Free Anything for You by Jo Ann Ferguson

should?”
    â€œGet your coat?” His forehead creased in bafflement.
    â€œNo. Take a walk.” She touched the crutch. “You don’t want to hurt your ankle more.”
    His fingers slid over hers. When she did not pull her hand away, he stroked it. The sweet warmth burst forth again, but not where he touched her. Deep inside.
    Not wanting it to end, she feared what might happen if she let it continue. She swallowed her gasp of surprise as he drew away. His smile warned her he had guessed what she was thinking.
    â€œI’ll be able to manage in the snow.” His low voice resonated through her with the power of a falling tree striking the frozen ground. “If you’re looking for an excuse not to go with me, just say so.”
    â€œI want to go with you. I mean …” She laughed at her girlish shyness. She often spent a rare free hour gossiping with one of the flunkeys or a jack. This would be just the same.
    Wouldn’t it?

CHAPTER FIVE
    Gypsy tried to tell herself she had not made a mistake. When Adam hobbled across the room to get her coat and her simple straw bonnet with its black grosgrain ribbons, she drew her apron over her head and hung it on the peg by her bedroom door. This walk might give her the chance to learn more about Adam Lassiter and why he was at this camp.
    She reached for her coat, but he smiled and held it up. “Be careful,” she warned when she saw how precariously he was balanced on the crutch.
    â€œI’m not planning on throwing myself at your feet.”
    â€œI didn’t think you were.” She slid her arms into the cool wool. As she buttoned her coat, she watched him shrug on his. “You’re doing much better than I thought you would. You’ve never complained.”
    â€œI’ve complained.”
    Gypsy laughed as he dropped her bonnet on her hair. Adjusting it, she tied the ribbons beneath her chin. “Not about your leg. You’ve only griped about your cast.”
    â€œThe blasted thing crashes against everything until I feel like a clown.” He wagged a finger at her. “Don’t say it.”
    Gypsy smiled as they walked out through the dining room. It was nearly deserted except for a few jacks still reading the magazines Reverend Frisch had brought. She jumped down past the slick spot where the eaves dripped. Turning, she held out her hand to steady Adam.
    â€œBack away, Gypsy,” he ordered. “If I slip, I’ll send you flying into that snowbank over there.”
    With a laugh, she obeyed. She tensed, but he managed with no trouble. Letting him draw her hand within his arm, she matched his uneven steps. She yearned to put aside her worries and delight in the sunshine, which glittered like glorious diamonds in the snow.
    Shouts sounded from across the camp. When Gypsy waved to the jacks, she heard Adam laugh. “What’s funny?” she asked.
    â€œYou are well loved here.”
    â€œMy cooking is.”
    â€œNo, it’s more than the cooking. They like you. ”
    â€œI like them.”
    â€œAll of them?”
    She smiled as her black boots swept aside the newly fallen snow. They were walking toward the river that slept beneath the ice. “Of course I don’t like all of them. I wish Peabody would order some of them to walk. I avoid anyone I don’t like.”
    â€œNice and simple?”
    Gypsy’s smile faltered as they emerged from beneath the trees to stand on the low riverbank. She listened to the thin song of the winter birds, then bent to look at tiny footprints interspersed by a tail print. A muskrat. Standing, she said, “I try to keep peace in my home.”
    â€œYou consider this home?”
    â€œWhy do you question everything I say?”
    â€œHow else can I learn anything?” He grinned and held up his hands when she frowned. “Sorry. I’m just trying to be friendly, Gypsy.”
    â€œI’ve noticed. But I thought we