Maid for a Duke (A Christmas Novella)

Chapter 4

"Please tell me that wasn't the last of the wood."

Katherine ignored Elijah as she fiddled with her cloak.

"Katherine?" He drawled in frustration. After resting for hours, Elijah rose from the couch to stretch his legs. He went over to the fireplace and stoked it with a poker. When he went to grab another log to throw on it, he noticed...it was the last one.

"I'm sorry, Elijah, did you say something?" She asked with feigned confusion.

Elijah limped in her direction until he was standing in front of her. "You heard me, Katherine. Was that the last of the firewood?"

"Yes," was her reply at Elijah ran his hands through his hair. "Look there was so much going on when the attack happened, I had to hurry to get you inside. The snowstorm had already started so I grabbed what I could."

Elijah collected his thoughts for a moment before answering her. He wasn't frustrated with her, he was frustrated with their current situation; and the fact that, the longer he was away from home, the more he dreaded going back.

"I'm not upset with you, Katherine, I'm in pain and a little stressed out." He gestured to the fireplace. "This isn't going to last the whole night."

She tightened her cloak before heading to the door. "I'll go get some."

He grabbed her gently by the elbow, forcing her to stop and turn towards him. He felt the oddest sensation at her touch. Uncomfortable with the foreign feelings, he dropped his hand.

"Don't be ridiculous, Katherine. You can't go out there right now." She would freeze to death out there. Not to mention, it was pitch dark now.

She gave Elijah a frustrated expression. "Then what are we going to do tonight?"

Elijah glanced at the fireplace before he looked around the cabin. "I'm sure we can find some things around here to keep the fire going till morning."

"Okay. I'm going to look around. Hopefully whoever lived here prior left something edible."

Elijah continued to stoke the fire while Katherine went and searched for food. He grew more anxious as time passed. He was worried about the snowstorm and if it would let up in time for him to make his...wedding. The more he thought about it, the farther away from home he wanted to get.

He understood it was his duty and it was apart of being a "duke". But what about what he wanted. The few times he met with Lady Elizabeth, she had been quiet and standoffish. Elijah had tried to make conversation with her but she didn't seem interested. It was as though she didn't want to do this either.

"Elijah, did you hear me?"

He turned towards the back of the cabin where he heard Katherine's voice. She had a smile on her face and was holding up two bags with unknown contents.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought. It looks like you found something after all."

"Yes," she replied as she made her way towards him. "It appears the previous owners were hunters. There's a bunch of dried meat back there. Not to mention and ax an other tools."

Elijah smiled and gestured to the blanket on the floor in front of the fireplace. "Would you like to join me for dinner, Katherine? It would be my honor."

"I would be happy too," she said with a smile as she sat down next to him on the blanket.

They started eating and after a few minutes of silence, Katherine said, "Elijah, is something troubling you? I mean, besides our unfortunate situation."