by Emily Bow
The door opened, revealing Regina.
Chapter 11
I straightened.
In my mind, I’d expected staff to open the door. Something I would never have expected at home. Even with the wealthier families I knew, their staff came and left. They weren’t a part of the household as they were here. But there wasn’t a snooty butler in front of me, just a haughty Regina.
Regina’s hair was down in long auburn ringlets, and she wore a pale green sheath dress and cream stilettoes. “What a surprise. Lily and Imogen. Here at my front door. May I help you?” She kept her body in the doorway but stood far enough back so no rain blew in on her.
Lily shuffled her feet and said nothing.
“Yes?” Regina looked out at the darkening sky and frowned, and then let her frown land on us.
As Regina was not picking up on the clue emitted by the big hampers, I tilted the lid toward her, releasing an earthy mushroom aroma. “Delivery.” The whole maneuver shifted my umbrella. Raindrops rolled down the canvas and pelted my feet.
“You look like you didn’t expect us.” Lily blurted the thought and blinked as if she wanted to take her words back.
Regina shrugged one shoulder. “Why wouldn’t I expect you to be here? I mean. Sebastian returns. Thorn arrives. Then here you two are on my doorstep.” There was almost accusation in her voice. As if we were chasing titles like American heiresses of ages past.
Male voices sounded in the background.
“Who’s there, Reggie?” Sebastian called out.
Regina looked over her shoulder. “Did you order take away?”
Sebastian didn’t answer.
Regina turned back to us. “Did you two obtain a visa to perform delivery? You are legally working in England? Or is this an on the side or an under the table situation…?”
“We’re not from a restaurant,” Lily said.
Sebastian came up behind Regina. He put his hand on the door above her head and pulled it open. He wore khaki pants and a buttoned-down cream shirt. This family didn’t know how to do casual. “Lily.” He moved around his sister and took the hamper from her with ease and performed a sweeping bow as if he were playing butler. “Come in.”
Lily didn’t move. “We’re dropping off food.”
“Yet, you don’t work for a restaurant.” Regina looked at me. “You made such a fuss out of the fact that you weren’t servants. And yet we wanted food. And you brought food at our behest.”
Lily flushed.
I’d hoped this kind of behavior would be left behind with sorority mixers. Nope. Women like Regina were still throwing it out there. Women like Lily and me were still letting the jabs get to them.
I narrowed my eyes and hefted my hamper higher and held on tight with both hands. “I guess we could come in for a second.” I didn’t want to go into Hopewell Manor, but I didn’t want Regina to win this porch tug of war either.
Regina hesitated, shrugged, and backed up. “If that’s what you want. To, er, come in?”
Not really.
Lily stepped forward, and I followed her inside. Then the large foyer held four of us. Their interior decorator had decorated the entry in peach marble with green and gold accents. It made a fabulous backdrop for Regina. I was more of a winter.
Sebastian took my hamper and sat the delivery on an emerald green tufted bench with the one he carried. Next, he took our umbrellas that were dripping on the marble and popped them into a teak basket that held a stash of other umbrellas. Lastly, he hung our jackets on the coat rack. Every winter-weather task he did looked foreign to me and seemed practiced to him.
Sebastian waved a hand at his sister. “Shut the door, Regina, it’s lashing outside.” He smiled at Lily and included me in the smile, but his welcome was mainly directed at Lily. “I’ll fix you a warming drink before you go.” Sebastian backed up, standing at the end of a muted green Persian rug, inviting us to come further into his world.
Lily froze at the edge of the fringe as if stepping on it would sweep her away, or because of the mud on her shoes.
There was no hope for it. This was the kind of house where you took off muddy shoes. I toed off my tennis shoes, leaving me in the foyer wearing hot pink socks.
Lily winced and did the same. Her socks were pale green with frog faces on top. The frogs wore crowns. Whimsical within a shoe, embarrassing when crossing a Persian rug toward a handsome guy and his judgmental sister.
My lips curved, and I mentally practiced how much I’d tease her about this in the car on the way home. As if the castle were home. Ha. The castle was as much our home as this manor house. We followed the siblings down a long reception hall. At first, the flooring was chilly under my sock-clad feet. By the time we got to a parquet floored parlor, my little toe was losing feeling, and my pulse was hopping. Thorn was in there.
Chapter 12
Thorn sat on a long gold sofa in the center of the room, and he watched our entry.
I eased toward the fireplace though the fire hadn’t been turned on. Maybe my proximity would be a hint for that. My path crossed in front of Thorn.
He wore jeans and a dark blue shirt. Of the three, he’d almost reached a casual look, but not the kind of blue jean, t-shirt wearing casual we did at home. Some weird fancy version casual. Was it the cut of his clothes? The fact that they were pressed? I could put my finger on our differences if I eyed him a little longer.
I caught Thorn’s moody blue-gray gaze and my heart jolted like the rain. I blinked and made my feet move until I reached the hearth.
Sebastian slapped the back of the sofa and pointed at me and then at Lily, who stood inside the door. “Look who the storm blew in.”
We exchanged greetings.
Thorn tilted his head toward me. “Did Cook send you?”
So, he had asked for the food.
Lily answered him, explaining our delivery in a rushed soft voice.
Why had Thorn involved the professor? He had to guess she’d get Lily and me to do the task. Had he missed me? Was he drawing the lines on the estate before returning? I tilted my head and examined his studied casualness. I had the feeling this was between Thorn and me.
Fine.
He’d asked, and arranged, and I was here. What did he have in mind?
The overhead chandelier and side lamps flickered, causing a break in the tension. Thank goodness. I looked down and wiggled my toes. I’d been staring at Thorn, at his thick dark hair that held a faint wave and at his muscular shoulders. I’d been one second from becoming creepy.
Sebastian gestured to a crystal carafe of warm liquid surrounded by crystal tumblers. “Lemonade? Something warmer? Something stronger?”
Lily shook her head and blushed. “Lemonade is fine.”
“Thanks.” I moved forward, poured two drinks, one for me and one for Lily, and sat on the end of the couch. The seating was a little low, and a little too upright, much better suited to someone Regina’s frame. I sipped the drink and looked straight ahead. The lemonade tasted like bitter lemon water with a fizz. It was horrible. The type of thing that highlighted our countries’ differences. They liked it bitter. We liked it sweet.
Lily hesitated a moment and then sat beside me. Three of us were on the sofa and our hosts took seats in wingback chairs facing us. Lily took a sip, and her hand jerked as she tasted the British version of lemonade. She leaned forward and carefully placed her drink on a doily coaster on the coffee table, politely rejecting it.
“We don’t have staff arriving until later for our little weekend break.” Regina took a swallow of her own lemonade and licked her lips. “I should have known Thorn would bring his own.” She gave me and Lily a pointed look, one that dared us to contradict her. “Dukes do that.”
I lay my hands over my crossed knees. “We don’t work for Thorn.” I used his nickname on purpose. “We were doing him a favor with this food run.”
No one said anything.
Thunder cracked outside, and rain pounded harder at the
window.
“The weather’s getting bad,” Regina said.
“Yes,” Lily said.
Regina wiggled a finger at the door. “The roads can be rough this time of year.”
Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest. “Obviously, they should wait out the storm.”
Waiting out the storm would take hours, days. Lily’s eyes widened, and their green shade darkened.
I hated agreeing with Regina, but the sky was darker. The car was little. The roads were narrow. If we were leaving, we needed to leave now. I rose. “Maybe we should head out.”
Lily popped up. “Yeah. Thanks for the drink.” She gestured to Thorn. “Uh. Welcome back.”
Thorn rose as we got up. He’d arranged our get-together, but he didn’t weigh in on our departure. I guess tall, dark, and confusing was simply going to remain true to form.
Lily and I strode away, pulled on our damp, cold shoes, got our purses and raingear and went out the front door to a darker sky and gustier breeze.
I forced my umbrella open and held onto its canopy with one hand while I hurried to the passenger side. Lily ran for the driver’s door and clicked at the locks. Her umbrella turned inside out. She didn’t try to fix the covering, just got the door open and threw her umbrella into the back seat. By the time she got the driver’s door closed, her chestnut hair was so wet she may as well not have had an umbrella.
I stashed my umbrella by my feet and flipped down the passenger visor to check the mirror. Droplets sparkled on my hair, darkening the blond color to more like my middle sister Chelsea’s color. We were a little less than a year apart, but I didn’t usually think we looked alike. Maybe I was missing home. “That went super well.”
“I didn’t even ask about cataloguing their antiques. Or if they’d had that done in the past.” Lily gripped the steering wheel. “What am I going to tell Mom?”
I snapped on my seatbelt. “Say they didn’t have any antiques.”
“All they had was antiques.” Lily turned the key.
Wind buffeted us, but we were cocooned in the car.
“Tell her you pushed to see the family jewels, but Sebastian wouldn’t show them to you.”
“Grr.” Lily half-laughed and dropped her head to the steering wheel.
“Just kidding. He’d totally show you.”
“I’ll tell the truth. That was too awkward. Why was it so awkward?” Lily raised her head and put the car in gear. The gravel road crunched under our tires.
The delivery had been so awkward because there had been meaning behind the request, but I could discern it. And I couldn’t shake a thread of giddiness sneaking through me because I’d seen Thorn. My mind knew better, but my body was insistent.
I held out my arms and made a motion like I was holding on to a steering wheel. “It’s so weird riding on this side of the car.” I turned the radio on and spun the dial, stopping on a ballad. “What’s going on with you and Sebastian?”
Lily hesitated and flushed. “Nothing.”
The DJ on the radio said, “And here’s a tune to snuggle down with and wait out the storm. Light those candles, lovers. It’s going to be an unseasonably cold night.” A romantic duet filled the car. Lovers crooning out their loss and longing.
“I dedicate this song to you and Sebastian.”
Lily pointed at the radio. “I dedicate this one to you and the duke. What’s going on there?”
“Nothing.” My voice squeaked as if my conflicting thoughts tangled my vocal cords.
“Yeah? You couldn’t have avoided looking at each other any harder, and then you couldn’t stop.”
“Please, we only got through the door because of Sebastian. And he’s not interested in me.” I said the last part slowly, weighing the words.
“Sebastian’s just friendly. He’s never asked me out or anything.” Lily put the headlights on bright. Though the sun hadn’t set, the sky had darkened with the storm so the day looked like an unnatural twilight. Lily rounded the curve on the drive. “It feels like hours have passed, and not only because of our super comfortable time in Hopewell Manor.”
Lily suddenly slammed on the brakes. The tires slipped, and the small car jolted.
I slid against my seatbelt and threw my left arm forward to brace myself. My palm smacked the dash, and my seatbelt locked up. The daisy air freshener bounced on its elastic string and came to a rest.
Crap.
I should have driven. I cradled my hand to my chest and turned to Lily. “What the…?”
Lily pointed out the front windshield.
Chapter 13
The driveway had disappeared under the river. I blinked. The top rail of the bridge and its side posts were still there, but the water rushing over the base gave the illusion that there was only a stream up ahead. We couldn’t cross the rushing water in this little car. A chill that had nothing to do with the weather prickled the hair on my arms. We were almost in that.
Lily put her hand over her heart. “The road’s gone.”
Rain came down harder than the windshield wipers could sweep away. We were stuck on this side of the bridge. Dark sky. Road cut off. Unfriendly manor house behind us. I had to lighten the Gothic mood. “It’s like those paranormal worlds where we’re trapped in an alternate realm. We have to transition into mer-people now.”
“Fins wouldn’t be worse than these socks I’m wearing. And trapped is so the word. We have to go back.” Lily put the car in reverse and went backward a few feet before executing a slow three-point turn.
Love ballads filled the car, lending irony to her words.
The house. Bitter lemonade. Doubtful welcome. “I think we can make it over the bridge.”
Lily laughed. “We can’t.” Rain thundered down giving weight to her words. She shifted gears. The tires slid before grabbing purchase. “They need to learn the merits of concrete.”
Concrete would ruin their scenic country drive with its pea gravel entry.
We both giggled, and the sound eased the tension. The car crawled forward in the sheeting rain, and Lily didn’t shift into second gear, either due to poor visibility, her being shaken up over the road being out, or her personal reluctance to reach the house.
“One mile an hour is all this baby’s got? Or, you really don’t want to see Sebastian?”
“No, he’s cool. It’s the whole thing about Mom sending us to beg for another job.” Lily groaned. “It’s one thing to tell Mom that Regina sent us away quickly. It’s another to tell her we were there for an hour waiting out the rainstorm and didn’t have time to ask for more work.”
An hour was optimistic. “Maybe we can stay in the car until the weather eases.”
“I’m okay with that.” Lily pulled up and parked, then took out her phone to text her mom about our delay. “Mom says, ‘be safe.’ Grr. That just makes me feel guilty.”
“I know. We go in. And we’ll wait until Thorn brings up what a great job we’re doing at the castle. Or, I don’t know, anything about the project we’re doing. Then, you say, ‘and we can do it for you, too, Sebastian.’”
Lily snickered. “It sounds dirty.”
“That’s between you and Sebastian.”
“Forget it. After this project is complete, I’m back on the computers.” Lily curled her fingers like she was typing and breathed out. “Christmastime, and I’m back on.”
“Your giving up computers…was that something…er…court mandated? Over hacking or something?” I’d been wondering this since I met her, when she’d declared she couldn’t touch the laptop and that I’d have to do the data entry.
“Everyone hacks. But no. I decided to take a few months off because Mom said I couldn’t. It’s been three months and four days.” Lily tightened her lips. “The time off was bad at first. Now, it’s sort of bad. I think Mom was hassling me about my obsession to outmaneuver me.” She squeezed the raindrops out of her ponytail. “Because somehow, I’m spending the semester in England as her free labor.” She dropped her h
ands, looked at me with resistant green eyes, and shrugged. “But I’m stuck, you know. If I cave, she wins.”
“I have two sisters. I get it.” I also had an ongoing semi-feud with Thorn. I did not intend for him to win either. Going inside the manor house again felt like entering the enemy camp. They’d somehow conspired with the weather to make us retreat.
Lily reached back, grabbed her umbrella from the backseat floorboard, and tried to force it right side out. Raindrops sprinkled on the car console. She wiped them away, tried again, and gave up because the umbrella was resistant and sopping wet.
I grabbed mine and jiggled the handle. An unfortunate decision that made rain spatter on me. “Hold tight. I’ll come around, and we’ll share.” I pushed the car door open against the wind and went around to her side.
We ran together underneath my umbrella up to the front door. Lily looked hard at the knocker but didn’t reach for it. “Mom can get her next project on her own. I’m not bringing up their antiques or cataloguing their antiques or their old books.” She twisted up her face and rang the doorbell. “Can you imagine working for Regina?”
I closed my umbrella. It was way too wet to carry into their marble foyer and wasn’t much use in this level of rain. I left behind a large round pot overflowing with petunias. After a significant chilled, damp wait, the door opened.
Regina tilted her head. “Back so soon? What a total, complete, utter surprise. Let me guess. You need the hampers back for a second run to another local household?” She touched a finger to her chin. “No. That can’t be the case. Thorn doesn’t own another house in this county. Maybe you want to carry the empty hampers back for him, so his real staff doesn’t have to come and retrieve them? Or, I know. You forgot your purse?”
“No, I—” Lily said.
Regina touched her earlobe. “You lost an earring?”
“No—” Lily said.
“Or was there something you were going to say to Sebastian that you couldn’t text?”
The last one rang close to home. Lily flushed. “No, I—”
