“I highly doubt that.Wait, no, I am completely sure of that.”
Henley silently replayed his sister’s words, then hesitated.
Pere carried on a few more steps and paused before the door, then, as if just realizing he wasn’t directly behind her waiting to open said door, frowned.“Henley.”She looked pointedly at the door and waited.
“What do you mean, I’m making the plot thicken…” Tension crept into his shoulders as he considered all his actions of the past month, the fight that didn’t happen, and to whom it might have been told… and how society might have twisted that, like they had twisted the original sin of last year.
“It’s not that.”Pere’s voice cut through his thoughts like a knife and it gave him immediate relief.
“Open the door for me the like the gentleman I know you are, and we’ll talk about everything.”She gestured to the door once more and waited, arching a brow.
Henley quickly opened the door and led her into the weak sunshine.The clouds had dispersed somewhat, just enough that the rain had halted, but the air was damp and chilly.He glanced to a nearby bench, but the light rain had left it slightly wet, so he led her around a small hedge and then gave her a pointed look.“Please, now I’m not curious, I’m concerned.”
“You know, I don’t always agree with Edwin—no,” she corrected herself.“I rarely agree with him, but sometimes you are a mother hen, Henley.”She shook her head.“But I’ll give you the short version and then details, so you stop worrying.”
“Please.”Henley clipped.
He hated being called the mother hen, incredibly emasculating, but it wasn’t completely untrue either.Which was why he hated it so.
“So… I know.”
“About what?”His brows furrowed.
She gave him a sharp look.“Your habit of interrupting.”Then, more deliberately, “I know about you and Anna.”She blinked, eyes wide, watching him with a raised brow.
Henley’s curiosity sharpened, mixed with a desperate need to hear what had been said.“What exactly do you know?”
She leaned in slightly.“I know you’ve been very busy—and not entirely honest with me.But strangely, very open with my best friend, the one you’re secretly in love with.”
He smirked.“That’s one way to put it.”
“I can be direct when it suits me,” Pere replied, her tone defiant.
Henley nodded.“And?”
“And…” Pere let out an exasperated sigh.“And Edwin is going to be irate with you when he finds out, because Anna just rejected his suit.”
The world stopped spinning for half a second as Henley replayed the words once more, making sure he was hearing correctly.For good measure, and before he allowed himself to dare believe it, he asked Pere, “Say that again, clearly.”
“You, with your midnight kisses and stealing her in the hall away from Edwin, all the little flirtations that send sparks in very public dining rooms, everything, has created a situation where Anna, my best friend, who just told me all this a few hours ago, mind you, has decided that the brother that I thought she was in love with wasn’t the right brother.”
“That… wasn’t nearly as clear as your first one but more detailed… are you certain?”Henley reached out and gently grasped his sister’s arms.
“I was there, Henley.I can’t be more certain.”
Henley let the dam holding back his reaction break, allowing all the dangerous hope he’d kept so cautiously to burst forth.“Me?Anna… she rejected Edwin because of me?”
“Yes.And it’s taking a lot of convincing to get you to see that fact.I’m worried about your intelligence.It speaks badly for the family if you’re this slow, Henley.”Pere rolled her eyes.
“I’m making sure I’m not reading into the situation.”Henley’s smile was so wide it made his face ache.“I… I need to see Anna.”He released Pere and turned, only to be halted by Pere’s hand on his shoulder holding him back.“No.She’s speaking with her parents.”
“Then I need to speak with her parents first—”
“No.You need to stop moving and listen.”Pere spun him around to face her, cupping his face in both hands until his eyes met hers.“Give her time to address this.Then you can rush in and ask for her hand.But if this isn’t handled carefully, it could go very badly.”She sighed dramatically.“And I don’t know how Edwin will take it when he realizes he’s been rejected because of you.Hear me—we have to handle this in order.”
She paused.“Start here.What do we do about Edwin?It’s going to become obvious very quickly who she’s chosen—especially if you start leaping fences to get to her.So, are you going to stay put if I let go of your face?”
Henley nodded.As Pere’s hands slowly left his face, he said, “You’re right.Edwin will be at the outing, and he’ll be all too eager to make me the center of a scandal—even if it means dragging Anna down with me.”
