“Well,” Kathy said.
“Well,” Timothy echoed. He glanced at her to gauge her mood, but the lighting was too dim for him to do so. Expelling a breath, he decided to act as his heart decreed and take a chance on his future happiness. So he linked his arm with hers and steered her toward the front door.
Kathy was not sure what to make of Timothy this evening. Or of herself, for that matter. She thought her feelings for him would have faded since she’d last seen him. Instead, it felt as though they’d exploded through her the moment she’d found him standing in the flower shop that morning. During dinner, she’d caught him looking at her repeatedly, then afterward in the parlor, he’d chosen to sit beside her even though other seats had been available.
He’d even managed to surprise her with recollections of her penchant for making up stories. But could she forgive him for breaking her heart? Of course, he had not done so deliberately. Most likely he’d had no idea she’d been mad for him when she was younger. Worst of all, she sensed she was more in love with him now than ever, which made no logical sense, though absence was supposed to make the heart grow fonder and–
“I owe you an apology,” Timothy said. They’d reached the front door, and he’d pulled his coat from a hook on the wall. “I should not have departed as I did when I was last here, but the truth of the matter is, I was a coward, unsure of how to respond when…” He blew out a breath and pushed his arms through the sleeves of his coat. “Can you answer one question honestly, Kathy?”
Her heart was racing, her hands trembling as if she were riding toward a ravine and could not decide if to halt or leap over the edge. “I will try.”
He held her gaze. His eyes were so very dark in the faint glow of candlelight offered by a nearby wall sconce. “Was I right to believe you’d developed a tendre for me when last we met?”
The question was so direct it made her blink. Oh, how she wished to deny it. But she’d told him she’d try to be honest, and besides, perhaps it was time for the confrontation they ought to have had back then. So she nodded. “Yes.”
“And now?” he asked. His voice was softer and yet more urgent somehow. He was also closer, she realized, the warmth from him drifting toward her, luring her to him.
She forced herself to remain where she was. “Is that why you came back? To make me explain myself when you are the one who ought to do so?”
“You are right.” His hand rose to her cheek, sending a jolt of awareness through each of her limbs. “I left because I realized I desperately wanted to kiss you.”
“What?” This was not at all what she’d expected. It wasn’t the least bit logical either.
“But you were my best friend’s little sister,” he added, “younger than me by five years and barely out of the schoolroom. To act on such impulse would have been wrong. That is why I left, because I had no idea of how else to react.” The palm of his hand molded against her cheek and she found herself leaning into his warmth. “You jolted my world that day, Kathy, and nothing has been the same since.”
“I kept telling myself it was just a girlish infatuation and that it would pass.”
“Has it?”
Deliberately, she reached for the courage they both deserved. “Not in the least.”
Closing the distance between them, he kissed her, his lips meeting hers in a perfect caress. A welcoming sigh escaped her and although she feared her legs might give way and the rest of her would surely melt, nothing could distract from the wonder of this moment. It was what she had dreamed of since falling in love with him years ago.
He drew back and gazed down into her upturned face. “May I call on you tomorrow?” She nodded and managed a, “yes,” right before her brother reappeared.
Andrew glanced at each in turn. A smile formed upon his lips, stretching wide until he was grinning. “I take it you’ve come to an understanding?”
“We have indeed.” Timothy’s warm gaze held Kathy’s. “This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had, and one I shall always remember with fondness.” Turning, he shook Andrew’s hand before offering Kathy a bow. “Until tomorrow.”
She bid him farewell and watched him depart while snow drifted lazily onto the ground. He’d kissed her, and it was the most incredible experience of her life. The first, she knew, of many more to come.
December 8
A Christmas House Party
Standing at the top of the stairs, Madeleine watched the guests begin to arrive. Her grandmother, the Duchess of Hollyoak, had surprised everyone when she’d insisted on hosting a house party for the holidays, claiming she desired to fill the large manor with laughter and joy. When Madeleine’s father had asked about the duke’s thoughts on the matter, Grandmamma had merely shrugged her shoulders and said, “He will agree.”
So here Madeleine was, preparing to spend a week with several people she had never even met.
Peering over the railing, she watched three noisy ladies enter the foyer, each issuing orders to the footmen who’d been given the unfortunate job of tending to their trunks. Madeleine was just trying to place the ladies on the correct branch of the genealogical tree when the door opened again and a gentleman stepped inside. Removing his hat, he looked up, meeting Madeleine’s eyes as though he’d known exactly where to find her.
Her breath caught, not so much in response to his looks, which were to be admired, but because Robert Pryce, Earl of Blakely, was the very last person with whom she wished to spend Christmas.
Glancing up as he habitually did whenever he arrived somewhere new, Robert spotted Lady Madeleine the moment he walked through the door. He smiled when she darted back into the shadows when their eyes met. She was still as lovely as he remembered, though he wasn’t sure of how he felt about spending an entire week in her company. He pondered that and found it curious that her grandmamma would have arranged for such a thing. Surely she must know the particulars of what had transpired between him and her granddaughter two years earlier. His effort to explain things to Lady Madeleine had been fruitless. She’d turned him away every time he’d come to call.
Fleetingly, he wondered if she might have changed her mind on this score – if perhaps she had something to do with him being invited because she was finally willing to hear him out. Unfortunately, experience prevented him from being so optimistic. In fact, it was far more likely she’d decided on the perfect opportunity to plan his demise.
Handing his hat to the butler, Robert decided he would have to be particularly careful during his stay at Mistledown Park. With Christmas mischief at play, anything was possible.
Risking another upward glance, he noted Lady Madeleine was no longer there, and as he did so, an unpleasant feeling of loss descended upon him.
“Allow me to show you to the parlor, my lord,” said the butler. “Their Graces await your arrival.”
Madeleine stared at her reflection in the mirror. It was two years since she’d last seen Blakely, and she’d been sure her feelings for him had cooled in that time. His arrival at Mistledown proved they had not, for there had been that moment, when he’d swept his hat from his head and looked up. And she’d wondered if he’d ever kiss her again.