Chapter 15
Ethan mentally braced himself for what was likely to be a long morning. He’d been doing his best to stay out of Miss Pembroke’s path, considering how close to disastrous their last encounter had been, but today’s excursion would thrust them into one another’s company for an extended period.
“Are you sure it must be the wood anemone?” he asked again, rubbing his temples in anticipation of the headache which was the certain outcome of this adventure.
“Yes, it must be the wood anemone,” Alice said, rolling her eyes, exasperation at his questioning slipping through. “You agreed that adding plants of significance to the garden would be a nice touch. You approved these plans the day I visited your office—don’t change your mind on me now.”
Sighing, Ethan resigned himself to what was to come. He wouldn’t fail her challenge—and yes, he had agreed to her plan a few weeks ago. He just hadn’t realized it would mean traipsing through the woods in the sole company of the woman he was trying to avoid.
“We’d better be on our way if we want to outrun the incoming storm. I don’t have all day for this, and I definitely don’t want to get caught in the rain.”
“Oh, please!” Alice’s exclamation was muffled as she bent over to scoop up Knightly, who followed her around like a shadow. “It’s hardly going to rain”—she brought the ginger kitten to her face—“is it, my good sir?”
It was an absurd gesture, speaking to the cat as if he were part of the conversation. It was also ridiculously adorable, and Ethan had to force his lips from lifting into a smile.
“Give him a kiss goodbye and let’s be on with it.” His gruffness was returning. How was it possible for a small slip of a woman to have such a profound effect on him?
While gathering his jacket, spade, and sacking, he observed Alice pepper the cat with kisses and bury her face in his soft fur.
It was rather sweet until she began telling Knightly to be a good boy while she was away, at which point Ethan turned and strode out the door, assuming she would soon follow.
Within fifteen minutes, they were trudging through the woods and it was both dark and cold. While Ethan usually loved being outdoors, this early March day was not agreeing with him, and he was getting grumpier by the minute as they traveled deeper to find the plant they were after.
Able to read his irritation, Alice appeared to be growing fidgety the longer they walked.
Distractedly picking at the fingers of her gloves, she stumbled over a tree root.
Ethan instinctively reached out to catch her before she could topple over in her now twisted skirts, cursing as she crashed into him.
Her body was now fully plastered against his own with his arms firmly bracing her body to keep them upright.
This was exactly the kind of interaction Ethan had been trying to avoid—and now here he was, unconsciously retaining the knowledge that Alice fit perfectly within the circumference of his hold, memorizing how she felt in the shelter of his arms.
It was more than he could handle, and he stood her up abruptly, placing his hands around her upper arms and pushing her away from him. He needed to gain enough distance between them to let his mind retake control of his body, which was decidedly reacting to the feel of her own.
“My . . . my apologies. I didn’t mean to be so clumsy.”
Ethan frowned as he watched her cheeks color and lips tremble. It was entirely too becoming, and he could not allow himself to be beguiled by her.
“Just be mindful of where you’re walking—we’re going to need to get closer to the estate’s edge and the path through here isn’t always smooth.”
He kept a swift pace, every fiber of his being needing this endeavor to wrap up as quickly as possible.
Ethan had no idea how over the past weeks Miss Pembroke had gone from being the cause of his problems and reinforcement of all he was choosing to leave behind, to the woman ceaselessly occupying his thoughts.
It was maddening. He felt like he was losing his grasp on all which surrounded him.
The problem was that he’d spent too much time with her—worked beside her too closely.
In that time he’d seen glimpses of the woman behind the mask of politeness and propriety she wore as if it could protect her.
He’d seen the more gentle and caring side of her in how she effortlessly bestowed her love on Tobias and Knightly, her thoughtfulness in extending the kitchen garden for the staff, and he’d seen her fierceness on the occasions she corralled the courage to utilize it.
After another half hour had passed with no sight of the wood anemone Alice sought, Ethan increased his pace in frustration.
But when he heard Alice panting behind him, struggling to keep up with his fast clip, he paused to give her a moment to regain her breath.
Even if he wished to be free of her presence, he wasn’t about to make her suffer.
After all, she had no idea she was driving him mad simply by existing.
“I really didn’t think we’d need to venture this far, I’m not sure where they are hiding,” Alice chattered nervously, picking up on the tension radiating from him. “I was assured that wood anemone grew here.”
As she finished speaking, thunder rumbled in the distance and Alice visibly winced. “I’m sorry—you clearly don’t wish to be here, and the weather might be about to turn.” Ethan simply grunted. “Maybe we should go back.”
It was the precise moment ‘go back’ was uttered that the sky opened up. Immediately drenched, even beneath the cover of the trees, Miss Pembroke looked at him with wide eyes before turning around as if to make her way back toward the main house.
“Oh no you don’t,” Ethan called, reaching out and grabbing her arm. “This was your grand idea, and we’re already out here, so I’m not about to quit now. We’re finishing this today.”
Ethan wasn’t sure if it was his tone or aggressive grip; nevertheless, Alice finally broke, unleashing the fierceness he knew she possessed deep within.
“Enough! I’m not sure exactly what it is that I’ve done to bother you so, but I’m done tiptoeing around you and trying to appease you.
” She strode up to him and pushed her finger into his chest. Her eyes sparked with frustration, making them shine even more brightly—their inescapable beauty irrationally outraging Ethan even further at his inability to not notice such things.
She shivered with cold from the steady rain but continued berating him none-the-less.
“I’m sorry that I dragged you out here today, but I had no notion it was going to storm.
Stop being so stubborn and let’s get back so we can warm up.
I can get Matthias or David to help me another day.
There is no point in suffering when you clearly don’t want to be here! ”
Her temper ignited his own, and Ethan let out a frustrated huff.
“No—I don’t want to be here, but here is where we are.
Even though I warned you it was indeed going to storm and a storm this time of year is entirely predictable.
” He shoved his sopping hair out of his eyes, flinging a stream of droplets to spray over Alice’s face.
“There is no way I’m giving up now. I won’t allow this suffering to be for nothing.
We’re continuing until we find your blasted plant! ”
“Fine!” Alice yelled, swiping at her drenched face. “Proceed so we can get this over with.”
She marched on ahead of him, the brim of her bonnet sagging and shapeless under the relentless rainfall. Ethan followed behind her silently, still steaming inside. It was another ten miserable minutes before Alice stopped abruptly, almost causing him to stumble into her.
“There,” she said, pointing across a small ravine to where low green bushes with star-shaped white flowers grew. “I have no idea how we’ll get over there, but I’m almost certain those are wood anemone.”
Both her pelisse and the gown beneath were plastered to her shivering body, her lips trembling.
With a start, Ethan realized how foolish he’d been to keep them out in such conditions.
Once again, his stubborn nature had won out over common sense as he grasped for something he could control, which always seemed lost in her presence.
Assessing the landscape, he looked for a way to quickly get to the plants.
The ravine was shallow, but it was a steep drop.
Going around would be the safest option; however, it stretched as far as Ethan could see through the downpour, and at this point, speed was to be prioritized over ease.
It was imperative they get warm before they became ill from the elements.
There was nothing else for it, he’d have to descend the ravine and climb up the other side.
Ethan began to peel his sodden jacket off his arms, the saturated material only weighing him down and restricting his mobility.
“What are you doing?” Miss Pembroke asked, eyes widened in alarm. But he noticed she was tracing the contours of his chest as the soaked linen of his shirt hid nothing from view.
“I’m going down, it’s the fastest way to reach the wood anemone. Then we can get out of here.”
Startled, her eyes shot back up to his own. “You mean you’re going to climb down there? Are you insane?”
“It’s not that far down, I’ll be on the other side and dig up the plants within minutes. Here.” He shoved his wet jacket at her and picked up the sacking and spade he’d brought with them. Alice continued protesting, but he tuned her out, looking for the best path down.
Almost instantly, Ethan knew his stubborn persistence was a bad idea. From the moment he placed his foot on the slope, he could feel it was too slippery from the storm to hold him well. Within and instant, he lost his footing and began to slide down the side of the crag.
“God damn it,” he cursed, his tumble coming to an abrupt halt as his left side met the bottom of the small ravine with a jolt.
Ethan tentatively rolled to his back and stretched out the leg that was twisted beneath him.
Taking a moment to allow his temper to cool, he simply lay there while regaining his breath, gaze unfocused on the branches above him.
Wiping the rain out of his eyes, he noticed a worried face appear over the edge of the ravine, lips trembling.
“I’m so sorry, Ethan,” Alice called. “Are you hurt?”
All he could do was grunt as he gradually moved his extremities, but nothing appeared broken or badly injured. However, once he went to stand, his left ankle buckled under the weight, sending him back to the ground.
“You’re hurt,” came Alice’s voice from behind him. Whipping his head around, he saw her standing less than a foot away.
“How did you get down here?”
“Carefully,” she replied, tentatively making her way across the rocky ground. “If you’d been patient enough to look around you a bit longer, you would have seen there’s a path cut into the slope only a few meters ahead of where you attempted to come down. Can you get up?”
“Yes,” he answered curtly, frustrated by the entire situation. “But I think I’ve twisted my ankle. I might need help walking out of here.” It was more painful to admit he needed her assistance than to put pressure on the offending ankle.
Thankfully, Alice didn’t say a word as she came up and placed his left arm around her shoulders, her body tucking into his side to brace him as he tentatively stepped forward.
After a few stumbles, they haltingly made their way back up the incline and onto the path.
Pausing against a tree, both out of breath, Ethan weighed their options.
They were near the edge of the estate property, but with his injury and the poor conditions, it would likely take them hours to return to the main house.
Ethan looked over at Alice. She was leaning against a tree beside him, eyes closed and chest heaving from the exertion of hauling him up the steep slope. There was no possibility she could support him all the way back, especially not in the wet and cold.
“We need to find a place to take shelter. We can’t stay out here in the rain, and I’ll never make it back without additional assistance.” Her eyes sprang open at his announcement, and it looked suspiciously like she might begin to cry.
“I’m so sorry I made you come out here, Ethan.”
“Enough of that,” he snapped. “What’s done is done.
Now we need to deal with where we find ourselves.
The cabin we’ve prepared for Mr. Johanssen is close by.
I’ve fully stocked it with basic food supplies, and we can start a fire there and get warm.
We should be able to reach it in about fifteen minutes, but I’ll need your help. Are you ready?”
She nodded with an unyielding resolve in her eyes and a strength he hadn’t witnessed before. Ethan knew he was completely gone for her.