'Tis the Season for Lady Sarah - Maggie Dallen Page 0,19
under her chin and tilted her face up so she was forced to meet his fierce gaze. “I was there. I saw how you handled yourself, how you managed the household, how you kept this family together during its most difficult time.”
She bit her lip to keep from crying. “I didn’t forget that you were there,” she said. How could she? In her brother’s absence, Everly had stepped in until Max could return, taking the reins of the family estate and finances as she ran the household until her mother was able.
“Did I ever thank you for your help?” she asked.
“You did not need to.”
Her lips parted with a question, but she shut them quickly. It would be churlish and rude to question why. Did he not require her gratitude because he considered it his place to come to her aid...or because he owed it to her brother?
She feared she knew the answer.
It had always been about his sense of loyalty to Max. That was the only reason he was in her life, and they both knew it.
She took a step back until his hands fell away. She’d needed to remind herself of where she stood with him. Where he stood. Which was further apart both physically and mentally. For somehow, the lines had been blurred. One kind gesture, one dance, one intimate conversation and she had forgotten how things were between them.
But still, it deserved to be said. “Thank you. For your help back then, for your help just now…” She waved a hand toward the doors leading to the ballroom. She turned back with a smile as she finished. “For not saying I told you so.”
His laughter was low and warm.
She drew in a deep breath. “Well, I cannot stay out here forever, now can I?” With a grimace she added, “There is still much entertaining to do, and I can’t desert Marigold to the masses for long. She’s likely to end up behind a fern.”
“You will brave the party again, then?” he asked.
She tipped her chin up. “Yes. Of course. I will not be frightened away from my own brother’s ball just because of a disappointment, now can I?”
Her words were brave but she wasn’t quite sure she felt them. A disappointment. What an understatement. All of her hopes for a bright future, a happily married life, the family of her own that she so desired…
It had all come crashing down with one introduction. And even as she stared at the doors she wondered—why? Why not her? Why this other lady?
Had he changed or had she? For surely, she had not fallen for a fickle cad...had she? Everly’s words came back. About how he’d created a woman who’d never really existed. Her heart twisted in her chest.
“Now this will not do.” Everly’s low murmur made her shiver as he drew close to her side and rested a hand against her cheek. “Do not let him see your pain.”
She nodded. “I won’t. I just…”
He continued to study her. “Just what?”
She drew in a deep breath as she shifted her gaze to meet his. “I was certain.”
He nodded. “I know.”
“And now…”
His wince was so slight, but enough for her to know that he understood. “I know.”
She nodded. She supposed he did. If he’d been thwarted by a lover then he had to have been through all of this. The wondering. The confusion.
The doubt.
“It’s making me rethink...everything,” she whispered. “Everything I thought I knew and understood.”
He nodded, a loud exhale escaping as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Would it help if I told you that you are not alone?”
She swallowed the tears that were choking her but she nodded. “Yes. That would help.”
He leaned down and his lips grazed her forehead, so light and quick she might have missed it. Her breath caught as a spark seemed to explode inside her at the brief contact.
“I will be by your side at every moment,” he said.
She wet her lips, her heart racing though she could not say why. “But...but we’ve already danced once, and you’ve already caused a stir.” She nodded toward the doors. “Someone might have seen us. People will talk and—”
“Then let them.” His voice was firm and brooked no arguments. “You and I know the truth, and your brother knows I have your best interests at heart.”
She nodded. She knew he did not see her as anything other than his best friend’s little sister, and he was right that Max knew it, too.
So why was her