Richard knelt by the large box and gestured for Coraline to come to him. “I was wondering if you could help me,” he said to her as he opened the box.
Richard extracted a marionette dressed as a prince and Coraline gasped in delight. “You see, I’ve had this box cluttering up my attic for years and I really need the space. But I hate to say goodbye to all my childhood friends. Would you like to keep them company for me?” He pulled out another dressed as a princess, and a third dressed as a court jester.
Coraline gazed up at Richard in awe, her little face a picture of enchantment. “Yes, sir.”
“Splendid. Perhaps you can get to know them while your mother and I work.”
Coraline nodded eagerly. Richard spent a few minutes helping Coraline set up the small puppet theater that came with them and showing her how to jerk the strings on the puppets to make them move while Brynne watched them play and tried not to blubber.
When Richard left Coraline to her play and came back to begin work on the documents, Brynne grabbed his hand before she could stop herself. “Thank you, Dr. Oliver. That was very kind.”
Richard gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s the least I can do, really, considering that I’ve invaded her home in order to steal her mother away to do my transcribing drudgery.”
Brynne laughed, letting the warmth from Richard’s smile seep into her. “Well, then. Let’s get started.”
“At your pleasure, madam,” he said with a devilish grin.
Brynne couldn’t help but wonder what, exactly, they were starting. Somehow, it felt as though it was much more than a simple secretarial task.
Time would tell, she supposed, as she stole another glance at the handsome doctor. Time would tell.
…
Brynne stared at Richard through the curtain of her eyelashes as he bent his head over the document he was transcribing. His tongue darted out and did a quick swipe of his bottom lip, a scrape of his teeth over the same area—an adorable gesture Brynne noticed he did whenever he was concentrating. The movement of his lips highlighted the dimple in his left cheek, the overall effect of which was Brynne’s complete inability to concentrate on anything other than that full, delicious-looking mouth.
Which was smiling. At her.
Heat flooded Brynne’s cheeks and she immediately dropped her gaze and fumbled about with the papers in front of her. They’d been working on the papers for weeks, Richard coming to her house each morning. His visits had been noticed, and naturally, tongues had been wagging like a pack of puppies with a barnyard of bones, as Cilla would say. But Richard didn’t seem to mind the gossip. And neither, to her surprise, did Brynne. They weren’t doing anything untoward, and she was enjoying his company. Let the Mrs. Morey’s of the world spread the scuttlebutt until they were blue in the face.
The notes Brynne was transcribing were actually rather interesting. Richard’s observations of certain treatments, which remedies worked best, specific cases and patients described with painstaking detail. Every word demonstrated Richard’s love for, and dedication to, his profession.
Brynne absentmindedly chewed on the wooden shaft of her steel-nibbed pen as she perused the papers. The silence in the room caught her attention and she glanced up, catching Richard as he stared at her, his gaze riveted to the wood between her lips. Brynne blushed again, but Richard didn’t drop his gaze. Instead, he laid aside his pen. “Let’s take a break, shall we?”
Brynne nodded. It had been a slow day at the clinic, so Richard had stayed to continue working on the transcriptions and they’d been at it several hours. “A break sounds heavenly.”
Richard tugged on the bell rope that would summon a servant and when Taggart appeared he said, “Is everything ready?”
Taggart nodded. “Yes, sir. Would you like the carriage brought around now?”
“Yes, thank you. And please tell Miss Lucy.”
Taggart nodded and ducked back out the door.
Brynne frowned. “Is what ready? Tell Lucy what?”
Richard held his arm out to her. “We’ve been working so hard on these blasted papers I decided we deserved a treat today.”
He led her out of the library and Brynne’s eyes widened a bit to find Lucy and Coraline waiting for them in the foyer.
Coraline ran up to her mother, bouncing up and down in her excitement. “Picnic, Momma, picnic!”
Brynne took Coraline’s hand and looked up at Richard. “Well, aren’t you full of surprises.”
“It would be unpardonable not to take advantage of such an unseasonably beautiful day.”
When they arrived at the park, a full picnic spread had already been set up for them. Richard had been right about the weather. Despite a slight nip in the air, the skies were clear with a breeze strong enough for kite flying, but not so strong as to ruin their fun. After cramming her lunch down as quickly as possible, Coraline beseeched Lucy to help her fly the kite Richard had presented her with. Richard went with them, helping to get the magnificent rainbow-colored kite airborne.
Brynne’s heart skipped a beat or two as she watched Richard with her daughter. He bent over to help her with the kite string and Coraline laughed, her body nearly trembling with excitement as she watched the kite dip and soar in the sky. Lucy took over after a few moments and Richard made his way back to Brynne.
“You’ll spoil her,” Brynne half-heartedly warned.
Richard chuckled. “She’s an angel. She deserves to be spoiled.” He watched Coraline with genuine affection while she shrieked with delight and Brynne’s heart skipped again.
“Thank you for today. You’ve made her very happy.”
Richard’s gaze turned to Brynne, his blue eyes washing over her with an intensity that nearly took her breath away. “And what of you? Have I made you happy?”
Lucy would probably advise her to play coy. Cilla would be all for keeping her emotions to herself until she was completely sure they couldn’t be used against her. But Brynne didn’t want to play any games. So she simply answered honestly. “Yes. Very happy.”
He took her hand and kissed it before entwining his fingers with hers. “Then it has been my very great pleasure. One which I hope to repeat often.”
Brynne took a tremulous breath, warmth flooding through her. She hoped so, too.
…
Brynne sat across from Richard at her favorite café, wondering how she had managed to get herself into such a position. She was fairly sure Richard was courting her, though she wasn’t sure exactly when that had happened.
He’d rarely missed a morning to work on transcribing his damaged documents. She’d realized after the first page that the task was one he could have easily set to anyone, despite his protestations to the contrary. And the task that might have taken one person a week, at most, had taken the two of them nearly a month to complete. It was obviously a ploy to spend time alone with her, something that Brynne knew she should have discouraged.
But instead of saying anything about it, she’d kept quiet. She wasn’t sure why. With her own home to run, her daughter to care for, and her work at the clinic, she was no longer bored. She enjoyed Richard’s company, but that in and of itself was an excellent reason to have discontinued their little sessions. He might possibly misconstrue her enjoyment of his company for romantic interest. And while she found him attractive, very attractive, every time she even began to envision herself with him, an image of her husband, with his laughing eyes and larger than life personality, would pop into her head and fill her with guilt. Yet, she’d said nothing and had continued to allow Richard to call on her.
Brynne knew many widows married again. But she couldn’t seem to overcome the emotions that overwhelmed her every time she thought of Jake. They’d had such a short time together before he was ripped from her by her sadistic half-brother, his life snuffed out to further Frank’s plans to take over their town.
And then there was Coraline. Brynne had a duty to her. Her life should be devoted to raising her child,
teaching her everything she could about her father…not introducing a new man to take his place. No matter how wonderful that man might be.
Now their task was nearly finished. It was for the best, although Brynne’s heart clenched at the notion of giving up her private time with Richard every day. She’d see him in the clinic, yes. But helping him with his patients in a roomful of people wasn’t nearly as intimate as quiet moments spent poring over the files together.
He was, in many ways, Jake’s opposite, in looks and personality. Richard was blond where Jake had been dark. Both men had commanding presences, but while Jake was boisterous and larger-than-life, Richard had a quiet dignity about him that commanded the respect and attention of everyone near him.
But like Jake, Richard could make her head swim with a simple look. Somehow, reacting to another man the way she’d reacted to her husband felt…wrong.
Yet here she was, lunching with him in a public place, where anyone could see them. The gossips were still atwitter about how much time they’d been spending together, closeted alone in the library for hours on end. How that information had gotten out, Brynne didn’t know, but she could guess. The servants’ unofficial underground network was amazing. A person couldn’t do anything in Boston without the whole of the service industry passing it along. They knew everything. The notion that one of her staff was spreading details about her private life, however, was disturbing indeed.
There was also Coraline to consider. She was growing very attached to Richard. And he to her, if appearances could be believed. He was so sweet with her daughter that it made Brynne’s heart ache to watch them together. Both with happiness and with misery. Jake should be the one playing with Coraline, reading her stories, making her giggle with his silly antics. But Jake would never be able to do any of those things.
What if Brynne was reading too much into Richard’s intentions? What if he was merely being polite? Or what if Brynne couldn’t get over her issues regarding Jake enough to let Richard into her life, her heart? Coraline would be crushed. Brynne didn’t think her heart would ever recover from losing him either. Because, try as she might to deny it, she was falling in love with Doctor Richard Oliver. And she wasn’t sure how to deal with that.
“What are you thinking about?” Richard asked, his eyes creased with concern.
“It’s nothing.”
He reached out and smoothed a finger over the wrinkle that had formed in her forehead. “It must be something.”
Brynne sighed. No time like the present. “It’s only…I’ve enjoyed our time together. Now that we’ve nearly finished…”
She couldn’t go on. She’d never felt so off-balance, so insecure, in her life. She despised the feeling but couldn’t seem to do anything about it.
Richard took her hand. Brynne glanced at where his hand encompassed hers, her heart skipping a beat or two as she waited for him to say something.
“I’ve been meaning to say something to you for weeks, but could never seem to get up the nerve.”
Brynne raised an eyebrow. Richard might be kind to a fault and sweet and gentle when it came to children, but make no mistake about it—he was a man who knew what he wanted and did not take no for an answer. Brynne had once seen him reduce a vendor who had tried to swindle him to near tears. Richard Oliver was not a man who ever lost his nerve.
“I’ve enjoyed our time together as well. I would like to continue to see you, outside the clinic, after we are done with our task.”
He leaned closer to her, so close his breath mingled with her own. His thumb rubbed lazy circles on Brynne’s palm, shooting tingles up her arm and straight into her heart. “Would you like to keep seeing me, Brynne?”
Brynne’s breath caught in her throat and her mind emptied of all thoughts but one. Yes!
Before she could answer, they were interrupted by a voice Brynne was beginning to think she despised above all others.
“Why Dr. Oliver, how delightful to see you here.” Mrs. Morey’s simpering voice wormed its way under Brynne’s skin, like an itch she couldn’t quite reach.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Morey.”
“You remember my daughter, of course.” She thrust her daughter forward like she was tossing a piece of meat to a starving dog.
Richard smiled, but Brynne knew him well enough now to know it wasn’t genuine. It was polite, but didn’t reach his eyes. “Yes, of course. It is nice to see you again, Miss Morey.”
The poor girl turned beet red, her mouth gaping open like she knew she was supposed to speak but couldn’t quite figure out how. Her mother frowned at her and turned her attention back to Richard.
“We stopped by the clinic earlier to offer our assistance, but your housekeeper said you were out. How fortuitous that we ran into you here.”
Fortuitous my giddy aunt. Brynne had no doubt the woman had stalked any establishment within a two mile radius of the clinic hoping to arrange just such a chance meeting. And she hadn’t missed the fact that the woman hadn’t so much as looked in her direction the entire time she’d been standing there. For someone so well-bred, it was an incredibly bold stroke of impoliteness.
“That’s very generous of you, Mrs. Morey. However, there really wouldn’t be much for you to do at the clinic I’m afraid. I am fully staffed and Mrs. Forrester has been such an immense help that I don’t think I’d have a single task for you. You are acquainted with Mrs. Forrester, aren’t you?”
Brynne pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. Poor Mrs. Morey now had to acknowledge her. Brynne waited to see if the woman would explode.
Mrs. Morey turned a frosty smirk to Brynne. “Yes, of course. Good afternoon, Mrs. Forrester. I hope you are well.”
“Very well, thank you,” Brynne answered.
“Well, Mrs. Morey, Miss Morey, if you’ll excuse us, we really should be going.” Richard stood and offered Brynne his arm. She tucked her hand through the crook of his elbow, said goodbye as politely as she could muster, and walked away with Richard, Mrs. Morey’s glare burning a hole through her back as they left.
At least one thing had been solved. With the town’s biggest gossip witnessing their cozy tete-a-tete and obvious closeness, trying to decide whether or not to see Richard had become something of a moot point. The gossips would have them engaged by the end of the day. It relieved a little of the stress Brynne had been feeling. Everyone would already believe they were courting. It would be nice to actually be guilty of what the gossips accused her of, for once. And frankly, it was exhausting fighting herself over it. She wanted to see him, right or wrong.
“You never answered my question,” Richard said, startling her with how closely he was attuned to her.
Brynne looked up at him and smiled, feeling suddenly shy. “Yes. I would like to keep seeing you.”
“Then see me you shall, Mrs. Forrester. Brynne.”
“I look forward to it. Richard.”
And she meant it. The guilt was still there. She still felt like she was betraying Jake somehow. But the desire to see Richard was stronger.
For now, she was excited to see where the relationship might go.
Chapter Nine
Brynne put down her pen and stood to stretch her back. They’d been working for two hours without a break and her body was beginning to cramp from hunching over her desk. Richard had found one last file that had needed transcribing, but they’d taken their time about it. Some mornings, they had worked. Others, they’d spent walking through the park, talking and getting to know each other. They often took Coraline with them, letting her scamper on ahead as they conversed. But Richard always found a moment or two to be alone with Brynne.
It was so different from how things had gone with Jake. Jake had been impetuous, spontaneous. He’d ridden into town and swept her off her feet before she’d had two seconds to think about it. With Richard, it was no less exciting, but he took his time. Then again, had he pushed too hard, Brynne would probably have turned tail and run. She was thankful that Ri
chard allowed her the time she needed to get used to the idea of having a new man in her life.
Brynne got a few satisfying pops out of her spine and straightened to find Richard staring at her. Heat rushed to her cheeks. She’d grown so used to being in his company that she was starting to forget to behave properly around him. She opened her mouth to apologize and snapped it shut again, wondering what in the world she’d apologize for. Saying she was sorry for inappropriately thrusting her breasts into the air as she tried to get comfortable would most likely make matters worse.
Richard stood and grinned, then bent nearly backwards and cracked his own back. “Ah, that does feel better, doesn’t it?”
Brynne felt instantly better. How did he always manage to do that? No matter how awkward or uncomfortable she might be feeling, he always knew the exact right thing to do or say to put her at ease. Richard came around to her side of the desk and half-sat on it. He took her hand and drew her nearer, so close she nearly stood between his legs as he rested against the desk.
“I’ve enjoyed spending these mornings with you,” he said. He softly caressed her hand. Each stroke of his finger along her skin shot straight to her core, sending her normally agile mental facilities into hazy chaos.
The best response she could muster was, “Thank you.”
Richard chuckled. “I hope you have enjoyed them as well?”
Buck up, woman! Brynne gathered her wits about her. She knew she should probably play coy, or feign disinterest. But frankly, she had never been one to play games. It was tiresome and dishonest. She’d always been one to speak her mind and she saw no reason to stop now, even if admitting how she was starting to feel for the doctor terrified her to the very marrow of her bones.
“I have enjoyed spending time with you. Very much.” There. She’d said it and hadn’t perished on the spot. Bully for her.
Richard smiled and Brynne’s heart nearly jumped from her chest. “Perhaps now that we really have finished these infernal documents, we could celebrate. The annual gala for the Boston Museum is in a few weeks. I’d be honored if you’d allow me to escort you.” He pulled her a fraction closer with each word, until Brynne had to crane her neck to look up at him.
Blood Blade Sisters Series (Entangled Scandalous) Page 30
