Love, Come to Me(23)

“But what if—”

“Lucy, it’s a waste of time.”

She wondered if Daniel would respect her opinions more as they got older. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in what she thought. He just hadn’t been brought up to have much tolerance for women’s ideas about things he considered to be men’s business. Well, most men were like that to some degree. The only difference was that some were a little worse and some were a little better. The only exception she could think of was Heath Rayne. She thought of the brief exchanges she’d had with him at a few sociables and dances—stolen moments. For the sake of her reputation, she had to be careful that no one would notice her talking to him. But she couldn’t help being fascinated by him. While Daniel always had an absolute opinion about everything, Heath seldom seemed convinced of the absoluteness of anything. He always paid full attention to what she said, and while he sometimes liked to argue with her and twist her words around to annoy her, he never told her that what she thought or did was silly.

“You’re the most manipulative man I’ve ever met,” she had told him at another dance, when he had goaded her into waltzing with him. She hadn’t wanted to accept, since Daniel had been working that night and would undoubtedly hear about it the next day. But somehow Heath knew just how to tease her into doing what he wanted, a fact that sometimes irritated her when she thought about it later on.

“Me? Manipulate you?” Heath’s blue eyes had been guileless.

“Whenever I’m happy, you become maddeningly provoking. And when you finally manage to rile me to your satisfaction, you smooth everything all over with wagonloads of compliments. When I’m pleased with myself, you puncture my vanity, and when I’m already up to my hairline in trouble, you manage to get me to do and say ridiculous things. And always you get your own way—”

“Now wait, honey. You’re not some little puppet. No matter what I do, you’re the one who decides what to do and say. And even if I corner you into doing something, like dancing with me when you’ll probably catch hell for it tomorrow, I always give you a chance to escape. Fact is, Cinda, you don’t ever have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Yes, I do. Sooner or later, everyone does. Even you. I mean, you didn’t want to have to fight in the war, but you enlisted because you had to, and because—”

“What gave you the idea that I didn’t want to fight in the war?”

“But . . . ,” she stammered, flustered, “. . . you said it robs men of humanity.”

“Yes. Eventually it does. But much as I hate to admit it, Emerson was right about one thing—it does have a way of purifying things. It makes real life seem downright dull. On the battlefield you see the most spectacular extremes that a man can experience—death, bravery, cowardice, heroism—more vivid than anything you can imagine. I’ve been through every emotion there is and felt it deeper, stronger than I ever knew it could be felt.” His reflective mood had disappeared instantly as he looked down at her with a provoking grin. “Every emotion except love.”

“Then you haven’t met the right woman.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Maybe you just haven’t been looking hard enough.”

“Oh, I’ve been looking.”

Lucy thought about that now as the rowboat made its way down the river, and she smiled slowly.

“What are you thinking about?” Daniel asked, and she shrugged.

“Nothing in particular.”

“You’ve been smiling to yourself very often during the past few months.”

“Is there anything wrong with that? Smiling’s usually a sign that someone is happy.”

“No. I don’t mind it,” he said, looking mildly perturbed.

As the congregation of boats approached a bend in the river, a turtle perched on the end of a fallen log to watch them. It plopped in the water when they came closer, attracting the interest of some ducks who floated near the grassy riverbank. Watching the scene, Lucy could hardly believe that the warm, fresh river, filled with the green leaves of water lilies and bordered by willows, had been the same icy, barren place in which she had nearly drowned. More than once she had wanted to tell everyone that she had Heath to thank for her very life. It would have done much for his standing in the town and probably would have opened many a door that was not opened to him now. But neither of them had ever told a soul because of the irreversible damage it would do to her reputation. No one would ever believe that her two-day stay with him had been innocent, not in a small town where rumors stirred up trouble so easily.

“Luuucy!” came a high, excited voice from the riverbank, where many of the boats and canoes were stopping. It was Sally, who was dressed in white, red, and blue, in honor of the day.

“Tell her later not to call out and attract attention to you like this,” Daniel said under his breath. “It’s undignified.”

“Daniel, no one minds. Everyone here is our friend.”

“Lucy, I thought we had agreed to wear the colors of the flag!” Sally exclaimed. “How unpatriotic it was of you to renege!”

“I’m not short on patriotism,” Lucy shouted back, her voice dusted with laughter. “I just have fewer dresses than you do.”