Page 25 of Songs and Spun Gold
A slight breeze fluttered the edge of her cloak, pulling it away from her face and then sending it flopping back again. Gunther took one of her hands and gently tugged her farther into the park. When they were under the shelter of the trees, he reached up and lowered his hood so that she could see his entire face.
“Do youwantto forget him?” he asked.
Katy looked up at him. His eyes, so often filled with a light-hearted twinkle, appeared completely serious. She wasn’t sure what to make of his somber expression. Like Fritz, did he fear rejection because of the faceless man from her past?
Except Gunther had clearly stated that this would be the only time they walked together. He knew she wouldn’t be returning to Himmelsburg, and he wouldn’t be traveling to Flussendorf. So why the concern?
Perhaps he simply had a good heart, even if his humor could be insensitive. Threads of memory played through her mind, whispering that she had once known someone else with a heart like his.
Perhaps he wasn’t the man she had been looking for. But perhaps he should be.
Katy shoved the thought aside. No, he shouldn’t; he was out of her league.
“I don’t know,” she finally replied. “Hewasa good friend. But…at times, I find myself wishing that I could move on.”
“I still think the men in your village are fools.” He lightly caressed her hand with his thumb. His forehead wrinkled as hiseyes traced her face. “Are you sure we haven’t met before?”
“Areyousure you’re not a noble?” she riposted. “Because that’s the only missing man from my past.”
He laughed. “Alas, while I aspire tobenoble, I am not, in fact,anoble.” As she smiled back at him, the amusement melted from his face. “But right now, I wish I was.”
The same breeze that had played with the hood of her cloak now lifted the hair that fell across Gunther’s brow. His brown eyes seemed to search hers before his right hand slowly lifted and brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers, the touch feather-light. Katy caught her breath, unable to scold him for the forward action. There was a strange feeling in her chest that she couldn’t identify, and she knew her cheeks were as red as an apple.
Like throwing open the curtains in a dark room, his entire demeanor shifted. Transferring his weight onto one leg, he leaned back and shoved his hands in the pockets of his trousers, letting his shoulders droop as an easy smile spread across his lips. “You’re from Flussendorf?” he commented lightly. “That’s on the Felsig, isn’t it?”
Katy didn’t answer for a moment, taken aback by the rapid change in conversation. “Yes, it is. My home sits on the bank.”
“What’s it like living that close to a river?” he asked, eyes wide and voice alight with fascination.
“Noisy,” Katy laughed. “But I much prefer the roar of the water through the rapids to the sounds of the city.”
Gunther lifted his eyes to look past her, his attention appearing to drift to another time and place. “I imagine it smells better, too. I don’t notice it while I’m here, but I remember thinking how much fresher the air was in the village.”
“Why don’t you go back?” For the air. For the girl.
He gave her a sad smile. “How could I? I can’t remember where it is.”
“Then why don’t you visit some other village? Or move to one, since you don’t like the city?”
Gunther was already shaking his head. “I can’t. And I don’t dislike the city; it is simply that I also enjoyed the village.”
“Isn’t there one close enough that you could live there and come to the city when necessary?”
He hesitated. “I suppose that could work for some people. But it’s more complicated than that.”
Of course, Katy thought, glancing over his fine clothes once more. Even if he wasn’t a nobleman, young people who dressed like that usually had less freedom in certain areas than those who didn’t.
“But enough about that. Tell me about your family. What do they do? Do you have siblings?”
The starlight was brighter away from the gas lamps on the street. Enough to see the outline of his features and some of his expression, but little enough that she could convince herself of tenderness in his gaze.
“I thought we were walking?” Katy prompted. Motion would make it harder to get caught up in his eyes. She hoped.
Taking the hint, he offered his arm again. As they began strolling through the trees, she told him bits and pieces of her life in Flussendorf. She left her father out as much as possible, speaking mostly of her friends, sisters, and mother. If Gunther noticed the omission, he didn’t comment on it.
She took a moment to enjoy the soft smile on his face as he angled his head toward her, listening to a tale of Liesl letting the sheep out of the pen and the entire village trying to round them all up again.
She’d told Fritz to ask her for another walk because he was nice, she kind of liked him, and she knew she needed to move past her unresolved feelings.
