It hurt her to know how much he’d lost. She could imagine that feeling all too well. Because on the day Jarek took Samuel’s life, she lost her own brother, as well.
The smell of something burning filled her nostrils. She hurried across the room, barely scooping the pan off the stove in time to save the potatoes from scorching. She shoved the buckwheat pancakes and salvaged fried potatoes onto a pan and into the oven to warm, letting the door bang shut.
The crude drawing of her brother’s face was etched in the back of her mind. That wasn’t how she wanted to remember him. She wanted to destroy the newspaper article and the heated accusations and put it all behind her as if it had never happened. Nothing, though, could change the reality of what had taken place between Jarek and Adam’s brother.
There had been a time when things had been different with Jarek. Before he’d started running around with the wrong crowd. Before Lidia began to notice his anger simmering under the surface. Maybe if her parents had been stricter with him, he would have realized what he was doing, or if she had found the right words to say to him … But she knew that wasn’t true. Jarek had been eighteen. The choices her brother made were his choices, not hers or her parents’.
She began washing the table in vigorous circles, remembering how her father decided not to tell the sheriff that he knew the once-innocent lad portrayed on the wanted poster. “What does it really matter?” he’d asked her mother as he wiped away her tears. They didn’t have any information as to where he was. Even if they did, how could a father turn his eldest son over to a hangman’s noose?
As much as it hurt, she’d known deep inside that she’d never see Jarek again. He was on the run from the law. Coming home wasn’t an option. She didn’t even know if he was alive. Had he somehow heard about the sudden death of their parents, or even begun to understand the tragedy he’d caused the Johnson family in losing their son?
Why did it have to be Adam’s brother, Lord?
The truth was impossible for her to deal with. Glancing across the small living quarters, she felt as if the room were mocking her. There was no chance for her and Adam. She’d lost him before ever really getting to know him. She’d seen the way he looked into her eyes in the moonlight. The wide grin that crossed his face as he dared to steal a kiss. In her amazement over it all, she knew without a doubt that she felt the same way. She’d dared to wonder if there was a chance for him to fall in love with her.
But now it didn’t matter what Adam felt toward her. All that was about to change. He would never look at her that way again once he found out the truth about her brother.
Running the back of her hand across her lips, she could still feel the sweetness of his kiss. It had been wrong to think there could ever be anything between them.
Wondering where Lidia and her brother were, Adam stepped out of his room and into the kitchen. The appetizing smells of buckwheat pancakes and fried potatoes filled his senses as he peeked into the oven at the breakfast Lidia had prepared. How she’d managed to transform his meager supplies into such a mouthwatering meal, he had no idea. He’d never had the opportunity to eat with her during his recovery and didn’t intend to lose this chance to be with her one last time before she left.
Sighing, he shut the oven door. All he could think about was the unsettling truth that he had to take them back to the mill this morning. He cringed at the thought of Lidia working day after day for some calloused overseer who didn’t care when she got tired or hungry or if she simply wanted to spend an afternoon reading poetry. She didn’t deserve to live such a harsh life. She needed a home and a family where she could feel safe and secure. But it was more than just the conditions of the factory that bothered him. After their kiss, he realized how much
The smell of something burning filled her nostrils. She hurried across the room, barely scooping the pan off the stove in time to save the potatoes from scorching. She shoved the buckwheat pancakes and salvaged fried potatoes onto a pan and into the oven to warm, letting the door bang shut.
The crude drawing of her brother’s face was etched in the back of her mind. That wasn’t how she wanted to remember him. She wanted to destroy the newspaper article and the heated accusations and put it all behind her as if it had never happened. Nothing, though, could change the reality of what had taken place between Jarek and Adam’s brother.
There had been a time when things had been different with Jarek. Before he’d started running around with the wrong crowd. Before Lidia began to notice his anger simmering under the surface. Maybe if her parents had been stricter with him, he would have realized what he was doing, or if she had found the right words to say to him … But she knew that wasn’t true. Jarek had been eighteen. The choices her brother made were his choices, not hers or her parents’.
She began washing the table in vigorous circles, remembering how her father decided not to tell the sheriff that he knew the once-innocent lad portrayed on the wanted poster. “What does it really matter?” he’d asked her mother as he wiped away her tears. They didn’t have any information as to where he was. Even if they did, how could a father turn his eldest son over to a hangman’s noose?
As much as it hurt, she’d known deep inside that she’d never see Jarek again. He was on the run from the law. Coming home wasn’t an option. She didn’t even know if he was alive. Had he somehow heard about the sudden death of their parents, or even begun to understand the tragedy he’d caused the Johnson family in losing their son?
Why did it have to be Adam’s brother, Lord?
The truth was impossible for her to deal with. Glancing across the small living quarters, she felt as if the room were mocking her. There was no chance for her and Adam. She’d lost him before ever really getting to know him. She’d seen the way he looked into her eyes in the moonlight. The wide grin that crossed his face as he dared to steal a kiss. In her amazement over it all, she knew without a doubt that she felt the same way. She’d dared to wonder if there was a chance for him to fall in love with her.
But now it didn’t matter what Adam felt toward her. All that was about to change. He would never look at her that way again once he found out the truth about her brother.
Running the back of her hand across her lips, she could still feel the sweetness of his kiss. It had been wrong to think there could ever be anything between them.
Wondering where Lidia and her brother were, Adam stepped out of his room and into the kitchen. The appetizing smells of buckwheat pancakes and fried potatoes filled his senses as he peeked into the oven at the breakfast Lidia had prepared. How she’d managed to transform his meager supplies into such a mouthwatering meal, he had no idea. He’d never had the opportunity to eat with her during his recovery and didn’t intend to lose this chance to be with her one last time before she left.
Sighing, he shut the oven door. All he could think about was the unsettling truth that he had to take them back to the mill this morning. He cringed at the thought of Lidia working day after day for some calloused overseer who didn’t care when she got tired or hungry or if she simply wanted to spend an afternoon reading poetry. She didn’t deserve to live such a harsh life. She needed a home and a family where she could feel safe and secure. But it was more than just the conditions of the factory that bothered him. After their kiss, he realized how much
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