“You are not the first to be duped by the unscrupulous. Tufts probably did as much as he could and then, when he couldn’t continue with the farce, he decided he’d take what he’d already got from you. Obviously he wasn’t going to be able to finish and collect the balance.”
“I need to find a new builder, and quickly, but the place I went into treated me like a silly woman. I guess the clerk was right.”
“I’ll take you back there—” he began with a scowl.
“They were too expensive anyway.”
Charles paused a minute. “I feel rather ineffectual myself. I’ve never had to hire a laborer and wouldn’t know where to find one. When our home needs repairs, I just tell ... That’s it! My butler knows everything!” he exclaimed.
Surprisingly, his declaration made her smile. “Does he?”
“It seems so. I should have thought of that before. I’ll ask him about a builder, and we’ll get your stairs started again in no time.
She looked up at him. “I was thinking how fun it would be to have a blue ribbon tied across the bottom step with a sign that said, ‘Come upstairs soon.’”
“And so you shall,” he said as if she were a child.
Rolling her eyes, she did, in fact feel better. “As soon as those stairs are done, then I can reopen the shop. I’ll need to hire someone to replace Edward. All that training in making confectionery — wasted! Not to mention how much I liked the boy.”
He squeezed her shoulders reassuringly, and it was almost as nice as sharing a kiss, knowing Charles cared enough to comfort her. She sniffed his spicy scent.
“I do hope Edward returns tomorrow, yet I don’t believe he will,” she added. And she had to think beyond the boy and his bewildering betrayal to the well-being of her family’s shop.
“Rare Confectionery will recover, and then I’ll find a reporter to come interview me about the shop and our expansion. He or she will love everything, and our customers will come flocking back, eager to enjoy the upstairs, too.”
“That’s my girl,” he said. “It all seems bleak, but it won’t be so hard to fix.”
His girl!
She craned her neck to look up at him at the same time as he glanced down at her. And her thoughts returned to their kisses, because although being comforted wasalmost as nice, there was nothing quite like sharing a sensual kiss. When he put his hand under her chin, she parted her lips.
“Charlotte,” he began.
“Charlotte!” echoed another voice, not softly but making her heart beat just as hard. Actually harder!
And then raised a little louder, the voice came again. “Charlotte Rare-Foure, you come out here this instant!”
“Mother,” she exclaimed.
Chapter Twenty-Two
When Charles released her, the sickening feeling returned instantly. The haven of his arms had made everything seem all right for a few minutes. Straightening her shoulders, she parted the curtains and walked through to the front.
Both her parents stood next to the pile of debris, still in their traveling clothes. Her father was looking up at the hole, while her mother, hands on her hips, fixed her instantly with her piercing brown stare.
“What on earth?” Felicity asked.
And then, as Charlotte knew he would, Charles stepped through the blue velvet curtain behind her.
That got her father’s undivided attention.
“Well, well,” Armand said. “The viscount. In the back room, Mrs. Rare-Foure.” He exchanged a veiled look with Charlotte’s mother — or what he thought was veiled.
Felicity’s expression softened measurably. “Well, at least we have some good news.”
Instantly, Charlotte thought her mother was referring to her father’s health.
“Father is doing much better. I can see by the color in his cheeks.”
