An Unexpected Sin Read Online Free

through the trees. “I will go home to the inn in Salem Town tomorrow.”
    “I will not dishonor you by walking with you from the forest,” he said, “lest anyone pay us undue attention, but know I will watch at a distance until you are safe inside for the night.”
    The possessive nature of his tone sent forth another round of shivers. Aside from her parents—and at one time, her brother—no one had ever acted so protectively toward her, but their attentions had never made her feel such delight. Anne started to thank him, but before she could speak he pressed another kiss to her lips.
    “Go. I will find you soon.”
    She had gone but a few steps when he softly called her name.
    Anne turned, but in the darkness saw nothing but shadows. “Yes?”
    “Say nothing of our encounter,” he said in the same low voice. “I do not wish to sully your reputation.”
    Anne tensed. She would have to plead Prudence’s silence on Josiah’s identity…if her friend had not already spread the news over the entire village.
    “No one here knows you are of Salem?” she asked.
    “I have given my first name, but not my last. I could not risk my hopes of seeing you again.”
    His proclamation settled warmly in a corner of her heart that was already his. She wanted to speak, but found herself unable to find the words to say what had quickly become truth.
    She cared not for her reputation. Precautions came far too late, for Josiah Cromwell had already stolen her heart.
    And she did not want for its return.

Chapter Three
    Josiah kept his promise and followed Anne to her night’s quarters, a small farm near the road toward town. Though he had not spent time in the house there, it, like so many others in Salem, brought back a number of memories.
    He tried to force them back. To focus not on what he had lost, but what he had found.
    A chance.
    Long after his last glimpse of Anne, he waited outside at the edge of the trees, his mind flush with the memory of their kiss. He should not have taken liberties, but he harbored no real regrets. The childhood crush he had carried with him for many years had exploded into purpose, and though he could not explain the reason, he wanted nothing more than to know her.
    The possibility of a real relationship with her flitted through his mind, and with it a reminder of his need to win her parents’ favor. He could not fathom they would be as forgiving as Anne. Truthfully, he could not imagine what kept her heart so open after her brother’s death, but he could only be grateful for the unexpected turn. Many years had passed. He still harbored guilt, but it was likely her heart had begun to heal. He hoped so, for to think she still carried a terrible ache six years later pained him almost as much as knowing he had put it there.
    The walk to Salem Town took about three hours—perhaps longer in the pitch of night—and he spent every minute questioning his choices. He wanted to be near Anne and he needed a place to stay. Securing employment at her family’s inn would allow both, but he had hoped for a more profitable job—one that made use of his education and would better provide for Anne should he find his way into her graces. He could assist a barrister in town and verily earn a greater wage than he would as a laborer, but then he would lose his proximity to Anne. Now that he had seen her again, he could not bear the thought of distance. But to work for her parents…he would not be dishonest about his identity. Josiah had drowned in enough guilt over Samuel’s death—he could not add to the burden with lies, which left only the bitter truth.
    He would have to take his chances.
    He spent the remainder of the night on a stack of shipping crates near the harbor. There he dozed but could not sleep—not with the water so near and the past so heavy on his mind. He had never liked the sea, but he suspected the proximity that night was his price to pay for returning…a penance for his sins, though verily