For Love's Sake Read Online Free Page A

“But I can’t be bothered with that. I am sure you understand.”
    “But I don’t understand at all!” she argued, going as far as to place her hand on his wrist. “Everything has been decided! Food has been ordered, music arranged, and all the best families have been invited.”
    Christopher politely, but firmly, removed her hand. “I am afraid you will have to tell the Hospitality Committee that there has been a change of plans.”
    “I am the chairperson!” her voice quivered. “I coordinated everything myself, and if it falls apart, I’ll be the laughingstock of the county.”
    People having supper in the dining room craned their necks for a better view of the commotion. They whispered among the tables, pointing at him and shaking their heads in disgust. What sort of monster would make a grown woman cry?
    Christopher stood in the lobby, his face burning from the heat of their gazes. “ If I were to attend this party in my honor, when might it be?”
    The woman looked up at him through her misty eyelashes. “A week from Thursday,” she said, producing a delicate white handkerchief from between her breasts to dab her tears. “Eight o’clock on the lawn by the Confederate Veterans Memorial. It’s beside the courthouse, you cannot miss it.”
    Outraged that he had been press-ganged into attending the party, he shoved past her and headed up the stairs to his room. Christopher ripped off his tie and stiff white celluloid collar, slinging them both down on the bed. He pulled off his jacket and unbuttoned his waistcoat before he sank into the armchair in the corner.
    “Damn,” he whispered. Parties like that were all the same – men excited to ‘rub elbows’ and women eager to pawn off their unmarried daughters on the unsuspecting newcomer. At twenty-seven, Christopher had no intention of marrying anyone, and the idea of masculine camaraderie had lost its appeal after University.
    He ordered up a bottle of whiskey, ran himself a bath, and settled down in front of the open window with a cigarette. From somewhere in the distance, music floated in on the breeze that fluttered the curtains around him. The last thing Christopher thought of before he drifted off to sleep was that he did not have to go to back to the mill for one entire day.

    Bright morning sunlight beamed through the window, which had been left open from the night before. He tried to pull the blankets over his face, but it was no use. Christopher had hours to kill before luncheon. The idea of spending them in bed was not as appealing as it had originally seemed.
    From the hotel porch steps, he set off walking, unsure of where he was going, but knowing that he was restless.At home in England he would walk for miles to clear his head, and he was sure that, although the scenery was different, the overall effect would be the same.
    It wasn’t long before he found himself ambling down a dusty dirt road too far from town. A quick glance at his pocket watch told him that he would need to turn around if he expected to make it back to the hotel in time to see his little enchantress fly by. Christopher turned on his heels and headed back in the direction that he came.
    At a dusty intersection, he saw a figure approaching from the east. It was the only other human being he had seen on the road all morning. Waves of heat danced across the red dirt, and he could not make the person out until they had gotten very close to him.
    In a rare twist of fate, it was his bicycle girl.
    Laurel saw the man and assumed that he must be lost. Without looking to see who it was, she slowed to a stop, intending to offer her assistance. She was horrified to discover that he was her employer.
    “Are you lost?”
    Christopher squinted at her in the noonday sun. “No.”
    Laurel started to pedal off.
    “Wait!” he said, scratching his chin and looking down each of the four roads. “Town is that way isn’t it? No? Well, could I walk with you?”
    She was shocked, and it