The Matrimony Plan by Christine Johnson

deserved it. This dog does have the better of us, I’d say.” His voice softened with every word, and Felicity became aware of how close they were, within inches.
    “Can you stand?” she whispered.
    He wasn’t smiling anymore. Instead he gazed deep into her eyes, clear to her soul. “Your eyes are the most unusual color, not quite emerald but darker than jade.”
    Ordinarily she disliked being reminded of her eyes, which didn’t match anyone else’s in the family, but Gabriel made their uniqueness sound special. “Some say it’s the green of water.”
    “Like a deep spot in the river.” He pulled a damp lock of hair from her cheek.
    She involuntarily trembled, and her cheek burned where his finger had brushed it.
    “Are you cold?” he breathed.
    “No.” It wasn’t cold; it was much worse. That horrible hot and cold tingling ran through her again, but it couldn’t be. She needed to marry Robert. She couldn’t be attracted to Gabriel. That would lead nowhere and ruin everything. She stood abruptly. “I need to go.”
    “Go?” He didn’t try to hold her. He let her back away, but his expression said it all. He liked her—a lot.
    His intensity terrified her. She looked around wildly. The picket fence enclosed the yard, trapping her, stifling her. “I—I need to go,” she repeated, even less sure of herself. If she stayed another moment, she’d never leave. “I’m sorry.”
    “Felicity.”
    She couldn’t look at him. The expression on his face would make her stay, and then what? She could have no future with him. She stumbled away, feet as unsure as her heart.
    “Felicity?” He was coming after her. “What did I do?”
    “Nothing.” She pushed at the air, trying to keep him back. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, unable to explain. She stumbled backward, just out of reach. She had to leave. She had to go now.
    Spotting the gate, she fled.
    Felicity kept to the park and out of the public eye as long as she could, but inevitably she had to walk past houses. The only way to avoid the streets was to follow the riverbank upstream, a route she hadn’t used since childhood, when she’d hide from her parents in a little cave near the river’s edge. But so many years had passed that the route no longer looked familiar. Neither could she navigate the treacherous ground in pumps. No, she had to walk through Kensington Estates, where everyone would see her damp and muddy dress.
    She hurried her step, hoping Mrs. Neidecker was at the Women’s Club and Mrs. Vanderloo had left to play tennis. Though it wasn’t much consolation, Sally and Eloise would be long gone. By now, they’d have captured Robert’s attention.
    “I hope they annoy him to death,” she muttered and promptly tripped over a tree root. Why didn’t this towninstall real sidewalks? Why didn’t they pave their roads? Pearlman was so backward.
    She kept to the shadowed side of Elm Street, somewhat hidden beneath the stately trees that had given the street its name. Tall hedges lined many of the yards, affording cover from prying eyes inside the estates. If no motorcars passed, she’d get home unscathed. She hurried along. There were only two more blocks to go. She’d slip in the servants’ entrance and run upstairs. She’d wash, change and hurry to the barn. With luck, she’d find Robert eager for intelligent conversation after a trying afternoon with Sally and Eloise.
    “Hey, sis, what happened to you?” Blake had driven his car up to her so quietly that she jumped at the sound of his voice.
    “Blake, what are you doing here? It’s not polite to sneak up on people.”
    He slowed the car to a crawl, keeping pace with her walking. “Want a ride? You look like you fell in the river.”
    She kept her focus dead ahead as she plodded up the hill. “I did not fall in the river, and I don’t need your help.”
    He laughed. “You and the reverend go swimming?”
    He’d seen her? Her cheeks heated. “Certainly not.”
    He laughed.