Read Online Faithfully Yours by Jo Ann Ferguson - Free Book Online Page B

corner, Faith rushed to it. She picked up a mitten.
    â€œThis belongs to one of my sisters,” she said.
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œThat red yarn you were admiring? I like to use it often in my knitting.”
    He took the mitten from her. “’Twas not the yarn I was admiring, Faith, but the fingers using it.”
    â€œThen allow me …” She pointed toward the ladder. “You can admire this one as you climb up to see if the girls are up there.”
    Running his finger along hers, he chuckled. “Up there? Is this your attempt to get me up into the haymow, Faith?”
    â€œYour fantasies are yours alone.”
    â€œReally?” He tipped up her chin.
    â€œWe must find the twins.” Wishing her voice was not so unsteady, she stepped away. His teasing created images in her mind that had no right to be there.
    â€œYou are right.” He gave her the mitten, then grasped the side of the ladder with one hand and climbed up, the light from the lantern swaying with his motions.
    She clasped her hands as she stood in the darkness. She strained to judge where he was by the sound of his footfalls and the shifting of the light through the uneven boards overhead. She heard him pause, then turn. Her heart dropped painfully. The girls must not be up there. Where else might they have gone?
    â€œFaith?”
    She looked up to see Sebastian peering over the side of the door to the haymow. His face was in silhouette, so the lantern must be on the floor beyond him. “Yes?”
    â€œCome up here.”
    â€œYou found them?”
    â€œCome up here.”
    Hoping his light tone did not mean he was hoaxing her, she grasped her skirts and bunched them around her as she climbed up the ladder with some trepidation. She made sure each foot was secure on the rung before lifting the other up to the next board. As her head rose above the upper floor, she looked both ways through the dusty light that reached in a small circle around the lantern.
    She gasped when a kiss brushed her cheek. Looking up at Sebastian, who was kneeling beside the door, she said, “You should recall why we are here.”
    â€œI always recall as much as I can about each moment I spend with you.” He reached down and grasped her by the waist. As if she weighed no more than one of the twins, he lifted her onto the upper floor.
    â€œThank you,” she said, breathless.
    â€œNo, thank you. ” His finger edged along her cheek. “’Tis a long time since I’ve had a chance to kiss a pretty lass in a haymow.”
    This man was more exasperating than any she had ever met. “Sebastian, I—”
    â€œHush. You shall wake them.”
    â€œ Wake them?”
    Sebastian came to his feet and turned her so she could see two small forms lying on the hay at the very edge of the light. He smiled. “They are asleep.”
    â€œMother is going to be furious.”
    â€œBut glad they have been found.”
    â€œVery glad.”
    â€œCan you carry one?”
    Faith hesitated, looking at the ladder. “Once we get down, yes, but—”
    â€œClimb down, and I will lower one to you. Then I will bring the other.”
    â€œCan you carry her and the lantern?”
    â€œOnce we are down the ladder.”
    â€œAll right.” She turned. Taking a deep breath, she knelt beside the ladder. How she hated them! She could climb to the top of the tallest tree, but she hated ladders, which wobbled when she stepped onto them.
    Sebastian slipped past her and down the ladder. He gripped it. “I have it steady, Faith.”
    Glad that he had not teased her about this peculiar fear, she edged her feet out over the doorway and wiggled her toes until she found the first rung. Slowly she settled her other foot beside it. She took another deep breath, then reached for the next lower slat. As she slipped down into the shadows pooled beneath the lantern on the floor above, some sense