“Yes,” she said. “But she didn’t know you. She—”
“She sure as hell didn’t know Ramsey either,” Luke nearly shouted. “All she knew about him is his money and his ancestry. Did you ever think that you were part of the bargain between Alexander McDowell and Miss Edi? Maybe she tried to thank Uncle Alex by giving his descendant the old manor that he’d coveted all his life.”
“That’s a ridiculous idea.”
“You’ve lived here a while now. Do you really think it’s not possible?”
“I don’t know.” Joce put her hands over her ears. “I don’t want to hear any more of this.” When he said nothing else, she took her hands down and looked at him. He seemed to be waiting for her to say something, but she could think of nothing to reply to his accusations.
“Are you going to live your entire life for Miss Edi?” Luke asked. “You live in her house, and you’ve given your life over to writing about her, reading about her. She seems to be all you think about. Are you going to marry some man you don’t love because she told you that you should?”
“No,” Joce said. “You’re twisting this all around. Besides, no one has asked me to marry him.”
“But he’s going to,” Luke said, “and you know it. You ready to leave?”
“Yes,” she said, but she didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay and argue this thing out with Luke. It had been such a wonderful day, with more of the love story revealed, but it had all ended in a fight, and she wasn’t even sure how it had begun.
She started to say that she didn’t want to leave, but there was a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder and the next second they were hit with a downpour of rain. Instinctively, Jocelyn looked for shelter, but Luke grabbed their packs and pulled out their plastic ponchos. He helped Joce into hers with one hand while pulling his over his own head.
“We need to get out of here,” he said over the rain. “Can you walk?”
“Sure.”
“Stay close to me.”
His long legs set a pace that was difficult for her to keep up with, but she managed it. When they reached the truck, he threw open the door, and she got in, then he quickly raced around to the other side.
“Will you listen to me?” she asked as he started the engine. “I’m not marrying anyone. I’m sorry I talk about Miss Edi so much and I wish I hadn’t told you what she wrote to me.”
He didn’t look at her, but he gave a quick nod, then drove out of the parking lot, and minutes later he pulled into the driveway at Edilean Manor.
“How long are you going to stay angry at me?” she asked, feeling close to tears.
Suddenly, Luke reached across the seat, put his hand behind her head, and kissed her hard and long, and with more passion than Jocelyn had ever felt before.
When he released her, her head fell back against the window and her eyes stayed shut.
“Forget about Ramsey,” Luke said. “He’s too much like you and you’d come to hate each other.”
When she felt him reach across her, she opened her eyes, ready to kiss him again, but he opened the truck door. “Go inside and take a hot bath. I have to go out of town for a few days, but when I get back we’ll get the next part of the story from Gramps.”
“Okay,” she said as she got out of the truck. She closed the door behind her, then went into the house.
21
THE NEXT MORNING was Friday, and Jocelyn was sitting in her kitchen finishing off a pot of tea when Tess walked in and let out an exclamation.
“You scared me,” Tess said as she went to the refrigerator. “What are you doing here?”
“Last I heard, I live here.”
“Oh, my, we are surly this morning. You and Luke have a fight?”
“No, of course not,” Joce said, but her head was aching from a sleepless night. Luke’s words, his anger, even his unexplained trip out of town were all bothering her.
“Ramsey gets back today,” Tess said. “His plane lands in Richmond at ten this morning, so I figure he’ll show up here for lunch. Last night he called me and asked all about you and Luke.”
“Why couldn’t he have called me?” Joce asked. “If he wanted to know about me he should have asked me.”