anticipation as the class.
“No, I am not,” she answered, eyes lowered now too.
“But if you don’t belong to a tribe and you don’t belong to the United States, then who do you belong to?” Isabella asked.
Lily hid the flash of pain that rose to her face well. Christian was overwhelmed by the urge to run to her and hold her like he had the night of the robbery. It didn’t seem right for her to be standing there alone. Singing Bird, silenced.
When the bell rang in the hallway Christian and Lily and everyone else in the room nearly jumped out of their skin. Christian scowled at the classroom door and cursed whoever was out in the hall ringing the damn thing. His irritation hardly lessened when he considered it was probably a student.
“That’s the recess bell,” Lily announced, her voice wavering on its way back to normal volume. “You may fetch your coats and scarves and go play outside.”
Lily’s students jumped up and ran to the corners of the room to pile into their winter things. Samantha sent him a sweet smile, eyelashes batting, before being dragged by a friend to the back of the room. As the children threw their coats and hats on, Christian stood.
Lily found an eraser and set to work clearing the chalkboard. She kept her back firmly to Christian, but now that the students were gone her breath caught in uneasy gasps. He approached her slowly, watching the tenuous expansion and contraction of the part of her torso that was not cinched by her corset. She was upset, he could tell that much without words.
As he opened his mouth to apologize for all the rude questions, she said, “Why are you here?”
Her arm worked furiously up and down across the blackboard. She still didn’t look at him.
He cleared his throat and shifted his weight.
“ Well, in the unlikely event that I lose this bet, I need to know where your class is in their studies,” he said. He rubbed his chin, praying she would buy it.
“Do go on,” Lily drawled over her shoulder. She rubbed furiously with the eraser, emotion on vent.
He took a step closer to her, his heart a drum in his chest.
“You know, as j ustice of the peace I could submit a petition for you to be granted U.S. citizenship.”
Lily finished her erasing, plunked the eraser in its tray, and spun to face him. She planted her hands on her hips and arched an eyebrow.
“You could? Just like that?” She didn’t seem pleased.
He swayed closer. “Remember, my father is a judge and my uncle is a congressman. It should be easy.”
“Easy.” She stared at him like he’d suggested she hoe vegetables in her underclothes.
“Well,” he blew out a breath and threw out his arms, “at least you’d have a vote locally.”
“What makes you think I’d want one?” There was fire in her eyes, but for a change it wasn’t entirely anger. Something else burned in the coal-hot darkness of her eyes, something that squeezed his chest beyond bearing.
“ You could say you belonged to something then. You’d belong to Cold Springs.”
You’d belong to me. The words popped into his head before he knew what hit him. They stirred up more than they settled. He fought to keep that fact off of his face.
She pressed her lips together . Her toe tapped under the hem of her skirt. She stared at him without speaking, bristling with that inner fire, so hot it scorched him too. He kept his scowl fixed in place, his mouth shut in a hard line.
At last she said, “I’ve been offered citizenship before, when I completed my studies. I turned it down.”
“What? Why?”
She was still, eyes fixed on him so intently that he was sure he would burst into flame.
“A piece of paper isn’t going to make me belong, Mr. Avery.” She strode to her desk and took up a handful of papers. “The government of this country can list me however they’d like, but you yourself have proved to me and those like me that we will never be accepted.”
“ I never said any such thing!” he
“No, I am not,” she answered, eyes lowered now too.
“But if you don’t belong to a tribe and you don’t belong to the United States, then who do you belong to?” Isabella asked.
Lily hid the flash of pain that rose to her face well. Christian was overwhelmed by the urge to run to her and hold her like he had the night of the robbery. It didn’t seem right for her to be standing there alone. Singing Bird, silenced.
When the bell rang in the hallway Christian and Lily and everyone else in the room nearly jumped out of their skin. Christian scowled at the classroom door and cursed whoever was out in the hall ringing the damn thing. His irritation hardly lessened when he considered it was probably a student.
“That’s the recess bell,” Lily announced, her voice wavering on its way back to normal volume. “You may fetch your coats and scarves and go play outside.”
Lily’s students jumped up and ran to the corners of the room to pile into their winter things. Samantha sent him a sweet smile, eyelashes batting, before being dragged by a friend to the back of the room. As the children threw their coats and hats on, Christian stood.
Lily found an eraser and set to work clearing the chalkboard. She kept her back firmly to Christian, but now that the students were gone her breath caught in uneasy gasps. He approached her slowly, watching the tenuous expansion and contraction of the part of her torso that was not cinched by her corset. She was upset, he could tell that much without words.
As he opened his mouth to apologize for all the rude questions, she said, “Why are you here?”
Her arm worked furiously up and down across the blackboard. She still didn’t look at him.
He cleared his throat and shifted his weight.
“ Well, in the unlikely event that I lose this bet, I need to know where your class is in their studies,” he said. He rubbed his chin, praying she would buy it.
“Do go on,” Lily drawled over her shoulder. She rubbed furiously with the eraser, emotion on vent.
He took a step closer to her, his heart a drum in his chest.
“You know, as j ustice of the peace I could submit a petition for you to be granted U.S. citizenship.”
Lily finished her erasing, plunked the eraser in its tray, and spun to face him. She planted her hands on her hips and arched an eyebrow.
“You could? Just like that?” She didn’t seem pleased.
He swayed closer. “Remember, my father is a judge and my uncle is a congressman. It should be easy.”
“Easy.” She stared at him like he’d suggested she hoe vegetables in her underclothes.
“Well,” he blew out a breath and threw out his arms, “at least you’d have a vote locally.”
“What makes you think I’d want one?” There was fire in her eyes, but for a change it wasn’t entirely anger. Something else burned in the coal-hot darkness of her eyes, something that squeezed his chest beyond bearing.
“ You could say you belonged to something then. You’d belong to Cold Springs.”
You’d belong to me. The words popped into his head before he knew what hit him. They stirred up more than they settled. He fought to keep that fact off of his face.
She pressed her lips together . Her toe tapped under the hem of her skirt. She stared at him without speaking, bristling with that inner fire, so hot it scorched him too. He kept his scowl fixed in place, his mouth shut in a hard line.
At last she said, “I’ve been offered citizenship before, when I completed my studies. I turned it down.”
“What? Why?”
She was still, eyes fixed on him so intently that he was sure he would burst into flame.
“A piece of paper isn’t going to make me belong, Mr. Avery.” She strode to her desk and took up a handful of papers. “The government of this country can list me however they’d like, but you yourself have proved to me and those like me that we will never be accepted.”
“ I never said any such thing!” he
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