Timeless Whisper (Timeless Hearts Series Book 1) Read online

  No pressure then. Why did she have to go and say that? Raven’s heart sunk.

  "But how could he be alone? What about his uncles and aunts? He seemed pretty close to the judge."

  "He has a cold, distant relationship with them. They want more but he won't allow it. He uses them when he has to. But there are no strong bonds there, although Theodore tries. Joshua and Mary don't really know him that well, and find him frigid."

  Feeling the weight of what Charlotte was saying, Raven asked, “What do you expect me to do? He hates me. And to be honest, I’m not that crazy about him either.”

  “I expect you to save him in the way only you can. He’s not a bad man, he’s a lost one. He doesn’t hate you. I already feel a change in the atmosphere here. Things are changing, and it’s because of you. You must go back now and finish this for all our sakes.”

  “Oh, Lord go back. They must think me dead already. I’ve been here a long time. I’ll probably wake up in a box,” Raven said, looking around her.

  “Yes, you’ve been here a while, but time is relative and moves a lot slower here. In the real world, you’ve only just fainted. It been no more than seconds.”

  “”This is crazy. I think I want to do this. I couldn’t bear the thought of him dying alone and miserable. I’ll stay, help him through it, and see him past the two months. But I’m not going to make myself miserable too. If I see things between us aren’t going anywhere, I’m going home. You can just keep on running from him in this world. Because I won’t be running from him in mine. You should have gotten word to him, sent him a letter explaining what happened and why. Have you ever stopped to think that might have made all the difference in the world?”

  “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I wasn’t brave enough. I couldn’t risk him coming after me, killing both Hank and my father, nor him finding out that Mrs. Jennings helped them. I’m still trying to work out why he didn’t—he had the means.”

  “I can tell you why. Sometimes the truth is more painful than the fantasy and an even more bitter pill to swallow. It’s better not knowing.”

  “Maybe. You must go back now.” Charlotte stood.

  “Will I be seeing…hearing from you again?” Raven chuckled. It was weird to be asking a benevolent spirit if they were going to call.

  “If you do what you must, I don’t think we will.”

  “Did you give me this?” Raven stretched out her arm. “Was it done in the hopes of having me mistaken for you?”

  Charlotte shook her head. “Time gave you the scar. That scar represents more than you know…”

  There was so much more Raven wanted to ask her, but she could already feel the pull back to reality. Voices were filtering through, and she had the sense of being lifted into the air. Her eyelids were heavy, and she struggled to open them.

  Chapter 17

  Lance sat at his desk, head in hands. What had he done? Her wrists were rubbed raw because of him. This was why Charlotte ran away from him. He was a monster. This woman didn’t deserve his wrath. Charlotte had once told him she wasn’t good enough for him. Truth be known, he was the one who wasn’t good enough for her.

  He was broken before he met her, and got worse after she’d gone. When Charlotte left him, he was sure that was it, he’d never feel anything again. This Raven woman had changed that. She may look like Charlotte with her golden hair, wild and luxurious as it cascaded over her face but she had more to her.

  She was like the Charlotte who had hurled a rock at his face, not the tamed flower she’d grown into. He couldn’t get the image of Raven in her tight stretchy undergarments, and her middle as flat as a washboard out of his mind.

  Well he needed to. When he’d send her back to Charlotte, she should be full of regret and wishing she’d never met him. However, with her wrists so sore, maybe he’d better write down a list of her chores. He’d limit her to some light housework, the kitchen, stables, the vegetable garden, and livestock. If she managed that, he’d consider adding more work for her to do.

  Her nails were kept short and clean. Her hands looked soft. Maybe a couple of months of hard work would toughen them up a little. But would he want to see callouses on her lovely hands and delicate fingers. He shook the thought from his mind. He needed to remember that she was the enemy and to treat her accordingly.

  He should stop thinking about her and write that list. But how could he when the mere thought of her had his heart racing, the pulse in his neck twitching, his skin prickling, and a yearning to taste her sweet lips? What was happening to him?

  How could she fill him with so much passion and infuriate him at the same time? Were he honest with himself he’d like nothing more than to get to know her better. But he couldn’t let down his defenses. Look what happened to him he last time he did that, and by a woman who looked just like this one. How could he risk it?

  No, never again.

  He never should have brought her here. In his attempt to hurt her, he may be on the verge of hurting himself. He stood and paced the room. He really should have thought it through. How could he? When she’d slammed into him, sending his senses reeling, he’d been elated at first, then he got mad. His heart had leaped from his chest, then crashed to the pit of his stomach as realization set in. Those bombardments of feeling had been lightning fast as they shot through him,

  They’d left behind an empty sense of longing, copious amount of rage, and a bitter sweet taste for revenge. And those feelings heightened with every passing hour he’d spent in her company. That’s why he’d left her in the living room. He had to get away from her, no longer feeling in control when he was around her.

  She scared him even more that Charlotte had. He couldn’t figure why that was. He sensed she knew it too. The way she smirked and stared at him as if she could see right through him. Staying away from her wouldn’t build up any resistance to her charms.

  Surely if he wanted to achieve a certain level of tolerance, he needed to expose himself to her, force himself to remain in her company without wanting to enact some form of physical punishment.

  Ryder was right to stop him from laying a hand on her. He’d never be able to forgive himself were he to hit a woman. He still couldn’t believe he’d lost his self-control so completely. He had no idea what had come over him. Then again, the pain to his shin had been amplified by the pain in his heart, and blinding mental anguish, knowing she wasn’t Charlotte. But it was all he had to satisfy his malign frustration.

  He had to figure a way around it, speak to Ryder and get his perspective. Although he knew what Ryder would say—he’d told him in no uncertain terms at the church, where he’d waited and waited, feeling his heart shattering in his chest. She’d sworn to him she’d be there and she wasn’t. Ryder had wanted him to hunt her down, but he was too stunned to move, paralyzed by his own stupidity. He never should have lowered his defenses and let her in. He cursed the day he met her. He’d been doing fine until then.

  “Mr. Thornton…Mr. Thornton, come quickly, it’s Miss Eyez.”

  “What’s wrong with her?” For a moment his heart stopped and an icy chill ran down his spine. If she was injured in any way, he would never forgive himself. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and he had no right to treat her the way he’d been treating her.

  “She’s out cold.” He ran from the room with Mrs. Jennings right behind him, still talking. But he was barely listening. “I just came back from drawing her bath and found her like this.”

  When he got to the room, she was flat out on the rug mumbling. He heard his name on her lips. I’m sorry, so, so sorry. He bent and picked her up off the floor. Her eyes opened and she stared into his. The weak smile she gave him toppled the wall around his heart, brick by brick. His head felt tight and his heart thawed. He almost buckled before getting her over to the bed.

  It was too late for him to save himself from her. He had to let her go before he fell any deeper. She made him weak on the inside and out. But he didn’t want to put her down. She f
itted so well in his arms. His eyes fell to her lips and lingered there. She moistened them, drawing him in further.

  He coughed to clear his throat, as well as his mind, and tore his gaze away from the magnetic pull of her mouth. Lance stood at the side of the bed still holding her, unable to let her go. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, a little tired. If you’d like to put me down now. I think I can take it from here.”

  He didn’t listen. “Where are you from?”

  “What do you mean? I come from Heartsbridge?”

  “No, originally. You don’t come from anywhere around here. I would know it if you did.”

  “Please put me down.”

  “Sorry, of course.” He put her down onto her feet. “I’ll see you at supper. Mrs. Jennings, please find her something to put on.” He was suddenly acutely aware she was still in the same unusual undergarments that filled his mind with sinful thoughts. Turning away from her, he left the room, needing to get as far away from her as he could.

  She had to go.

  Chapter 18

  Left alone with Mrs. Jennings. Raven narrowed her gaze and surveyed the older woman.

  “Why did you do it?”

  “I found you passed out on the floor, what else would you have me do?”

  “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about helping Charlotte’s father abduct her before the wedding?”

  The color drained from Mrs. Jennings face, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Her hands played with the end corner of the apron she had around her waist, twisting it between her fingers before bringing it to her lips. She let it fall. “Are you going to tell Mr. Thornton?”

  “It’s not my place. If Lance finds out what you did, it won’t be from me. I just want to know why you’d do something like that, to someone you obviously care about.”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Then uncomplicate it for me. I want to know.”

  She laced her apron between her fingers again, sighed, then said, “When Mr. Springfield approached me for my help, I refused, even after he threatened to reveal something about my past. I took what Mr. Springfield asked me to do, to Mr. Lucore, thinking he would help me tell Mr. Thornton. Instead he told me to do it. He said Charlotte wasn’t right for Mr. Thornton. It was better for him to be alone and unhappy for a while than to be trapped in a marriage he’d spend a lifetime regretting. What Mr. Thornton felt for Miss Charlotte wasn’t healthy. There was a woman out there for him, but Miss Charlotte wasn’t the one. She’d served her purpose. I didn’t understand what he meant. I still don’t.”

  Raven exhaled, her chest heaved and she stared down at her hands. She placed her fingertips together, then laced them, and shook her head. She must be crazy to think what she was thinking. But what did she really have to rush back to? Shame, gossip, and scandal. At least here nobody knew her name. Her face wouldn’t be plastered all over the papers. She wouldn’t have to bump into Lance and his lovely wife.

  She had a chance to do something good here. A chance to save a life, and in doing so, she might be saving herself. She was definitely attracted to Lance of this time, but could she love him? He certainly wasn’t making it easy for her.

  She pinched herself to make sure she was really going to do this. It hurt like hell. What Charlotte had said to her kept replaying in her mind. Her anxiety was disappearing as she came to terms with her situation. Especially after she’d seen the concern in Lance’s eyes when he held her. He’d looked so vulnerable, like a small boy, lost and confused. He’d soon shielded himself, but she had seen enough to know she didn’t want anything bad to happen to him if she could in any way prevent it. Something must have happened to him to make him the way he was. She turned her gaze back to the other woman.

  “How long have you worked here, Mrs. Jennings?”

  “Since before young Mr. Thornton was born. It was terrible what happened to this poor family.”

  “Come sit with me and tell me all about it.” She smiled.

  “I’m not sure if I should.”

  Really? This woman was something else. She had an odd way of rationalizing what she should and shouldn’t be sharing. What Raven knew about her involvement in assisting with Lance’s fiancée’s abduction, was the equivalent to a loaded gun aimed at Mrs. Jennings head. Not that she intended to resort to blackmailing any information out of her. But the woman wasn’t a fool, she knew Raven was armed and dangerous with what she had over her.

  Raven furrowed her brow to ensure Mrs. Jennings was aware of their like-mindedness. Watching the color rise in her cheeks assured Raven of their mutual understanding. She sat on the bed, smiled, and tapped the space beside her.

  “Come sit, talk.”

  Mrs. Jennings sat with her hands clamped together in her lap. She made a sound in the back of her throat

  “Believe it or not, this used to be a happy house once, filled with joy and laughter. Mr. Thornton had his mother’s temperament, kind and gentle he was. His mother was a very sympathetic, feeling woman. It was almost as if she had the ability to take on everybody’s pain. Master Lance was the same. Sad stories used to make the boy cry. I once heard him tell his mother he wished he didn’t feel the pain of others when they were hurt.”

  She placed her hand over her chest as she remembered, and Raven wanted to roll her eyes.

  She wanted to hear what made Lance the way he was, not this long drawn out version of the tale. A synopsis would have been more than enough, but she knew when to leave well enough alone. Mrs. Jennings would get there but in her own time.

  “Well, what happened next? What did she say?”

  Mrs. Jennings shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t wait around to hear. I was working. What I do know, he seemed to struggle with that gift—unlike his mother. He used to isolate himself, spending long hours in his room, until his sister came along. Then it was as if he were a different child. Master Lance was happier still when Master Ryder came and joined the household. Poor boy must have been lonely.” She swallowed and looked off into the distance. She smiled and looked at Raven.

  “Skinny little thing, was our young Master Ryder, short for his age. Wouldn’t think it to see him now, he filled out nicely. He was a strange one. Haunted eyes, used to give me the chills just looking at him. He appeared from nowhere, like an apparition. They were happy times.” Mrs. Jennings brought the end of her apron up to her face and dabbed at her eyes.

  “It was Mr. Thornton Sr. who brought the sickness into the house, from one of his many business trips. Came home coughing over everyone. Struck down they were. The wee one was the first to catch whatever it was he had. Then Mrs. Thornton. Master Lance and Ryder caught it too, only not as bad. The doctor said it was lung fever. Master Lance reverted back to being isolated after…well you know, after it was over.” She sniffed.

  “He’d only speak to Master Ryder. They went to live with the judge, although he wasn’t a judge then. Newly married with a young wife and no children of their own. The judge thought it best if I stay here as it was the only home I had. I’ve lived here since I was a girl.” She paused to lick her lips.

  Impatient to hear more, Raven said, “Go on.”

  “Well, it seemed as if it was all working out. Then one day out of the blue, the boys were back. Although they were more like young men by then. Master Ryder said they were back because the judge's wife was expecting their first born, and Master Lance wanted to come home because he didn’t want to be around no kids. Fair broke his uncle’s heart. The boys ran the ranch and did everything together. They were like two peas in a pod. Closer than brothers they were. Then one day Master Lance comes home, blood pouring from his forehead. I’d never seen anyone so happy to have a rock to the head.”

  The long case clock chimed in the hallway. “Oh my goodness. I have to see to supper, check it’s ready.” She stood. “If you would excuse me Miss, I’d better go.”

  Raven didn’t try to stop her. Mrs. Jennings had already given her en
ough to think about.

  Chapter 19

  “Where have you been?” Lance asked, as he watched Ryder stroll to the side table in the living room and pour himself a drink.

  “Since when do I answer to you?” He stopped pouring and placed the glass and bottle on the table, then rested his hands on his hips.

  “I didn’t say you did. But something happened, and I want your advice.”

  “Well, if you're only wanting my advice, it isn’t so calamitous that you need question my whereabouts. You’re not entitled to that privilege when you need my advice. What’s up?”

  “I don’t want that woman under my roof. You have to find somewhere for her to go. See if Cissie has room at the boardinghouse.”

  Ryder finished pouring himself a large brandy and took a seat.

  “I don’t take orders from you, and if you want her gone, you move her. You didn’t seem to have much of a problem tying her up and dragging her out here. My advice is, use that same tenacity to do the opposite. You’re on your own, and I mean really on you own. I have something I need to do. It’s going to take me away for a day for two.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “If I wanted you to know the details of my excursion, I would have told you. It’s nothing of importance to you. I won’t be gone long, so you can stop panicking.”

  “I’m not panicking. I simply can’t believe you would take this time to go away. It’s a little inconvenient.”

  Ryder’s eyes flickered over him. “Call on Uncle Teddy if you really can’t stand to be alone with her. You caused quite a kerfuffle to get her. Now deal with it.”

  “I caused a what? I don’t understand you sometimes.”

  “Commotion. Ya caused one hell of a commotion, and don’t pretend like I haven’t used the word before and told you what it means.”

  “Yes, well, I’ve looked it up since then, and it wasn’t in any dictionary I could find. Neither are half the other words you’ve tried to teach me. You need to stop using your own made up words.”