Courting Miss Greene Ch. 03

Ginny and Lizzy already suspected something like that, but they still stood aghast at his confession.

"Why?" asked Ethan with a frown.

"I don't know. I didn't mean to take it that far," answered Thomas, "but at least I kept my pants on."

His brother cocked an eyebrow. "Then what exactly did you do to her?"

"Everything else."

Robert palmed his face and, deciding ignorance was bliss, he changed the subject. "So you've been at Alder Hill the entire time?"

"Yes."

"But I waved you goodbye!"

Thomas shrugged. "I stalled my horse down town and came back home. You know there's plenty of places to hide and eavesdrop."

Robert gaped at Thomas. "Then you've fooled us all! That would also explain the missing provisions. I was almost about to question the servants. What a mighty trick to pull off!" Robert could not help but be impressed. He frowned when a little grin appeared on Thomas' face. "But why would you continue to torment poor Abby? I mean, there wasn't anything genteel about that. Not even by your standards."

"That's true," admitted Thomas with a look of guilt on his face. "I suppose I just wanted to be close to her."

"You really love her then?" asked Lizzy.

Thomas looked her straight in the eyes. "Yes, I do," he answered.

"That's not love!" said Ginny. "That's an obsession! And an unhealthy one at that!"

Ethan sighed. "Honey..." He put his hands on his wife's shoulders. She did not know Thomas the way he and Robert did.

Ginny would not let her husband calm her down, not when it concerned her sister. "You didn't respect Abby," she continued. "How can you say you love her when you can't even respect her?"

Thomas' heart sank. He knew Ginny must be right. He stared down at the stone tiles, not knowing what to say.

Robert came to his brother's defense. "Thomas has an odd way of approaching things. It's easy to misunderstand him."

"You're siding with him?" asked Ginny in disbelief. "After all Abby did to help you with Lizzy?"

Ethan remembered Abby had helped him win his wife as well. "Yeah, Robert," he said. "I thought you were supposed to be Abby's friend."

"I am Abby's friend, but Thomas is my brother," replied Robert, feeling helplessly torn between the two.

Lizzy came to the aid of her fiancé. "We don't know how Abby feels about Thomas."

Ginny frowned at her youngest sister. "She wanted to kill him."

"Well, yeah..." Lizzy bit her lip. She could not believe she had only made things worse! Her mind raced while she thought back on the past few days. "But I'm pretty sure Abby was in love with Thomas when she didn't know it was him," she said, remembering Abby had not been acting like herself lately.

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "How can you be in love with somebody without knowing who they are?" she asked. Since Lizzy only shrank away with a sheepish smile, Ginny turned to Thomas for an answer.

"Stranger sex?" he suggested.

Ginny cringed. "I'm sorry I asked," she said with a sigh. "I should have known I wouldn't be getting any real answers from you. This is all a waste of time. I'm going back inside."

"Ginny, please!" pleaded Lizzy.

"You don't have to help him just because he's Robert's brother," she answered.

"But I want to help Abby as well!"

"You can help Abby by keeping Thomas away from her," said Ginny. "I don't think she can take any more of his mischief."

"But --"

"No, I've had enough! I'll see you all back inside. Now, if you'll excuse me!"

Ethan could not remember his wife getting this upset since they had gotten married. When she left the patio, he turned to his younger cousin. "You did cross the line with Abby," he said. "Or more like a hundred lines. I can't forgive you until she does." He moved in closer to stand in front of Thomas's face, towering over the younger man. "And I want you to know if you ever upset Abby again, I won't hold back my fist!" he threatened.

Thomas breathed a sigh of relief when Ethan followed his wife, but he felt utterly defeated nonetheless. He glanced at Robert and Lizzy. "Go ahead. Walk out on me. I don't deserve your friendship," he said.

"Friendship? You're my brother! Nothing could change that," answered Robert.

Lizzy touched his arm. "I believe in you, Thomas," she said.

Thomas' heart jumped. He managed a little smile. "Thank you, Lizzy. I won't disappoint you, I promise."

Robert bit his tongue. Another promise, another challenge. He wished Thomas would stop being so rash. He would have to keep a close eye on the young rascal.

He owed it to Abby.

Abby ignored Thomas for the rest of the evening as well as at breakfast the next day. Uncle Albert and Ethan's parents had been very surprised at Thomas' sudden reappearance at the dance. Abby did not know what story he told them to explain himself and she did not care. She wandered aimlessly through the park and somehow found herself back at the pavilion where it had all started.

"Why the long face, pretty girl?"

Abby was not surprised Thomas had found her again. He gave her a little smile, but she could see the apprehension in his eyes. She was pleased he did not have another one of those insufferable smirks on his face. "What do you want, Thomas?" she asked in a calm voice.

He drew closer. "I want you, Abby. I thought I made that clear," he answered.

Abby sighed. "Well, we can't always get what we want."

"'We'?" asked Thomas. "And what is it you want, love?"

Abby paused for a moment, gazing into his eyes. She had spoken too freely during their original conversation and she could still feel the consequences of that mistake. She needed to choose her words with care. "I don't know what I want," she said, "but I know I don't want you."

Thomas blinked at her, letting her words sink in. He had expected Abby to turn him down, but he was still taken aback at how much hurt. He knelt down. "Do you want me to beg, love? I'll do it if I have to."

"Oh, Thomas," said Abby. "What's the use? Please get up and stop calling me 'love.' You don't know what love is."

Thomas swallowed hard, still kneeling. "Won't you show me what love is, Abby?"

"How am I supposed to do that?" she asked. "I don't know what love is either, but I know you need to trust someone first and I can't trust you. You keep pulling all sorts of tricks on me. I never know when you're being real."

"I'm being real now, Abby," said Thomas. He gazed up at her with pleading eyes and grabbed her by the legs.

It made Abby uncomfortable to have him touch her again. She pushed at his shoulders to prevent him from coming closer. "I can't be with you, Thomas. I don't want to and I don't even want to try!" For some reason her heart ached while she spoke. Abby frowned at herself. "I want a sensible man, a good, honest gentleman. I could never be with a man like you!"

"Abby...! You're breaking my heart!" exclaimed Thomas.

He tried to nestle his head against her, which infuriated Abby because his face was at the level of her crotch. She pushed at him with all her might and tried to kick herself free from his embrace. "You don't have a heart so stop feeling sorry for yourself!" she cried. "Let go of me and leave me alone! I never want to see you again!"

Thomas realized he needed to give in to her before she would throw another fit and the situation would spiral completely out of control. Abby turned away from him as soon as he released her. He heard her stifling a sob when he left the pavilion. His heart pounded while her words echoed inside his mind.

Nothing had turned out the way he planned. He may have won the challenge, but he had not won Abby's heart. Thomas thought he had been seducing Abby, but he realized she had seduced him instead. The downside being she no longer wanted him now she knew who he was. His little plan had backfired on him with a vengeance and he only had himself to blame.

Thomas stopped in his tracks when he reached the garden. Robert and Lizzy were making out behind the hedge. A pang of jealousy shot through his heart. Thomas wished things could be like that with Abby. He turned around to take a different path, but the lovebirds had already noticed him.

"Thomas?" his older brother called out. "How did it go with Abby?"

"Badly," he answered.

"What did she say?" asked Lizzy.

"She never wants to see me again," replied Thomas, "so I guess I won't be joining you on your trip to Windfarn." He let out a deep sigh.

"Oh, but you must!" insisted Lizzy. "It'll give you at least a week to try and win Abby!"

"Or a week for her to kill me," replied Thomas. "The more I try to talk to her, the more she seems to hate me. I know I don't deserve Abby, but I don't know what I'd do without her. She's so different from anyone else I've ever met. I admire her for all that she is, but she only opens up in the bedroom and I can't meet her there anymore. I tried last night, but she put a chair under the door handle and wouldn't answer my call."

Robert frowned. He could not believe his ears! Did he need to put a chain on his brother?

Lizzy's heart went out to Thomas. "Don't give up!" she urged. "I know my sister. She's challenging your persistence. She can't believe you when you say you love her because she thinks your words are empty. That's why she pushes you away. If you give up now, she'll call you a liar. You have to prove your love somehow, but not by tricking her. Do something to make her think well of you."

"What can I do?" asked Thomas. "I'm a wicked scoundrel and I can't hide it."

"I'm sure we can think of something," said Robert.

"I don't know," replied Thomas. "Abby wouldn't want me to try anything. Not again."

Robert blinked at his younger brother. Thomas really had changed! Abby must have broken him completely. Robert felt sorry for his brother when he watched him slump like that, but in the back of his mind he could not suppress the idea Abby might be the best thing that ever happened in Thomas' life. The boy's foolhardy confidence had evaporated into thin air, and he was finally thinking ahead before acting. Robert could not let it end like this, and neither could Lizzy.

Robert made the decision. It was his privilege, being the eldest.

Thomas was coming along to Windfarn, whether or not he wanted to.