The Duke's Fated Love

by Emily Bow

  “You go next,” Thorn said.

  “You can pull me through if I have problems.”

  The car slammed into the bridge and one of the lower cross boards popped off and flew down the river, disappearing like the top board had, weakening the bridge rails further. The car shifted, its nose now lower in the water.

  My stomach shifted. “Stay calm.” I was talking mostly to myself.

  He moved to the middle seat and took my arm. “Stand up and pull yourself through.” He wasn’t arguing with me over our order.

  I stopped rationalizing every movement. The daisy air freshener bounced as the car jolted. The flower grounded me, seeing it there. I reached back and yanked the flower off its elastic, feeling the snap against my palm and shoved it in my pocket like a good luck charm. Then I went next.

  I lifted myself through and swung my legs so my body was down face-first against the windshield. I flattened myself against the cold wet curve of the back windshield like the others had. The glass was slick and cold and the car was in motion.

  I wanted to look around and see where they were, but I had to remain focused on holding on. My knees wanted to dig in, but there was nowhere to plant them. The rubber of my tennis shoes slid against the trunk. My hands were doing all the work, holding me in place. My left hand ached from where it had smacked the dash, but I didn’t give in.

  Raindrops plastered against my eyelids, but I didn’t let go.

  Thorn stood on the middle seat and pulled himself up. He sat on the roof and tied my wrist to his before swinging his legs up and out. “When we’re off, we’ll tie on with the others.”

  We half-slid, half-jumped from the car. Water rushed against my knees, pushing me against Thorn. He wrapped his arm around my waist and though we weren’t out of this yet, some of my tension eased. We were together and free from the car. We struggled in an awkward two-step to reach the others.

  They stood in the middle of the bridge away from the car, waiting for us.

  It was like wading in Galveston during a rough surf. The bridge height and posts blocked some of the flow. Otherwise, I don’t think I could have remained upright. Stay calm. Get off the bridge.

  We linked onto the others while we were walking, slipping toward the way we’d come.

  Pop. Crack.

  Another board broke loose and jetted through the windshield, shattering the glass.

  We ducked instinctively and sped up.

  We got to the end of the bridge, struggled up the slight incline, and finally we were on solid ground. We backed away, and then stood there watching the rushing river so loud outside the car. The car shifted against the side rails, swiveled and then the push of water shoved the car all the way through the rest of the bridge. It was gone. I blinked and covered my mouth.

  Shocked, cold, wet, and weirded out by what had happened, we stood there.

  Another board cracked and the sound jerked at my nerves worse than seeing the car float off. Dad would say, “Fight through the disbelief or you’ll be paralyzed.”

  “We should get back,” I told them.

  “Imogen’s right,” Thorn said.

  For once no one said anything else.

  We all walked together up the long drive, and none of us untied from each other until we were back in the warm shelter of the house.

  Inside, the bright lights, the comfort and quiet were almost shocking as we stood cold and dripping on the marble.

  Sebastian struggled to unloop the seatbelt tying him to Regina first and then undid his link to Lily. “Unless staff are arriving by boat, they’re not coming anytime soon.”

  It was a mundane thing to say with bigger implications. We looked at one another as we got his meaning. No one was arriving until morning, and none of us were leaving until then either.

  We dripped and contemplated the rain-mandated sleepover.

  “We’ll make the most of it,” Sebastian said. “I’ll show you two to the guest wing. Feel free to tie onto me on the way upstairs if you still have your sea legs.” His silly joke lightened the mood.

  I shivered and thought better of him for it.

  “I’ll take them.” Regina stared at the puddle forming on the peach marble floor. “Though neither will fit into my things. They’d be better off in yours.” She was both slimmer and more petite than either Lily or me. It wasn’t totally a dig, just the truth. “Better yet, I’ll show them the laundry so their clothes can go in.”

  Thorn’s gaze searched mine. I nodded and he turned and followed Sebastian upstairs.

  “Thanks,” I said to Regina.

  “No bother, really.” Regina took off her designer raingear, jacket, and boots. “Um, you’re very drippy. Wait here.”

  Lily and I waited, shivering, not talking until Regina returned with two fluffy peach robes. “Let’s start with your clothes. They’re a mess.” There was a concealed door at the end of the hall leading to a narrow passageway and a multi-unit laundry room. Regina waved her hand. “Staff does laundry here. I’m sure you’ve done washing before and can figure it out? Then one floor up, we have several guest suites. Take any you like. It doesn’t matter which.”

  Regina left us then. It wasn’t the warmest welcome, but it could have been worse. Under the circumstances, it could have been much worse. We threw our clothes into the washer and put on the robes.

  I threw in soap and turned the dial. Water washed into the drum, and the sound made me shiver. “You go ahead. When this is done, I’ll put the clothes in the dryer and then find my room.”

  Lily nodded and left. I sat down then, on the floor with my back to the rumbling washer. The laundry room was the size of my dining room back home with multiple washers and dryers and industrial racks.

  I didn’t think about much while I sat there or maybe I thought about everything. I don’t know. When the quick cycle buzzed that it was done, I put the clothes in the dryer and started it. I could leave them there and take a shower, but I didn’t like the thought of wandering around in a thigh-length robe. It wouldn’t take too long for two sets of clothes to dry.

  The wash had taken forty-five minutes. A very weird, lots of slow breathing and calming myself down from the adrenalin high in the humid air of the laundry room, set of time.

  There was a tap on the door and Thorn popped his head in. “You okay?”

  Chapter 16

  I nodded and carefully got to my feet, tucking the tie of my robe in.

  He reached out and squeezed my hand. He remained there holding it. I wanted to say something pithy about him never having been in a laundry room before or take a step forward and wrap my arms around him for the comfort, but I couldn’t move.

  The dryer buzzed. I jerked away.

  Thorn turned and left.

  I gathered Lily’s and my clothes and took them upstairs.

  I knocked on the first door I came to.

  Lily opened the door to a room decorated in pink. “I grabbed this room.” Her voice was hoarse, and she took her things from me. “Thanks. I think the room next door is a guest room, too. I texted Mom but left out some details.”

  I nodded, winced about the car, and left her to look next door. The room had a lemon décor. Lemon yellow and white draperies, fake lemons in a jar. I took a hot shower with lemon soap and used the guest hairdryer to blow out my hair.

  Thank goodness the guest suites had hairdryers, or I’d be freezing by now. After I was dry, warm, and dressed, I went and knocked on Lily’s door again.

  Lily looked like she had when we’d arrived, and like me, she wore very little makeup. I guess it was all she had in her purse, which, for me, was lipstick. Unlike me, she hadn’t put any on her cheeks, so she looked much paler. Or her complexion was fallout from our adventure.

  I smiled. “Want to go downstairs?”

  “Yeah.” Lily paused. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

  That could have meant a lot of things. But I interpreted her words as she was sorry she drove over the bridge. I gave her a qui
ck hug. “Things happen.” I’m never getting in another car with you driving.

  “Mom’s going to be pissed about the car.”

  Probably. “That’s what insurance is for.”

  “I don’t know why I hit the gas like that. It was like I was in a stupid video game or something.” Her green eyes narrowed, and she shook her head. “I went for it. Maybe Mom’s right, and I need an even longer computer break.”

  I tilted my head. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s the opposite. You haven’t had your video games to blow off steam with, so the dam had to burst.”

  Lily pressed her fingertips to her temples and dropped them away with a smile. “Yeah, you’re right.” She nodded. “I’m so going back to computers.”

  That sounded wise.

  We went down to the parlor and found our hosts there. Thorn looked broody and was in the same position where we’d first found him, sitting on the long low gold sofa. He wore clean clothes, although his probably hadn’t been as soaked as ours, given his raingear. It was probably more of a situation of showering off the drama.

  I wanted to go sit beside him, right up against him, have him drop his arm around me. In my head that would be the final stage of getting over this weird situation. I took a step in his direction before I stopped cold. We weren’t…he wasn’t… That wasn’t an option.

  Lily took the window seat with a distant expression and a grin which seemed out of place, but I guessed it was from her relief at the thought of going back to her beloved computers.

  Sebastian and Regina sat in wingback chairs. They had also changed clothes, and their posture stiff, as if they’d been arguing again.

  I don’t know what I looked like. On edge?

  The lights flickered. Old house. Flickering lights. Storm outside. I went over to the fireplace and slid the flue open. I turned the handle, assuming it was gas like ours. The flames clicked on. The red-gold flames licked upward.

  Lily hurried over to the hearth. “Oh, that’s better.”

  “Staff keep the belly roaring this time of year. Well done, you. Not that we wouldn’t have figured out how to start the thing. Eventually.” Sebastian’s voice was dry and from his words, I realized he meant he really didn’t know how to light his own fireplace. There was wealth, and then there was wealth.

  “It’s lovely,” Regina said. “It’s almost like we have staff.” Her remark didn’t have much sting in it, and she moved to join us at the fireplace, holding out her hands to the heat.

  I looked at Thorn. He didn’t say anything. How could a guy who liked me at the pub, and I know that he had, like Regina’s kind of girl?

  Regina was pretty, but there were lots of pretty girls without nasty mean streaks. Maybe I alone brought the witch out in her and the rest of the time she was charm itself. But still, he wanted to tie his life to her? Did her snark challenge him? Amuse him? It was his life. I should butt out of his business, but the thoughts kept rotating.

  The fireplace crackled cheerily, easing the mood in the room.

  “I’m starving,” Sebastian said. “I know it’s not in the best form to ask this of your guests, but do you think you could work…err, show us how to work the kitchen? Like you did the fireplace. You know. With what’s in the hamper and all that? You see, we hadn’t planned to come back this early and the house has been closed.”

  Lily stayed quiet. Turning the rental car into a boat was still unnerving her. It was unnerving all of us, but she’d been driving. A meal would help.

  “Sure,” I said.

  “And she cooks, too.” Regina’s voice was edgy.

  “Now, Regina, where’s your hospitality?” Sebastian said. “You know better than to piss off the cook.”

  I was not their cook. We all went to the foyer, where the guys grabbed the hampers, and then we followed Regina and Sebastian to the back of the house. Their kitchen was massive and industrial and intimidating, not unlike the one at the castle.

  “I come from a takeout kind of family. Both parents work. But if we put our heads together, I’m sure we can come up with a meal.” I kept my words light, because I wanted them to know I was happy to help only, not become their chef for the duration of my uninvited stay.

  Lily said, “If we can’t figure out your kitchen, there’s always cold food. We may not have brought anything you like.” She made a face at me and I knew she was thinking of pea soup and mushrooms and regretting her choices.

  “Between the group of us, I’m sure we can at least cook the steaks.” By my words and body language, I wasn’t letting our hosts get away with leaving us down there like servants, and the five of us stood there in a huge commercial-grade kitchen.

  Sebastian slapped his hands together and he grinned. “Steaks, yes, we can manage that.”

  The markings on the stove were different, but I figured out how to get the oven set to broil. “We’ll need a flat pan to throw them on.”

  Regina found a grill pan. “I’ve done my part.”

  “Fine,” Sebastian said. “You can set the table. The china is in the dining room, so I know you know where it is.”

  “Fine,” Regina said.

  I pulled some potatoes from the basket and ran them under the water. There were three, so they’d need to be cut up. I looked at Thorn and pointed a potato at the knife magnetized to a metal board on the wall. “Ever cut up potatoes?”

  He shook his head but came forward and took over the job.

  “The only thing to know is to try and make them the same size so they cook evenly.” There was probably more to know, but that was the only advice I could think of. I watched him from the corner of my eye. His hands were deft but unpracticed.

  Lily salted and peppered the steaks.

  I peeled and chopped the parsnips.

  Sebastian threw the veg in a pan with butter. “I saw this on a cooking show.” He shook the pan to flip the veg and several butter-slick parsnips landed on the stove. He frowned, scooped them up with a paper towel and dropped them back in the hot skillet. He lowered his voice and said something to Lily that seemed to help her relax, then he looked over his shoulder at us. “Thorn, as our guest, you may choose the wine. Red, obviously, please.” He went back to talking to Lily.

  That left me with the choice of being third wheel with Lily and Sebastian, helping Regina lay out the china, or helping choose the wine. It wasn’t a choice for a rocket scientist. I crossed the room to Thorn.

  He went into the hall and down a stairwell that ended at an arched wooden doorway in the basement. He tapped a code into the electric keypad.

  I wasn’t pleased at the sign of his familiarity with Hopewell Manor and didn’t fully understand why. He was Sebastian’s friend. They hung out. It wasn’t because of Regina. I was feeling tetchy because my appetite was coming back, that’s all. “You know the code to their wine cellar?”

  “Lucky guess,” he said, as the door swung open. He didn’t feel the need to explain beyond his sarcasm. Where had the guy who’d held my hand gone, why was he such a contradiction.

  I followed him in. There was a huge refrigeration unit on one stone wall and racks of wine on another stone wall. A seating area and mini kitchen made up the far end. Who needed a seating area in their wine cellar? Did they have that many private tastings? For that matter, who needed a wine cellar? They must have big house parties here. Or maybe they simply had to convert the dungeon into something and a wine cellar was what they thought of.

  Thorn went straight to the racks. He pulled out a bottle of wine, checked the label, and returned it. He pulled out another and perused the label.

  I couldn’t imagine any other guy I knew being so picky. “Quite the connoisseur, are you? Or you just like your reds?”

  He gave me a look.

  I held up my palms. “No judgment. I had wondered about your ancestor liking a snootful.” I used an annoying singsong voice. “You never know when you meet someone what they do on a day-to-day basis.”

  He assessed the two bottles. �
�I’ll take both.”

  “You think you’re King of the castle, huh?”

  “I am the king of the castle. Just not this one.”

  “Hah.” The banter was nice after the tension of the last few hours.

  The lights flickered and then went out. The room went pitch black and silent except for our breathing.

  The refrigeration unit whirred, and small power lights came on the front panel, lending a small blue glow to the area. But the room stayed dark otherwise.

  Unnerving. I grabbed for my phone and hit the flashlight app. “The stupid storm tried to drown us; now it’s trying to take our dinner.”

  Thorn snickered. He shined his phone toward the door and tried the handle. “Locked.”

  “Locked? They connected the backup generator to the wine, but not to the electronic door?” My heart thumped, my voice rose. “We’re trapped?”

  Chapter 17

  “Don’t freak out,” Thorn said, his voice calm in the darkness of the below-ground wine cellar. “I’m sure the power will return momentarily.”

  Was he? I wasn’t. My blood rushed, and my head pounded. I’d survived a flood. And I wasn’t alone. I grasped for perspective and used my phone to find my way to the big green armchair. I sank down and breathed out. “Good thing we don’t need electricity to open a wine bottle.” I let my phone light die.

  “It’s one of the hallmarks of civilization.” He scavenged cheddar and crackers from the mini-kitchen area. “You’re all about the past. Tell me, what would you do with my castle?”

  I let him distract me with conversation and bit into a cracker and a bite of cheddar which was both crumbly and creamy. Although I didn’t like red wine very much, I had a sip. As with all drinks, the second sip was better. I guess taste buds had to adjust. “Easy.”

  “Easy? You wouldn’t say so if you imagined the tax burden.” His voice was dry.