Free One Wore Blue by Heather Graham Page A

felt no more than longing, of that she was certain. Jesse knew how to seduce.
    She could still feel the warmth of his mouth where he had kissed her. She could taste and breathe the sensation, and hunger for more, hunger to explore everything that had always been forbidden.
    But he hadn’t offered her anything. All he had said was that she shouldn’t marry Anthony if he couldn’t kiss her like that. What did Jesse himself want?
    And why had it seemed that he was in pain? Talking about love and war, then telling her what scared him.
    Why should all of it scare him? Nothing had ever seemed to frighten Jesse before. He had stayed with the cavalry, and he had fought Indians out in the new territories in the West. If war came, and if Virginia seceded, she’d stand behind him. She’d agonize when he rode away, but they were both Tidewater Virginians—fierce, independent, and loyal, passionate lovers of their land and the Tidewater region.
    Maybe he wanted to know if she was in love with Anthony. Maybe he himself wasn’t ready to settle down.
    But maybe he didn’t really care a whit for her. After all, she was a young woman to taunt and tease and practice seduction upon. Maybe she had only dreamed that he was waiting for her to grow up.
    She knew through rumor that he’d had his share of affairs.Jesse had a way about him. There was something in his eyes. Even if he was as silent about his personal life as a man could be, one could sense things.
    “What will poor Anthony say?”
    For Lacey, it was almost as if his name were Poor Anthony.
    “Say about what, Lacey?” Kiernan asked with a weary sigh.
    “Everything that has happened. He’ll be so upset that you were threatened by those horrible men. And he’ll be very upset that he wasn’t here to rescue you. And he’d be very upset if he knew—”
    “But Lacey, poor Anthony won’t know anything,” Kiernan said. “Jesse will ride away with the troops tomorrow, and by the time Anthony and the other men return, this will all be history. We won’t tell them that I was threatened.”
    “But Kiernan, Anthony has a right to know. And everyone in town will know what happened here!” She waved a handkerchief before her. “And your father—”
    “Lacey, please. There’s no reason to worry Papa needlessly. They’ll know what happened here, but they will also know that we’re fine. And I’m not engaged to Anthony. I haven’t figured out what I want to do yet.” She smiled at Lacey.
    “But your father
has
to know! You were nearly taken a hostage because—”
    “Because my father is a wealthy man.”
    “A slaveowner,” Lacey corrected.
    “Like many Virginians!” Kiernan protested.
    “Like most wealthy Virginians. Why, you know as well as I do that very few of the poorer farmers own even one slave, young lady. And not all wealthy Virginians are slaveowners, at least not in the western counties,” Lacey stated. Lacey opposed slavery, Kiernan knew. Not violently, not the way that John Brown did. But in her own quiet way, she was very much against the institution.
    “Lacey, please, there’s no reason for Papa to know anything. I’m fine. Nothing happened to me in the end.”
    “Because of Jesse Cameron’s timely arrival.”
    “Yes, because of his timely arrival,” Kiernan admitted. She smiled, and began to clear their dishes. Lacey decided to let it be—for the moment. But several hours later, as they sat in the parlor together, she began anew.
    “Kiernan, I just worry so.”
    “And you really shouldn’t. In fact, you absolutely mustn’t. I think I’ll take a little walk,” Kiernan said suddenly. She would go out and find out what was going on. She couldn’t bear to sit and wait any longer.
    “But you can’t go out there! You promised Captain Cameron you wouldn’t go!”
    “I didn’t promise anybody anything, and I don’t owe Captain Cameron any allegiance!” she said firmly.
    “But Kiernan—”
    “I have Jesse’s Colt, Lacey, and I know