Free With Autumn's Return (Westward Winds Book #3): A Novel by Amanda Cabot Page A

look Charlotte used to give her when she was annoyed. Charlotte’s goal had been to makeElizabeth apologize. It hadn’t worked then, and it wouldn’t work now.
    “Call me Jason.”
    “Why?”
    “Why not? If we’re going to have to make polite”—he threw her word back at her—“conversation for the next hour and a half, we might as well be on friendly terms.”
    “All right.” It was a less than gracious agreement, but Elizabeth was not feeling particularly gracious. “You may call me Elizabeth.”
    The first rush to enter the dining room had subsided. Placing his hand on top of hers in what appeared to be a courtly gesture, Jason nodded toward the doorway. “They’re expecting us.”
    As they entered the room, Elizabeth saw that in addition to the long table with its seating for more than two dozen, a number of smaller tables were placed around the perimeter. Still more were located in the adjoining room. The Taggerts were clearly accustomed to entertaining large groups.
    “There’s one thing I don’t understand, Jason.” It felt odd, speaking his name. While it was true that in her thoughts Elizabeth sometimes referred to him that way, this was the first time she’d pronounced his given name. “Other than not offending our hosts, why would you want to be friendly with me?” she asked. “I know you have no respect for me.” And that knowledge rankled.
    For a second, Jason’s smile faltered. Renewing it, he shook his head. “You misunderstood. It’s not a matter of respect or disrespect. I simply think you’re mistaken if you believe you can succeed as a doctor.”
    “Because I’m a woman.”
    He shook his head. “Because the citizens of Wyoming aren’t ready for a woman doctor.”
    “That’s not what you said before.”
    A spark of what appeared to be pain lit his eyes, and in that instant Elizabeth suspected she’d misjudged him. Her parents had warned her that she was too quick to judge. Perhaps she had done that again, believing Jason Nordling to be arrogant and rude. Whether or not he’d known of his client’s guilt when he’d undertaken his defense, the trial and its aftermath had to have been difficult.
    It was as if he’d heard her thoughts. “That was one of the worst days of my life,” Jason admitted. “I was angry and frustrated, and I took it out on you.” He dipped his head so that his lips were closer to her ears. “I’m sorry. Can we start over?”
    Elizabeth smiled, and for the first time, the smile she directed at Jason Nordling was genuine. “I’d like that.”
    “Then shall we find our seats, Elizabeth?”
    She was thankful they had had the chance to talk before dinner, because once they were seated at the middle of the long table, there was little opportunity. Tabitha Chadwick, on Jason’s left, monopolized the conversation. Every time he turned to speak to Elizabeth, Tabitha would put her hand on his arm and interrupt, ignoring the glares her husband shot from the opposite side of the table. It didn’t seem to matter that Jason’s replies were monosyllabic. Tabitha kept talking and laughing, her eyes sparkling with animation, her lips curving into what Elizabeth would have called a sultry smile.
    “She’s trying to make Nelson jealous,” Oscar Miller, who sat at Elizabeth’s right, explained as he tipped his soup bowlto catch the last spoonful of consommé. When they’d first been seated, Oscar had given Elizabeth a perfunctory greeting, then devoted himself to the woman on his right, but when Tabitha’s actions had left Elizabeth without a partner, he’d proven a gentleman and had tried to include Elizabeth in his conversation. Now, however, he’d turned ever so slightly and was addressing her directly.
    “Why would she want to do that?”
    Oscar’s hazel eyes narrowed, and his lips tightened. “Because then Nelson will buy her an expensive trinket. Mr. Mullen has a diamond bracelet that Tabitha wants. Nelson told her she’d have to wait