From This Day Forward (10 page)

"Dinner."

Caroline nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Ines's voice from the doorway. Jason jerked away quickly, and it took them both a few moments to compose themselves.

Jason smiled sardonically, as if he had been unaffected, as if she had been the only one close to surrender, and she hated him for that smile. Grudgingly, she placed her hand on his proffered arm, her body still resounding with a bittersweet yearning as they walked into the dining room. He held her chair out for her, then took his own place across from her.

Caroline noticed that Ines served the food quickly and made her exit as soon as possible, the traitor, leaving her alone with this man who defied understanding.

Silence stretched between them as they both concentrated on their food. Jason lifted his water goblet and took a long drink. As he returned the glass to the table, Caroline felt the heat of his measuring gaze.

"So," he said, "tell me about this husband of yours."

Caroline stiffened. "Why? I thought you didn't want to know anything about me."

Jason shrugged. "Just trying to make conversation. But if it's a sore subject...."

"He died in a river boat accident three years ago. We were married less than two years. Afterward, I supported myself by teaching piano and—"

"But you haven't told me anything about the man," he interrupted, "what he was like."

She shot him a murderous scowl. "There's not much to tell."

"You mean he wasn't much of a man?" he asked, wiping his mouth with a white linen napkin and placing it on the table beside his plate.

"I didn't say that." He was leading up to something, and she wasn't sure she wanted to follow.

"I'm sure there are plenty of interesting things about your former husband." He sat back in his chair, studying the wine in his glass as he swirled it around.

"What would you like to know?" she asked, knowing full well that he didn't want to know about Wade at all. He wanted her to say something he could attack.

"Oh, his name, what he looked like, how old he was...."

"His name was Wade. Wade Marshall. He stood just under six feet tall, rather slim. His hair and eyes were brown. He was a year older than me and had all his permanent teeth, as far as I knew."

"How did you meet?"

Caroline released a tired sigh. He wouldn't be happy until she answered all his questions, when he had been so reticent about answering hers. "He was one of my father's apprentices."

"Ah, so he was a doctor like your father," Jason said, pretending to give the matter careful consideration. "You must have had quite a lot to talk about."

"He was not a doctor. My father left him enough money to finish medical school but—" She hesitated, the pain in her heart as acute as it had been three years ago. "Well, he lost it and he was never the same after that. It broke his spirit."

Jason was quiet for so long that Caroline grew uncomfortable. Unable to meet his gaze, she rearranged the food on her plate with her fork. She'd told him what he wanted to know. Why didn't he say something? Why did he sit there as if he were analyzing her testimony for flaws, for hidden meanings?

Finally he spoke, his voice soft and low. "If he had no more spirit than that...."

Caroline faced him squarely, outraged at his unwarranted attack. Maybe Wade had been weak, but it was utterly unfair and petty of Jason to slander a dead man. "Not everyone has your strength. Not everyone can survive what you have—"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to retrieve them. How could she have been so careless? She knew him so well it was hard to pretend they were complete strangers. She knew that his parents had been Irish, that his father's name was Cullen, that his sister had killed herself. And she knew that he'd overcome more in his lifetime than most men could have endured. Naturally he would disdain those weaker than he.

But she wasn't supposed to know any of those things. He must never learn that she'd pretended to be Derek and answered his letters, read letters intended for his cousin. Deep in the pit of her stomach, she feared that he would never forgive her should he find out.

She sat as still as a statue, watching him, gauging his reaction. He leaned forward, his eyes narrowed, his face as hard and cold as granite. "How could you possibly know what I've survived?"

Swallowing hard against the fear lodged in her throat, Caroline measured her words with care. Still she stammered guiltily when she finally spoke. "I... It's written on your face, in—in your eyes."

"What did Derek tell you about me?" he asked, doubt and suspicion etched on his face.

Caroline glanced away nervously. "Nothing, nothing really. He said you grew up in New Orleans and you came to Brazil when your parents died. That's all."

"He must have told you something else, otherwise you'd still be in New Orleans."

Oh, dear, how could she explain? To him, they were total strangers. To her, they were longtime friends. He sat staring at her, waiting for her to explain. She had to say something, but she couldn't think clearly. Her mind was still reeling from the fact that she'd almost told him too much already.

"He told me you loved music," she lied with a tremulous smile. "He said that you weren't satisfied in the city where a man's potential is limited by his family connections and his wealth. He said you wanted to make something of yourself and build something with your own hands."

The tension in Jason's face eased to a degree, and she could tell by his expression that he believed her, albeit grudgingly.

"Then you know volumes more about me than I know about you," he said harshly. "I only found out today that you'd been married before. Did you love him? Your husband?"

Caroline bristled, but tried to remain calm. "I don't see how that could possibly matter—"

"It matters to me."

She relaxed back in her chair, unaware until then that she had been coiled as tightly as a spring. She knew what he wanted to hear, and she wasn't about to lie to satisfy his vanity. "Why does it suddenly matter so much? As you said, I'll be gone from here in a month. You've ignored me up until now. Why the sudden change?"

"Like I said, I'm just trying to make conversation."

"That's not conversation. You're interrogating me. Why don't you stop playing this game and just come to the point? There is a point, isn't there?"

Jason studied her for a moment, the stubborn set of her delicate chin, the challenge in her light eyes. Yes, there was a point. He wanted her to admit something, to say something that would make him feel justified in turning her away. He had tried to convince himself her lack of purity was enough, but now he wasn't so sure.

"No," he lied. "There was no point."

Movement on the patio beyond the open French doors caught Caroline's attention a second before one of Jason's workers burst into the dining room, his eyes wide in alarm and his chest heaving from exertion.

Jason was on his feet before the man came to a stop at the far end of the table. "What's happened?"

"Patrao,
the river!" he gasped. "At the dam—mud slide."

"Dear God!" Jason's chair scraped against the floor as he shoved it back and moved toward the open door. "Injuries?"

"Ernesto and Vincente are trapped."

"Go tell Ines!" Jason ordered.

"I'm coming, too." Caroline said, coming to her feet, amazed at the swiftness of Jason's reaction. Concern showed plainly on his face as he turned to face her, halting her with a look.

"No. You stay here. I have enough to worry about without some blasted female who thinks—"

"I can help!" she cried furious
ly.

"I don't have time to argue with you, Caroline!" He turned and walked away once again, dismissing her. "You'll get hurt. It's dirty and dangerous. Just because your father was a doctor and you carry that damned medical bag around everywhere you go...."

"I went to medical school for two years!"

He turned to face her once more and his gaze swept over her in a cold, almost disgusted manner. "My, but you're full of surprises, aren't you?"

She rushed past him and out the door. "I'll get my bag!"

"Two minutes!!" Jason called after her. "I'll wait two minutes and then I'm leaving!"

Chapter
Five

A cacophony of voices reached
out of the darkness as soon as the wagon rolled to a stop. Lanterns swayed crazily as men ran to and fro in a frenzy of activity. Caroline stood in the wagon, straining to see, trying to decide where the greatest need was.

Leaping from the vehicle, Jason rushed toward a group of a dozen or so men, leaving Caroline to climb down on her own. He disappeared into the darkness, swallowed by the night and the confusion.

"Help! Quickly!" someone shouted. "I have found Vincente!"

In the midst of the melee, Jason's rich baritone voice rang out. "Ines! Where are you?"

Caroline couldn't see two feet in front of her, but she followed the direction of Jason's voice, Ines tagging along in her wake as she shouldered her way through the crowd until she stood in the middle of
the circle. Jason knelt on the ground beside Vincente, whose pallid face appeared ghostly in the darkness. The boy was in shock, that was the first thing she noticed. Her gaze went to his left arm where a tight tourniquet had been tied. Blood and mud covered the bandage and his arm.

"Have you been loosening the tourniquet?" Caroline asked the crowd at large. She fell to her knees beside the prone body, unmindful of the soft mud that soaked immediately through the thin material of her gown. "How long has it been on there?"

Jason looked up at her in annoyance. "Ines has been tending my workers for years, madam, and she can—"

"Ines is near to fainting, in case you hadn't noticed." She took hold of the boy's arm. His skin was clammy and cold beneath the mud. The circulation to his lower arm had been shut off too long.

"You can't just cut off the blood flow!" she shouted at the men who stood around her in dumbfounded silence. "He'll lose his arm."

"Julio!" Caroline called to the young groom. All her energies were concentrated on the patient, but she couldn't help sensing the incredulity in Jason's silent gaze. "Julio!"

"Sim,
Senhora
!
"
The young man stepped forward. Ines peered around him, her dark face sallow with shock.

"Julio, go to the river and draw me a bucket of water. A full bucket," Caroline ordered.

"Sim,
Senhora
!
"
he cried, rushing off to do as she bid.

Caroline began unfurling the tourniquet. The release of pressure would cause the wound to bleed again, but she had to get that thing off and do it right. She glanced impatiently at Jason, who watched her in rapt silence.

"Jason, I think they need you down by the river!" she pointed out, then searched the crowd for Ines. "Ines, come here! I need your help."

"Sim,
Senhora!"
Ines replied, standing over Caroline, gazing down at the bloody mess with round, horrified eyes.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Jason asked harshly.

"Go, Jason. I've done this sort of thing before!" Without thinking, Caroline pulled up her skirt and tore off a length of petticoat. She shoved it toward Ines, who didn't respond.

Jason stood and rushed off in the direction of the river, and Caroline breathed a sigh of relief. This was going to be difficult enough without Jason questioning her every move.

"Ines, take this fabric," Caroline ordered. When the other woman didn't comply, she called more sharply, "Ines!"

"Sim,
Senhora
,"
came the reply.