Of Vinegar and Honey, Part III: "Quiet Before the Storm"

By Catharina Shields

Part III of the Of Vinegar and Honey romance series.

“Do you like gardening?” he finally asked.
She nodded with a soft smile. “Very much,” she answered. “It tends to bring me peace. Silly as it may sound since gardening is physical labor after all.” She smiled, lashes down, as she broke off a piece of lemon cake with slender fingers and fingered it into her mouth. “But it’s labor I, for some reason, enjoy.” She looked at him, a crumb lingering on her lip. “Do you think it’s silly, Sir?”
Her slender, tapering fingers have undoubtedly never been in the capable hands of a professional manicurist, he thought, but he had to also admit they were clean and well trimmed, and the unpolished look suited her.
“I don’t think it’s silly at all,” he said uncommonly indulgent—a first since her arrival.
She looked surprised. “No?”
“Well, it can be, but what’s silly to one person isn’t necessarily silly to another, right?”
She smiled and nodded. “Right.” She was happy he understood.
“Take that first night, for example,” he began, and saw her look curiously at him. “When you came to my room?”
“Oh. Yes,” she said, and nodded.
“I was suffering hell, and I must’ve made some noise because I’d awakened you, and you came to my bedside before you laid yourself literally at my feet and massaged the pain away. I mean, you didn’t think that was silly, did you?”
“No, Sir.” She frowned worried at him. “Did you? I-I mean if you did—do,” she quickly corrected, “I assure you, the reason why I do this is, should you feel another painful attack, I’ll be there to stop it before it escalates—”
“—I have to admit, though,” he cut in, “I thought it was pretty silly at first.”
She looked a little apprehensive. “Oh.”
“But I don’t, now.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Catharina Shields
• Release date: Nov 14, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465840493

Catharina Shields

{PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR THE LIST OF MY AVAILABLE E-BOOKS} I've always enjoyed storytelling, ever since I was a child. My love for storytelling has evolved from hand-drawn comic strips, to creating hand-puppets - "Meemies and Fluffies" - for my younger brother and sisters' morning puppet show, to writing stories in longhand in spirals armed with only a Penmate pen while battling a stiff hand and dreaming of a day when I'd finally own a typewriter. Today, in my peaceful Southern California home near the mountains, I can't go a day without my computer and I now enjoy storytelling via my e-books, specializing in mystery, drama, Young Adult and paranormal romance. If you've read one of my books and like them, please leave a review, good or bad, and add me as a favorite author {a single click on a button to your left is all it takes}. Remember . . . reviews are tips for Authors.

Book preview

Of Vinegar and Honey

Part III

Quiet Before the Storm

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Published by Catharina Shields at SMASHWORDS

2nd Edition

© 2014 by Catharina Shields

Cover Design by Catharina Shields

Edited by D.C.Greenes

All Rights Reserved

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Author’s Note / Disclaimers

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This is an original work of fiction.

All characters, organizations, and events portrayed herein are either

products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

All characters depicted in this work of fiction are

18 years of age or older.

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite eBook Retailer and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Happy reading!

And remember, reviews are tips for authors

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Contents

{please click on Chapter headings to return here}

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Chapter 9: Quiet Before the Storm

Chapter 10: A Pious Enigma

Chapter 11: The Storm Arrives

Chapter 12: A Sobering

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Of Vinegar and Honey Parts Listing

Other Titles by Catharina Shields

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Chapter 9

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Quiet Before the Storm

Sitting by the bow window as he watched the mistress of his thoughts going about her mundane chores in the garden, Rory muttered with a troubled look, Who are you and what are you doing here, Miss Croft?

He was baffled beyond belief that Miss Madelaine Croft had continued to come to him in the dead of night and lay herself at his feet without a word. He was astounded that she was still in his home after everything he had put her through.

For his part, he never, not even once, considered sending her away. Actually, it was the furthest thing from his mind; a mind constantly filled with everything about this strange creature as she began to occupy more and more of it.

Hence, the mistress part.

Even now, as he sat in his wheelchair by the large window overlooking the gardens behind his home, he couldn’t escape constantly thinking about her. He watched his new live-in caregiver busying herself with the laundry outside, avoiding the hi-tech dryer and choosing, instead, to drape the laundry out on retractable clotheslines that he had never used. He recalled his older sister had installed them the last time she visited, and that was almost five years ago.

Strange, strange girl, he muttered, watching Madelaine take down a few lace curtains that had already dried in the crisp but sunny weather. He watched her straighten and stifle a yawn, and he recalled how little sleep she’d gotten since her arrival—initially because of his pestering but afterward because she chose to awaken to come to him.

Night after night, she’d get up and quietly lay herself at the foot-end of his bed. Then she’d gently take his feet to her, stroking them until sleep overtook him and he drifted off to a world where he wasn’t bound to a wheelchair. Soon, he discovered, he was looking forward to these nightly visits although his feet hadn’t caused him any grief since that first night.

He was growing accustomed to her being in bed with him. Pure and simple. Her warm body, curled around his feet, brought him more than just comfortable warm feet. It brought him a sense of peace. This was very addictive to a man who hadn’t known peace for over a year now, if ever, and who enjoyed, as well expected, to be pampered.

Although his body still refused to obey his will—iron or not—the nerves inside it had slowly come alive. They provided a constant flow of agony his pride forced him to hide from the world. Although they failed to perform the other, more beneficial functions he could always depend on them to provide that ever-steady flow of pain throughout his entire being. This constant pain contributed greatly to his foul mood and short temper.

It was strange, though, that when Madelaine was with him, all his discomfort would ease before vanishing completely. The pain in his feet, though, had permanently gone that very first night, but it was replaced with other aches and pains that were driving him insane, and she was the only one who could make them all go away.

That kind of thinking could easily have him become dependent on, if not addicted to, her. And it could prove detrimental to them both if not kept in check. On the plus side, it could also help him learn gratitude for the first time in his life. Perhaps it could even help him over his inherent disdain for people. That would depend on one’s