Honor and Desire (Gold Sky #3) - Rebel Carter Page 0,59

so fine it looked like the images in the fashion periodicals Rose loved so much. It wasn’t that August was speaking with another woman, that he had a smile on his handsome face, or that she was beautiful.

It was that she was touching him, her hand resting on his chest in a possessive manner Seylah hadn’t ever managed to do in public. Seylah swallowed past the lump in her throat and tucked her hand close to her side.

“It does not matter that she’s touching him,” she told herself, forcing her feet to carry her forward once more. She knew how August felt about her, for her, and a hand on his chest was not enough to make her waver in her affection and trust. But even still, she heard the whispers of doubt that told her to be wary, to know that all was not as it seemed. A peal of laughter from the woman rose above the din of the busy avenue and Seylah’s step faltered.

Should she approach him? What would she say, did he want her to interrupt, or was he happier as he was?

“You’re staring,” her mother’s voice sounded without warning and Seylah jerked to a stop.

“Mother!” A hand went to her chest. “Where did you--”

“Why are you standing here, gawking?”

“I’m not gawking.”

Her mother’s mouth turned up in a smile and she tilted her head to the side looking at August and his companion. “You are, but I ask again, daughter. Why are you gawking?”

Seylah shifted uncomfortably under her mother’s shrewd gaze. “August,” she said finally.

“And?”

“And nothing.”

“I think you meant to say, August and his lady friend?”

Seylah made a face. “Who says they are friends?”

Julie grinned and threaded her arm through her daughter’s, pulling her forward with her. “There is no need to turn taciturn.”

“I am not taciturn...merely, concerned.”

Her mother nodded, but kept walking forward. “Why?”

Seylah sighed and leaned into her mother’s side. “I don’t know.”

“That’s odd, because I have an inkling that tells me you do know why, and that the center of your emotions is the woman?”

“I am not jealous of a woman I do not know,” Seylah insisted, but her voice sounded thin and tinny to even herself. She closed her eyes and turned her face into her mother’s shoulder. “I’m not,” she said, again.

“Darling, it’s all right to feel like this.”

Seylah opened her eyes and looked up at her mother. “Is it? I find it irritating,” she confessed.

“Irritating? I thought you were unaffected,” her mother said, full lips turning up into a smirk that set Seylah’s face aflame. Seylah was glad her mother’s eyes were still trained ahead of them and not on her. If she had been looking at her daughter, she would have witnessed the mix of embarrassment and ire that was at war on Seylah’s features.

“I was--ah, I am unaffected.” Seylah scrambled to recover from her misstep and she cleared her throat. “What I mean to say is that I assumed I would be irritated if I were jealous.”

Julie patted her hand consolingly. “Right you are in your estimation of the scenarios. Hypothetically speaking, of course.”

“Of course.” They walked on in silence, Seylah willing herself not to look at August where he was now crossing the street with the auburn haired beauty on his arm.

“But if I could offer you a bit of advice from personal experience?” Her mother asked.

“Yes!” Seylah nearly tripped over her feet in her haste to face her mother. “I mean, if you would care to share, that would be welcome. As a mental exercise, of course.”

“Of course.” Julie nodded patting her hand again with a knowing smile, “A mental exercise, nothing else. Though…”

“Though what?”

“I will be offering you my thoughts as a woman once in these hypothetical shoes, and all I can advise you on is to communicate. Jealousy becomes no one, and you will find that many problems can be avoided with a simple conversation, as uncomfortable as they may be to have.”

“Communication?”

“Always communicate. It’s been your fathers’ and my golden rule throughout all our years of marriage. We have a happy home, but it has not been without its ups and downs. Relationships are hard work and when,” her mother looked across the street to where August and the woman were standing in conversation, “an unknown variable is introduced to a relationship whether it be seasoned or just beginning.”

“That makes sense.” Seylah cleared her throat when her mother hummed knowingly. “I mean to say that it would make sense if I were in