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Tarley was sure her joy about Lachlan was written all over her face, and her mother had a way of finding out the truth no matter the circumstances. She seemed to know all things, which was why Tarley knew Auri couldn’t get away with sneaking out to date her handsome suitor.

“I’m a grown woman, Mother, and am perfectly capable of choosing my own path,” Tarley whisper-yelled so as not to disturb the queen.

Scarlett caressed her hand and took a deep breath. “Bring him with you to dinner then—through the hedge.” Scarlett released her. “Let us get to know him.”

Tarley watched her disappear down the stairwell feeling as if her mother had acquiesced too easily, that there was more to her invitation than she was revealing. Then she turned to the doorway ready to face the queen, which she hoped would be an easier conversation.

Later, when Tarley walked into her small room after a full day’s work with an appeased queen and a family dinner to attend, it was hard not to think of Lachlan in there with her. She missed his presence. When she looked at her bed, she imagined his large body between her thighs, his bulk under her quilt. Blood rushed to her extremities when she thought about what they’d done together, wishing he were with her now so they could do it again.

She’d seen him passing throughout the day. In between sightings, she’d extended an invitation to dinner, to which he’d grinned, informing her Scarlett had also stopped by the stable to invite him. His swagger was maddening. They agreed to meet at the mercantile, so she could pick up whatever her mother had ordered that morning, then walk together to the cottage.

She changed into a nicer dress for dinner, then she locked the door behind her, passing the stables without looking in to see if Lachlan was there, and walked down Sevens only thoroughfare.

It was filled with people, so unlike the night before when she’d walked it with Lachlan. Most with faces she didn’t recognize, but those she did were friendly. “Hello, Miss Fareview!” “Good afternoon, Miss Fareview.” “How is your family, Miss Fareview?” She stopped to converse, happy to do so. Not a single soul brought up Ollie and her discovery of him in the woods—or their disappearance the night before— though perhaps they wouldn’t when she was the center of speculation. When those conversations concluded, she continued.

Until she saw Rufus emerge from the door to his practice. Her step faltered, and she glanced around for an escape.Turn the other way. Please turn the other way,she intoned in her head as if perhaps her words could control him. But Dr. Rufus, turned in her direction, caught sight of her, and walked toward her with purposeful strides.

Tarley considered walking the opposite direction, but her pride kept her from it. Rather, she didn’t want Rufus to know that seeing him made her want to run like a scared rabbit. While his initial attentions had proved tedious, now there was an undercurrent that frightened her, and she wasn’t sure how to manage it.

“Miss Fareview,” he said when he reached her and doffed his hat politely, only she knew he wasn’t polite. He’d threatened her. He’d been cryptic in the hallway, but the tone had been menacing. As if proving her feelings right, he stepped close, his leg shifting her skirt.

She moved away from him. “Dr. Rufus. We need to stop meeting this way.”

He smiled, showing nice, even teeth, his lips hidden under groomed facial hair. The smile didn’t reach his eyes. “We can finish our conversation that was so rudely interrupted.”

“No, thank you,” she replied and stepped around him.

He stepped in front of her. “I saw you. With him.” He rasped the words, producing a strange sound in his chest. “You don’t understand–”

“Saw me?”

“Last night.”

Chills raced across her skin. “I don’t know what–”

He leaned closer. “Lies.” His eyes dropped to her waist, and he licked his lips. “Given the fact you were alone together in the woods, it won’t come as a surprise to Sevens folk. Add to it your disappearance together last night.” He tsked.

Tarley shouldered past him and continued walking.

Rufus caught up and grabbed her arm. “I would never hold any possible impending children against you should you find yourself in a way and would gladly… relish any bastard of yours.”

She pulled her arm free from his grasp, hissing when she felt something sharp but didn’t look, afraid to take her eyes from Rufus. “Leave me alone.” She continued, hurrying to get to the mercantile.

“I can’t, you see. It’s impossible now.”

She reached for the mercantile door, but Dr. Rufus spun her to face him. “I won’t let you go, Miss Fareview.”

She yanked out of his grasp and looked at her arm noting the puncture marks in her sleeve. “You have done nothing but insult my person, my intelligence, and my womanhood. I wouldn’t want to be near you, much less marry you, if you were the last man in the kingdom.”

He had the decency to look abashed, but it quickly turned to something dark as he grabbed her shoulders, squeezing her too tight. “I’ll escort you home. It isn’t safe for a woman to journey through the woods on her own. There are stories about these woods–”

Her vision receded, Dr. Rufus, the buildings, the forest collapsing into a dark hole and leaving a view of the darkness behind, the sound of rapid breathing, the awful sense of fear. Then she blinked, back once more in the grip of Dr. Rufus.

She struggled, and his grasp tightened. She knew she couldn’t go anywhere alone with him. “Unhand me.”

“Are you going to make me say it?” He’d leaned closer.

She recoiled. “Let me go.”