Bewitching You (27 page)

Just a long road in front of them, a cornfield to the right, and an Amish cemetery to the left. Plain wooden slats marked the graves, and a white picket fence surrounded the area. Eerie.

Gray’s parents and brother were buried side-by-side at a well-kept cemetery in Indianapolis. Their stones were upright, large, and made of granite. Gray had seen to it they’d gotten the best. Although he hadn’t visited them since Hayes’ funeral. He’d been too stubborn. It was time to do that again soon.

“Look,” Sofia said, and poked him in the ribs.

His gaze followed to where she was staring. A horse and buggy drove down a road perpendicular to the one they walked. “Hey,” Gray called out twice, but either they couldn’t hear him or they were ignoring him. Probably the latter.

From his minute knowledge of the Amish, he understood they were aloof and mostly didn’t want to have anything to do with non-Amish people, or the English, as he had heard it said before.

“Assholes,” he muttered, definitely grouchy.

“They’re not assholes, Gray. They’re just careful. You’re not exactly a small man.” She shaded her eyes with her hand. “What should we do?”

“Where’s your boyfriend live?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he bit his lips shut.

“Are you talking about Elijah?” She glared at him. “He has a wife, Gray. And children. I’m sure his family would not appreciate you saying—”

“Sorry.” He cut her off. “I shouldn’t have said that, but the guy
was
checking you out like you were piece of prime rib yesterday.”

“He was not.” Sofia shoved against his stomach. “Elijah may have been a little bit frisky as a teenager but he’s a grown man now. A grown
religious
man.”

“Right. I forgot. He must be a saint of a man with an angelic family living amongst all these virtuous people.” If Gray could’ve been more sarcastic, he would’ve.

Sofia set her hands on her hips. “What are you trying to get at?”

“I’m sorry to break it to you, sugar, but men are men no matter what clothes they wear or vehicle they drive. If we see a woman as attractive as you, we’re gonna look.”

“Even if you’re married?”

Time to shut up now, Gray
. “Some men more than others,” he mumbled.

She rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t know where he lives, but the closest house that I know of isn’t too far away. We’ll have to walk to the end of this road, turn right and it’s, I don’t know, a mile or two down that way.”

Gray surveyed the area again. “Why don’t we cut through this cornfield to save some time?”

~ * ~

Sofia inhaled the sweet scent of the corn and tried not to think about the note in her pocket that Gray hadn’t mentioned all day. Darn him.

He’d been grumpy and quiet, and Sofia wished he’d say the words she desperately wanted to hear. Unless, of course, he didn’t believe them anymore.

She heaved out a sigh, and Gray gave her a brief glance before setting his focus toward their trek through the paths of the enormously tall cornstalks. His manly-man decision to cut through the stupid cornfield had gotten them lost, Sofia was sure. They’d been walking for at least an hour.

Why hadn’t she taken one of Nana’s many wristwatches to check the time? Who knew if the airplane would go up today, tomorrow, or a week from now? The only clue Sofia had was that it would happen around five o’clock.

Gray stopped short, and Sofia bumped into him. “Fuck,” he said, and shoved his hand through his hair. “This is nuts.”

“What?” She peeked around his waist and saw what caused his cursing. Broken, crooked stalks appeared where they’d once been. “Are we going in circles?”

“It appears so, Sofia,” he grumbled. “Which doesn’t make a damn bit of sense because according to the sun, we’ve been going the same direction this whole time.” He shivered and spun around. “Did you feel that?”

“Feel what?”

“The cold air.”

Sofia wiped a bead of sweat from her temple. “No cold air over here. Are you feeling okay? Want to take a break?”

“Just for a minute. I need to think.” He snatched his wrinkled dress shirt from his back pocket, shook it out on the ground, then gestured for her to sit.

He may be a grump, but at least he was still a gentleman.

Sofia dropped to her bottom, and he sat down next to her. His hands trembled as he wrapped them around his knees.

“Gray? What’s wrong?” She inched up to him and cradled his jaw. His skin was cold to the touch.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” He eased her hand away and set it on her lap.

“What’s going on with you? Are you feverish?”

“I said I’m fine, Sofia,” he snapped, and met her eyes. “Sorry. I just get this feeling that…never mind.” He pressed his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and clenched his eyes shut.

“What, Gray? You’re starting to scare me.”

“I don’t mean to… I’m sorry.” He opened his eyes and reached for her. “Come here, sugar. I need you.”

Without question, she allowed him to pull her onto his lap. She’d do anything to make him feel better.

Their lips met, and he slipped his tongue into her mouth as if he hungered for her. Nothing was cold about his lips. They were quite warm and tasty. As were his hands as they slid up her shirt, finding her breasts. He squeezed her flesh, and Sofia inadvertently let out a whimper against his mouth.

“Did I hurt you?”

“Just a little sore from last night. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I never want to hurt you. Are you sore here too?” He gently rubbed between her thighs.

“Sort of. Nothing a hot bath won’t take care of.”

“I was too rough last night. Should’ve been more careful with you.”

“No, you were fine. It was wonderful, Gray. Especially after I found the note.” Sofia couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “I love you too.”

“I love…what? What note?” He bunched his forehead seeming genuinely perplexed.

“The note you wrote me.” The words rushed out as a squeal.

“Sofia, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Seriously? He was going to play games like that, huh?

“The note where you said you loved me. Why are you doing this? If you don’t mean it anymore, then say so.” She launched from his lap.

He grabbed her waist and held her down. “What are talking about?”

Tears stung her eyes, but she held them back. Anger, not tears, was what this man deserved. How dare he play with her heart like this? She dug her hand into her pocket, plucked out the little yellow paper and shoved it against his chest. “There. I have it still. You can’t deny it.”

He picked up the crumpled note with one hand and held her down with the other. After reading the words, his face paled. “Sofia, I didn’t write this.”

~ * ~

The slap across Gray’s face stung.

“Let me go.” Sofia struggled against him, tears brimming her eyes.

“No. We need to talk this through. Where did you find this note?”

“Stop it, Gray. I get it, okay? You don’t love me. You think I’m nuts.” Her breath came up in spurts as she held back her sobs. “Be a man and admit it.”

He couldn’t release a breath. Air packed his lungs, useless and painful. The note wasn’t even in his handwriting, but he had a damn good guess whose it was.

Only problem was how could that be possible?

Sofia squirmed against him again so he drew her into an embrace, shoving aside every other outlandish thought in his head. The woman in his arms was all that mattered now.

“Nothing’s
over,” he said softly against her ear. “I do love you, Sofia. I love you so much it hurts, but I didn’t write that note. Now tell me where you found it.”

Before she could answer, someone pushed through the cornstalks. A large, husky man with a beard and a black hat stared down at them.

Elijah.

“Everybody okay, here?” he asked.

Gray stood, bringing Sofia with him. He set her down, picked his shirt off the ground, and wiped her tears with it. She let him, staring at him with a stunned expression. Gray wanted to kiss her, but they had an audience.

Thank God. “We’re good,” Gray said. “We were lost. Sofia got scared.”

“Oh?” Elijah looked to Sofia for confirmation and she nodded. “Well, then, you two lovebirds need a ride?”

“That would be great. Thank you.”

~ * ~

Sofia sat snug in between the two large men as the buggy sped down the bumpy road with the horses clip-clopping in front. The blanket-covered bench seat bounced them up and down as the wobbly wheels of the carriage dipped in and out of gravelly cracks and grooves.

“Yah, yah,” Elijah yelled and cracked the whip. Like they weren’t going fast enough. Was the man insane?

Gray’s arm tightened around her waist. The poor guy was sitting at the edge and there didn’t seem to be much of anything that kept him from falling out with the next big bump.

Sofia got a grip on his jeans belt loop. She wasn’t losing him now. Not after hearing that he loved her—for real. She’d nearly lost all sense and reason when he’d told her he hadn’t written the note. But, then, who had? A ghost?

Hmm… What about the chilled feeling she’d experienced in the kitchen right before she found the note? No. Spirits couldn’t write and leave messages. They didn’t have the power to interfere in people’s lives. Did they? And, if so, then why? Why would some spirit floating around at Nana’s house leave her a love note and sign Gray’s name?

Sofia shook the mystery from her head for now. Maybe they’d figure it out later and maybe they wouldn’t. She didn’t really care. The note didn’t need to be real. Just the love.

She met Gray’s gaze and he smiled at her.
I love you,
his gorgeous lips said silently.

Yep, that was all she needed. She smiled back, so big that her cheeks hurt.

Quit being a dork, Sofe
.

Ah, who cared? Obviously, the man loved dorks.

“Whoa,” Elijah said, as they pulled into Tom’s Auto Body shop. This was as far as he’d been willing to take them, which didn’t bother Sofia one iota. The less time on the horse and buggy, the better.

Gray jumped down and then lifted Sofia to the ground. “We appreciate it, Elijah.” He picked his wallet out of his back pocket and began to pull out a twenty.

“Noooo,” Elijah grumbled. “Glad to help.” He tilted his hat and winked at Sofia. “Take care now. You stop by and visit some time, hear?”

Then he cracked the whip and was off, just like that.

Gray clenched his jaw, probably holding back a growl.

She squeezed his hand. “We made it here alive at least.”

His frown thawed into a warm grin, and they turned to see Tom standing at the door to the white building with no
windows
. Just a garage with an old Pinto up on the racks.

Tom had on a filthy used-to-be-white tank top that barely covered his beer gut, and suspenders that held up a pair of grubby tan slacks. A toothpick stuck out of his pasty face that displayed a deep scowl. “What you two’s want?”

Chapter Sixteen

After Gray had explained their situation, Tom finally let them into his office. Any friend of the Amish was no friend of his, he’d said. Which was odd, considering the location of his shop. But Gray wasn’t going to argue. The man had the only phone in a twenty-mile radius.

“I assure you, he was only giving us a lift,” Gray had told him. “I can’t stand those people myself.”

Sofia had nudged him. He’d pay for that later, he was sure. The truth was, he didn’t have anything against the Amish, especially after one of them had done him a huge favor by getting him out of a dead-end cornfield in a matter of seconds.

It’d been embarrassing to discover if they’d only walked another ten feet, they would’ve reached the road, and across it was Elijah’s family home. Ten children had scurried outside to see what all the commotion was about, along with a very pregnant wife who didn’t smile once.