The Gifted by Ann H. Gabhart

will make a lovely couple.”
    “I don’t think—”
    “I don’t want to hear it.” Every trace of softness left her face as she cut off his words. “Sometimes you think too much, Tristan. But if you want to think, then think on this. Your father neglected his business when he went off to fight the Mexicans and came home too ill to have any thought of the future. We are in danger of losing everything.” She stared up at him to be sure he understood her words. “Everything. Do you understand that? Our home. Our position in Atlanta society. Everything.”
    He wanted to tell her he cared nothing about any of that, but she was his mother. As her only son, it was his duty to take care of her. She had lost so much in the last two years. Her husband. Her daughter to childbirth fever and the highly anticipated grandchild with her. There had been a few times since he’d returned home that he feared she might be losing her sanity. And other times he thought it likely he might lose his if he didn’t get away from her demands. Or give in to them.
    And so he had agreed to spend the month at White Oak Springs. Courting Laura Cleveland. Perhaps that would give him time to find another way or to become more appreciative of Laura’s charms and she of his.
    He did push a warning at his mother. “You should be aware that Miss Cleveland has given absolutely no indication that my court is welcome. She may already have a beau.”
    “Nonsense,” his mother said. “She is quite unattached and I know for a fact her father likes you and will advance your cause to his daughter, who appears to dote upon him. Besides, you will have the entire summer season at White Oak Springs to convince Laura to be interested in you. You’re very charming when you set your mind to it, Tristan.”
    He had been at White Oak Springs paying court to Laura Cleveland for a whole week. The place was lovely and swarming with beautiful belles. Several of them had sought his attention and that had seemed to pique Laura’s interest. She had walked with him along the tree-lined paths. She had written his name on her dance card with a flourish. They had shared a picnic on the grounds with strands of music floating over to their spot on the grass. At the Springs, music was ever in the air, turning thoughts toward romance, and Laura appeared to be looking more favorably on a romance with him.
    The attack in the woods from whatever assailant for whatever cause couldn’t have come at a better time. A few days hidden among these odd people would give him time to think. Time to come up with a way to escape his mother’s plans. Whether she said he should be or not, he wasn’t ready to give up on the idea of meeting a girl to love. A girl who fired his imagination and the mere vision of her face caused his palms to sweat. A girl like the sister with the beautiful blue eyes. That was the kind of girl he wanted to court. Someone real and not simply a cardboard cutout of all the things a Southern belle should be.
    He wasn’t being fair, he thought, as he stared at the white ceiling over his narrow bed. He couldn’t spot even a trace of lamp soot or smoke on the ceiling or the walls that were the same clean white. The whole room was bright with light from a wide window directly across from his bed. Another bed was beside his, but its white cotton spread was undisturbed. A narrow blue board with pegs wrapped around the walls. A candleholder hung from the peg nearest the door. Oddly enough, a chair identical to the one beside his bed was hung upside down on two pegs next to the candle. No curtains filtered the light through the window. No rug was thrown on the floor to add color to the room. He saw nothing in the room to give it the look of home. But then this was a sickroom. His sickroom.
    He settled his head into the pillow as the pain began to ebb away from him. Brother Benjamin’s potions were good.
    No, he definitely wasn’t being fair to Laura Cleveland. She was