for no other reason than to keep an eye on me.” Her cheeks were burning but she refused to look away. “I can’t help but think I am still in danger and would benefit from your company.”
A knowing smirk touched his lips. “I am surprised you are asking. Usually, you do as you please, consequences be damned.”
“I am a slow learner, but not that slow.”
He studied her for a moment. His stare was intense, and probing. She tried to match it, wanting to channel that same energy that she always had when they were together. As if this was some sort of argument, and she was not about to back down.
“As you say,” he said finally, adding a casual shrug as if it was no big deal. “After yesterday, it is best that you are not left on your own again.”
“You’re coming?” Tommy asked, jumping onto his chair. “Truly?”
Alison found Daniel still watching. He winked and she blushed furiously. Then he was back on Tommy, a soft smile that told Alison that he wanted to do this. Not because he thought he should, but because he wished to be with her. Or so she read it, anyway.
“When do we leave?”
“Faster! Go faster!” Tommy shouted at the top of his lungs. “Faster!”
“Tommy!” Alison cried out in fear. “Watch out!”
“He’ll be fine,” Daniel chuckled at the antics. “Let him go.”
“What if he falls?”
“I won’t!” Tommy assured them.
“The snow will catch him,” Daniel said. Then, in a most surprising act, he looked past Tommy at the driver. “You heard the lad! Go faster!”
It was the three of them bundled into a sleigh, racing across the snow-covered fields as if trying to outrace the season itself.
Every year the town of Whitehaven rented sleighs to take families and loved ones on rides through the wilderness. Most of the land around them was flat and weighed down in thick snow, providing endless fields for the sleighs to canter and race without fear of obstruction or incident.
The sleigh they rented was pulled by four horses, steered and harried by a single driver. He sat up front, using a whip to push the steeds faster, while the three of them sat back in comfort; they had thick blankets to cover themselves with, warm mead to drink, and a view that was breathtaking.
Alison was happy to wiggle into the deep seat and get comfortable. Daniel sat across from her, as if even now he refused to let her out of his sight. Tommy stood up near the driver, balancing as the sleigh raced, crying for it to go faster than what was safe.
“He’ll be fine,” Daniel said, noting the worry on Alison’s face as she watched Tommy balance.
“You can’t possibly know that.”
“I know a thing or two about looking out for those I care about.”
She frowned at the comment, her chest tightening. “Care about?”
“Tommy,” he said simply, refusing to be tripped up by his own words. “You care for him, no?”
“Oh…” She grimaced. “Well, yes, of course. I would hate to see him hurt himself.”
“As would I.” He looked at her all the while; his stare fixed on her in a way that told without question that he was not speaking of Tommy. “But I promise that no harm will come to him… or anyone else who I care for. I give you my word.”
“I trust you.”
He continued to watch her, and she squirmed in a way that she felt he was aiming for. “It’s about time that you do.”
His smile was sincere, and Alison felt it like a blanket wrapping her body and shielding her from the cold.
They spoke little throughout the rest of the sleigh ride, but their time spent together wasn’t nearly as tense or awkward as it could be.
It felt to her like she and Daniel were finally coming to an understanding, a realization that there was no need to keep avoiding one another. And certainly no reason to fight.
But it was the way that he watched her that she noticed the most. As the sleigh raced and as Tommy shouted and as the cool winter winds blew around them, Daniel kept his eyes on her always.
It was then that she realized something else.
Alison did not know what was happening between her and Daniel, if it was anything at all.
What she did know was that their relationship had transcended beyond where it started.
He did care for her, she knew, but he was wary of their connection.
She saw in him someone who was guarded with his emotions, purposefully keeping people at a distance for reasons she could not understand.
And she was the same. That was why they fought. That was why she argued with him. It wasn’t because she hated him, but because it was easier to do than being honest.
I don’t want to fight with him anymore. And I don’t want him to think of me as someone he always needs to be guarded around. What I want is for him to know the real me…
For that reason, when the sleigh ride ended, Alison suggested that she and Daniel take it for a second ride. Tommy had just climbed down, announcing that he needed to be getting home, and before Daniel had a chance to follow, she reached out and touched him on the arm.
“Perhaps another?” she said.
Daniel frowned at her. “Should I call back for Tommy?”
“No.” She made sure to be looking at him. “I was thinking…” The urge to look away seized her, but she fought it off. “That you and I might ride alone. If it pleases you…”