Free Marrying Miss Martha by Anna Jacobs Page B

occupy her time. How soon can you come here?”
    Martha had been dreading Christmas in Woodbourne without their father and would far rather they spent it here in Tapton, even if they knew no one. “Give us a week to pack after we get home, then we’ll find a carrier and . . . ”
    “No need. Jonas and I can send a couple of our mill drays for your stuff if you’ll write down directions before you go.” He turned towards the door. “I must leave now. They’re delivering some new machinery to my mill. We started during the night in case there was trouble and I’d better get back to keep an eye on things, though we’re mostly home and dry now.”
    “Why should there be trouble?”
    “Some folk don’t like progress and blame it on the machines, so they try to destroy them. I just wanted to see you before you left.” He looked at her, wondering why it had seemed so important that she and her sister take the position, important enough for him to leave the mill at a crucial time. Though there had been no sign yet of the trouble-makers he’d expected, thank heavens.
    He’d come because he liked the Merridene ladies, he decided. Yes, that was it. Martha was straightforward and sensible, as unlike his stepmother as a woman could be. As for Penelope, she had a warm smile and a chin as stubborn as her sister’s. Surely they’d be able to control his sister, and under their influence Georgie would learn to behave more reasonably?
    He realised he’d been standing lost in thought, which was hardly polite. “I really must get back.” He stepped aside to let her go first and as she passed him, he smelled lavender and soap. Her face was shining as if she’d just washed it, her cheeks were as rosy as apples and her eyes—well, they were surprisingly beautiful, of a hazel colour and full of smiling warmth, as if she liked the world she lived in.
    He breathed in deeply, annoyed at himself for wasting time on such fanciful thoughts. “Leave a note for me at the inn with directions to your house and we’ll send the drays to arrive one week from today, if that suits you.”
    “Thank you. It’ll be a great help.”
    As Martha took the hand he held out, she stilled because that strange feeling of awareness was running through her again. It was unnerving. She had never felt anything like it and didn’t understand why it kept happening. It must be because he was so very large and masculine. Yes, that was it. Even her father hadn’t been as big as this man. It wasn’t that Ben Seaton was intimidating, not at all, but you just couldn’t help noticing him—and reacting.
    Closing the front door firmly behind him, she went back to taking notes, pacing out the rooms as carefully as she could.
    When she had finished she went upstairs to join Penelope, feeling happier than she had since her father’s death. “We’d better get back to the inn and pack our things now or Edward will complain all the way back to Woodbourne.”
    “I woke early and couldn’t sleep, so mine are packed already. Why don’t you go back and see to yours? I’ll join you in another half-hour. I haven’t paced out the attics yet.”
    “Are you sure you’ll be all right on your own?”
    “Of course I shall. It’s not very far to walk.”
    “Here’s the front door key, then. Be sure to lock up carefully.”
    As Martha walked back to the inn she thought the square seemed rather empty considering how busy it had been the day before, but perhaps people of the better sort did their shopping later on. She heard a few shouts in the distance, but thought nothing of that, her mind focused on their coming move and what needed to be done.
    * * * *
    The man known mainly as Croaky Jack went into the office at Brindley’s first thing that same morning, looking angry. “Seaton’s tricked us.”
    Noll scowled at him and gestured to Gerry to stand back. “What do you mean?”
    “He brought them machines in during the night. They’re uncrating them now. If we