Authors: Connie Brockway
Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Historical, #General
Promise Me Heaven (43 page)
Thomas had pushed his gelding into a lather in his haste to make it home. He had not paused at Brighton or even in London to rid himself of his military uniform and procure civilian attire. He wanted to see Cat. He
needed
to see Cat. He hadn’t even taken time to pen a note, certain he would beat any missive he sent.
Only as he turned onto the mile-long road leading to his home did he allow the poor horse time to cool down. His eyes had widened in pleased surprise as he noted the various and sundry improvements that had been made in his absence: the barley in the fields, the multitude of lambs and sheep grazing in the verdant pastures.
How like Cat. With what a deft hand she arranged and ordered things. She would have made a fine field marshal. The thought brought unwanted images of the massacre that history would call Waterloo to Thomas’s mind. The waste of human life had sickened him and he had fought fiercely so that there would be no further Waterloos.
He shook off the dark images, his mind’s eye seeking an image of Cat, like a tern seeks the pure, free expanse of the ocean. Cat. Tranquil. Calm. Serene. Composed. Moderation in his havoc-filled world. Contentment and peace.
He rounded the sharp corner leading to the drive and saw a woman and reined in the gelding.
Cat
. She was standing in a hedgerow, her sleeves rolled up over her forearms, the luscious silk of her dress stained with grass, a mud smear on its hem. Her hair had tumbled from some hat-like confection. She was railing at two red-faced, liveried men who stood scuffing their feet, their gazes fixed on the ground.
Cat. Tranquil.
“Furthermore, I have never in my life seen two grown men incapable of acting in unison in such a patently simple maneuver.”
Serene.
“—I refuse to believe that one stupid sheep can so flummox three reasonably intelligent adults.”
Composed.
“—and even if I have to wade in there and wrench the bloody thing free myself, I will!”
Regal.
“You there, madam!” Thomas called. She turned, her lovely brow creased in a thunderous scowl. Her eyes, those impossible gray-green eyes, widened. Gladness spread through each feature, lighting her beloved face with a joy impossible to contain.
His own.
She lifted up her skirts as he swung down from the saddle.
God, the woman could run!
About the Author
HEIDI EHALT, 2010
N
ew York Times
and
USA Today
best-selling author Connie Brockway has received starred reviews from both
Publishers Weekly
and the
Library Journal,
which named
My Seduction
as one of 2004’s top ten romances.
An eight-time finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award, Brockway has twice been its recipient, for
My Dearest Enemy
and
The Bridal Season.
In 2006 Connie wrote her first women’s contemporary,
Hot Dish,
which won critical raves. Connie’s historical romance
The Other Guy’s Bride
was the launch book for Montlake Romance.
Today Brockway lives in Minnesota with her husband—a family physician—and two spoiled mutts.
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