Page 24

Once he had her feet back on the ground she said, “Careful, Tomas, your arm.”

“Surely, it is nearly healed,” he replied. Thomas watched her as she counted on her fingers, a slight frown between her brows.

“Let me examine it first.”

Thomas held out his arm, and she undid the restraints and splint.

“Move your fingers. Yes, that’s good.” She looked up and him as she pressed up and down his arm. “Did that hurt?”

“No, but it feels weak.”

“It will be for a while, until you build up strength in it again. Now make a fist. Good. Still no pain?”

“None,” he said. The relief of finally having the splint off his arm made it feel light as a feather. He skimmed the back of his hand across her cheek, and her eyes fluttered closed for a moment.

She pushed him gently away. “If you promise not to overexert yourself, you can go without the splint.”

“Of course.” Thomas pulled her back into his arms and kissed her.

“You should save your energy, Tomas,” she admonished, letting him kiss her again. “We have a long day ahead. Can you start the fire?”

“As my lady demands,” he said with a bow.

“I am not a doña, Tomas.”

“You are to me,” he said. Behind him, he heard her sigh.

There were so many things about himself he wanted to tell her, but why? In a few days he would be gone from her life, and she would quickly forget him. The thought bothered him. Maybe because he knew he was never going to forget her. One never forgets the one who saves him.

Elena shook her head as she watched him walk away. Captain Tomas Mark-ham was a mystery to her, even though they had spent close to three months together. She knew he was kind, honest, and totally infuriating at times but…she liked him. Especially when he kissed her. He was not one to complain even when he was in pain. In her experience, that was unusual. Her brother had told her that the English were pompous and rude, tricky and only out for what they could get out of a situation. Tomas was none of those things.

Gathering what she needed for breakfast, she laid it out next to him as he added kindling to the fire. While she cooked, he repacked the cart and hitched the donkey. It already felt hot and humid, and she was glad for her wide-brimmed hat.

“Your appetite is returning. That is good,” she said as she cleaned the plates and put them away in the cart. “We will buy some meat at the village ahead.”

“I am in awe at how you can make a meal out of ingredients I would never think to put together and yet it tastes like heaven.”

Elena snorted. “You are full of praise this morning. Should I check your temperature in case you have the delirium?” She put her hand up to his forehead.

“I assure you my compliments are sincere,” he replied, taking her hand in his and kissing the knuckles. No one had ever kissed her hand before; it almost felt like a waste of a kiss when he could have kissed her lips instead.

She tilted her head and said, “Tell me, how it is that you do not have a woman back in England when you are so very charming and sincere.”

Tomas cocked his brow. “I see you are not used to flattery, even when it is from the heart. Perhaps I never met a woman who could stand up for herself, who was whip-smart and beautiful to boot.”

“So, if I had been in England, you would have married me?”

“In my younger days I certainly would have considered it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, as a spy and an army man, my job is a dangerous one. It would be unfair of me to leave a wife at home when I could be killed. I would hate to have a wife of mine scared to death every time I left that she might not see me again.”

“So, you would miss out on a loving wife simply in case you die?”

“Well, yes. I see you do not think the same.”

“I just think it is a waste of the life you have, not to open your heart to love, and to cherish it as long as God is willing to keep you together. We only get one life, Tomas.” She had said more than she should have. The look on his face alone told her that her answer shocked him. Stepping away, she kicked dirt over the embers of the fire with the tip of her boot and dared not look at him again. Instead, she put on her hat and took the donkey’s lead and urged it into action.