Courting Holly by Lynn A. Coleman Page B

his gaze on Henry.
    “Are you being courted, Miss Landers?” Henry asked. “If not, I should like to put my name in with your father. After the proper time of mourning has been completed, of course.”
    Holly looked down at her hands.
    “She is spoken for, Henry.”
    “I suppose the better man, huh, Bryce? I would only take you on wild adventures and tour the world for unknown countries and peoples.” Henry kissed the top of her hand and released her.
    Holly’s face flushed. Bryce wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. “Turn down the charm, Henry. Holly has been through quite enough the past few days.”
    “I am sorry, Miss Landers. No harm intended. Please forgive my foolishness. I am sorry for your loss.”
    Holly nodded, unable to speak. Her emotions churned within like an eddy on the edge of the river swirling down into an unseen pit. She felt trapped, spinning out of control. She closed her eyes for balance. A tear released. Bryce took out a soft handkerchief and wiped it away.
    “I really am sorry, Miss Landers.” Henry’s voice lost all its bravado.
    “You are forgiven, Henry.”
    He smiled. “Well, then, since I made such a fool of myself, perhaps the tour will help absolve my blunder.”
    They followed him onto his boat and into the cabin. The small engine at the stern would propel the boat upriver. The rudder, he explained, needed to be enlarged for greater control. The inside of the cabin appeared clean, neat and practical.
    “You see, I have a bed, a table there that pulls up from the wall, a chair, plus a barrel for additional seating. The cabinet over here has all my food supplies, and my clothing is under the bed.” He lifted the mattress and revealed the convenient storage space. “The boat had more leaks than I could find so I tarred the hull over and over again. She’s holding her own now. And I have a small stove for cooking and heating. All the comforts of home.”
    “You did a fine job, Henry.” Bryce continued to scan the homey cabin.
    “I love the bluish-lilac color of the walls,” Holly offered.
    “Thank you. I mixed a couple of leftover cans of paint and had enough to do the interior.”
    “What are you doing for work these days, Henry?” Bryce asked.
    “Have a seat.” Henry motioned Holly to the chair, Bryce to the barrel, and he sat on the bed. “Working for Father, on the plantation. I’ve been trying to implement some of the new planting policies we were taught in school. Father won’t have a thing to do with modern, though.”
    “I am at an advantage there. My father has let me do all that I would like with the plantation.”
    “Is he still upset that you didn’t become a lawyer?”
    “No. He has agreed I run a plantation better than I would have done as an attorney.”
    “I am considering traveling the world for a spell. Father says I am not thinking straight. But when else can a man travel except for when he is unencumbered?” Henry gave half a nod in Holly’s direction.
    “Holly and I are hoping to go to Europe,” Bryce said. Holly glanced over at him. Just how much had he planned on the two of them becoming a couple and marriage?
    “Yes, if it wasn’t for you and all the tales you told in college, I do not believe I’d have these traveling notions.”
    Holly gasped. “You spoke of our...”
    Bryce saw the horror in her eyes that he might have betrayed a confidence. “I simply told him of the places we read about and that both of us would like to travel there one day.” His firm gaze sent a bold message, assuring her he would not break the confidence of their romantic childhood notions of being a king and queen and traveling the land as knights, or as Robin Hood and Maid Marion, or other fanciful adventurers.
    Henry’s boisterous laugh broke the intense, silent conversation between Holly and Bryce. “I would love to hear those stories.”
    Holly shot him a penetrating glare.
    “Or maybe I would not.” Henry stood. “Would you two like