“What did that bitch say?”
“Battle—”
He got in my face and clipped, “Vivienne, what did she say?”
“She just hinted, rather strongly, that you’d never find a duchess because you had to look after Chassie and Prue.”
“To their face?”
“To my face, but they were there and didn’t miss it. Tempie told her to get out of her sight right after she said it. Rally was pissed as shit. Courtney was a mess. If she didn’t walk out of the room, I think Rally would have tossed her out.”
Battle’s jaw clenched.
“Tempie had words with them after,” I rushed on. “I thought she’d handled it.”
“She didn’t.”
No.
But Chelsea did.
“Honey, I hesitate to give Chelsea any credit, but I feel at this juncture I should point out that, even if what she said was cruel, and wrong, it did get Chassie to thinking.”
“You got Chassie to thinking. She found out that same night your mum died not long ago. And here you are, calling ‘tallyho’ erroneously and peeling out of the front drive.”
“Erroneously?”
“It’s a call to the hounds on a hunt, or if you see a fox. Not what you shout before taking a day trip.”
“Oh.”
“Bloody hell, Vivi,” he bit out. “Stick with me here. My sister just had a goddamn meltdown.”
“No, Battle, your sister just asserted her power.”
His body jolted.
“That”—I pointed in the direction of the plum parlor—“took some serious ovaries. Calling Hamish? Going head-to-head with Tempie, of all people? Hell, I like to think I’m no pushover, but she scares the bejesus out of me.”
His head cocked to the side. “She does?”
I flipped out my hands. “Not really, but yes. She’s the coolest bitch on the planet, and I’ve seen her make mincemeat of Chelsea. I never want that aimed at me.”
“She adores you.”
I sighed. “I know, honey. Just…forget it. It’s a woman thing. Like tampons and periods and never talking to a friend again if they let you chat up a hot guy with lipstick on your teeth.”
He assumed a baffled look that was outrageously adorable.
I put my hands on his chest and leaned into him. “What I’m saying is, what just happened is good. Very good. Cleansing. For Chassie, and since she decided to pack a punch at her impromptu coming-out party, hopefully for Tempie.”
Slowly, his gaze moved to the door.
I put a hand to his cheek to bring him back to me.
“To put a fine point on what we talked about earlier, one of the myriad reasons I’m falling in love with you,” I began, “is how much you love them. I grew up surrounded by love, but I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
His hands came to my hips, his face got soft and gentle and warm and oh-so-very beautiful, and he whispered, “Darling.”
