Chapter Three

“When’s Benton coming back, Nissa? The stockpiles are getting low, and I need to know what the delivery schedule will be the next few months.”

Joseph was the fifth person in the last three days to ask about Benton’s whereabouts. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem as Benton had always reported to her the whens and wheres of his schedule. Except this time.

This time, not a clue.

“He didn’t tell me. I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing.” It could be a few things, hunting and fur trapping being the main possibilities, but Benton was a man of many talents and all of them were in demand.

Joseph frowned at that piece of news, but Marie waddling out from the kitchen while carrying a tray diverted his attention. “Marie, you know better! No more lifting anything. You shouldn’t even be here.”

He ignored his very pregnant wife’s sputtered words and grabbed the tray away from her. Marie shot him daggers with her glare. “You are overreacting. Should I just leave Nissa alone to handle the entire crowd?”

Nissa raised her hands in a mock surrender. “Don’t put me in between. I just do what I’m told.” Both Joseph and Marie gave her an exasperated look before turning back to each other.

“You need to take care of yourself.”

“I’m pregnant, not made of glass.”

Joseph leaned down, touching his forehead to hers. “Promise me you will be well.”

Marie smacked him lightly on the arm, but the smile that curved her lips was indulgent just the same. “Silly man. There is no need for worry, but I promise anyway.”

Joseph turned to Nissa. “Make her sit if you think she appears tired.”

Marie rolled her eyes the moment her husband was out of sight. “As excited as I am to be pregnant, I wish he’d loosen up a bit. I didn’t marry an old fuddy-duddy.”

“But you did marry a man almost twice your age. You should have considered it a possibility he would turn into one.”

Marie was in her mid-twenties, small and cute with dark hair and dark eyes. Joseph was in his early forties, gray forming at his temples. A stranger seeing them together wouldn’t assume they were father and daughter, but the age difference was obvious. And yet, Nissa had not known a happier or more perfect for each other couple.

“Never thought it would happen. This is the same man who at the end of our first date decided we should have sex in the public carriage house. When travelers arrived he was so close to coming he couldn’t stop, so he finished with them watching.”

Nissa choked and coughed hard enough to put forth a lung. Joseph and Marie were lumped into the parental category – as in, she never wanted to know anything about their sex life. Unfortunately, Marie was completely unselfconscious when it came to private matters. If you were her friend, then any and all information was fair game.

“That reminds me,” continued Marie. “What about you and Benton? Any bare-assed action going on there yet?”

And just like a parent, Marie was obsessed over Nissa’s love life, or why she didn’t have one. “Why do you keep asking?”

“Because you’ve known him for three years and have loved him almost that long, and I would like you both to move beyond the mooning phase and enter the action phase.”

“Hard to do when he doesn’t love me back.”

Marie scoffed. “What are you talking about? The man is crazy over you.”

Nissa made a vague wave with her hand at the other occupants of the bar. “You seem to be the only one who thinks that. No one else asks me about impending nuptials. They don’t seem to think he loves me.”

“That’s because the majority of the residents here are so emotionally stunted they can’t see past Benton’s scars and vocabulary.”

“Benton doesn’t have a vocabulary with most people. He just stares at them until they run away.”

“Exactly!” Marie said, giving a hop in her seat and pointing at Nissa. “That should be a clue right there. He talks around you. Not many others can say that.”

Couldn’t Marie see how hard this was? How much Nissa wanted to think there might be something beyond friendship? But Benton was the bravest man she’d ever known, and not once, not once , had he ever said anything to her about taking their relationship further. “That just proves friendship, not love.”

“Nissa…”

“I’m not going to talk myself into something that isn’t there.”

Marie’s pouty little mouth scrunched tight before she asked, “Why can’t there be anything else?”

Frustration flooded through Nissa, little snaps of irritation at her best friend, who just would not leave this alone. “Don’t make me say it.”

“What?”

“I’m happy with myself, mostly. Don’t make me unhappy with myself by thinking what my lack of beauty might be costing me.” Damned tears, filling her eyes and making her voice break. Nissa scrubbed at her eyes with her sleeve to wipe away any evidence of weakness. She was happy. She was grateful. Benton not loving her wouldn’t change that.

“Nissa-” Before Marie could press further, excited chattering from outside became louder and louder, and a group of women entered the tavern, color high and eyes shining.

“Marie!” cried the loudest, bustiest, and blondest of the lot. She raced over, a half dozen other young ladies following her.

“Tara,” Marie responded. She arched her eyebrow at Nissa, indicating complete surprise at this interruption, though the fact there was an interruption wasn’t an unusual occurrence. While Marie wasn’t friends with the women, she was friendly with everyone, and eventually all gossip reached her ears. Usually not in such an exuberant way, though.

Tara’s gaze barely brushed over Nissa before the mental dismissal hit, and then Tara’s attention was focused on Marie. “The most beautiful man just arrived at the village.”

Marie waited a beat, the kind of silence that meant the listener was expecting more information. When it wasn’t forthcoming, Marie said, “That’s… nice.”

Tara drew back. “Why aren’t you more excited?”

A small chuckle escaped Marie. “That kind of news might mean something to your life, but as you can see,” she said, caressing her very round stomach, “I’m no longer in the game.”

“Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy looking at him.”

“The only thing looking at a man these days does is remind me he’ll never have to go through the swollen ankles or the feeling of having his insides used like a punching bag, not to mention needing to wake-up every hour to travel to the outhouse. I’m afraid I’m not in a good position to appreciate him at the moment.”

Before Tara could respond the door opened. As the visitor came into view the group of women let out a loud, lingering sigh as one.

All the blondness was blocking Nissa’s view, so she tucked her legs under her on the stool and craned her neck to see above the fray.

Nice.

No doubt, this was the man Tara and the other bimbettes lusted after. He was striking, handsome in a way that almost bordered feminine beauty but never crossed the line into effeminate.

His hair was a shade lighter than black and his eyes were a deep blue, the color of a clear twilight sky. His face was sharp planes and angles, but full lips softened the square cut of his jaw and begged for kisses to be bestowed upon them.

His height was average and his body fell under the heading slender but not skinny, with nice musculature. He held himself tall and straight, a noble bearing that meant he either had money or was comfortable around those who did.

Tara spoke up. “Do you think he’s a young lord, or maybe in the performing arts? He’s beautiful enough.”

As long as they were making up stories with no facts to support them, Nissa’s guess was he was one of those vague, unformed men, the ones who coasted by on their charm and looks and let everyone around them – especially lonely married women with too much time and too much money – keep them in style.

He looked around the tavern. If he wasn’t a stranger, she’d almost say the intensity he displayed meant he was looking for something specific.

“Who’s he looking for?” Marie asked, mirroring Nissa’s thoughts. “Probably here for some dalliance.”

Tara did not look pleased at that possibility, and the others looked similarly pinched of face.

The man sat, so far by himself.

After five minutes of nothing happening, Marie turned to Nissa. “You are the waitress now, right? Last I heard from you and my husband, I’m not allowed to pick up a glass unless it’s mine.”

“Oh.” Yes, that made sense. This was a tavern, so he could be expected to believe food and drink were forthcoming. “I’d rather not go.”

The band of women was so caught up in their whispering they didn’t hear the exchange. Marie leaned closer. “And why?”

“People that attractive make me nervous. I always feel they’re judging me when they look at me. I’d rather not deal with it.”

“As long as he gives you a good tip, who cares? Now get over there before my husband decides he’s better off without either of us.”

Nissa hopped down from the stool and, after giving a sigh meant for Marie’s ears alone, walked over to his table. “Good afternoon, sir. What can I get you?”

The man’s eyes met hers and something strange happened. He did not look away with the instinctive grimace most attractive people displayed when looking at those less blessed in the looks department. Instead his eyes focused on her with an intensity that froze breath in her lungs, and his lips curved upwards into a small but devastating grin. “I would like a pint to start, and whatever food is warm and ready to be served will be fine.”

Wow. There was handsome, but this man was beyond beautiful. That smile alone would have women fainting in his wake. “Certainly. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Marie was already pouring his drink when Nissa made it back to the bar. Her neck tingled, and Nissa turned to see the stranger’s eyes fixed on her. This was turning out to be a very unusual encounter.

Tara’s shaking her arms brought Nissa’s attention back to the gaggle of women. “You have to ask him about his history. Where he comes from, what he does-”

“Is he married?” piped up a small redhead in the back, and all the women grunted in agreement with that question.

“You do know I’m only the waitress, right? Ask him yourself later.”

Tara took the pint from Marie and handed it to Nissa. “Find out what you can.”

“I better see some money from this,” Nissa muttered, returning to the table.

The smile was still on the man’s face, but softer. It was a smile you gave when you were truly glad someone was with you. He motioned to the seat across from him after she set the drink down. “Would you care to sit with me? You don’t look busy.”

This was taking on shades of the surreal. The only remarkable trait about Nissa was how unremarkable she was. Perhaps it was harsh, but experience had taught her over and over that beautiful people did not like to associate with not-beautiful people, at least without a reason. And she and this man were on opposite sides of that divide.

But even as cynical thoughts twisted through her mind, a small voice rose, a voice that had been weak and out of use for such a long time, but was steadily growing stronger and louder because of her love for Benton. A voice she once relied on to guide her. A voice that believed in the better nature of people.

This voice told her to quit being harsh. Quit judging. Sit with a lonely man, and if in the end this was a game, so what? It would only reflect poorly on him.

Nissa still wasn’t comfortable with that voice, but she sat across from him anyway. “I’m Nissa.”

“Byron,” he returned, his eyes crinkling slightly with the widening of his smile. “Thank you for staying. I haven’t had anyone to converse with during my travels. It’s nice to have company.”

That seemed reasonable enough. It didn’t explain the staring, but one step at a time. “Where are you traveling to?”

“Here. I’m staying here, in this town.” As he spoke, his gaze never left her. Nissa could hear the little feminine noises from the group of women – over-loud laughs and sounds of items dropping, a situation any gentleman would help the lady out by retrieving said items. But Byron’s full attention stayed with her.

“Oh? And what do you do?” After all, if she was going to be grilled the moment he left the tavern, she might as well learn a few things so Tara and the other women would leave her alone sooner.

“I’m an artist. I travel and paint. I’ve heard a lot about this town these last few months, so I let the wind carry me here.”

“How long will you stay?”

His lips lost the hint of smile and his eyes returned to their earlier intensity. “I’m here until my wish comes true.”