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at a decent pace. “Those horses were of good quality, and the men seemed to be wearing livery. Hard to tell whose though, in the darkness. But whoever they are, they are on a mission, and we’d best be on our way.”
    Ella quickened her step, biting her tongue to keep from complaining at the discomfort in her feet. She’d been the one that had thrown her shoes away, after all. It had really come down to a choice between a few cuts and bruises and a likely broken ankle. She’d made the right call.
    But she did have to keep reminding herself of that every time her feet screamed at her.
    This was going to be the longest mile of her life.

Four
    As the time passed, she didn’t complain, but dear Lord did she want to. The closer they got to the inn, the more she wanted to cry. Every sharp rock, every scrape of her raw skin against the ground, was a battle. But she didn’t want him to see how uncomfortable she was, so she sucked up the pain, tightened her fists, and matched him step for step. Damn his too-long legs. The agony in her feet was sort of a good thing, though. It distracted her from the now-dull thumping in her temple. Her head felt a lot better than it had before.
    Maybe she just needed a good nap.
    Under the thankfully bright moonlight, Ella watched as forest and field ran along beside them. And when, in the distance, lamplight flickered in a welcoming way, she almost whooped with joy.
    She’d never take her sneakers for granted again.
    â€œPlease tell me that’s the inn,” she said as they got close enough to hear low voices and horses whinnying in the stables. Even though her feet screamed at her, she quickened her pace.
    â€œIt is indeed,” Patrick said, glancing over at her.
    She smiled tightly back at him, hoping he couldn’t see her pain. Yeah, okay, so maybe she should have broken the heel off her other shoe and just worn the darned things. But it was too late now. All she wanted to do was soak her poor, abused tootsies and keep her pride intact.
    He’d offered at least six times to take her arm, to give her his shoes, even to carry her. She’d insisted over and over again that she was fine. She might not make it to the most important party of her life, but at least she could arrive at this inn under her own steam—even if it killed her.
    The road widened out, forking as part of it turned into the inn’s welcoming drive while the rest of it continued on its merry way. Together, she and Patrick walked up the drive, just past the stable entrance. It was only a few more yards to the door, only a little bit farther… Sharp pain suddenly blossomed in her heel, a stabbing feeling that almost caused her to cry out. But she swallowed her surprised squeak and thunked down on a bale of straw beside the stables.
    Whatever animal was planning to make a meal off of it would have to eat around her.
    â€œMiss Briley, are you quite all right?” Patrick bent to her, concern in his eyes. Ella waved him off with a strained smile.
    â€œSure, yes, totally fine. But, uh, why don’t you go ahead and get us some rooms? I just want to, well, just to catch my breath. That was a long walk.”
    â€œAre you not frightened out here on your own?”
    Ella glanced around. There were lighted lanterns on either side of the stable doors, and several more decorated the small yard. The inn itself was only about twenty yards away. There were voices coming from both the stables and the inn. It wasn’t as if she were alone. And besides, she needed to assess the damage to her foot.
    â€œI think I’ll be okay. Just wave or something, and I’ll run right in when you’re done.”
    He gave her a quick bow, then turned on his heel and walked away on those long, strong legs. Ella bit her lip as she watched him go.
    Crap. What had she been thrown into here? She wanted to be mad at him for kidnapping her, but all she could think about was how