Secret of Richmond Manor (16 page)

“Someday, Jeff, all this war will be over.”

Jeff turned to Leah, noticing the brightness of her eyes. She was wearing a simple green dress that matched her eyes, and the breeze was causing her
hair to blow. Somehow he'd never noticed before how smooth her cheeks were and how clean her jawline was. Suddenly he said, “I never thought about Ezra staying here.”

“I'm glad he is, though. He doesn't have anywhere else to go, and he likes my family.”

“He likes
you,”
Jeff said, his jaw growing tight.

Leah stared at him. “Why, Jeff! I think you're jealous.”

“Jealous? Who's jealous?”

“You are! I can tell.” She laughed at him and said, “You don't have any business being jealous. After all, you went absolutely cockeyed every time Lucy Driscoll walked by. I never saw a boy behave so foolishly.”

Jeff glared, and his face reddened, perhaps because he knew she spoke the truth. “I don't want to talk about that,” he snapped.

He turned and walked quickly off, and Leah ran to catch up with him. “Jeff,” she said, “don't be mad.”

He abruptly stopped and faced her. “I'm sorry, Leah. Don't know what's the matter with me. It's all right if you like Ezra.”

Leah smiled suddenly. “I'm glad for your permission. It's all right if you like Lucy too, if you want to.”

“I don't want to. I stopped liking her the minute she said she looked at that letter. That wasn't right.”

They stood there for a long time until finally he said, “Leah …”

“Yes, Jeff?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “It's all right if you like Ezra better than you like me.”

Leah put her hand on his cheek. She leaned forward and whispered, “He's real nice, but he's not my best friend, Jeff.”

He was silent. Then he reached up and covered her hand with his own and smiled. He said quietly, “Come on, we'd better go back.”

They turned and walked back down the path, Leah's hand secure in Jeff's. She looked up at him, and the world suddenly seemed not so dark.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and she whispered, “Some day, Jeff, we'll come back to all this.”

The Bonnets and Bugles Series includes:

• 978-0-8024-0911-9 Drummer Boy at Bull Run—#1
  

• 978-0-8024-0912-6 Yankee Belles in Dixie—#2
  

• 978-0-8024-0913-3 The Secret of Richmond Manor—#3
  

• 978-0-8024-0914-0 The Soldier Boy's Discovery—#4
  

• 978-0-8024-0915-7 Blockade Runner—#5
  

• 978-0-8024-0916-4 The Gallant Boys of Gettysburg—#6
  

• 978-0-8024-0917-1 The Battle of Lookout Mountain—#7
  

• 978-0-8024-0918-8 Encounter at Cold Harbor—#8
  

• 978-0-8024-0919-5 Fire over Atlanta—#9
  

• 978-0-8024-0920-1 Bring the Boys Home—#10