Mismatched Under the Mistletoe - Jess Michaels Page 0,5

will marry soon, and that will make me a dowager.” She twisted her lips. “I’m happy for him, but when the real title is gone, it feels a little like…”

Cav completed the sentence. “Like Andrew is fully gone, too.”

“Yes,” she whispered, but then she shrugged away the pain that went with that thought. “Still, it will be jolly. And I will have my party to look forward to the next day, so that will help me get through the festivities.”

“You could always join us,” he suggested. “You know my grandfather thinks highly of you.”

“The marquess is a delight, but no,” she said. “I will allow you your family in peace.”

Cav nodded, but she thought there was a flicker of disappointment in his stare. He glanced at the clock on her mantel and shook his head. “I’m afraid I must go now, to meet with the man, himself.”

“Of course. Thank you again for coming, Cav,” she said as they walked to the foyer together. “And for your indulgence in helping me.”

As they waited for his horse, Cav looked down at her. His dark blue eyes held hers, focused entirely on her. How many ladies had gone faint at that look over the years? Even she felt a little flutter sometimes when he did that, even if she knew he felt nothing except friendship for her and she for him.

“If you call,” he said, “I will answer. Good day, Emily.”

“Good day, Cav,” she said as he exited her foyer and swung up on the fine mount that had been brought for him. She watched him ride away into the cold. Soon enough she would see him again, this time as a partner in her plans.

She just hoped she would help the others find love in the countryside. Because this time of year, she had to believe everyone needed it a little more.

“How was Lady Rutledge?” the Marquess of Comerford asked as he strode into his parlor where Cav had been waiting since his arrival.

Cav scowled at his grandfather, a man he looked very much like except for the graying hair and a scattering of wrinkles from a life well-lived. “And who says I was with Emily?”

The marquess snorted as he poured himself a drink. “You postponed our appointment today. The only reason you set our weekly meetings aside is for that lovely woman. So I know you were with her. You might as well not pretend otherwise.”

“Nothing gets by you, does it?” Cav muttered as he flopped himself into the chair nearest the fire.

“I raised you since you were ten,” his grandfather said as he, too, took a seat. “So the answer to that is no.”

Cav shut his eyes. He adored his grandfather, who really had been more of a father over the years. Gruff though he might sometimes be, he loved Cav. He’d been a teacher, a friend, a confidante. He was lucky to have such a person in his life.

Of course that meant the marquess also knew him too well. “What did Lady Rutledge want?” he pressed.

Cav clenched his hands in his lap. “She invited me to a country party that will go until around Epiphany,” he said. “It’s a grand to-do, she’s very excited about it. She wants my help.”

“I see,” his grandfather drawled. “And of course you cannot help but offer that assistance, no matter the cost to yourself.”

“You should have seen her.” Cav shook his head. “She was…happy. After the past few years, I am pleased to see it. Because she’s my friend.”

The marquess held his stare evenly. “And there’s also the small fact that you are in love with her.”

“Stop,” Cav grunted as he got to his feet.

“I can’t,” the marquess insisted as he folded his arms and watched Cav pace the room. “I’ve watched you moon over that woman for nearly a decade. After Rutledge’s death, after the proper amount of time had passed, I thought you might take your chance, but you didn’t. You still haven’t.”

“Because she views me as a friend,” Cav choked out. “She…needs a friend. And I…cannot say no to her. I’ve never been able to say no.”

“So you break your own heart just to see her pleased for five minutes or five hours or five days,” his grandfather grunted. “Don’t misunderstand me, I like her. I’ve always liked her. She makes it impossible to do anything but.” He got up and moved toward Cav. “But I more than like you, my boy. And I hate to see you hurt.”

Cav felt