The gray clouds gathered overhead, and Leonard held his dish of fruit-laced ice. At first, he had declined any for himself, but Mrs. Gillingham was not having it. Finally, he chose the lemon flavor, and he did not regret the choice as he walked about with his bowl of white confectionery.
“How is yours?” Mrs. Gillingham asked, taking a bite of her raspberry-flavored ice. “Mine is quite refreshing.”
He took a bite. “Quite good, actually.”
She bumped her shoulder against his. “See? Are you not glad you ordered your own? Though I wouldn’t have minded sharing.”
Leonard glanced back at the maid trailing after them, but her eyes were not on them. Instead, she seemed to be eyeing all the gentlemen walking about.
“So,” Leonard began, eating another bite of his ice. It really was good. “You mentioned an apology?”
“Yes.” Mrs. Gillingham stared down at her cup, using her spoon to swirl its contents about. “I went home feeling horrid after our conversation yesterday. You were generous enough to open up to me, and I was quite forceful with you.”
“Is that any different than usual?” He brought his spoon to his mouth once more.
“Perhaps not,” she said, peering at him from the corner of her eye. “But after I considered our conversation, I realized I was projecting my own desires on you.”
“In what way?” He dug his spoon in again and realized his frozen treat was quickly depleting.
Finally, she took another bite of her own, her mouth slightly puckering, then licked her lips clean.
His eyes flicked to the motion, and he forced his gaze somewhere else.
“I don’t have any family left,” she finally said. “So, my intention in my rebuttal yesterday was borne from my own desire to have a family again. Yours is still alive, so my thought was that you should do anything within your power to be with them and love them. That is all. But I fear I went too far and made you feel poorly or overridden.” She looked up at him. “I do understand your frustration. That would not be an easy burden to bear. Wealthy or not, life can be a trial.”
“Yes, it can be.” He went to take another bite, but it was gone.
Mrs. Gillingham smiled. “You should have gotten a double. And got the lemon along with the raspberry. I feel like the pairing of flavors would be lovely. The sweetness of the raspberry along with the tartness of the lemon.”
“Perhaps,” he allowed.
“Sort of like life, isn’t it? Bitter and sweet. It has both, and in some ways, one makes you appreciate the other more.”
Leonard’s mouth tightened across his face. “I see what you are doing.”
“I’m not doing anything,” she said innocently enough, scooping a large bite of ice into her mouth. “My goodness, that’s delicious. I really wish you would try it.”
He lifted his spoon from his cup, then reached over and took a bite of hers. “Hm. It is quite good.”
At first, Mrs. Gillingham’s eyes only widened, but then her mouth cracked into a smile and she laughed. The sound seemed to bubble out, as if she didn’t believe he had actually done so, then she went so far as to throw her head back. She straightened,smirking at him. And he found himself enjoying being the one to make that smile appear.
“I seem to be rubbing off on you, Leo,” she said.
He scrunched his brows, but he felt the corner of his mouth lift regardless of his efforts to stop it. “Do not call me that.”
“I quite like it.” She strode ahead, and he took a few quick steps of his own to catch up.
“I think,” he said, then licked his spoon to clean it of any residual ice, “you like it simply because you know it bothers me.”
“Me?” She looked up at him, smiling widely. “Perhaps.”
“So,” he continued, the raspberry flavor lingering on his tongue. She wasn’t wrong. It would have tasted good paired with the lemon. “Let me ask you something now.”
Her brows rose as if in challenge. “Be my guest.”
“Did you steal, even when you were married?”
She pursed her lips, the raspberry ice making them redder than usual. His thoughts took a turn as he wondered if the flavor also lingered on her lips.
