Part 10 (1/2)
As she spoke, Mary came back to her bed, wrapping one hand about a bedpost to slowly swing around it and dropped onto her bed.
Emma smiled. She knew that feeling all too well. It was probably fairly close to what she felt when she stood in Julian's room, right before their kiss. It was probably exactly the same as how she felt when she simply thought about Julian. Words couldn't possibly do it justice.
”Well, your secret's safe with me,” Emma promised her.
”Just like your kiss with Julian is safe with me.”
The impish tone in Mary's voice gave Emma pause. She didn't sound as if she was guessing about this kiss, but that she knew for a fact the kiss happened. She tried to laugh it off. ”What're you talking about?”
”Please, Em, I'm not an idiot.” Mary leveled her with a stare that made her look years older. For a moment, she looked like their mother. ”You were on your way down to breakfast, and then you were gone for almost forty-five minutes.” Her smile was the same conspiratorial one they had shared since they were children.
”I know, but-” Emma hedged.
Mary's smile widened. ”I knew it! You did share a kiss with him that morning. Didn't you?”
Now it was Emma's turn to savor the delicious flavor of a treasured memory. She hugged it close. Flopping down beside her sister, she stared up at the purple canopy. Purple was Mary's favorite color, and it dominated the room, from the cus.h.i.+ons on the window bench to the hints of purple woven through the green and gold carpet beneath the bed. Even the cords holding the gauzy white draperies on the north-facing windows were purple.
”Yes,” she murmured, turning her head to smile at her sister. ”We kissed.”
Mary turned to her, her blue eyes sparkling. ”And it made the world stop, didn't it?”
”That describes it perfectly. I only wish the world stayed stopped for a little longer.”
”Amen to that. But hopefully it will happen again. Tonight. He's already promised me a dance.”
”Wonderful. I hope it all works out for you, Mare. If he makes you happy, he must be an all right suitor. Do you think Papa would approve? Of either one of them?”
Mary sat up. ”Honestly, I don't know. You know what they say about his family. The men all go mad. They go violently mad. His grandfather did it. His father did it. And probably his great-grandfathers also went mad, all the way back to the first McCallister man. And if it's true, Papa wouldn't be happy at all.”
Emma had heard the stories, but always considered herself too pragmatic to believe something as silly as cursed blood. ”I don't believe in curses,” she replied flatly. ”It's a load of nonsense.”
She didn't trouble to keep the scolding notes from her tone, and if they bothered Mary, she gave no indication of it.
Instead, she traced a finger along the seam in the deep plum quilt. ”Em, the men are dead. Their wives are dead. And we know his father killed his mother. Then he killed himself. If that isn't madness, what is?”
”You choose to believe stories that have never been verified? That isn't entirely fair, is it?”
The hint of color on Mary's pointed cheekbones spoke volumes, as did her averted gaze. Several long minutes pa.s.sed before she murmured, ”Do you think you and Mr. McCallister will kiss again?”
Emma giggled. ”I certainly hope so.” She tapped her sister's arm. ”What about you and Ben?”
Now it was Mary's turn to giggle. ”I wouldn't mind kissing him again. I'll have to find some way to lure him beneath the mistletoe.”
”Momma will pop if you do that!” Even as she spoke, Emma wondered if she'd be able to lure Julian anywhere near the mistletoe in the parlor doorway. ”You know she hangs it for decoration only. And to give Papa an excuse to kiss her.”
A wistful sigh replaced Mary's giggle. ”I do hope he'll ask to court me. But he hasn't said anything about it. And I hate that, I hate not knowing what will happen next. It's as if I'll burst right out of my skin the next time I see him and yet, what if it was only a kiss for him? What if it was only a kiss and nothing more?”
”Do you think it might be?”
”I'm hardly an expert on such matters, Em. I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen.”
”I hate that. Don't you? The not knowing. At least with a book, I can flip ahead and see how everything turns out.”
”I do, but at the same time, I don't. There's something-I don't know-exhilarating about that up and down feeling. It's awful, but it's wonderful at the same time.”
Mary closed her eyes but said nothing, and Emma didn't speak either. A peaceful silence reigned for several long minutes, and then Mary opened her eyes. ”I suppose we should be readying ourselves. The guests will be arriving soon.”
Emma rose. ”You're probably right.”
Mary sat at her dressing table, and Emma went to work combing her sister's thick, chestnut hair, twisting it into a complicated twist and weaving the green ribbon through the locks.
When she was finished, Mary gave her a warm hug and thanked her, then Emma returned to her bedroom to get herself ready. She wanted to look her best this evening. There was always the possibility that tonight, she and Julian would do more than kiss.
Chapter Ten.
AT HALF PAST SEVEN, the guests began to arrive. Emma stood at the top of the main staircase and took a deep breath.
As she descended the main staircase, the low rumble of several male voices rose up to greet her. She paused, waiting for the voices to fade. None were familiar, and she didn't want to walk into the ballroom on her own. Mary, Drew, and Garrett were supposed to join her, but so far, she was the only one there.
At the foot of the staircase, she found Drew grinning up at her as he leaned one elbow on the banister. ”I thought I heard someone coming down.” His grin grew impish. ”Hoping to make a grand entrance?”
She wrinkled her nose at him. ”Hardly. I thought Momma and Papa would be here, greeting everyone. I just don't want to walk in there alone. I hate when everyone stares at me.”
”They're doing that in the ballroom instead.” To her surprise, his grin faded and his brows pulled together. ”And I'd be honored to escort you, Em. But before we go in, I wanted to ask you something.”
She froze on the bottommost step as a softened sense of panic rippled through her. Had Drew been pa.s.sing by Mary's bedroom and overheard them? And if he had, which part had he overheard?
Garrett was the serious one, while Drew tended to be more light-hearted. At least, he normally was. Right now, he looked every bit as serious as Garrett. Still, she forced herself to take the last step and slipped her arm through his. ”What about?”
”I heard a rumor while I was in town with Papa yesterday.” Her mouth went dry as he continued, ”And it's a bit troubling, so I hope you can clear it up for me.”
A rumor? In town? How the devil could anyone know about her steamy kiss with Julian? No. It simply wasn't possible for gossip to travel that fast. She tried to remember if any of the servants had had the day off. No, none had. Everyone in service at Stonebridge was somewhere in the house, readying for the party. She was certain of it.
Willing her voice to remain steady, she asked, ”A rumor? What about?”
He stopped and faced her, flicking something from the sleeve of his black frock coat. ”Mary.”
Relief swept through her with such force that she almost took a step back, but thankfully caught herself in time.
Drew stopped brus.h.i.+ng his sleeve, and now his expression suggested definite discomfort. ”About her and Ben Jacobs behind Croft's Cafe?”
Mindful of her promise to Mary to keep her secret, she shook her head. ”What about her and Ben Jacobs behind Croft's?”
”It was fairly tame-a kiss-but I don't like it just the same.” Drew folded his arms, his left brow raised just enough to suggest he didn't believe her. ”She's said nothing to you? You've heard no gossip from Miss Adams?”
She gave him an exasperated stare. ”Rose and I do not gossip. We discuss things that are important.” She held his stare, but as he refused to relent, she sighed. ”Very well. On occasion we might discuss things that are going on. From time to time, that is. But no, I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about. So maybe you should tell me what you've heard, and I'll see what I know about it.”