Free In a Stranger's Arms by Deborah Hale Page A

know?”
    “As a matter of fact, there is.” She glanced toward him, but refused to meet his eyes.
    Not that Manning really wanted her to. He had an uncanny feeling she could see right inside him and read all his secrets.
    Fetching a broom from the corner, Caddie began to sweep the floor. Manning braced himself for her interrogation.
    “Did you leave any folks behind in Pennsylvania?” Caddie seemed to concentrate on her sweeping, tossing off the question as if just making small talk.
    Something about the way she cocked her head, and a certain tension in her posture, told Manning his answer mattered to her. Mattered very much.
    “Parents?” she prompted when he didn’t answer at once. “Children? A wife?”
    That’s what had her worried! Manning almost laughed with relief. “I swear you’re my first and only wife, ma’am, and my folks have passed on. Part of the reason I came to Virginia was because there was nothing left for me up North.”
    Silently he prayed Caddie wouldn’t ask him the other part of what had drawn him to Sabbath Hollow. Fortunately, she didn’t.
    “I reckon you’re right about putting the past behind us. That may be easier for the victor than the... vanquished.” She seemed to gag on that word. “Let’s talk about the future of Sabbath Hollow. Getting hold of good breeding stock won’t be easy or cheap. We might buy a few broodmares from Kentucky.”
    Manning shook his head. “Even if it were possible to breed horses again, nobody around here could afford to buy them. Besides, I barely know a horse’s withers from its fetlock.”
    “Then I reckon you’d better learn.” Her long-fingered hands clenched around the broom handle. The face that had looked so soft and appealing only a few minutes ago turned hard as her fine brows tensed and her delicate jaw clenched. “You promised to help me restore this plantation. I took that to mean you’d return Sabbath Hallow to the way it was before the war.”
    “I promised I’d do everything in my power to make it prosperous again,” Manning corrected her. “Horse breeding isn’t the way to do that.”
    His vow to protect and provide for the family didn’t include indulging a woman who foolishly clung to the old and familiar, no matter how ill-suited to a changed world.
    Caddie thrust her slender shoulders back, holding the rough corn broom as though it was a royal scepter. “There are things in this world more important than financial prosperity, sir. Heritage. Traditions. Not that I’d expect a man to understand such ideals when he’s come to Virginia with no higher purpose than to chase a dollar.”
    Though her words dealt his spirit a harsh blow, Manning knew he dared not protest. Better Caddie think him a grasping exploiter than guess his true intent. Some of the hurt he tried to mask must have shown on his face, though.
    Caddie’s stiff, imperious manner thawed by several degrees. “I beg your pardon, Mr. Forbes. I must sound like an ungrateful shrew. You put yourself at the disposal of me and my children. It’s not my place to impose restrictions on your efforts.”
    Staring into the distance as if gazing back in time, she sighed. “Only, I did want Templeton to be able to carry on the gentlemanly enterprise of his forefathers.”
    Damnation! Manning almost gagged on that unuttered curse. Caddie arrogant and contemptuous, he could have resisted without a qualm. But Caddie gracious and wistful outgunned his bristling defenses and took his honor hostage.
    “The Marsh family didn’t always breed horses, did they?” Did he dare challenge her on her own territory— family tradition? “When I scouted the property in this area, I discovered an abandoned sawmill. Doesn’t look like it’s been used in a while, but I believe with a few repairs we could get it operating again. Folks are going to require lumber to rebuild. We’d be providing a needed service.”
    “The old mill,” Caddie murmured, more to herself than to him.