Ever Bound Read online

  I got Pop and gathered a robe on as quick as I could.

  Chaos covered the rear grounds of the Rollins Plantation. Horses stomped all over the place as sharecroppers chased after them. Hens clucked and flapped their wings in the hen house as if a wild animal was after them. The pigs snorted, screamed and slammed against the walls of the pens. Finally, a few of them broke out.

  It was a nightmare.

  The workers chased horses that were smeared with some red substance from mane to tail.

  After wrangling the horses together and getting them back into their stalls, the pig pen was the next most important task.

  We all worked together to catch the pigs.

  From snout to curly tails, they, too, were smeared with the same red substance, but it had started to dry to a thick brown. After a few of the workers assured me they had the pen secured, I started to the chicken house where a few of the women gasped and hurried away from the scene.

  “Master Colby, someone has committed a cruel act. It’s so awful.” One of the workers wives covered her face with shaking hands.

  At the chicken house, the wire around the cage had been clipped and headless chickens lay everywhere. Their heads were scattered around them.

  A woman near the back of the rose maze shrieked.

  In slow saunter, Grace Rollins walked up the path from the pond, carrying a headless chicken by its leg in each hand.

  The men turned their heads.

  Grace was completely naked with blood smeared from her forehead to her toes. As she neared the entrance of the rose maze and rounded the corner, she saw me.

  For fear that she’d hurt a human and not just the animals, I rushed to her.

  She leaned close. “Dear Colby. Fear not. I’m not insane. But the attention I’ll gain while everyone thinks I am will be priceless. Now, stand back and watch.”

  Stone took the place of blood in my veins.

  Grace moved forward toward the house, speaking as if she were a little girl. “Red is my favorite color. Don’t forget to tell Daddy when he leaves. You know how I get when he forgets my favorite color.”

  Mrs. Amber Rollins rushed out of the house with a house maid close on her robe tail. She stood a few inches taller than her daughter, and with striking black hair cascading down her shoulders, she stared down a sharp nose and pursed her red lips.

  As Grace approached her, she dropped one chicken and began stroking the back of the other.

  Mrs. Rollins’s olive face distorted as tears stained her cheeks. She took a deep breath and jerked the chicken out of her daughter’s hand.

  Mr. Rollins followed in a sleepy amble, but when he saw his daughter, he stumbled to her side. With his night shirt, he did his best to cover her blood-covered nakedness.

  Mother of all that was holy.

  Mrs. Rollins looked through the crowd straight at me. At first, I thought she might think I was somehow responsible, but her eyes pleaded with me. She shook her head and pulled her daughter into the house.

  Mr. Rollins turned to the whole crowd behind his plantation. “If a word of this leaves this property, the person who is responsible will be sorry. Mark my words.”

  * * * *

  The next day began the last month of school.

  The breakfast table was quiet. Everyone was so shocked at the previous evening’s events, they were speechless.

  I went to the back doors of the main house for the first time in a while. Before I could reach the door, I found the person I was looking for almost as if she were waiting for me.

  Mrs. Rollins stood at the back patio, staring out over the rose maze and the rest of the grounds. Her perfectly tailored red, gray, and black dress had not a wrinkle in sight. In the daylight, it was apparent that her daughters gained their beauty from her. Her hair was up in a tight do, hiding the fact that it was just as long and beautiful as Annabeth’s. It framed a face most artists would have loved to paint. High cheek bones, amber brown eyes, and red lips. She was stunning.

  I rarely saw her.

  Running the household had to be a demanding job. Keeping up with Grace was probably just as trying.

  Finding her outside was helpful. When she saw me, a weak smile met her tired eyes. “Good morning, Colby.”

  “Everything that happened last night… I’m so sorry. I don’t understand what got into her.” I couldn’t say much more in fear of putting my family at risk, but I needed to find a way to tell Grace’s parents that she wasn’t crazy. That she knew good and well what she was doing.

  “I’m very glad you were here. I don’t know what we’d do without your family. I want to apologize for any inconvenience Grace’s actions may have caused. I know that had to be upsetting.” Her eyes looked odd as she spoke to me.

  Behind Mrs. Rollins, a lady I’d never seen before, stepped into view. She didn’t wear a uniform as the other housemaids were required. Her gray and white dress was plainer than Mrs. Rollins but not by much. “Many apologies for the interruption, Mrs. Rollins, but I think Grace may need your assistance upstairs.”

  Mrs. Rollins nodded and as the woman backed into the shadows, a smile that didn’t meet her eyes sent an unsettling shiver through me. The woman winked and turned to disappear into the recesses of the house.

  Mrs. Rollins checked over her shoulder. “One more thing. Did you see anything else last night? Anything out of sorts? I mean, besides the fact that my daughter went completely insane?”

  Still addled by the woman, my voice shook. “I’m not sure what you’re asking of me.”

  “You’ve spent more time with her than anyone.” She paused, her searing gaze pleading with me. “Not that you wanted to. I know the time was mostly spent avoiding her. She has a way of getting what she wants. I just…”

  Annabeth appeared in the doorway with purple circles under her eyes. Without a word, she passed me.

  “I think Grace needs help if that’s what you’re asking.” I looked over my shoulder to Annabeth. “May I be excused.”

  Mrs. Rollins nodded and her voice shook. “She’s all I have left.”

  For a minute, I wondered if Mrs. Rollins sanity wasn’t at stake too. “I’ll watch over her, if that’s what you need.”

  “Please. Do.” Mrs. Rollins patted my arm.

  * * * *

  That day at school, either no one had heard of the Rollins incident, or they were too afraid to speak of it. Without Grace in the midst of the class, it was an uneventful day, other than Drew’s incessant attempts to send notes to Annabeth.

  Without unfolding them, she sent them back.

  I dipped my head and couldn’t help but laugh.

  He deserved her rejection.

  When we finally left our desks, I caught up to Annabeth. “Hey, wait up.”

  Drew gave me an incensed scowl as I moved to the spot he normally took beside her.

  I gently took Annabeth’s arm. “Can we talk in private?”

  Drew held up his hands. “I’ll meet you in a few minutes. We need to talk too.”

  Annabeth sighed, exhaustion sagging her shoulders.

  “Who is the woman at your house, helping you with Grace?” I wasted no time.

  Annabeth tilted her head thoughtfully. “There are a lot of servants.”

  “This woman gave me the oddest feeling this morning. She came out right after you.”

  “Oh, you mean the tailor. She’s a woman Mama hired to do odds and ends at the house as well as sewing our dresses.” Annabeth kept her gaze straight ahead as she held her speller close.

  “Well, she’s strange. You should probably keep your eye on her. An older woman winking at someone who could be her grandson… I don’t know.”

  “You can’t keep the ladies from flirting with you, huh. My sister is so nuts over you she’s killing chickens. Next, you’ll have the house maids following suit.” Annabeth kept her gaze on the path.

  “Whoa. Surely you don’t blame me for all this?
”

  She sighed. “Of course not. I’m just tired. Tired of her, tired of life at that house, tired of…everything.”

  “I did all I could to make her understand I didn’t feel the same way. I can’t help how she acts out.” The nerve!

  “I didn’t mean it. I’m just… Do you know the real reason she’s so set on you, Colby?” Annabeth finally met my gaze. She stopped, forcing me to do the same.

  We stood in the lane, staring at each other.

  “There are over forty rooms in that house. She wants my bedroom. There are over forty beds. Mine’s probably better. Because it’s mine. Any dresses I have made, she thinks are better than hers, though we have most of ours tailored to our own liking. Anything I’ve ever had, she’s coveted. The very first day you arrived on that property, I was fourteen years old. She saw me look at you. Not just how you glance at someone passing by. She saw the look in my eyes when I saw your dark skin and heavenly soft hair, and she knew how I felt. From that moment, she made it her life’s mission to have you. Last night was just another of her acts to make Daddy give her what she wants. Just to warn you. That’s you.” Without a word more, Annabeth turned and continued, leaving me rooted to the spot.

  Drew ran past me to catch up to her.

  It took a few very long moments for my legs to work.

  I’d thought I’d had life changing moments. Things I could never return from. Things that would make me a new person, for better or worse. But when I learned that Annabeth Rollins had at some point in her life cared for me, wanted me, that proved to be the thing that dissolved all the bad. She’d looked on me with the eyes of a girl who could possibly fall in love with me.

  Drew walked alongside Annabeth until I could no longer see them.

  The bend in the road hid them, and Drew’s voice floated into the summer breeze.

  Annabeth hadn’t spoke as far as I could hear.

  I’d never really wanted to hear a private conversation until that moment. I needed with all my heart to know if Annabeth really cared for him now, or if he was just a replacement.

  My legs no longer heavy, I made it to the fork in the road where one path led to the front of the main house and the other to the pond.

  Annabeth was nowhere in sight.

  How long had I been anchored by her words in the middle of that lane?

  I tried to keep my mind on what I needed to do that evening, but it was impossible. The house was quiet as I carried out my evening chores. No piano music, no crying, no yelling, no drunk man stumbling into tables and cursing.

  So all I could think about was her.

  The last three years of watching her sister pursue me. And she’d said nothing other than her attempt to talk to me at the pond. She’d tried to get me to see her that day, but I’d ignored her. Saw her as just another girl.

  When she was so much more than that.

  I worked throughout the evening, studied with purpose, and got a good night’s rest. I had a reason to be the best I could be. A person to be the best for. Annabeth Rollins.

  Grace had been right about one thing.

  And Mama and Pop had proven it.

  Social standing no longer mattered.

  If you loved someone, you could be together.

  * * * *

  The bell sounded, but my heart was louder.

  I’d never been so nervous.

  Annabeth gathered her school things and started out the door.

  I would find a way to talk to her if I had to throw Drew Cobb into the bushes.

  Hurrying toward her, I tripped on a desk, but righted myself before I took a tumble into the floor.

  From behind me, Mrs. Peachtree giggled. “Mr. Kinsley, you’d do well to look more at where you’re going instead of a girl. Can you spare a second? I need to speak with you.”

  I groaned. “Yes, ma’am?”

  “It’s nothing dreadful. I just wondered. With your schooling coming so close to an end, I’d hoped to see you apply to a college. As of yet, you haven’t asked for a reference.”

  I looked at the wooden floorboards. “That’s probably not going to happen.”

  After her words, I was reminded. I had nothing to offer Annabeth.

  “There’s a school close by. I’d like you to take it into consideration. You’re so bright and full of livelihood. You’d make a wonderful doctor or lawyer.” Mrs. Peachtree’s smile was so hopeful, I believed her.

  “I’ll think about it.” For Annabeth, I’d find a way.

  * * * *

  Close to where I turned off to go to the cottage from school, the breeze carried a guy’s words of sickening lustfulness, and a girl whimpers of obvious distress.

  When the girl’s cries registered as Annabeth, I slapped the arms of overgrowth as I hurried toward the sounds.

  On the forest floor, Drew Cobb had Annabeth pinned.

  She was sprawled, kicking and shoving Drew’s free hand away from her. Her skirts were hiked up to her hips.

  His other hand was over her mouth.

  I grasped Drew’s suspenders and the back of his shirt, and with one arm, tossed him backward into a tree.

  He hit with a satisfying thud and slid to the forest floor.

  With clenched fists and sweat beading from my brow, I stood over him.

  I needed to see blood.

  He crab-crawled backward around the tree and a white, sharply pointed-edged rock approximately the size of his head gleamed in my line of vision. His eyes widened as I scooped it up with one hand.

  I stomped toward him.

  A girl’s voice screamed behind me.

  I raised the rock over my head and held it there, waiting for proper aim.

  “No! You’ll kill him!” Annabeth’s trembling hands grappled for my shirt. “Please don’t do this!”

  I tossed the rock purposely at his head. At that angle, it would only graze him. Tearing a streak of crimson across his scalp, the rock tumbled across the pine needles with a whump.

  Scrambling away from me, Drew’s blood-covered face twisted in fear.

  I took hold of his shirt collar, shoved him down on his back, and pounced on top of him. My fist began repeated connection with his nose as blood splattered his shirt.

  “No! No, Colby! You’ll kill him!” Annabeth tore at my arms.

  I hit him again in the jaw. It cracked.

  Annabeth screamed, “I love you! If you kill him, you’ll never see me again.”

  My hands dropped to my sides.

  Though I was still, Annabeth’s small hands jerked as they worked to free my hands from Drew’s shirt collar. The little rays of light surrounding the brown irises in her eyes captivated me.

  Her tear stained face. That sweet, angelic face. Her shaking hands. She was all that mattered. She led me from him in a trancelike state.

  I stood motionless, mesmerized by Annabeth. Looking into her eyes was like taking my first breath of air. The anger slowly dissipated, yet another emotion replaced it.

  The blood on her lip crushed my insides. I touched it, needing to feel her skin, understanding, now, why it was hard for any man not to want her. The new emotion melted the traces of the boy inside me.

  “Did he?” I couldn’t finish. The foggy trance left me as I checked her over, moved her hair from the side of her face, and looked down her neck and chest for bruises, signs of injury. The thought of him fully violating her…

  “He only touched me. If you hadn’t been here, I don’t know.” Her voice shook.

  “I’m going to kill him.” I turned.

  She grabbed my hand and laced her fingers into mine. “He’s gone. You have to let him go. You’ve done enough damage. I don’t think he’ll ever look at me again.”

  “I wasn’t. Here. I should have. Been here.”

  “You’re not obligated to keep me safe.” Her eyes searched mine.

  A bond had formed between us. An almost indescribable connection that was
unstoppable. The type that carried us forward, and all we could do was watch to see where it took us. I think, looking back on it, the connection had just been waiting for the right moment to reveal itself.

  “I’ll always be here to protect you, Annabeth.” My voice was low, grave, shaking with emotion. “Always. If anyone ever touches you again, I’ll kill them. Bare hands.”

  “In that case, I’ll never find a suitable husband.”

  “If you don’t mind the turmoil it’d send your household into, you could make me the happiest man in the world and end that search.”

  “I’m used to turmoil.” A bright light came alive in her eyes as she jumped into my arms.

  Forgetting her ordeal, I allowed my lips a gentle brush against hers. With a soft moan, she surprised me by returning the kiss with an urgency I hadn’t expected. In seconds, nothing made sense, yet everything was right in the world.

  In another few moments, we would have been on the forest floor doing things that were beyond any fantasies I’d ever had, but I pulled back, raspy breaths breaking from my chest.

  Annabeth’s wet lips and flushed cheeks didn’t make my situation any easier.

  With just one glance into her eyes, I could see she wanted my fantasies and was no better than I was in hiding it. “If I’m going to remain a respectable and honorable man in the eyes of God, you cannot kiss me like that.”

  “How do you prefer I kiss you, then?” Annabeth displayed the brazenness that seemed to run in the family, but her gaze was so innocent and her tone sweet.

  I took a deep breath. Here we were in broad daylight, a few feet from a heavily traveled lane, and by the mere sound of her voice, I was undone. “As you’ve pointed out before, I am a man, now. There are certain situations I know I can’t be in and stay strong. Being alone with you is one of them. We need a chaperone.”

  “In two days, you’ve gone from being my chaperone to needing one for yourself.”

  At that moment, she outshined the sun and put the stars to shame.

  “We’d better go then,” I said, not sure from where the energy to speak came. It took all my strength to look on her and not pull her back to the floor of the forest.

  I helped Annabeth straighten her dress, partly as an excuse to touch her and partly to hide what had just taken place in the woods. We stepped from the clearing in different places and met back up as if it was some random happening at the back of the rose maze.