Free Diamond Duo by Marcia Gruver Page A

it in the sun.”
    Thad joined in the laughter. “I heard there ain’t nothing worse than soggy tobacco. Too smoky–if you can keep it lit.”
    Charlie peered up at him. “You ever smoke, Thad?”
    Thad shook his head. “Never had a use for it.” He looked back at the water.
    The boys had rowed almost out of sight but still had a long way to go to reach their own dock. And the dark, paunchy cloudsinched closer. Several fat droplets pelted the layer of pine needles at Charlie’s feet with a muted
thwack
. Time to go.
    Thad gathered the fishing poles then jerked his head at Charlie. “It’d be downright foolish to stand laughing at the Taylor boys while the same fate swirls our way. Let’s get going before we’re struck by lightning.”
    Charlie nodded and fell in behind him. They reached the top of the incline and hustled toward the spot where they’d tied their horses. On the way, Charlie kept up a panting discourse, and his topic made Thad weak in the knees. “So what did Bertha say when you told her you’re leaving?”
    Thad batted branches out of his way as he weaved through the slim, meandering trunks of a sapling grove. He dreaded answering, so he took his time.
    Charlie took hold of his arm and hauled him around. “You haven’t told her.”
    The flat statement held the same disbelieving tone Thad had endured from his conscience all week. He leaned his head down and massaged his brow. “There’s nothing you can say to me that I haven’t already shouted at myself.”
    Charlie took off his hat and dashed it against his leg. “Except maybe this–Sunday’s the day after tomorrow, and then you’ll be gone. Bertha will be looking for you, but she won’t find you, will she? I hate to state the obvious, my friend, but you’re out of time.”
    Thad turned pleading eyes to Charlie. “Tell me what to do.” He paced the clearing, his booted feet causing a riot of sound in the blanket of dry leaves. “Charlie, I’m convinced I haven’t told her yet because telling would make it real. And I just don’t see how I’m going to leave that girl behind.”
    Charlie ducked the swinging poles slung over Thad’s shoulder then grabbed them out of his hand on the next pass. “Why don’t you ask her to wait for you?”
    Thad shook his head. “Don’t think I haven’t considered it. But it wouldn’t be fair. To Bertha.”
    “Don’t Bertha deserve the chance to decide for herself?”
    “There’s more to consider. Her papa would never agree to such a long engagement.”
    “Marry her, then. Before you leave.”
    Thad stopped pacing and faced him. “I can’t take a new bride with me to military school. And as hard as it will be to leave her now, it would be impossible if we were hitched.” He turned on his heels and set off again in the direction of the horses. “I’ve thought this thing through, and I don’t see any other way. I have to leave Bertha, and it’s twisting my mind. I think about her every second of the day. I hear her voice in my head. I see her face around every corner.”
    “Hmm. Is that right? Say, Thad–”
    “I tell you, the whole thing is driving me mad.”
    “Um, Thad?”
    Irritation spiked through him. Clearly Charlie had no inkling of how Thad felt or he would allow no diversion from the topic at hand. “Heavens, man! Don’t you see I’m in pain here? What is it?”
    Charlie cleared his throat. “I’m thinking I must be a little smitten with Bertha myself.”
    Thad stopped so fast that Charlie ran into him. He turned on his friend, his back as stiff as a picket, and took him by the front of his shirt. “Why would you say such a fool thing?”
    Charlie pointed past his shoulder. “Because I’m starting to see her, too.”
    Thad whirled and followed the direction Charlie pointed. The fleeting figure of a young woman came up the road in the distance, her image flickering as she passed in and out of sight between the trees and high brush. He might’ve discounted it as a