Captive by Heather Graham Page A

across the beautifully manicured lawn. Tara pointed out how the river ran, and the general directions in which their closest neighbors lived.
    “Don’t you fear Indian attacks here?” Teela asked her.
    “No,” Tara said simply as they came to the porch. A tall black woman was standing there with a baby on her shoulder. Tara reached for the child with a smile, but Jarrett reached past her.
    “May I, Jeanne?” he asked politely, though it was his own child he plucked from her arms. The woman smiled, giving up the boy, and Jarrett held him high in the air while the baby gave out a delighted squeal.
    “Ian McKenzie,” Tara announced. She glanced at her husband.
    Teela smiled, watching the baby. “Congratulations,” she said softly. “He’s a beautiful child.”
    “Thank you,” Tara said. She started to take the boy from her husband and hesitated. “Would you like to take him?”
    “May I?” Teela inquired. She lifted the baby and laughed, delighted by the one-toothed smile he gave her. He reached for a strand of her hair. She caught his little fingers instead, laughing again. She hadn’t had a chance to really play with a baby in a long time, not since shehad done some nursing with her mother before Lilly took ill.
    “He is just beautiful!” she said again, cuddling him against her. He smelled clean, a newly washed baby, wonderfully warm and sweet.
    “Well, I’m very glad yo approve. We’d have had to throw him right out if she didn’t, right, Jarrett?” Tara teased.
    Teela was surprised at how quickly the bantering made her feel welcome. They entered the house, and she was further entranced. The wooden floors were polished to an exquisite shine. Draperies hung from the window, and the wall coverings were certainly the latest fashion from Europe.
    “I simply cannot believe that this house can be here,” Teela said, spinning around. The nurse came to take the baby back, and she reluctantly let him go.
    “Thank you,” Jarrett said. “I do take that as a compliment.”
    “It was meant as one, I assure you.” “And you have a home here for eternity if you choose,” Tara said with a laugh. “You have complimented the two things nearest and dearest to my husband’s heart—his house and his son.”
    “I protest! She’s yet to compliment you,” Jarrett told Tara.
    “Your wife is gorgeous,” Teela told him solemnly. “All right, she can stay. Forever,” Jarrett agreed. “You definitely get to stay,” Tara said. “You can see the house later. For now, let me give you a room so that you can freshen up.”
    “She might like to lie down for a while. I heard her up all night.”
    “I’m sorry!” Teela gasped. “I didn’t mean to disturb anyone. It was just so very dark, I couldn’t resist looking toward the shore. I have never seen anything like the darkness that surrounded us on the river, not even at sea.”
    “It can be a frightening land,” Tara said lightly. “Butif you’re tired now, perhaps you should rest awhile. I’ll have water sent later for you to bathe. Our guests are due at sunset, and you’ll want to meet them all, I’m certain.”
    “I wouldn’t mind sleeping,” Teela admitted.
    “Everyone seems to need to catch up on his and her sleep here!” Tara said with a good-natured sigh.
    “Not me,” Jarrett said blandly, staring at his wife. “I’ve no desire whatsoever for sleep.”
    Tara flushed, smiling slowly. Teela turned quickly away as Jarrett took his wife into his arms, kissing her tenderly. Something in the touch seemed to burn into her heart. She felt tears sting her eyes, and she was glad that two such charming, giving people should be so happy together.
    She had never felt so keen a sense of loneliness herself.
    It was strange. When Michael had been so determined to arrange her marriage, she hadn’t really hated the man of her stepfather’s choice. She simply hadn’t loved him. She knew now, watching these two—or trying not to watch them—just what