Glory by Heather Graham Page B

brother’s roan. The animal was well fed, with sleek fur. He looked over at the gray mare he was riding. His horse showed more rib than flesh. Maybe he and the gray belonged together. He looked up and offered Ian his hand. “Thanks, brother. It was damned good seeing you. Take care.”
    “Stay out of the line of fire, Julian, for the love of God.” He hesitated. “When Jerome reaches you, get word to Risa somehow. She’ll want to be with him.”
    “Naturally, I’ll get word to his wife—and to you, through Alaina. You keep your head down, Ian.”
    Ian nodded. He turned his roan and started back toward the house in the pines.
    Julian leaned against the oak tree and watched his brother go. Then he turned toward the plantation house set deep in the overgrown foliage.
    Maybe Rhiannon Tremaine would manage to rouse herself enough to accompany Ian and set her talents to the healing of wounded Union soldiers.
    And maybe not.
    She was stubborn. Pigheaded.
    She might turn Ian down, determined that she was going to stay at her home.
    Perhaps she really was a witch, a white witch, with the power to heal. Maybe she had the gifts of a true natural healer.
    He leaned against the tree, watching the house for a long, long while ...
    Maybe ...
    Maybe he needed her himself. Well, fate was in her hands right now. She could go with Ian, or ...
    He’d damned well go back for her himself.

Chapter 5
    B Y THE TIME IAN McKenzie returned to the house, Rhiannon had regained her composure. She was also prepared for his resemblance to her earlier Rebel visitor, though she still found it uncanny and unnerving.
    Coffee and food were served, and she sat in the dining room with Colonel Ian McKenzie, listening to his suggestion that she either come into St. Augustine for the duration of the war, or find work with one of the hospitals.
    “I tried to become a nurse when Richard was first given his commission,” she told Ian. “They wouldn’t allow me in.”
    Ian grimaced. “Yes, I know, at the beginning nurses were only accepted if they were old and homely. But I assure you, things have changed. The sheer load of casualties in this war has forced changes. If you decide you want work in a hospital—even in the field, I’m sure I can arrange it.”
    She nodded, watching him. “If Rachel is willing, I think I would love to work with the soldiers.”
    “It’s hard work, grueling work. But sometimes a soldier makes it because enough care is given.”
    “And that is surely worth the effort. To save just one life would be ... gratifying,” Rhiannon mused.
    “So ... will you come back with me to St. Augustine today?”
    “I ...” she faltered. She wasn’t quite ready yet. “I need a little time.”
    “Time ... time to what?” Ian inquired politely.
    “Oh, well ...” she said, and waved a hand in the air, then shrugged. “To pack, for one. To give instructions to Angus and Mammy Nor. To see to it that my home is secured the best I can leave it in my absence.
    “That sounds reasonable. But you will come?” he persisted.
    “I believe so.”
    “I’ll return in a few days,” he told her. “You really must come with me then. I think that leaving this house—for now—is your only course of action. Think on this—it might be dangerous for you to remain here.”
    “Why?”
    “The Rebels will consider you a traitor.”
    “They were not—vicious men.”
    “No—but others might return.”
    Rhiannon nodded after a moment. She could be in danger. She had known that before she had betrayed the Rebels.
    “I’ll give the matter deep thought, sir,” she assured him. “And I will probably accompany you when you return for me. I agree that it makes sense.”
    “I wish that you would come with me now.”
    She smiled and said, “Honestly, I do need time. That’s all. And ... thank you.”
    The Yanks departed soon after their conversation. Rhiannon watched them ride away, then fled to her room, reading Richard’s letter over and