Free Crane by Stacey Rourke Page A

Katrina’s lovely face with the tender caress of the calm sea lapping against a white sand shore as she nodded to the settee in the corner. “I would happily sit a spell.”
    A hot blush rushed to Ichabod’s cheeks and ears , forcing him to shift his gaze to the loose string on his cuff button. “Your presence evokes many emotions, miss. The effects of which are far from soothing.” Instantly, Ichabod’s head snapped up, stunned by the forward nature of his own words. “A thousand apologies, Katrina. I have no excuse for such banter. It’s even more disgraceful considering you’re on the verge of marriage.”
    Katrina’s cornflower blue eyes widened in surprise. “I am? May I inquire as to whom I am betrothed to?”
    “ Brom Van Brunt, of course.”
    “Ah .” Katrina gathered her billowing skirt and made the two strides necessary for her to situate herself on the settee. “Brom has tried on multiple occasions to convince my father to bestow my hand to him. Yet there is one factor that boorish Van Brunt has failed to consider.”
    Unable to keep his eyes off her, Ichabod swiveled on the bench as she moved. “ And what, may I ask, is that?”
    Katrina’s tight smile did nothing to hide the sadness that seeped into her eyes like slow moving snow clouds, heavy with their weighty burden. “That my father knew real love with my mother , and would never allow his only daughter to settle for anything less.”
    “You must think me a heel.” Ichabod shook his head, aghast with his own insensitivity. “I have failed to offer you my condolences for you r loss even once. I am so very sorry, I cannot even begin to imagine the devastation you must be dealing with.”
    Katrina smoothed her skirt with her palms, then folded them in her lap. “Thank you, that is very kind. However , the woman that died yesterday was not my mother but my stepmother. The second Mrs. Van Tassel, a title that is quickly becoming a cursed one. It has been five years since my mother was claimed by the fevers. Selena married my father three months ago. The loss was primarily his as I never got much of a chance to know her.”
    “If your father experienced love in its truest form , how could he bring himself to remarry at all?” For the second time that night, Ichabod desperately wished he could retract his words. They seemed to slip past his lips without filter. He blamed it on her beguiling beauty and the overwhelming desire to know absolutely everything about her. Thankfully, she didn’t appear off put by his forwardness … yet.
    “There are five Dutch families that have been in Sleepy Hollow since the area was first settled; the Van Tassels, the Van Brunts, the Landcasters, the DeMarrs, and the Lovenstiens. While all have prospered at varying levels, they have remained a close knit group. As long as I can remember, they have had frequent meetings behind closed doors, making decisions that will affect the entire town. Officials that will be nominated for election, widows in need of aid, how crops are faring, anything and everything involving the wellbeing of the town is discussed. It was they who suggested Father make his home whole once more by taking a wife.” Katrina huffed a humorless laugh as she leaned to the side of the settee and curled her legs under her. “Those same men are also the reason I had to turn to Mama Rosa once again for a place to rest my head.”
    A protective fire flamed in Ichabod’s chest. “ They forced you from your own home when a deranged madman is on the loose ?”
    “Not forced ,” Katrina corrected. “Merely suggested strongly after they showed up with barrels of ale and the intentions of helping my father drown his sorrows. Father doesn’t like to be viewed as weak by anyone, least of all his own daughter. Whenever he feels the need to partake in spirits, which is quite seldom, he asks that I stay away so that my vision of my heroic papa is never soiled. ”
    Ichabod’s mouth open ed … but he