Armored Hearts by Melissa Turner Lee Page B

“I was going to say that I’m really not bothered by how you move without your chair. I want to be your partner in life and help you. I hope someday you feel comfortable being your true self in front of me.”
    “This is my true self.”
    Jessamine nodded and walked out the door.
    The hurt look on Jessamine’s face weighed on Gareth. She annoyed him yes, but inflicting her pain bothered him. But he had no choice. It was for her safety anyway. How could he ever respect or trust a woman who only wanted him for a title? She’d have her title soon enough and be back on a boat for America.
    Besides, Gareth would need to do some traveling himself. He needed to go to Scotland and find out more about his mother and the Fae. Had she been one of them? Perhaps Grandfather had more information he could draw from.

Chapter 10

    The next morning, Gareth flew back and forth in his chamber listening to the chaos in the house. Strange voices calling back and forth to one another. The grunts of men hefting furniture and scrapes as they moved it and then the thud of it being set back down.
    Gareth punched the ceiling before descending to the bedroom door and peeking out again. He was dying to get out of the confines of his four chamber walls, while at the same time trying to stay out of the way of all the workers preparing the house for the blasted wedding.
    He zoomed to the curtains and glanced down at the yard. Carts, loaded with flowers and food, were arriving. There were even some of the new automobiles parked in front of Waverly Park.
    The now familiar sound of feminine laughter down the hall grated at Gareth’s last nerve. Jessamine would become his wife that very night. He surveyed the yard once more. It didn’t matter who was in the house, he had to get out at least for the day.
    Gareth flew to the door and peeked out. Unfamiliar women in maid uniforms carried linens down the hall. He closed the door again and banged his head on it. He needed to call the whole thing off. He couldn’t go through with it. The idea of cold feet became reality for him.
    His heart raced, and sweat ran from his forehead to his chin. He could just leave. Fly away. Maybe go to Scotland and never come back. Down the hall, Tabitha laughed. The melodic ring of her voice put steel in his spine. There was no money and no choice. For Tabitha’s sake, there was no escaping the ordeal to come.
    He could do this. He just needed to get outside and get away for a bit. After waiting until no one was looking, he made his way down the stairs, into his chair, and out the back door. He glanced up at his majestic ancestral home. Waverly Park was a large stone estate, built twelve generations back. The inside had always been as cold and gray as the stone on the outside when Tabitha was absent. She was the only one to ever touch his heart. He’d do all in his power to establish her future. She’d even softened Grandfather’s stone heart through the years. He had to keep them safe. It was his duty.
    After his encounter with Jessamine, he defied Grandfather after all and skipped dinner. Once everyone was in bed, he had patrolled into the early morning, looking for any signs of the archer, but the attacker had not returned. Perhaps he was lying low, waiting for a more opportune moment to attack. Gareth only hoped that would be after Tabitha and all the guests were gone.
    Gareth was passing the stable when he noticed Thompton setting down a crate and stopping to eye him. The man nodded when he saw Gareth looking, and Gareth returned the gesture. He had never interacted with the ruddy-looking man much. Thompton mostly stayed in the stables, and when he was in the house, Sarah did all the talking for him.
    He wondered how old Thompton and Sarah were. They’d been a fixture at Waverly Park as far back as he could remember and yet still looked to be in their prime. Both were strong, hard working, and loyal. Gareth thought about the couple’s impending dismissal and felt it