She shook her head and stared at the water. “No, just remembering the night and committing it to memory.”
“So you had a good time?”
She smiled and for once it wasn’t forced. “I did. One of the best I can recall, actually.” He was still looking at her and for a split second, she could see the rest of her life in his eyes. She imagined morning after morning waking up with him. Of quiet words whispered in the dark and all those little girl dreams she’d had of getting married and living happily ever after seemed so close now. They’d danced and laughed most of the night and she’d never been as happy as she was in those few brief hours.
Caleb had sent away for a bride and even though she wasn’t the real Diana Hale, she wanted her life. She wanted this life, with Caleb and Amanda, and she’d do everything in her power to be exactly the sort of woman he’d asked for.
“I had a nice time, too.” She stilled when he reached out and brushed back a stray curl that fluttered against her cheek. “It’s been a long time since I’ve danced with such a pretty lady.”
She dipped her head, hoping to hide her red cheeks when her face heated, but laughter brought her head up. A man and a woman stepped onto the bridge behind Caleb. Rebecca straightened and her heart skipped a beat when she recognized the woman’s voice. A moment later, she saw the person it was attached to.
Hazel strolled arm in arm with the man she was walking with, her wide smile the same one she’d seen on the train. She’d wondered more than once if Hazel was in town or if she'd been passing through the day she saw her. Now she had her answer.
“What’s wrong?”
Her dismay at seeing Hazel again must have been on her face. Caleb straightened and started to turn but before he could—and before Hazel saw her—she leaned up on her toes as far as she could reach, grabbed Caleb by his coat lapels, and dragged him toward her before slamming her mouth against his.
It took Caleb longer than it should have to process the fact that Diana kissed him. His stupor didn’t last long, though. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her off her feet before giving her the kind of kiss he’d only dreamed about.
Diana gasped the moment he licked her lip, and she opened for him willingly. Her mouth tasted sweet. Like the spiced cider and cinnamon cake Julia had served at her party. Her lack of finesse in kissing him back told him she’d not been kissed often, if at all, but he wasn’t about to complain about it. She’d catch on. He’d kiss her every hour on the hour if he had to until she’d perfected it.
His arms tightened when Diana lifted hers and wrapped them around his neck. He could only imagine what they looked like with her feet dangling in the air. He didn’t care, though. Nor did he care that someone was on the bridge with them, seeing him kiss his future bride with such reckless abandon. He wanted her. Wanted her more than he’d wanted anything in longer than he could remember and he decided that he wasn’t waiting for the new year to marry her. Not if he could help it. Her initiating the kiss proved she didn’t want to wait either, or he hoped it did.
Long minutes passed as he tasted her and he only brought his head up when it grew harder to breathe. Her lips were kiss swollen and pink as berries now. Her eyes were slow to open and the look in them made him want to beat his chest and shout to the world that he’d done that. That his kiss had left that dazed expression on her face.
He set her back on her feet but didn’t let go of her. She left her palms flat against his chest and a subtle blush was stealing across her cheeks. She looked as if she was about to say something but Amanda yelled his name, making them both turn toward the road and the row of houses on the other side of the bridge.
“Are you two coming or not? Grandma is asking all sorts of questions about the party and I don’t know any of the answers.”
He chuckled and took a step back, reluctantly letting go of Diana. “Yes, we were just about to head that way.”
Caleb held out his arm, warmth filling his chest when Diana took his offered hand. He clasped their fingers together and turned toward the house and walked the short distance home with the smallest steps he’d ever taken. He didn’t want the night to end. Didn’t want to break whatever spell they’d been under on that bridge. Would the intimacy they’d shared remain or would she rethink everything and leave the first chance she got?
The thought made something painful in his chest clench tight. Her leaving was the last thing he wanted and he was going to tell her just that but first, he needed a proper wedding proposal. A woman as sweet as her deserved one.
His mother was indeed waiting for them. The impatient look on her face brought a smile to his own. He shut the door behind them and helped Diana out of her cloak, then hung his coat.
Diana headed straight for her room. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed she’d done so. He waited until she’d shut the bedroom door before turning to his mother. “Where’s Amanda?”
“I sent her to go get ready for bed.”
He headed to the fireplace, bending down to add another log to the embers.
“Well don’t keep me in suspense, Caleb. Tell me what happened?”
His mother’s voice was filled with impatience. He grinned and dusted his hands off before sitting in the overstuffed chair by the hearth. As usual she was by the window wrapped in a shawl with an expectant look in her eyes. “We had a pleasant time.” When he said nothing more, she scowled.
“And?”
“And—we danced, drank spiced cider, and talked.”
She leaned back in her chair before glancing down the hall. “Anything else happen?”
“Like?”
Her eyes narrowed as her scowl deepened. “Don’t tease me, young man. Amanda told me she saw you two kissing out on the bridge.”
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been embarrassed but knowing his daughter had seen him and Diana kissing, and that she’d run in and told his mother of all people, made his face burn hot. “She shouldn’t have seen that.”
A smile lit her face. “I take it you like her, then?”
He nodded. No use in denying it. “I do.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “And here you were fretting for weeks on end and regretting even sending away for her. I knew you’d feel differently once she got here.”
“Well, she’s not exactly what I’d been expecting. In many ways.” The inconsistencies of what he saw in the woman living in his home and the one he’d read about in her letter were too stark to ignore. Small things here and there reminded him of those inconsistencies but one look at Diana’s face, at the smile she gave him when he walked in the door every evening, and he forgot in an instant. So she wasn’t the best cook. She was learning. The house was tidy and swept clean and his mother’s daily needs were taken care of. Diana may not resemble the woman in the letter he received, but she wasn’t a disappointment in any way.
The past few weeks with her in their life had made a difference. To all of them. Amanda was happy and smiling again. He no longer had to help his mother with things he’d rather not see and as for him? The loneliness he’d felt since Ruth died no longer kept him awake at night. He looked forward to coming home every evening now, and even if there was nothing more than overcooked scrambled eggs on the table, he’d eat them with a smile on his face and would do so every night if he had to.