Page 59 of The Gift of Patience
“Remember your signals?” Ashley asked.
“Mine is a bird call,” Freddy answered.
“Mine is a whistle,” Montford replied.
“Mine is a loud cough,” Patience answered, wishing she had somehow garnered a talent for more exotic noises as a child, but it could not be helped.
“All right. We exit from different doorways from the house so we are not all seen leaving together. I will not leave my post until it is dark. Remember, your safety is foremost. Do not risk yourselves under any circumstances.” He looked directly at her as he said it.
Patience stuffed her hair up under a cap, then left and strolled to the stables. Major Stuart thought it best for her to leave from there because she looked more like a young groom than the rest of them. She wandered down the path and over thebridge then diverted towards her spot behind a tree, just shy of the dock.
It was still probably an hour until full darkness. Hopefully, there was to be a little bit of moon, because it would be scary being there alone, even though she knew the others to be nearby.
As she stood there alone, the enormity of the situation and what they were dealing with sunk in. It was hard to believe that Rupert was dead—murdered. Before, it had felt like a game of wits to be solved.
As darkness fell and shades of blue turned to dark purples, every sound intensified. Every leaf that rustled, every pine cone that fell, every chirp from a bird, and every chitter from an animal made her tighten her hand around the hilt of her knife.
Patience tried to think of pleasant things besides being there alone in the woods with a killer possibly lurking nearby, ready to slit her throat. So when a deep voice whispered into her ear, she jumped, barely swallowing the scream threatening to escape her lips. An unladylike curse might have been uttered.
“What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?” she scolded him, as much as anyone could trying to do so in a whisper. “You are fortunate there is not a knife in your chest.”
“You were supposed to be looking out for me,” he retorted.
“Once it was dark.” That he was right didn’t make her less annoyed at her deficiency because he was standing so close he was touching her. His nearness was scrambling her wits. His breath tickled her ear, and if she turned her head just a little, their lips would meet. He was doing it on purpose, but she would not let him distract her. Her gaze intensified on the water just beyond the dock. A few vessels had already passed, but none of them had slowed down or come near.
“Do you know what type of vessel they were to arrive in?” she asked, hoping she did not sound as breathless as she felt.
“I assume a river barge. Something big enough to look unobtrusive and something small enough to sneak into the dock quietly.”
“Must you stand so close?”
“Oh, I think I must. Otherwise, how are we to talk?”
“The object was to be quiet and listen. It’s difficult enough to hear over the water.”
“As evidenced by my sneaking up on you.”
“So good of you to remind me of my mistake.”
He knew he was torturing her, and he was enjoying every moment of it. Perhaps two could play the game. She leaned back a little and nuzzled closer. His sharp intake of breath told her everything she needed to know. She smiled with satisfaction. He could hardly chastise her for giving him a dish of his own medicine.
“You are playing with fire, Patience,” he breathed into her ear, sending a delicious shiver up her spine. Before she thought more about it, she turned her head slightly and their lips met.
If this was fire, then she was fully prepared to let it consume her, burn her. His lips felt nothing like Rupert’s had, and she was very willing to replace that awful memory with this one.
He pulled away and she grasped his head and brought it back to her lips. She wasn’t ready for this to end. She felt him smile against her lips, the oaf.
“Had a taste of me, and now you are ravenous?”
She harrumphed.
“Much as I’d like this to continue, there is a boat approaching.” How had he been able to keep his wits about him?
Patience was grateful for the darkness, because her cheeks were burning with embarrassment. Some lookout she was.
As the boat pulled into the dock, the crew was anything but quiet.
“What the devil?” he muttered, and she felt him pull his gun from its holster and began moving towards the dock.
