Into the Woods Read Online Free PDF Page B

somewhat snippily, then turned toward home, presenting her back to Declan Harper. "But you can walk with me a while longer, if you'd like."
    To her surprise, he did.
    * * *
    Declan couldn't remember the last time he'd talked to someone, anyone, this way. As they walked down the dirt road, he and Matilda discussed the recent lack of rainfall, her grandmother, and candy. His favorites and hers. He told her of his remodeling plans for the plantation house he'd bought, and when she asked, he told her about the first saloon he'd won and how his venture into the business world had begun. She seemed truly interested in it all.
    They weren't far from town when he slipped out of his jacket and flung it over his shoulder. A moment later he loosened the top button of his confining shirt. He felt like he was breathing deep and clean for the first time in days. Weeks. Years, maybe.
    "I can't believe you have five sisters," Matilda said, swinging her empty basket. A sly smile crept across her elfin face. "I wish I'd had five sisters. Or six. Or a dozen."
    He laughed. "No, you don't. It's very daunting to live in a household with that many women. My life with five sisters and a widowed mother was a constant turmoil, and there was never enough money. For some reason women have a need to go from one disaster to another."
    "Depends on the woman, I suppose," she argued.
    Perhaps she was right. "So, you are an only child? Or are there brothers out there somewhere?"
    Her smile faded. "I'm an only child. My mother wanted more children, but... it never happened."
    She looked to be lost in thought, contemplative but not terribly sad. He didn't know what to say.
    She shook off her brief bout of sober reflection and turned her attention to him again. "I can guess, from the tales of the way you built your fortune, what you have in mind for Tanglewood."
    Was he ready to tell her everything? No. Not yet. "I have nothing in mind for Tanglewood," he said in a tone of reassurance. "It's simply time I settled down, and this town is as good a place as any."
    She laughed at him, a bright, summery sound that seemed to seep through him. "You're much too young to retire, and much too impatient to think about settling down." She locked her eyes to his, briefly. "You don't want anyone to know you once lived here, which means you don't want them to know who you really are." Her smile faded, but her eyes still sparkled. "Why not?" she asked softly, as if she were questioning herself. He saw the answer on her face as it quickly came to her. "Declan Harper, what are you trying to prove?"
    "I'm not trying to prove anything."
    She shook her head. "Of course you are. You bought your big house and all that land, and I imagine soon you'll want the saloon and the general store and anything else you can get your hands on." She looked at him boldly and smiled. "Declan Harper, king of Tanglewood. And Vanessa Arrington is to be queen. Would you care to tell me why?"
    Why argue with her? She'd seen right through him, with those witchy eyes. "Not really," he answered nonchalantly.
    She narrowed her eyes and swung her basket as she continued to walk toward home. Her full brown skirt swished about her legs, as she took the longest strides of which she was capable. "That's all right, I can guess. You were an outcast, I suppose. Only an outcast would be so determined to come back and make himself... one of them. Not only to be one of them, but to lead them. And then to rub their noses in it, I imagine."
    His heart lurched, just a little, but he didn't allow her words to disturb him for more than that single heartbeat. "You don't know—"
    "Please don't tell me I don't know what it's like to be an outcast," she interrupted, her voice sharp. "Even before I was told that my grandmother was a witch, when I was living with my mother and father in Georgia and leading a fairly ordinary life, I knew I was different. Always on the outside looking in, wondering what the rest of you were