Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ CASTAWAY HEARTS Marriage isn't the obvious conclusion... #excerpt

Twice orphaned, Catherine Barrett arrives in Virginia a stranger to her closest kin and secretly engaged to the one man her family would disapprove of—her seafaring grandfather’s apprentice. Add to her troubles, the rich and intriguing older brother of her secret betrothed, Dawson Randolph, a plantation owner who is as heartless as he is handsome. Heartbroken when her intended sets sail for his maiden voyage, Catherine finds it difficult to adjust to her new life, hoping to befriend the one man who is, undoubtedly, the match her grandparents wish for her. Dawson’s distaste for her secret engagement to his brother makes it clear he has no designs for marriage to anyone. Especially her.

Ten years since the tragic loss of his young wife and infant son, Dawson Randolph is convinced love and marriage is a fool’s game and resents being pardon to his brother’s hidden engagement. Damned by his instant attraction and his own growing desire, Dawson vows to befriend her against his better judgment. Determined to bring her happiness in a time of fear and uncertainty, Dawson puts aside his animosity to become her confidant, only to realize Catherine holds the key to his heart. When tragedy strikes at sea, Catherine’s guilt pushes Dawson to the fringes of her life as madness consumes her.

Can his love save her before she drowns in her own grief? Or is he doomed to love her from a distance, always in the shadow of her love for his dead brother?

****

       “How dare you, Mr. Randolph. You know very little of me or my heart.” The slender column of her throat quivered as she held herself in control. “It’s obvious you know your brother even less. We love each other. What other possible conclusion is there than to enter into holy matrimony when two people love each other?”
      “Marriage isn’t the obvious conclusion to anything. Sometimes love’s not enough to make it endure, though I have a feeling it’s not truly about that anyway,” Dawson bit back. “Those who marry are foolish, as it is. Those who do so with naïve fantasies and daydreams are even bigger fools. That would make my brother the biggest fool of them all if he were to marry you.”
       “I’ve heard enough from you, Mr. Randolph. Your opinion is of little or no consequence in the matter and you may keep your assumptions to yourself. It’s clear you know nothing.”
        Catherine gathered her skirts in her white knuckled fists and stormed away, strands of her auburn hair, loosed from her hairpins, whipped around in the breeze.
        Damned fool! Dawson cursed himself and stomped off down the hill toward his horse. Women weren’t worth the aggravation.

Happy Father's Day!