Easy on the Heart (Novella) by JODI THOMAS Page A

the room. Hundreds of books lined the walls and art, fine art, blanketed every inch of space left. He knew, without having to ask, that these were the few, final treasures of what once must have been a grand home. He’d always thought of Southerners coming home to only the crumbs left of their former lives. He never thought of Northerners losing everything in the war.
    Slowly, he realized what a joke it must have been for him to loan her books. She probably grew up with a real library in her house.
    He pulled off his duster and damp coat, hanging them over chairs to dry. Unlike the store, the apartment above was neat, orderly, with a once valuable rug adding a warmth that made the small place a home.
    He saw what must be Miles’s room across from Mary’s closed door. Maps and charts covered the walls of his chamber. A cot was crammed into one corner, making room for a huge desk weighted with books and papers.
    “Your brother studying something?” he yelled toward the closed door.
    Mary’s muffled answer returned, “He wants to write a book about the battles in the war. He’s already written several articles that sold back east.”
    “And spent all the money on more books,” Cooper guessed.
    “I’m afraid so.” Mary could barely be heard. “But it will all be worth it once he’s published.”
    Cooper couldn’t bring himself to invade Woodburn’s private space. He never would have guessed the cold man would have such a secret.
    Mary’s door opened, shining more light into the room. Cooper turned and watched her move about.
    “I’ll put on some tea.” Nervousness shook her words. “We can drink it while my hair dries.” She crossed into the tiny square of a kitchen and poured water into a pot.
    He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Against her robe, he could see the outline of her body and the grace in each movement. She didn’t belong in faded dresses.
    After she handed him a cup of tea, she pulled a stool close to the fire and began brushing her hair dry in the warm air.
    Cooper had seen his sisters do the same thing a thousand times, but as Mary dried her long chestnut mane, he couldn’t stop staring.
    “I’ll only take a few minutes,” she apologized when she looked up.
    “Take a lifetime,” he whispered. “It’s beautiful to watch.”
    Mary laughed. “If we’re to be friends, Mr. Adams, you can’t tease me. I’m fully aware that I’m plain. Miles says when we save enough money we can go back east and I’ll become a schoolmarm. He says I have the look of one already.”
    “You could teach school here,” he said more tohimself than her as he moved to the chair behind her stool.
    She went back to pulling the brush through her hair.
    “Mary, why’d you ask me to kiss you the other night?” he inquired after several minutes of silence.
    “I don’t know.” She didn’t look at him. “Maybe I just wanted to know how it felt.”
    “My kiss or any kiss?”
    “Yours.” She stared into the embers. “I was kissed once and didn’t like it. I thought that if you kissed me then I wouldn’t think of it as being something ugly.”
    She rose to her feet. “The rain sounds like it may have stopped. I should change.”
    He stood, blocking her path. “Do you think I could try again? On the kiss, I mean.”
    She stared at him with her wonderful, expressive eyes. He saw a question, but no fear. They’d finally gotten beyond her fright.
    “No.” She shook her head, letting her curls tumble around her shoulders. “It is kind of you to ask, but . . .”
    “I’m not being kind.” He swept a strand away from her cheek. “I’m being honest. There is nothing I’d like more than to kiss you right now.”
    He leaned down and brushed his lips against her cheek as he had almost a week ago. When she didn’t retreat, he cupped her chin with his fingers.
    His mouth swept over hers, forever erasing the bruising kiss she’d once endured. Mary had read about such a kiss. She’d dreamed about