Page 44 of Waking Roslyn

“I would never,” she replied with a sassy lift of her shoulder.

She waved her hand through the air and stepped back into the water, heedless of her skirts this time.

It only took us about ten minutes to work the branches loose and pull them onto shore, but by the time we were finished, her skirt was soaked to her knees and my stomach hurt from laughing.

That same bubbling joy that I’d seen in her when she was dancing came out here in the stream as she helped me with a menial task, and I was captivated by it.

“Thank you for your help, Miss Rose.”

She smiled at me from where she sat by her shoes and pushed a loose strand of hair off her forehead. “I know you would have been lost without my assistance.”

“Undoubtedly,” I agreed with a chuckle. “I’m sure Tyson would have found me wringing my hands and crying for help if you hadn’t been here.”

She crinkled her nose in an adorable way and shook her head at my teasing words. “I’m fairly certain I was more a hindrance than anything, but thank you anyway.” She put her second shoe on and then looked around. “I suppose I should get back for dinner.”

“And I will do my best not to foul things up too badly while you are gone.” I offered her a hand, which she took, allowing me to pull her to her feet. “Have a good evening, Miss Rose.”

She looked up at me, and I could have sworn that a blush swept her cheeks before she stepped back. “You as well, John.”

She walked away, stooping to pick wildflowers as she went.

I grinned. She was always doing that.

Roslyn

The hem of my dress was heavy with water, but by the time I’d made my way back to the house, I had a giant bundle of flowers in my hands and several more tucked into my hair. I stepped inside and had the misfortune of running into Edmund. Normally I wouldn’t have minded, but knowing that he had tried to warn John away from me made me less tolerant than usual.

Still, if I could be polite to animals, I could be polite to my cousin’s husband. “Good afternoon, Edmund.”

“And you, Rose.” He eyed the flowers in my hand with skepticism. “You have an admirer?” He tried and failed to sound casual about it.

I laughed, finding his misunderstanding of the situation to be genuinely humorous. “Hardly. I am more than capable of gathering flowers on my own.” I brought them to my nose and inhaled deeply. “I appreciate the variety of wildflowers that Bridgefield has to offer. It’s been a long time since I could gather such a bundle.”

“Oh.” He seemed surprised, and also suddenly uninterested. “Well, good. I’m glad you like them.” He walked away without another word, and I happily went to the kitchen to request a vase for my treasures.

The next day, I went to meet John, making sure to carefully avoid the killdeer nest as I went.

I made sure I was on time, especially since I fully realized that we had not made much progress since he’d started teaching me, and that was entirely my fault. Today I was determined to do whatever John asked of me, even if it seemed hard, or scary, or just like a bad idea. With that determination, I was anxious to get started, but when I checked the watch dangling from the chain around my neck, John was already seven minutes late. Had he forgotten?

It was only a few minutes later that I heard someone bustling through the forest and looked around, expecting John. When a young woman approached instead, I couldn’t help the frown that tugged at my lips. But when she looked up and gave a jaunty wave, my consternation turned to curiosity.

“Hello!” She grabbed a fistful of skirt and jogged the rest of the way over to me, a wooden sword slapping against one leg and a staff in her hand. “You must be Rose,” she said after coming to a stop in front of me.

“Yes, I am.”

“I’m Gretchen.” She stuck out her hand and I shook it, because what else could I do in the face of such enthusiasm? “I’m John’s sister.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“John got caught up working on something with Harlow. He’s the stable master.”

“Oh,” I said as keen disappointment sliced through me. “So he won’t be making it?” I didn’t know if I was more disappointed to miss my lesson or to miss time with John. It was probably best not to examine that question too closely.

“He might show up later, but no guarantees. He told me you’re wanting to fight, and I told him I could come teach you some things.”

My brow fluttered in surprise. “Oh, well…”

“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing,” she said with a cheeky turn of her mouth.