by Aileen Fish
“Yes, well, I did find out.”
“And I’m prepared to answer for my choice, but I will not apologize for it, and I am not ashamed. Neither you nor I wanted this war, Juliet, but it came and everything changed.” Their eyes connected in the soft lighting. Cole couldn’t resist reaching forward and capturing a stray lock of her hair between his thumb and forefinger. “When it’s over nothing will be the same. We will have to move forward and rebuild. All I ask is that you take time to consider the future. Try to forgive me. Be my wife, and we’ll build a new life together.”
~*~
Juliet quaked from the inside out, but the trembling had nothing to do with the ebbing chill and everything to do with Cole’s words.
This is all so confusing!
One moment she still loved him, the next she hated him, and she had no idea which of the warring emotions would win. At the moment she hated him. She hated that his words made sense, and she hated that a part of her understood his logic. Years ago she hadn’t condoned a war, but she’d had no say in matters. Over the years any political opinions she might have had had become muddled in bitterness and loss. She was a Virginian first and foremost. Home and family came above all else. She’d thought Cole practiced the same values. “But you chose the Yankees over me. How can I ever get past that?”
Cole’s jaw clenched testily and he shoved to his feet. “This is a cyclical argument, Juliet, and I’ve had my fill of it. I’ve stated my piece and you know where I stand.” He strode slowly to the single window, the injured arm hanging awkwardly at his side. “As soon as this weather eases up we’ll move out.”
“I think it best if we part ways here. We’re not so far from my home.”
“Out of the question. Word will be out that you aided a suspected traitor. You would have been murdered this morning if I hadn’t intervened. You are coming with me and that is final.”
Juliet opened her mouth to argue, but snapped it shut again. Arguing would get her nowhere, and he did have a point. She’d been frighteningly powerless against the soldiers that morning. For the time being she might be better off with Cole. He would keep her safe. He wouldn’t betray her.
She froze at the thought.
Cole won’t betray me…
Juliet nibbled at her lower lip as an unbidden wave of guilt rushed through her. She’d just spent the last several hours accusing him of doing just that. Betraying her. But she knew to the depths of her soul that Cole would never abuse her as those other soldiers had. Cole was a good man. A kind and gentle man. She kept her eyes fixed on his pensive frame, and her heart softened a bit. Whatever happened between them he would do all he could to protect her on this unexpected quest. Maybe she should try to be a little nicer to him.
Shifting her attention back into the warm flames Juliet pulled her knees to her chest beneath the blanket and rested her chin on top. She sifted through the muddled thoughts cluttering her brain. Was she wrong to feel betrayed by him? Did his actions as a spy actually betray her at all? She supposed different forms of betrayal existed. The question burning within her was… should she condemn him for his lies to her?
Lonely silence stretched between them as the morning hours wiled away and the storm raged outside. Juliet didn’t particularly care for the silence, but she had no idea how to broach small talk after their raucous morning. Juliet stayed by the fire, and Cole kept his distance. At one point he pulled out a deck of cards and began playing a solitary game at the table.
Boredom and worry consumed her thoughts. I wish this storm would end! Anything, even running through the woods, would be better than sitting trapped in the ancient hut.
“Are you thirsty?”
Surprised, Juliet glanced up to find Cole rifling through his bag. She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t noticed that he’d risen from the table.
“Are you thirsty?” he repeated, holding out his canteen.
She licked her dry lips and gratefully accepted the water. “Thank you.” She took a long swallow and passed the canteen back to him. Wordlessly he stowed it back in his satchel and then shared a few bites of stale bread and cheese with her. “Thank you,” she murmured, taking a small bite, eyes following as he returned to his card game. Tired of the silence, it was on the tip of her tongue to ask what game he was playing.
As though sensing her gaze upon him he looked up suddenly, making firm eye contact with her. A hint of wistfulness lived in his gaze. “Do you remember Richard and Lilly Harrison’s engagement ball a few years back?”
Caught of guard by the question Juliet was a bit slow to respond. “I-I suppose so.” In truth she remembered that day all too vividly. Cole had asked her to dance without being prompted by a well-meaning grandparent for the first time that night.
“I remember,” he stated, pale eyes boring into hers. “I think of it often these days. You wore the most beautiful pink gown. It was a confection. You were a confection in it. Every man in the room had eyes for you.”
And I had eyes only for you… “You remember what I was wearing?” She flushed, hoping he wouldn’t notice in the poor lighting.
“I’ll never forget,” he replied in a low, husky voice. His smoldering gaze burned straight through her. “I’ve had dreams of you in it.”
Unnerved, Juliet averted her gaze, still too uncertain of her own feelings to encourage his reminiscent affections.
Cole cleared his throat and shoved to his feet. He donned his uniform jacket. “I imagine your gown is dry now,” he said in a much more efficient tone. “The storm seems to be easing up. Get dressed and I’ll go out to check on the horse. The sooner we get moving the better.” Retrieving his pistol, he opened the door and quit the small house.
Juliet stared at the closed portal for a few extra seconds before throwing the gray blanket aside and grabbing her gown. She yanked the dress on as quickly as possible and then situated the blanket over her head, shoulders and arms in a makeshift coat. Remaining close to the low burning fire she wondered how far exactly they needed to travel. With all their arguing she hadn’t thought to ask. She would question Cole as soon as he returned. She would also ask about his information with the power to end the war.
The flimsy door opened and Cole stepped in with a thunderous expression. “The horse is gone.”
“What?” Juliet looked over his shoulder, out the door. “But I just got that horse back! Captain Reynolds commandeered him last summer.”
Cole’s eyes widened with surprise. “That was Hercules?”
“Yes.” Juliet crossed her arms in exasperation. “I can’t believe he’s gone again.”
“I’m sorry,” Cole said sheepishly. “I put him in a grove of trees where I thought he’d be sheltered. Near as I can tell the branch broke and he took off.”
Juliet gritted her teeth. “We’d better start walking then.” She shoved past him and marched through the door, too irritated about the horse to care overly much about the cold. “Where exactly are we going? I don’t recall your sharing that information with me.” Tapping her foot she waited for Cole to exit the house with his satchel and sidearm.
“We’re headed to—”
Pow!
A single gunshot echoed through the wintery woods.
Instinctively Juliet ducked and moved toward Cole.
“It must be Reynolds and his men.” Cole grabbed her upper arm. “Run. Run now.”
Chapter 5
Heart in her throat, Juliet spun and dashed to the opposite side of the slave cottage. Cole was right beside her. He pulled the sidearm form his holster and cradled the weapon with deadly intent.
“Get off my property!” A man hollered as another gunshot pierced the air. “I won’t tolerate thieves!”
Juliet and Cole shared a quick look of surprise and guarded relief. “It’s not Reynolds.”
Pistol at the ready Cole edged to the corner of the hut. “We mean no harm, Sir. My wife and I were caught in the storm and needed shelter. We are leaving now.”
&nb
sp; “See to it you do. I catch you dawdling on my property and you’ll both wind up with a bullet in your backs. I’ve had enough of thieves and deserters.”
“You’ll have no trouble from us, sir. You have my word.”
“Your word means nothing to me, now get!”
“Let’s go,” Cole whispered, nodding toward the thicker part of the trees. “We should reach Colonel Raymond’s camp within a couple hours.”
“He’s in Virginia then?”
“Yes,” Cole replied, but did not elaborate further.
Juliet glanced over her shoulder, cringing at the thought of more gunfire following them. As soon as they’d put some distance between themselves and the violent-minded landowner she intended to get a few more answers from Cole.
* * * *
For the better part of an hour they moved at a brisk pace through the woods. Neither spoke a word. Juliet decided that one advantage of being on foot was that it kept her warm.
Finally she glanced up at Cole. “Tell me about this information that will end the war.”
He met her gaze, expression drawn and plagued with exhaustion. “Pardon?”
She frowned. “Are you feeling all right? You don’t look well.”
He waved off her concern. “This shoulder is a little sore, but it’s nothing to be concerned about.”
“You were shot, Cole. There are a number of things to be concerned about. Infection to name one.”
The corner of his mouth quirked in a small, almost teasing, smile. “What is this? Concern for the Yankee traitor?”
“I suppose it is.” She quirked a brow. “Of course if something happens to you while we’re lost in the woods what will come of me?”
Cole didn’t respond to her comment and Juliet instantly felt guilty for the self-centered quip. She’d intended the remark as a joke, but it hadn’t come off that way at all.
Ever so gently she reached out and squeezed his hand. “Promise me you’ll see a doctor once we reach safety.”
“I promise,” he murmured, turning his hand so that her fingers nestled sweetly into his work-roughened palm. Together they stopped walking, facing each other. Little white clouds of breath puffed out between them, mingling together in an intimate shroud of mist.
For a blissful moment time suspended and memories transported Juliet back to a simpler, sweeter time. Cole’s soft gray eyes darkened into deep pools of desire, and her wayward heart tugged at memories of years gone by. At one time she would have given anything for Cole to look at her with that look in his eyes. The first time he’d stolen a kiss behind the barn whisked through her mind. She’d been but fifteen and he seventeen. Juliet sighed. The impulsive, clandestine kiss had been her dream come true… until he’d asked Missy Carlson to dance at the church social that very same night.
Cole moved slowly in on her, overwhelming her senses. “Juliet,” he whispered, leaning down until he was so close his warm breath breezed over her mouth. “It occurs to me that I haven’t kissed you since our reunion.”
Lips tingling, her gaze flicked to his mouth. “How very remiss of you,” she murmured, unable to convince herself of the need to push him away. After all, they’d been shot at twice in one day, she may very well die before deciding if he had a place in her future. What was one kiss when potential doom awaited? Rising on tiptoe Juliet rested her free palm against his chest and brushed her lips against his.
Oh, dear… Lightning shot through her veins. Apparently one kiss entailed a great deal more than she’d anticipated.
~*~
Hope. Love. Excitement. In a word rampant emotions thundered through Cole as Juliet’s smooth lips grazed his. It had been so long, and he loved her so much. Why had he waited so long to recognize the true depth of his feelings for her? Before the war it had seemed he had nothing but time. Now time seemed to be working against him in every possible way.
Juliet started to pull away, but he followed her down, allowing his lips to linger against hers for just a few seconds more. To his immense gratification she reciprocated and leaned up, deepening the exchange. He savored the moment. Savored her taste and the velvety soft friction of her lips against his. He would never get his fill of her sweet kisses, not if they were married for fifty years.
With effort Cole forced himself to break the bond of their lips. Juliet’s eyelids fluttered, and she gazed up at Cole with passion-clouded eyes. His heart slammed and skipped a beat. The wool blanket had slipped off of her head, and sunlight slanted through the trees, highlighting the reddish undertones in her hair. “You are an angel,” he whispered, briefly touching her lips with his again.
Juliet sighed, her breath breezing gently across his mouth. “I wish we could just stay right here.”
“What do you mean?” he asked softly.
“When we’re alone like this I can almost forget the war.” She closed her eyes and she drew a deep breath. “Here in the woods, surrounded by nothing but trees and snow I can pretend for just a little while that it’s only the two of us. There is no north, no south, no Captain Reynolds trying to run us down.”
Cole released her hand and reached up to trace the curve of her cheek with his thumb. “We’ll have our chance, Jules. Once the war is over we can make a new start. We could even go west to rebuild our lives.”
Juliet’s brow pulled together and her eyes clouded—this time with uncertainty. “This is all so confusing.”
“I know, but try asking yourself what it is that you want.”
“What do I want? Right now, I have no idea. I suppose I want… Answers. I want answers.” In the blink of an eye her expression morphed from the sweet miss he’d been plying with kisses to one of absolute intensity. “Are you really carrying information that will end the war?”
“I am.”
Her gaze narrowed on him, eyes searching. “You’re not exaggerating? Not even a little?”
She started walking again and Cole matched her pace. “I’m not exaggerating,” he assured. He shifted the satchel strap lashed across his chest, trying to make it more comfortable. The ache in his shoulder was growing worse by the hour.
“Tell me about it.”
Cole cast her a sidelong glance. “I don’t know,” he drawled, tone teasing. “Are you trustworthy. Secrecy is the business of a spy.”
She quirked a brow, a little smile curling up the corners of her mouth. “Then I should think you are a terrible spy.”
He clasped a hand over his chest, feigning great injury. “You wound me, Juliet.”
Her expression sobered as they continued picking through the underbrush. “What happened, Cole? How were you discovered?”
“I’m not certain,” he replied honestly. “Captain Reynolds and his men showed up with a list of names of suspected traitors. Mine was on it. I barely had time to grab what I needed and run.” Cole shifted the shoulder strap again, grimacing as a fresh jab of pain sliced along his right side. The injury was getting harder and harder to ignore. Forcing himself to focus on Juliet, he continued the story. “I couldn’t go through the usual channels of relaying information because I have no idea if my contacts have been compromised. So I’m taking the information to Colonel Raymond myself. Last I knew he was in Central Virginia. That’s where we’re heading.”
“And how will the information you’re carrying end the war?”
“The Confederate generals have a plan to mass the majority of their remaining forces and make a sudden, decisive strike on Washington D.C. They believe taking the U.S. capitol will demoralize the northern troops and citizens enough to force a surrender.”
“They’ll never get close enough to the capital to launch that attack.”
“Maybe… maybe not. They plan to mass the troops quickly and quietly to catch the Yankee commanders off guard. My fear is that they may succeed in launching a major attack, but it won’t be enough to end the war. At this point a major southern victory will merely prolong the fighting, but ultimately the north will prevail for all the reasons we
discussed earlier.”
“So what is your plan?”
“If the Union generals know where Confederate forces are massing they can crush them long before they reach Washington. The war will be over, and the Union will be preserved.”
Juliet was silent for several seconds. “Won’t the Confederate commanders know that you’re taking this information to the Yankees.”
Cole shook his head. “I don’t believe any of them are aware that I have this information. Say what you wish about my spy abilities, but I rooted this out very carefully and without detection.”
Juliet looked to him with wide serious eyes. “If what you say is true the war could be over within… months.” She shook her head, dazed. “I-I can hardly imagine life without the constant worries. We could—” She averted her eyes.
“Get married and get on with our lives,” he finished hopefully.
Juliet didn’t say anything, and she didn’t look at him either. In fact she remained utterly silent for an entire hour. Cole would have given his right arm to know what she was thinking, especially if it meant that his right arm stopped incessantly throbbing. By the time another hour had passed Cole didn’t have the presence of mind to care if Juliet possessed any thoughts of mercy for him. Nearly crippled by the pain radiating from his shoulder he could scarcely put one foot in front of the other. Chills wracked him despite the steady motion of all his limbs, and every muscle in his body hurt. He’d never felt more miserable in his life.
“Cole, you don’t look well.”
“Nonsense,” he mumbled, jerkily turning his attention to her.
Brow furrowed with worry, Juliet looped an arm through his. “Cole—”
He stumbled and tripped over a fat log. With effort he righted himself and reached for a tree. “Perhaps I’ll just rest against this tree for a few minutes.” Putting his back to the fat trunk he slid to the ground. Pain jarred through his shoulder and he stifled a groan as a wave of nausea rolled through him. Lord, help him… he might be dying. He closed his eyes, sitting perfectly still, willing the misery away. He’d done a damn fine job forcing himself to ignore the injury today. Surely he could forge ahead just a bit longer.
