“Do you think she’ll try something?” I asked.
“I know she will. I’m just not sure when she’ll do it.”
My stomach growled.
Titus laughed. “Go fill a plate. If you’re going to dance, you’ll need the energy boost.”
“Who said I’m dancing?” I challenged.
Titus gave a lop-sided grin. “Enoch.”
Point to Titus. I would definitely dance with Enoch. All evening if we could. I had a lot to apologize for. I’d been feeling out of sorts since landing here. The emotional toll of everything that had happened, coupled with my unending headache, the Terah situation, Abram… made me forget what was most important in every time: him.
I strode across the room to the banquet table where Terah lingered as she poured herself some wine, and began filling a plate with every sweet thing I could find, along with a sliver of roasted hog. She gave me an evil look and then strode back to her seat.
“Would you like a glass of wine?” Asa said from beside me. “I’m pouring one for myself, so…”
“Sure. Thanks.”
I watched him pour it and took the crystal goblet from him.
“How long will all these men stay here?”
He blew out a breath. “With Benjamin, you never know. He’s visited before on his way to some great duty and lingered a week.”
“Wow.” I couldn’t even stop the word from falling out.
“I agree. He’s… something.”
Asa stood beside me as the musicians tuned their instruments. Someone played a melody on the piano while another pulled a bow over his violin’s strings. “The Brigadier General is coming over. He’ll ask you for the first dance, making the assumption that he deserves the honor of it and your company.”
“Oh shit,” I said under my breath, wishing Enoch would intervene.
“Dance with me,” Asa blurted, sitting his goblet on the table.
What? I didn’t want to dance with him, but it was a better option than Benjamin – which said a lot.
I put down my mostly-empty plate and wine, placing my hand in his outstretched one. He pulled me towards the musicians and past the pompous General, who looked offended. I glanced around the room. Titus was smirking. Asshole. But where did Enoch go? He was no longer in the room.
Asa smiled. “I wanted to offer a piece of advice regarding my brother, who has conveniently left the room, it seems.”
“Oh? What advice is that?”
He held my right hand aloft in the air and his other hand fell at my back. I was unfamiliar with dancing and tried to concentrate on following his lead. Thankfully, we just stepped in a square for the most part, so I didn’t fall or make a fool out of us.
“The Enoch you know in your time is the same as he’s always been. A person does not change. Not fundamentally.”
“He’s different now,” I argued.
Asa laughed. “My brother is not the altruistic half-angel you believe him to be. The other half of him is demon. He craves power over all things, and he makes sure he always has the upper hand. Even over Terah and myself.”
“You’re telling me Enoch can control you?”
“I’m telling you that he does and always will, to the degree that we allow it. Enoch is the one you targeted, and you felt justified in traveling through time to carve out his heart. Do you think that heart is truly so different? I would say that it isn’t. Circumstances are different. The time is different. But Enoch is the same as he always has and always will be.”
I pursed my lips. There was no point arguing with him. Asa thought he was right, so no amount of persuading would change his mind. He was the one who wouldn’t change.
“Let me show you something,” he said abruptly, guiding me from the floor. We passed Titus. “Stay there,” Asa commanded. “This doesn’t involve you.”
“If it involves her, it involves me,” Titus snapped.
Asa led me to a back door and pointed at the garden. “There is your precious Enoch, seducing the Brigadier General’s only daughter.”
“He wouldn’t…”
“Are you sure of that?”
The two looked more than comfortable with one another. She giggled at something he said, and he flashed her a wide smile.
“He claims that everything he does is for you. You told him you lived in America, so he’s done everything in his power to make sure this fledgling country survives the continuous British attacks.”
Enoch caught my eye. He told the girl they would speak later and carved a path through the garden. My stomach hurt; conflicting emotions of betrayal and sadness warring through my midsection. Intent on avoiding him, I whirled on my heel and marched back through the clusters of men and into the dining room. Titus followed me.
“Don’t listen to any of Asa’s claims until you speak to Enoch,” Titus suggested. “Asa… well, he’s dark and weird, and probably trying to drive a wedge between the two of you just for kicks.”
“I know, it’s just… Enoch should have a life between the times I show up. It’s not fair to ask him not to, but the sight of him even laughing with that girl makes me sick because I know I can’t give him that. I can’t give him my time, and I can’t stay here and have an easy life with him. But he should have that. He should have it again and again. Love. Marriage. Children. All of it.” A tear squeezed from my eyes. “I can’t give him anything.”
Titus cleared his throat and looked over my shoulder, and I noticed Enoch standing behind me. Then my friend slipped away to give us some privacy.
“I was only being cordial to the girl, despite what Asa implied,” Enoch began. “Benjamin’s daughter is shy, probably because her father’s behavior is appalling, if not embarrassing at times. I was inviting her inside to eat and offered to dance with her so she might feel included – something Asa could not possibly care less about, despite the fact he is playing host to the Brigadier General and his traveling party.
“Eve, please don’t ever think that you have nothing to offer me. Since the first moment I passed you on the road in Edenshire, you’ve given me more joy than you can possibly imagine. You gave me hope – something I haven’t tasted in a thousand years; something more precious than a few lifetimes with women who are not, and will never be, the one I want… You.
“I will wait for you because I have nothing but time. When I finally find you in yours, I promise to spend every moment possible with you. I know you’re in pain, and because of it, I know you need to leave sooner than either of us would like. We never seem to have enough time together, but the truth is, there will never be enough. I will never tire of you. In your time, after you are well, we will have the rest of your life together. I promise to make it an adventure, and to finally give you the life you deserve.”
I swallowed. How did he know I was struggling? I thought I’d hidden my breakdowns well enough.
In answer to my unspoken questions, he replied, “I see the pain behind your eyes when you blink, and I heard your tears carve pathways down the flesh of your cheeks last night when you thought no one would know you were crying.”
“It’s not always because of the pain,” I argued, my voice coming out raspy.