Once Upon a Lady (The Soul Mate Tree Book 8)

by Addie Jo Ryleigh

  The two older men had remained friends over the years but Willie’s thoughts on the viscount’s new rank were clear as crystal, none of them based in jealousy. Willie had little patience for envy. Or titles, for that matter. He considered them a waste of time. A sentiment Jackson fully agreed upon.

  “This time he threatened to cut me off if I didn’t comply.”

  “Nothing like a monetary incentive to get you to fall in line.”

  Jackson’s brows drew together in a frown. “I will not be falling in line.”

  As the last word left his lips, a vision of Kate sprang to mind. No. She hadn’t a place in this. And she certainly had no place aboard this ship. Aboard Jackson’s future.

  “Who is she?”

  Jackson feigned ignorance. “What?”

  Instead of answering, Willie raised a brow.

  Jackson bristled. “She is no one.”

  “If you believe that, you are dumber than I thought.”

  “Have I ever told you how supportive you are?” Jackson grumbled.

  “You don’t need support. You need a knock alongside your head.”

  “I need nothing of—”

  “Your face lit up a moment ago and I know it wasn’t my pretty mug you were dreaming of.”

  “It means nothing.”

  Willie sat forward abruptly. His emphatic, “It means everything,” had Jackson fighting the urge to sink into his chair like a green lad.

  Weary of feeling intimidated, he leaned in, crowding Willie. “She is nothing but another beautiful, interesting woman. The world is filled with them. Something I’m eager to discover for myself. Something I will discover in a few short days.”

  They held glares for a heated moment before Willie relaxed into his wooden chair. “Maybe.”

  Jackson eyed him in confusion. “What does that mean?”

  “We aren’t partners yet. You haven’t the funds.”

  “I will soon,” Jackson vowed as he tried to stem the panic rising in him.

  “You probably will but that doesn’t mean you will be sailing with me.”

  “Whyever not? We had a deal. We become partners and I sail with you.”

  Willie didn’t even flinch. “That was before.”

  Unable to contain his fury, Jackson pushed to his feet. “What in the blazes are you talking about? Why are you being so cryptic?”

  Calmly, Willie retorted, “Because you are not ready to hear the truth.”

  “You have lost your mind, old man.” As insults went, it wasn’t much, but it was all Jackson had left. “You are as batty as Nan. Are you sure you aren’t related?”

  “You wish, my boy. Your bloodlines could use a little shaking up. And don’t insult your grandmother. She is far from batty. Not her fault no one wants to hear the truth for what it is.”

  Jackson flopped back into his chair as the night of the Mosley’s ball rose in his mind. Thoughts of the tree, the feelings it had stirred, his unusual draw to Kate, strengthened. Until Jackson doubted his sanity.

  He knew the tale. Nan had shared it enough over the years. He couldn’t put it out of his mind, even if he wanted to.

  And Lord, do I want to.

  He might not believe in nonsense such as soul mates and destiny, but he had no desire to push his luck. He had a future he’d planned. One he wouldn’t leave to the fates.

  Which was why he’d come to a very important decision. He would not hold Kate to their last meeting. Seeing her safely to her residence yesterday was the end of their acquaintance. These encounters only led to foolishness—and he refused to be a fool.

  Yet the memory of Kate, her smile, her laugh, her wit . . . her kiss—flashed before him and he struggled to fight the wave of emotion threatening to engulf him.

  Something of Jackson’s dilemma must have shown on his face, because Willie slammed a hand on the desk, yanking Jackson from his musings. “Don’t do something absurd just to spite your father.”

  “First you claim I’m dumb and now I’m absurd.” Jackson threw up his hands. “Why did I decide to go into business with you?”

  “I ask myself the same thing every day. I thought you were wiser than that.”

  Jackson couldn’t tell if the man was jesting or not. Maybe a touch of both.

  “Either way, you have a choice to make,” Willie stressed.

  “What decision is that? To pack you off to the nearest insane asylum?” A jest might distract Willie from what Jackson dreaded the old curmudgeon would spout next.

  “Her or this.” Willie swung his arm wide, encompassing all.

  Jackson understood what he meant. Having Kate, or embracing his dream of sailing the world. Of discovering new treasures. Of leaving behind England and all the ties it represented.

  Why pretend there was still a decision to be made? Jackson feared the outcome had already been decided.

  Chapter 15

  Kate thought her clandestine meetings with Jackson had created havoc with her emotions. To her dismay, not seeing him had done worse.

  Two days had passed during that time. His sudden silence, combined with how her father ignored her, was slowly knocking days off her life.

  If not for her sisters rallying around her, she would have lost her feeble grip on her sanity. Though what they offered in support was rather lacking considering they had no notion of her plight. If they ever caught word of how far her scandalous behavior had gone, they’d never remain so devoted.

  As for Kate standing firm in the face of her father’s searing disappointment, the siblings’ counsel proved indispensable. Blackthorn had assured her everything would right itself. Given Father’s cold regard, Kate had her doubts . . . and they were prevailing.

  “Stop fidgeting,” Valarie commanded from the opposite seat of Wipstine’s carriage as it traveled through the darkness to yet another social gathering. Kate vaguely recalled something about a musicale. It hardly mattered since her thoughts were barely clear enough to focus on such a meaningless diversion.

  “I wasn’t,” she finally replied. How she wished she’d stayed strong instead of allowing Valarie to press her into attending with her and Wipstine.

  “Sorry, mouse, but you were.” Wipstine offered no qualms about siding with his wife. Or with labeling Kate with such an awful moniker.

  An infraction Kate couldn’t overlook. “How is it that I’m practically a married woman, yet you persist in using that horrid nickname?”

  “Here we go,” Valarie mumbled, curled on the seat beside her husband.

  Kate’s glare remained focused on the current outlet for her rampant emotions, seated close enough for his face to be illuminated by the lamp hanging outside the carriage. Hard to miss the curl of Wipstine’s smile as he ignored his wife and continued to provoke Kate. “Once a mouse, always a mouse.”

  She wasn’t surprised by his teasing, for the name was a longstanding jest between them. But somewhere amidst Jackson’s inattention and Blackthorn’s generosity, she’d discarded her humor. And Wipstine might well suffer for it. “Once a devil, always a devil?” she quipped.

  Given Valarie’s sharp gasp, Kate had pushed further than was wise.

  Prior to becoming all proper and respectable, Wipstine had a past—and not a good one. A subject not spoken of by Society, and the family, since he’d gone above and beyond to bury his misdeeds—and maybe a few skeletons. His transgressions had been covered by such a combination of wealth, newfound impeccable manners, and a wife loved by Society, that Kate still didn’t know what they all were. Alluding to his scandalous past wasn’t something anyone dared to do.

  His smile never dimming, Wipstine murmured, “My mouse has grown claws.” Oddly, his lack of a reaction was worse than any scorn he might produce.

  Hating that she’d
been mean-spirited, Kate’s apology sprang forth freely. “Forgive me. That was unnecessary.”

  “I disagree,” he replied, much to Kate’s surprise. “That was completely necessary. Kate, you are no longer a child. You are a young woman in need of taking control of her life. Even if only to put me in my place.”

  Kate stared at her well-dressed, unperturbed brother-by-marriage. Was she seeing him in a new light? Though he’d always been kind and they’d developed a lighthearted kinship, their familial association hadn’t stretched into overt friendship.

  “Stop looking at me as if I’ve grown an extra head.” He glanced at his wife. “You too, dear.”

  Alerted to her sister, Kate turned to Valarie as a sappy smile lifted her cheeks. “I’ve never loved you more.” Valarie’s whisper was for his ears alone.

  Wipstine reached for Valarie’s hand and brought her gloved fingers to his lips before bestowing a light peck. “Whereas, it is humanly impossible to love you more than I do.”

  Such open affection flowed between the couple, that a keening jealousy hit Kate square in the chest. She’d have liked nothing more than to sink through the floor of the carriage, rather than be privy to such a private moment between husband and wife.

  She had often viewed Valarie’s marriage as a loveless union forced by duty. Upstanding and proper, Valarie didn’t flaunt her wifely affection in Society’s public eye. Despite their years of marriage, Kate was discovering an unknown aspect of the couple.

  If Valarie truly loved Wipstine—and based on what she had witnessed, they adored each other in abundance—then, her entire understanding of her sister’s union was skewed.

  What did that mean for her impending marriage to Blackthorn?

  She was prepared to sacrifice love for duty. To honor her father’s wishes. She snuck another glace at the couple still lost in each other. Was she willing to forfeit such utter devotion from her husband? Could she marry Blackthorn with only the hope of an amicable relationship?

  “You can’t marry him, Kate.”

  Engulfed by swirling thoughts, lingering doubts, and conflicting emotions, Kate almost missed her sister’s decree.

  “I must,” she whispered. Not ready to overlook years of striving for her father’s approval, could she survive a lifetime of the same coldness he’d directed at her in the last twenty-four hours? Besides, her sister was fortunate. She’d found love with a man their father approved of.

  If she refused Blackthorn, Kate doubted she’d be so lucky to find someone who’d meet her father’s demanding requirements.

  ~ ~ ~

  Her evening did not improve. The musicale was lackluster, the company dreadful. And her thoughts plagued.

  Not to mention the disappointed looks her sister kept casting her way. Kate feared Valarie would bore a hole through the back of her head. Thankfully when they’d arrived and exited the carriage, Kate had also escaped her kin and Wipstine.

  Unfortunately, Valarie hated to be ignored and let Kate know her displeasure with each searing look.

  “I think your sister is trying to get your attention,” Lady Julia commented, stealing a peek around Kate’s shoulder to Valarie.

  Kate wouldn’t give Valarie the satisfaction of acknowledging her stare. “I believe she has something in her eye.”

  Julia studied her as if she’d lost her mind. “Where is Blackthorn this evening?”

  Stamping down the urge to snap that she wasn’t his keeper, Kate kept her response vague. “I don’t believe he is in attendance.”

  The unmarried Julia, who Kate believed was but a few years her senior, took a quick glance about the room. “There seems to be several men absent this evening. I suppose the lure of musical instruments at the hands of young ladies couldn’t entice them.”

  Kate would have laughed at the hidden witticism but she was distracted by who specifically wasn’t impressed by mediocre music. And it wasn’t Blackthorn.

  Jackson.

  She would take a hot poker to the eye before she admitted the only reason Valarie had successfully dragged her out tonight was the small possibility of seeing Jackson. It had proven too much of a temptation.

  Leave it to the blackguard to not be in attendance, resulting in two full days ending without instructions on when they were to meet next. Which meant one thing.

  He didn’t wish to continue their assignation.

  A wave of sadness, so deep she choked on the dreadful emotion, blanketed Kate. Quietly excusing herself from Lady Julia, she made her way out the door.

  The sweet smell of roses and the dark quiet of the night did nothing to repair Kate’s mood. It only increased her loneliness.

  And reminded her of the last time she’d escaped an evening function in the search of solitude. The night Jackson had erupted into her world, effectively turning everything upside down.

  Clearly an inept pupil unable to learn from past lessons, Kate ventured further from the house. Unlike the night of the Mosley’s ball, with a grove of trees to lose herself in, she found a lamplit path winding through the well-manicured yard.

  Equally absent, a gnarled tree that seemingly glowed. An anomaly she swore had sprouted from nothing. A possibility so unheard of, she’d effectively pushed the memory from her mind. A simple feat since Jackson had absorbed most of her thoughts since that night.

  But tonight was different. Tonight, she’d determinedly put Jackson—and what would or wouldn’t become of her future—from her mind. Free to roam, the memories of the mystical tree grew brighter, clearer.

  Kate ambled along the pebbled path, ignoring the occasional sharp rock jabbing through the soles of her silk slippers. The cool night air soothed her heated cheeks and as the breeze passed by her, her worries fled with it. Out here, in complete solitude, she forgot she was Lady Katherine Baxton, obedient daughter of a duke.

  She was no longer almost-engaged to a kind, respectable man whose only fault lay in his inability to capture her heart.

  Here, she was simply Kate.

  If only she knew who Kate was. She’d spent so long being who everyone wished her to be, she no longer perceived herself.

  As the path started to curve back to the house, a heavy weight fell on her. She wasn’t ready to return.

  Though highly ill-advised, she stepped from the designated course and set her own path, one lacking in smartly placed lamps and even footing. Maybe if she ventured far enough, she’d find what eluded her.

  What she did find wasn’t what she’d expected.

  But maybe exactly what she needed.

  Chapter 16

  He shouldn’t be tempting fate, and he most certainly shouldn’t be following her. Nothing but trouble would result. Trouble Jackson had no need for. He’d washed his hands of Katherine Baxton, desire for her be damned.

  Yet his quiet footfalls continued to echo her steps as she foolishly ventured into the dark. Didn’t the woman have any sense? All sorts of dangers could befall her. Because he wasn’t about to let a helpless female stumble into a situation she wasn’t prepared for, he had no choice but to rescue her.

  A complete coincidence his rarely used chivalry conveniently brought him closer to the one thing he craved above all else.

  Kate.

  Her stride shorter than his and hindered by the darkness, he easily kept pace. Undoubtedly he’d find her in the darkest of dark with all manner of obstacles in his way.

  After his talk with Willie, his plan had been set. He’d do what he must to appease his father without further interaction with Kate. The power she welded over him was too strong. Curse, legend, hocus-pocus, whatever it was could go to the devil. He would control his destiny. Not some blasted tree filled with nonsense.

  If that were so, then why had he arrived late to the musicale just to scout the crowd for her? He c
ould prevaricate all he wanted, but there was no denying his gaze searched for a particular lady as he’d scanned the room. Or what caused him to exit into the gardens when he’d yet to locate a vision with dark chocolate hair and eyes that heated his blood.

  The very person who currently led him further from the other guests and, most likely, his own commonsense.

  As the bushes and trees thickened, Jackson knew he must stop her. She wouldn’t be injuring herself under his watch.

  With two long strides, he moved close enough to breathe in the sweet scent lingering in her hair from her soap. Unwilling to startle her, lest she stumble, in one quick motion he stepped forward and encircled an arm around her waist.

  She stiffened at his touch but her subdued demeanor broke when she started to fight against his hold.

  “Kate, stop,” he whispered into her ear as he tightened his arm so she wouldn’t fall.

  She stopped her struggle. “Jackson?”

  He kept her tight to his body. “Where are you off to?”

  “Away.”

  Emotion, so deep his heart skipped, filled him at the single word. He’d forgotten he wasn’t the only one affected by the mysterious thread binding them together. Guilt slammed into him at how he’d pushed their acquaintance further. He’d been the one unable to stay away.

  As she shifted in his arms and her heat melted into him, his body stirred. Jackson pushed aside all the reasons why he needed to leave.

  Instead, all he saw . . . all he felt . . . all he knew was Kate.

  Finished with resisting, he trailed soft kisses against her neck. “Take me with you.”

  Her whimper set off an explosion inside of him, blowing his restraint to shreds.

  He cupped her cheek and with no further encouragement, Kate turned into his embrace. In the faint moonlight, he could only make out the shine of her eyes but he needed no beacon to discover her lips with his.