Free The Harvest by Gail Gaymer Martin

embrace. She stepped over the threshold and came to a dead stop, her smile skewing to a glower. “But I didn’t know you had company?”
    In panic, Ryan turned to Tess, seeing his worst nightmare coming to fruition. “Tess, I hadn’t any—”
    Tess rose, her face frozen in shock and dismay. She grabbed her jacket from the chair.
    “Please, let me explain.” He stepped toward her pleading for her to stay. But in a heartbeat, she slipped past Donna out the door.
    Ryan gaped at her, a sense of foreboding thundering through his body. “I have a problem here, Donna.” Ryan didn’t care anymore. He grabbed a flashlight from a nearby doorsill, brushed past her and dashed from the cottage into the black night following Tess. He took a shortcut through the woods, branches tearing his sleeves, ruts tripping his steps as he called to her. “Tess, please wait. Please. Let me explain.”
    He heard the snap of twigs and the rustle of underbrush ahead of him, but in the pitch-black, she had gotten too far. When he came to the clearing, she was already inside the cabin.
    Ryan tried the door, but she’d thrown on the lock and he pounded against the heavy wood. “Tess, please. Talk to me.”
    He darted around the cabin, pressing his face against the windows like a Peeping Tom, but she proceeded him, snapping off the lights one step ahead of him.
    “I’ll sit here all night, Tess. Let me talk to you. I can explain.” His voice knotted, choking his words. He leaned his head against the bedroom window where the last light had been extinguished. “Open the window so you can hear me, Tess. Use a little reason.”
    The cabin lay in silence.
    Use a little reason. Why hadn’t he heeded his own words? He’d been stupid. Why hadn’t he told her Donna had called? That would have been simple. Surely she would have understood. Now he had done more damage than he could ever imagine.
    He stared at the dark cabin, his lone light, one pitiful ray piercing the gloom. It was as pitiful as the empty hope that lit his darkened heart.
    Sitting outside in the cold woods was senseless. He had to talk with Donna and send her to a motel for the night. No need explaining anything to Donna now. At this point, after what she’d seen, he figured things were clear.
    He turned away from the cabin. No matter how irritated he was with Donna, he’d never wanted to hurt her. He would send her on her way, and come back to Tess’s early in the morning. Maybe she’d listen to his explanation then. A night’s sleep might help them both.
     
    Tess listened to Ryan pounding on the door, curled on top of the bed with a quilt tossed over her head. By the time the cabin had grown silent, her tears had dried. How could she have believed him? He’d joked that all men lie. That he didn’t lie. Apparently that had been another deception.
    Earlier she had fought herself not to open the door. She wanted to hear his explanation…even in front of Donna. She longed for a thread of reason. Anything to make the hurt go away and bring back the contentment she’d felt only minutes earlier. But she found no reason. Only more dishonesty.
    Now in silence, she rose on tiptoe and crept through the cabin, peeking through the windows. Finally, she decided that Ryan had gone back to the cottage. Spurred by her need to get away, Tess didher best to pack on her own and not wait until morning. She would leave tonight.
    Having given Ryan her address and telephone number, Tess suspected he’d call. But she wouldn’t answer. She wouldn’t listen. She had no judgment to tell truth from lies.
    Tess’s head pounded as she thought about his business card. She wanted to destroy it, but some deep hope clung to her heart—a small thread of faith. Could the warm, loving feelings have been totally wrong? She thought back to her life with Al. Though she didn’t see the truth, she wasn’t ignorant. She sensed things weren’t right. In truth, she hadn’t wanted to know. She’d deluded