Free The Reluctant Lark by Iris Johansen Page A

smile and looked quickly down at her coffee. So the arrogant Rand Challon didn’t get his own way quite all of the time.
    The affectionate rapport between Challon and Laura Bradford was not particularly obvious, Sheena noticed, when the older woman finished serving and joined them for breakfast a few moments later. Their conversation was light and bantering and on Laura’s part tinged with acid tartness. It was only when Sheena watched closely that she saw the glimmer of tender amusement in Challon’s eyes and the occasional fleeting expression of fierce, almost maternal pride on Laura Bradford’s face as she looked at Rand Challon.
    After breakfast, Challon’s former governess banished them both firmly from the kitchen with an authority that caused Sheena to smile. Perhaps if Laura Bradford had stayed on, Rand Challon would not be quite the dictator he was today.
    Perhaps Challon’s meekness was due to the fact that the governess’s orders had been in accordance to his own wishes, for he strode briskly to the closet in the foyer with Sheena firmly in tow. “You haven’t been out of the house in a week. We’ll get a little fresh air and some exercise.”
    He bundled her into a heavy green plaid jacket and pulled a red sock cap over her hair and ears. “You won’t need boots any longer. Most of the snow has melted, and the little that’s left refroze last night and is pretty hard packed.”
    “Snow?” Sheena asked. She dimly remembered that he’d mentioned on the night of their arrival that snow was expected. Strange to think that she’d been oblivious for an entire week to everything that wasn’t contained within the four walls of that bedroom at the top of the stairs.
    Challon had pulled on his sheepskin jacket now. “Wehad one hell of a snowstorm,” he said, as he grabbed her hand and opened the front door. “Knowleton almost didn’t make it here.” He grinned. “He said that he was going to bill me double for hazard pay.”
    The air was cold and sharp and felt marvelously invigorating as they made their way briskly down the hill, past the landing strip toward the woods beyond.
    “This is really magnificent country,” Sheena said, her gaze encompassing the majesty of the snowcapped mountains under a sky so blue that it hurt the eyes to behold.
    “Wait a bit,” Challon said, his eyes twinkling. “You haven’t seen anything yet, little dove.”
    As they entered the forest, she was suddenly aware of what he meant. “It’s beautiful,” Sheena breathed ecstatically.
    It was more than that, it was an enchanted fairyland from a distant childhood dream. The green pine trees were hung with countless garlands of icicles, which sparkled in the strong morning sunlight like multifaceted diamonds, their shimmering prisms reflecting their rainbow hues against the brilliant blue of the sky. The pristine blanket of snow crunched crisply beneath their feet as Challon led her down the winding trail to the small lake at the bottom of the hill. The lake was lent a breathtaking beauty by the winter’s storm; the sparkling blue surface was coated with a thin sheet of ice that had a glittering transparency.
    “It’s as if a wicked magician imprisoned all this beauty for himself in his crystal ball,” Sheena said softly.
    “Trust the Irish to be lyrical about a natural phenomenon,” Challon teased. “What really happened was that the lake froze solid and is now in the process of thawing.”
    Sheena smiled at him. “I like my explanation better. You Americans have no appreciation for the mystical.”
    “Remember that you’re half American yourself,” Challon pointed out, as he took her hand in his and stuck them both in his jacket pocket. “If your parentshadn’t been killed when they were, you might even have gone there to live.” They were strolling leisurely along the path that circled the lake, and Sheena found that she was enjoying the companionable intimacy of their walk.
    Challon looked down at