“My pleasure. I’m forever in service to clandestine young love,” Grace said. Oliver helped her balance as she prepared to board the second boat.
She looked at the gondolier as she stepped across, beginning to greet her partner in crime, Evan. He reached up to steady her and keep her from falling.
But it wasn’t Evan who was taking her by the hand.
No, Grace thought, freezing.No, no, no.
It was Theodore Parker.
CHAPTER TWO
GRACE FALTERED, losing her balance just enough to almost fall into the water.
“Careful,” Theodore said roughly, catching her.
She regained her footing and shoved him away, sitting down roughly on the seat.
“I thought you were meant to be his best friend Evan,” she said sharply.
He frowned, his eyes flashing. “And I thoughtyouwould be Lillie,” he retorted.
The gondolier pushed off into the glittering lights of the lagoon, and Grace dug her fingernails into her crossed arms. She was going tokillOliver.
“Why did he say you were his closest friend?” she stewed. “He didn’t even know you six months ago.”
Theodore snorted. “Things have a tendency to change, you know. I moved to St. Louis, and he’s shown me about.”
“Perhaps things have a tendency to change, but certain people don’t,” she said bitterly.
She narrowed her eyes, kicking herself. If only she had told Oliver what kind of a man Theodore really was last winter. Well, that was one more secret that would need to be revealed before the week was over. She relished the way Oliver would react and could practically see him stripping off his coat and flexing his fists, the way he had done many times before to come to her and Lillie’s aid.
She sighed and slipped off her gloves—Lillie’s gloves—which had been splattered by water.
“Still a Covington, then, I see?” Theodore asked cruelly, gesturing to her naked ring finger. He swallowed hard, the handsome mark on his jaw darkening.
She clasped her hands together and flushed. “You’re still unattached as well? How shocking,” she said, turning away.
She couldn’t believe how even now she remembered the way his strong arms felt around her, dancing. How he had saved her from that wretched man at the party only to become an even worse fate. Their gondolier steered the boat and turned a curve into a new lagoon, this one lit like a southern bayou. It was filled with the echoing sounds of bullfrogs, floating paper boats, and glowing lanterns. Fireflies flickered in the darkness. Her eyes lit when she saw them and she bit back a sound of awe. If she was with anyone else in the world, it would have been terribly romantic. She turned away from Theodore, reaching down to touch one of the lanterns. It was made of delicate rice paper and the candle inside flickered. Between the boats and lanterns were lily pads.
If only Grace’s mother could see this right now. But then, of course, she had grown up in this world, too—it was Grace who was the outsider. Last week, her mother had sat on the bed while Grace packed her trunk for St. Louis, listening to Grace explain why the time had come to embrace reality. Her childhood had been like playing dress-up in a life not meant for her. At one time, perhaps they had both hoped that she might overcome her family name, might make a match that would mend the rip her mother had left behind. But it was apparent that people didn’t forget. Perhaps if her mother hadn’t fallen so far. If she hadn’t been engaged to the most eligible bachelor of their time, only to elope with Grace’s father instead. Ithad been an enormous scandal. People whispered about shotgun weddings and decisions soaked in booze rather than reason. But her parents had married for love, and Grace had never admired anyone more. She wanted what her parents had, and perhaps she could find it, too. Just not in Lillie and Oliver’s world.
Although admittedly, her own felt very, very far away right now.
“Wow,” she heard Theodore say under his breath. The canal curved around a bend and the gondolier steered them toward a re-creation of Switzerland. There was a small, quaint Alpine town set in front of a backlit range of purple-hued mountains. The village roofs were entirely made of flowers, and there was even a working clock tower. The ever-present frown on Theodore’s face slightly receded, and something close to wonder came into his eyes.
She caught a whiff of his scent, that smoke and forest, and that night at the ball half a year ago came hurtling back at her. How could a person she had known for less than an hour have had such an impact on her? It was infuriating.
“Maybe you can find someone who wants to marry you in Switzerland,” she said sweetly. “It can only help your case if she doesn’t understand a word of English.”
It was as though he had forgotten she was there. His face instantly darkened and the wonder in it shuttered, and for a moment, she strangely felt as though it were she who had lost something.
“Are we almost there?” he asked the gondolier. He looked at Grace dead-eyed. “This has been the longest boat ride of my life.”
Grace strained toward the sound of lively music approaching in the distance. She couldn’t shake the fact that she still found him vaguely handsome, even with his atrocious personality. She was glad he would never know those secret thoughts, which would only further inflate his already overblown ego.
“You have traveled much, before, no?” the gondolier asked Grace. He flashed her a smile and his mouth was filled with gold teeth.
“Yes,” Theodore said, at the exact moment that Grace said, “Not really, no.”
