Alex walked into the dining room and yawned. Isabel gave him a smile, and he returned it immediately. She was radiant in the morning.

Liz and Max were seated across from one another, eating their breakfasts. Neither looked particularly cheery.

“Where is everyone else?” he asked as he sat across from his wife and started to help himself to the dishes on the table.

“Michael and Maria just left, they said they were going on a ride,” Max said without looking up from his plate.

“They went on a ride together? Of their own free will? Amazing. And Kyle and Tess?” Alex gasped as Isabel started rubbing his foot under the table.

“Oh, uh, I’m not really sure,” Max said, studying his fork.

“Tess, ick. Max, I can’t believe that after all of this time you actually kissed Tess,” Isabel made a wretching sound.

Alex watched as his sister’s face grew sad. She hadn’t looked very well to begin with.

“Uh, Isabel, what are we doing today?” Alex asked trying to change the subject.

His wife ignored him and continued on, “I’m not saying that she’s horrible or anything, but really, she’s so ‘silly’ – we’ve spent half of our lives laughing at her. And you kissed her!”

Alex loved Isabel more than life, but sometimes she didn’t see how her actions hurt other people, and right now he was getting irritated at the effect the conversation was having on Liz.

“Isabel, it was weeks ago,” Max looked angrily at his sister, “we just tried it a couple of times. It didn’t mean anything. It was before we met -,” his voice broke as he looked at Liz.

“Excuse me, please,” Liz mumbled. Alex saw a tear fall from the corner of her eye as she left the room.

Max threw his fork onto his plate, “Look what you did!”

“What?” Isabel asked over a mouthful of eggs.

Max shoved himself back from the table and stood, “Everyone is running around trying to make sure that you get what you want, Isabel. Making sure that you’re happy – and then you come in here and make a bad situation ten times worse! Do you ever think about anyone other than yourself?!?”

“Don’t talk to me like that,” Isabel said condescendingly.

“Isabel, couldn’t you see that Liz was upset?” Alex asked softly trying to help.

“No,” she said, continuing to eat her eggs.

Max rolled his eyes, and clapped Alex on the shoulder as he left the room, “She’s your problem now.”

“Pass the chili sauce, will you Alex?”

He turned back to his wife and put a smile on his face as he pushed the bottle in her direction.

“I’m going to go find Liz, all right?” he asked.

She looked up at him and nodded happily.

He knew she’d be upset if she had any idea what she’d done, but she didn’t. Smiling to himself, he left the room to find Liz.

***
“Will you hurry up?” Michael shouted as she neared the stable.

“I’m coming, keep your pants on,” she yelled back.

She plopped her hat on her head as she got closer to him and pulled on her gloves.

“What are you wearing?” he asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

“Clothes. The same thing you’re wearing. I can’t very well share a horse while I’m in a dress.”

He held his hand down to her and she ignored it, putting one hand on the back of the saddle and the other on the horse’s back she boosted herself up behind him.

“You can still do that?” he asked, sounding surprised.

“Of course, I never stopped riding, you know,” she said wrapping an arm around his waist.

He was shaking his head, “Yeah, but with no stirrup, you’ve got to be pretty strong…” his voice trailed off.

“Which direction did they go?” she asked as he started the horse toward the nearby sugar cane field.

“A little common sense would tell you that they went in the same direction I’m going now.”

She pinched his neck with her finger nails, there wasn’t any reason for him to get snippy.

“Ow!” he yelped, slapping the back of his neck.

“Mosquito,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, I bet,” he muttered, turning to glare at her.

“Can you see them? Did they get away?”

“No. I don’t want to get too close. It rained last night, the tracks will be easy to follow,” he was looking from side to side, scanning the horizon.

She loved the way he smelled. It had been a long time since she’d been this close to him for any period of time, and she’d forgotten about his smell. He had such a masculine aroma. Leaning closer to his shoulder she sniffed audibly.

“What? Are you trying to tell me I smell?” he snapped.

“Yes.”

Oh, he was angry, she loved that. He growled slightly, and not only did she hear it, she felt it - through his back. What an interesting sensation. She squeezed herself tighter against him.

He was wearing a white button down shirt, sleeves rolled up past the elbows, and black trousers. She loved the way he dressed when he was working on the plantation. Sighing, she remembered how he looked the night of the ball – she liked the way he looked formally dressed too. Then she remembered how he’d looked earlier this morning, shirtless…she caught herself before she drooled.

“Now, when we catch them, I’ll do the talking – all right?” he said, sounding authoritarian.

“ No, it’s not all right. He’s my brother, I’ll do the talking.”

“Maria…” he tried to use a warning tone.

“Michael…” she mimicked, deepening her voice and drawing out the syllables.

He laughed, and she felt it rumble through his chest, it sent tingles down her spine. She pressed herself flush against his back, laying her ear on his shoulder, while pulling him closer with her arms.

“Hey, are you falling off or something? Trying to suffocate me?”

“Oh, sorry,” she was glad he couldn’t see her blush as she loosened her grip.

***

She was killing him.

He was literally dying. She’d come out of the house dressed just like she had been in the dream: tight boy’s style trousers and a little white button up shirt. The brimmed leather hat she wore made her look like a farm hand, but with two blonde braids hanging over her shoulders, the effect was…tantalizing.

Thank God she’d quit squeezing him so tight. If she’d kept herself pressed against him like that for one more second…

“So, if we’re right - about Tess, I mean – do you think he’ll marry her?” she asked.

“I suppose. It’s a little difficult to picture Kyle married.”

She laughed, “I know, but do you think he would?”

“Well, if we’re right, I’m sure he will.”

“It’s so weird, everyone’s marrying aliens…” her voice trailed off as they both realized the relevance of the statement to their own situation.

“You don’t have to.”

“Did you hear my father?”

“I could find a way-.”

“Better the devil you know…”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s something my father always says. ‘Better the devil you know than the one you don’t.’ I’m going to end up in a marriage of convenience no matter what, so ‘better the devil I know’.”

He would have laughed at her reasoning if it weren’t such grave subject matter, “I take it I’m the ‘devil’ in this scenario?”

She laughed, “For the sake of my analogy, yes. At least with you I know what I’m getting.”

Michael couldn’t believe what she was saying. She had decided to marry him. Her tone was almost light. He had to be sure that she really meant it…

“You can’t stand me, Maria,” he paused and she sucked in air as if to speak, “Let me finish. I just want to be sure you’re all right with this. If you would rather marry me than some other jerk, I can understand that. I just want you to be positive. Once your father announces it, there is no backing out. And, once we’re married, you can’t play house for a year and then decide you want something else.”

“I know that,” she hissed. “I understand things completely. Just because I choose to view the situation with a little humor doesn’t mean I don’t understand the gravity of it.”

“What about your ‘mystery man’?”

“Ohhh, for the thousandth time, my ‘mystery man’ is not interested in me. Do I need to spell it out for you? Not.Interested. Full stop.”

“All right…So that’s it then. We’re both agreed on this? Settling for ‘in name only’?”

“Well, I would like something other than your name…”

He turned to her, could she mean…?

“What?” he barely got the word out.

“Well, obviously I’m marrying you for your money.”

His heart fell.

She started cackling hysterically.

“W-what’s so funny?” he tried to sound more angry than hurt.

“Oh, come on, you know I’m joking,” she stopped laughing for a moment when she noticed he hadn’t joined her. “Michael, you don’t think – Kyle gave me sixty thousand pounds for a dowry – you don’t honestly think...”

She was joking. He really needed to lighten up.

“Well, I know that,” he said in mock seriousness, “Actually, the dowry is why I’m marrying you.”

He felt a sting on his neck again, knowing it was her, “Ouch! Maria!”

“Darned mosquitos,” she muttered.

They both doubled over in laughter.

His eyes followed the tracks on the ground as they left the muddy track next to the field and entered the forest.

“They went into the trees,” he said softly.

“I see,” she whispered, her breath tickling his ear.

They followed the tracks in silence for a few minutes until they came to a large stream.

“Hop off,” he said.

She sighed and dismounted. He swung his leg off of the horse and joined her on the ground.

“Nooo, I’m going to get soaked,” she whined.

“Don’t be a baby,” he said, putting one foot in the water. He waved her toward him, “Come on.”

She was wrinkling her nose and shaking her head.

They didn’t have time for this. He moved the horse’s reins into his left hand and hefted her over his shoulder with his right.

“Aaah, put me down,” she squealed as he began walking across.

Maria was kicking her legs wildly. Nearly halfway across, when the water was up to his thighs, she started beating on his back with her fists.

“Stop it, Maria! Oh s**t!”

They toppled over. She was on top of him, holding him beneath the water. He had to wait until she found her footing before he finally broke the surface.

“Ugh,” she hit his shoulder before he’d even gotten the water out of his eyes, “Look at what you did, Michael!”

He started to turn toward her, “What I did?!? If you hadn’t-.”

She pushed him backwards into the water. He barely kept his head up as his body went under again.

Standing, he made a menacing move toward her and she giggled, moving out of his way.

The water reached to her waist, and the soaked white shirt she was wearing clung tightly to her body. Her wet braids were flung back over her shoulders, and a few loose strands around her face were plastered to her cheeks. She’d lost her hat.

Suddenly, he was moving toward her with a different intent, something even more menacing.

She evaded him, trying to keep her balance in the water as she giggled. He knew she had no idea what he was thinking.

“Maria…”

He caught her off guard when he said her name, and he caught her. His grip on her forearm was tight as he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her, pinning hers to her side.

She was no longer laughing. Their faces were so close he could feel her breath on his mouth.

He was lost in her wide, green eyes…

Her lips were taunting him…

She closed her eyes, and he knew she was waiting to be kissed.

He wanted her.

Something stopped him. He remembered another day, when she had been in the water, and how much he’d wanted to do what he was about to now…The guilt washed over him.

Holding her tightly, he dropped into the water, dunking them both. When he knew her head was under he released her, hoping she would think she’d misunderstood his intentions.

Michael broke out of the water and watched her sputter to the top, choking and gasping. He almost went to her, but then he saw that she was all right. For a moment she stood still, looking at him, fuming…

“ You are an ass!” she hissed, then she deliberately moved toward the other bank.

He didn’t know what to say to her, he was too confused. The fact that he’d let himself get so completely out of control bothered him, he hoped she hadn’t been scared away from marrying him – what if he had ruined it in one rash moment? Of course…she would have let him kiss her. That was the most puzzling thing. He knew he had a way with women, maybe that was what it was…

Maybe she couldn’t resist.

Slowly, trying to gather himself, he walked to where she was gently approaching the horse (who had crossed on his own and was grazing on some grass).

For a moment, he considered using some of his ‘lady charming’ tricks on her, the false smiles and the empty compliments. It had never really occurred to him to try that tack.

As quickly as it had come, he swept the thought from his mind. The truth was, he wanted her to ‘want him’ without all of that. She deserved better than having someone win her affections by design. And, if she ever did return his…feelings…he wanted it to be for the real Michael, not for his ‘party face’.

She was holding the horse by the bit, and squishing her hat (which had re-appeared) onto her head.

“Ready to keep going?” he asked.

She glanced at him over her shoulder, wearily, “Yeah, get on.”

He took the reins and climbed into the saddle. She put her hands behind him in order to jump up, but she didn’t make it. Immediately she tried again, but failed.

Michael darted a glance back at her, hoping she wouldn’t bite his head off for offering help. He was about to hold his hand out to her when he saw that she was shaking, badly. She had her head rested on her hand against the horse, and looked like she was ready to faint.

The water. She was probably going into shock.

Reaching down, he somehow managed to pull her up in front of him. He held her, cradled in his arms, and began rubbing her arms and legs to warm them.

“Maria, you’re too cold, you’re going into shock. Rub your hands together, try to stay warm.”

She did as he asked and snuggled closer to his chest, drawing warmth from his body. He rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, and her skin was like ice. Furiously rubbing, he tried to bring the warmth back into her limbs.

After a few minutes, she pushed his hands aside, the shaking had ceased, “I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry, I was just trying to get you across - and then I just wanted to get back at you…”

“It’s all right, it wasn’t your fault. Really, I’m fine.”

“Do you want to go back?”

She jerked her head away from his chest to look at him, “No, no. This is too important. Let’s keep going.”

He knew he should make her move behind him again if she was feeling better.

If only it didn’t feel so good to have her in his arms like this. Shrugging he decided not to say anything unless she asked to move. This might be the only chance he’d ever have to hold her, no reason to end prematurely it for the sake of practicality.

They rode deeper into the forest, and Maria had moved to lay her head on his shoulder so that her forehead rested against the side of his neck. He wished he could hold her like this for the rest of his life.

Then he heard a soft ‘nicker’ ahead. It had to be one of their horses.

She pulled away from him slightly, looking around at the sound.

“All right,” he whispered, “you can do the talking – just remember our cover story. You were walking out by the fields and I came by and offered you a ride.”

She nodded and hopped off the horse. He swung out of the saddle and let the horse’s reins fall to the ground. They moved quietly in the direction of the sound of the horses.

As they neared, they spotted the horses, tied to a dead tree, on the edge of a shallow ravine. Michael knew that a small creek ran through the ravine. They inched up next to the horses, and he touched each one and whispered to it so that they wouldn’t be alarmed. Motioning her to stay where she was, he moved closer to the edge of the ravine and, lying down on the ground, he peeked over it.

There was thick underbrush, and the tangled limbs of the tree were blocking him. Then he heard a woman’s voice, moaning. Moving slightly to his left, he saw two pairs of naked legs entangled and moving. One set was definitely male, and the other was definitely female.

He heard a gasp to his left.

Maria had moved up beside him and was staring at the pair, wide-eyed. Michael hadn’t really intended for her to see anything, she was just a young girl…He shoved her hat down over her eyes, and she hit him. When she did, she caused a few rocks to tumble down the ravine wall, they made loud noises against the dead tree branches in the underbrush.

The naked couple had been alerted, the legs had pulled apart, and the people were getting to their feet.

Michael jumped to his feet and started sliding down the fifteen foot drop toward the bank of the creek. He hated to do it, but he knew he needed to catch them in the act to make Tess confess everything.

Making quite a bit of noise to give them warning, Michael was surprised to see the couple back on the ground, continuing their act. Hadn’t they heard him? For the first time he got a good look at the people. It was a red haired youth and a brown haired girl.

Not Tess and Kyle.

Maria brushed against his arm as she came to his side.

“Let’s go,” he whispered turning to climb back out of the ravine.

He’d gone a few steps before he realized she wasn’t following him. Rolling his eyes, he turned around and grabbed her by the hand, she was staring at the couple. Pulling roughly, he dragged her out with him. The couple were still oblivious, and even growing louder. He couldn’t believe they were unaware of the presence of other people.

When they got back to the spot they’d been spying from, the horses were gone. There was no trace of them anywhere, and he was wondering if he’d ever seen them at all.

Shaking his head he started to walk quickly back toward his horse. He practically had to drag Maria who continued to look back over her shoulder.

***

“Do you think they suspect?” Kyle asked quietly.

Tess giggled and released the illusion of the couple on the creek bank, causing it to blink once and then disappear. That had been close, they’d barely hidden themselves after they heard the branches breaking. They’d quickly grabbed their discarded clothes and ran.

“No, I don’t think they were expecting to find that. Or, if they were, that’s not who they were expecting to find,” she said softly, still giggling.

“I can’t believe he let my sister see that,” Kyle said angrily.

“Kyle, I don’t think he meant for her to see it. He sure pulled her out of there in a hurry.”

“Yeah, well, I hope they don’t get any ideas…”

“You’re one to talk,” she laughed at him, and started to dress herself.

***

“Liz?”

“Over here, Alex.”

She waved at her brother from the stone bench. The garden was beautiful today.

“I’ve been looking for you all morning.”

“Here I am. You found me.”

“Very funny. What are you reading?”

“Oh, it’s a book on the migratory patterns of tropical birds. Father had it sent out yesterday, I had it on order and was waiting for it to come in.”

“Interesting.”

“Mm hmm.”

“So, about Max-.”

Liz looked at her brother over her book and shook her head sharply, “I don’t want to talk about Max.”

“Liz, I think you’re misinterpreting the situation. He said he kissed her before he even met you.”

“Alex, you are not the person I want to discuss it with.”

“Whom do you want to discuss it with?” he sounded perplexed.

“Please, Alex, let’s drop it. It’s not as if there was anything between Max and me.”

“Um, excuse me, I have eyes. There is a whole lot between you and Max.”

“Well, he is supposed to be with Tess.”

“And Michael is supposed to be with Isabel. Things don’t always turn out the way they’re supposed to be, Liz.”

“Alex, please, I’m reading.”

“Fine, be that way. This just arrived for you, from Father,” he handed her a letter.

She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. He was only trying to help, she knew, but there really wasn’t anything he could do.

Looking down to peruse the letter, she raised her eyebrows slightly.

“He wants Isabel and me to return to town to help him plan the engagement party. I thought that sounded a little too ambitious for him to handle on his own.”

“When does he need us?”

“Well, right away, but…you’re not invited.”

“Liz, are you telling me I’m not invited to my own house?”

“You can’t very well be there with Isabel, everyone will know.”

“We could have separate rooms…”

“Ugh, Alex, that is not something I want to hear about. But, I will say that I know you two won’t be able to be in the same house together without – ugh, you know.”

“Well, I-.”

“No, you’ll have to wait - at least until after the party.”

“I’m on my honeymoon!”

“Sorry, Alex. He does say we should invite Maria and Tess, though.”

“I am not happy.”

“Well, it will probably take us at least two hours to get ready. Why don’t you go spend them with your wife?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Alex grumbled as he walked away.

Liz smiled at his retreating back. She was sorry that he was unhappy, but he had the rest of his life to spend with Isabel.

Re-folding the letter, Liz stood slowly. This would be an excellent excuse to get away from Max. Just thinking about him kissing Tess nearly brought her to tears again.

Up until early this morning, she’d been fairly sure that Max had feelings for her, the way that he stared at her sometimes…but apparently she was wrong.

As she was nearing the back door of the house, she heard a horse behind her.

A very disheveled looking Maria climbed down from behind an equally rumpled Michael.

“What happened to you?” she asked them both as Michael handed the reins to a groom.

Maria groaned, “He dunked me. In a stream.”

“Excuse me,” Michael interrupted, “I believe you were the one responsible for the dunking.”

“Whatever,” Maria muttered as she put her hand on the door.

Liz smiled, she knew that her brother was in love with Maria, but she wondered how they would ever get along once they got married. They were constantly getting on each other’s nerves. Maybe if Maria learned to love him back…

“Maria, my father has asked us to join him in town and help him plan the engagement party. Do you want to join us?”

Predictably, Maria’s eyes lit up. If there was anything she loved, it was planning a party, “Of course, when do we leave?”

“In two hours.”

“Are Isabel and Alex going with you?” Michael asked.

“Isabel, yes…Alex, no…” she smiled as her brother grimaced.

“I’ll bet he’s happy about that,” he said sarcastically.

“Thrilled,” Liz replied.

“Well, maybe Kyle and I can finally get some work done with all of you women folk gone,” Michael said, obviously baiting Maria.

She smiled sweetly at him and stomped on his foot.

“OW! Maria!!!”

“Mosquito!” she said in a sing-song voice as she skipped into the house.

Liz patted her brother on the shoulder as he clutched the damaged foot in on hand and hopped on the other, face twisted in pain.

“You two are off to a great start,” she said as she followed her friend into the house, laughing.

***