Place Of Her Own Read Free Page B

it from His Holy Word. And there were moments when she knew it in her heart. But this was not one of those times.
    “Kate?” Shelton called softly.
    “Please,” she moaned. “Just go away.”
    After several moments, she heard muffled footsteps fading away down the hall.
    Katherine curled into a fetal position on the floor, not having the strength to climb back into her bed, and cried herself to exhaustion.

    During his first two weeks in Jamestown, Shelton performed many odd jobs at the various farms in the area, but still hadn’t found full-time employment. Urias had helped in every way he could, including setting up a temporary room for him in the barn. But it seemed Shelton’s best bet was to move to Creelsboro to try to work for one of the companies helping folks go west, or to work for Crockett’s paper mill.
    The tension between him and Kate had been constant. He wanted to get to know her as a woman, but she avoided him. She spoke in his presence only when others were around, and she hid in her room most of the time. One thing seemed certain: He couldn’t be the right man for her when she was terrified of him. He had his answer.
    He gathered his sparse belongings and began to pack his saddlebags. A move to Creelsboro would give Kate back the freedom to move around in her own house.
    The barn door creaked. Shelton blinked at the sudden stream of light. Kate’s silhouette paused, then she walked into the barn. After glancing over her shoulder, she closed the door behind her. She sneaked over to the farthest horse pen and pushed the hay from the wall, exposing the floorboards.
    Again she paused and looked around. Shelton knew he should make a noise and let her know he was there, but he held his breath instead. What could she be doing?
    Kate lifted a floorboard and pulled something out. He couldn’t see from his angle what it was. Obviously she was hiding something, but what? And why?
    She returned the item and secured the board and hay back in place.
    He slipped out of the shadows. “Kate.” A startled yelp escaped her lips. Her eyes widened with fear.
    He grabbed her arms. “I’m not going to hurt you.” She trembled from his touch.
    He released his grip. “I’m sorry. I only wanted to speak with you, to apologize for the time at my father’s house. I acted foolishly. I was sixteen and so in love with you I couldn’t think straight. I should never have forced you to kiss me. That was wrong.”
    She nodded but kept her eyes averted. “Kate, please speak to me. I’m leaving today.” Her gaze shot up to his. “Leaving?”
    “Yes. I can’t stay here and have you afraid all the time. It isn’t right. This is your home. You should not live in fear of me.”
    Kate seemed to lose her footing and stumbled to the left. Instinctively, he reached out and caught her by the elbow. She stared at her feet once again.
    “Please stop looking down. You’re not a servant, and I don’t like seeing you behave like this.”
    “Why?”
    Indeed, why did it bother him so much? Oh, he knew in part it was because of his feelings for her in the past. But it went beyond that. A horrible injustice had happened to her. “I want to be your friend, Kate.”
    “Katherine,” she corrected.
    “Katherine,” he repeated. “It suits you better.”
    “Kate’s my bondage name.” She squared her shoulders and stared straight at him.
    “Then I’ll try to never call you that again.”
    A slight smile crept up her cheek for the briefest of moments, then was gone as quickly as it had appeared. She gazed at the floor. “You shouldn’t leave because of me.”
    “I just want us to be friends.” With every ounce of willpower he could muster, Shelton held his hands at his side rather than lift her delicate chin. “I saw you put something under the floorboards.”
    She raised her head.
    “What are you hiding? If you don’t mind telling me.”
    “I do.” She marched to the spot where she had been, opened her secret hiding