Chapter 31

Alice scowled at the mixing bowl on the counter in front of her. The batter didn’t look right - too runny. She’d watched Edward make blueberry pancakes a hundred times, and she thought she’d followed his recipe to the letter. So what was missing?

She had just dipped one index finger into the bowl when she spied movement out of the corner of one eye. Her batter-covered finger was already in her mouth by the time she realized Bella Swan had just stepped into the kitchen.

Alice’s eyes snapped to attention and she swallowed quickly. “You did not just see that,” she said, more an order than a wish.

Bella laughed. “Okay, I didn’t,” she readily agreed. “But it’s perfectly fine for the cook to taste the broth, in my opinion.”

“Good! Or pancake batter, in this case,” Alice replied.

She tried not to gape openly at the first sleep-over date her cousin had ever entertained in this house. But it was hard not to gaze in wonder at Bella’s obvious bed-head and post-coital glow, not to mention Edward’s borrowed t-shirt and sweats overwhelming her small frame. It was one thing to be awakened by muffled sex noises coming from the next bedroom, but quite another to see the living proof standing in her kitchen.

Bella felt her cheeks grow warm under Alice’s appraisal. She involuntarily reached up to smooth her unruly hair and leaned across the counter to peer into the mixing bowl.

“Blueberry? My favorite,” she said, hoping to keep the conversation focused on food.

“Mine too!” Alice exclaimed. “Edward makes them for me every Friday. I thought I’d try to return the favor for once. But I think I’ve messed up somewhere. The batter tastes all right, but it looks weird.”

Bella gingerly reached for the mixing spoon and gave it a stir. “It is kind of thin,” she agreed. “Just add a little more flour and it should be fine.”

“You think? I mixed all the dry and wet ingredients separately like the recipe said. Is it okay to just add more flour now that I have everything mixed together?”

Bella let out a short laugh. “Yeah, it’s fine. I do it all the time.”

“Really?” Alice asked as she scooped some flour out of the nearby canister. “You cook a lot?”

“Not at school. But when I’m home I cook for my dad all the time. And my mom was never very good at it, so I learned how to fend for myself at a pretty young age.”

“Wow, that’s great.” Alice sprinkled a little flour into the batter and looked to Bella for her cue to stop. “I was spoiled for a long time. My grandma was an awesome cook. She always tried to teach me but I never had much patience for it. Now I wish I’d paid more attention.”

She stirred in silence for a moment, watching with relief as the batter thickened. Then she found herself talking again, spilling the things she usually kept to herself.

“I hate when I talk about Em like she’s already gone. But sometimes it feels like she is. She can’t cook anymore, not since the accident. I guess they let her bake cookies and stuff at the home, under supervision. And Edward helps her make lunch or dinner here sometimes when she’s having one of her good days. But he has to measure everything out for her because she gets confused and doesn’t remember what she did two minutes ago. He’s so good with her - so patient. I get too upset, remembering how strong and independent she used to be. I just end up crying and have to leave the room.”

Alice blinked back the film of tears that had formed just talking about it. She glanced at Bella and winced at the sympathetic look on her face. If there was one thing she had in common with Edward, it was dislike of anyone’s pity.

“How’s this?” she asked with forced cheer, tipping the mixing bowl in Bella’s direction.

“Looks perfect. I think your grandmother would be proud.”

Alice looked at the sincerity in Bella’s brown eyes and understood exactly why Edward had fallen for her.

“So where’s my cousin this morning?” she asked with a grin, turning to the electric griddle and checking the temperature dial. She glanced back at Bella and almost laughed at the embarrassed flush that had colored her face.

“He’s in the bathroom. He’ll be down in a minute, I’m sure.”

Bella hoped he wasn’t showering again. She’d refused to wash away the delicious scent that enveloped her after their morning sex. She didn’t even want to put her own clothes back on. She knew she would have to later, for her afternoon classes. But until then, she would wallow in the remnants of the closeness they’d shared.

“Well, I hope you know CPR, because he may need it when he sees me actually making breakfast,” Alice joked. “He’s always getting on my case about being more self-sufficient. He’s such a Neanderthal sometimes. He seems to think I need to learn how to cook in order to get a man. I’ll bet you anything Jasper Whitlock doesn’t give a rat’s ass whether or not I can flip him a pancake in the morning.”

She practically snorted as she spooned the batter onto the griddle. Bella sidled onto one of the high chairs at the bar and watched Alice carefully ladle out five more round circles onto the hot surface.

“So things went well between you and Jasper last night?” Bella asked.

“Very well,” Alice answered, her grin nearing Cheshire cat proportions. “Not as well as your night with Edward, but I just met the guy. Give me time.”

She gave Bella an eyebrow waggle that made her laugh and blush all over again. Alice wondered if the girl had any idea how unusual it was for her to be here, in the Cullen household, at nine a.m. She glanced out the entryway to the living room to make sure her cousin wasn’t approaching.

“There’s something you should know about Edward,” she began. Bella’s eyes widened, her expression anxious. Alice spoke quickly to reassure her.

“Look, I know how you met him. Considering what he does for a living, I know how hard it must be for you to get to close to him - to trust him. But for what it’s worth, you should know that you’re the first girl he’s ever brought here to the house. The only girl. I’m making breakfast for the both of you because this is actually a huge, momentous occasion, as far as I’m concerned. You’re obviously really special to him. And he’s special to me. So, voila! My first attempt at pancakes.” She waved her arms over the griddle in the manner of a game show presenter. “Oh, and bacon. Shit! I forgot the bacon!”

And she was off to the refrigerator before Bella’s slack jaw could close itself. As her mind processed the information Alice had just given her, her eyes gradually focused on the abandoned pancakes bubbling on the griddle.

“You need to turn those,” she said, still in a daze. The first girl - the only girl - Edward ever brought home. . . ?

Alice was too busy digging a fry pan out of the cupboards to hear her. Bella shook her head a couple of times to snap herself out of her stupor, then hopped off the stool and padded over to the griddle on the countertop. She grabbed the spatula Alice had left there and began flipping the pancakes one by one.

Alice glanced over with a sigh of relief. “Thanks. I can’t believe I forgot this. I’m usually so good at multi-tasking, too,” she berated herself as she ripped at the packaging on the bacon.

“It’s fine,” Bella reassured her. “We can cover the pancakes with aluminum foil to keep them warm while the bacon is cooking.”

“Good idea,” Alice noted, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that. “Crap, this is still half-frozen!” She slapped the entire slab of pork into the warm pan and began poking impatiently at it with a pair of tongs, hoping to hurry up the thawing process. Meanwhile, Bella took the initiative to search for a serving dish. Alice directed her to the right cupboard, then to the drawer holding the aluminum foil. She smiled as she watched Bella slide the spatula under one pancake to check for doneness.

“We make a good team,” she observed. “Like in the bookstore.”

Bella’s answering smile matched hers. “Looks that way,” she agreed.

They each turned their attention back to the task at hand, working side by side in silence for a moment. But once Bella had the finished pancakes safely under wraps, she couldn’t help but question Alice’s confession.

“I’m sorry, but how could I possibly be the first girl Edward has ever brought home? I mean, he’s twenty-four years old. Surely there was somebody he dated at some point.”

Alice shook her head emphatically. “Nope. He put most of his energy into music when he was younger. He had prom dates and stuff, but he’d pick them up at their houses - he never brought anyone back here to meet Em. Once he was in college, he hardly ever came home. He spent summers doing internships that took him all over the country, but never back here to Seattle. If he had any girlfriends, he never told us about them. And now . . .” she trailed off with a grimace. “Let’s just say that Edward never brings his work home.”

Bella nodded, getting the picture. So she was another first for him. His first virgin. And now, his first . . . what? What was she to him? Was there a name for it? Could an escort really have a girlfriend, by any standard definition of the word? And could she ever call a man in that profession her boyfriend?

The titles hardly seemed accurate, or adequate, when she remembered the look in his eyes just half an hour ago when their bodies had combusted in a fiery union that took her breath away. There were no labels to define or contain what they had together. It was too big for that. Too much. It felt very far removed from the life she lived when they were apart. The closest word Bella could find to describe it was love.

But that word was still a little scary. Premature, at best; foolish, at worst. She was afraid to assign it to the budding relationship she shared with Edward, even though it had crossed her mind more than once the past twenty-four hours. Better to play it by ear, to simply live in the moment, than to let her imagination go wild and conjure up a future that revolved around the concept of love.

She watched Alice turn the bacon; listened to it sizzle and snap as it filled the kitchen with a tantalizing aroma. Surely the smell would lure Edward downstairs soon. She turned her eyes to the ceiling and wondered what was keeping him.

# # # # # # # # # #

Edward stood stock still in the bathroom, frowning into the mirror. He didn’t particularly like looking at himself. If he studied his features too long, they began to take on fun-house mirror proportions: eyebrows too thick, eyes overly large and wide-set, nose too flat and crooked, chin aggressively prominent. Why on earth did women find him attractive?

But he didn’t care about women, plural. He could muster the desire to impress only one. The girl whose very essence clung to him right now, sweet and heady. He had planned to shower, even though they had done so before going to sleep last night. But the sticky splendor of being inside her moments ago was not something he could willingly surrender. Not yet. Not until he had to get ready for his appointment tonight.

He couldn’t think about that. His brain fairly screamed in protest at the prospect. Yet the thought prevailed, hanging above him, the proverbial dark cloud. Tonight’s date was a regular. He knew what she liked, what she wanted, what he would be obligated to provide. He used to enjoy being with her. She was one of his preferred clients - funny, smart, attractive. She worked in PR and she often hired him as her date for industry events. That part would be easy. But later . . .

He sighed in frustration and watched his features harden. What the hell was he going to do about this? Bella deserved better. And if he planned to keep seeing her, something was going to have to give. He couldn’t let it be her. How could he let go of the one person who had brought him back to life? He was past resenting her for making waves in the placid surface of his empty existence. She dove in deep, effortlessly, that first night. The depths to which she’d taken him were too exhilarating to trade for that shallow pool he’d mindlessly paddled before. Drowning in her was a welcome release.

But now he had to figure out how to swim.

Charlotte. The name bobbed into his head like a life-saving buoy. He hated to admit that the answer might lie with her. He dreaded asking her for a single penny of her late husband’s money, but the truth was, it could help him out a lot. Maybe let him lighten his schedule with Renaissance Escorts so he could focus on getting into music again. He could put together a list of contacts from his years of study at Julliard and find out if there was a place for him somewhere.

But he knew what it would take to get back in fighting form, and it wouldn’t happen overnight. He would need far more time to devote to practicing the piano, and he would have to commit to it one-hundred percent if he had any hope of getting back in the game. Music would have to become his number one priority again. But where did that leave Bella?

She’ll be concentrating on school, he told himself. We’ll both be working on our careers. But this time I won’t just be doing it for myself. I’ll be doing it for the both of us.

He smiled grimly at his reflection, willing the mental pep talk to come true. To be possible. Attainable. Not just some pipe dream to be put on hold for another year, and another, while he continued whoring himself out to pay the bills.

“One thing’s for sure,” he announced to his skeptical expression in the mirror. “You won’t know if you don’t try.”

He ran his hand through his hair, thinking that he should comb out the tangles Bella’s clutching fingers had created, but wanting to do no such thing. He left the disarray intact and marched, buck naked, back to his bedroom. He rifled through his dresser for a clean t-shirt and sweatpants to cover his body, still coated in dried sweat and sexual discharge. He usually hated that feeling. Today it was a strangely intoxicating heaven he never wanted to leave.

He bounded down the stairs to the living room, slowing near the landing when he heard his name wafting from the kitchen.

“That’s the thing,” came Alice’s voice. “You could make a huge difference in Edward’s life. You already have. You could be the one person who can get him out of the business.”

Bella’s tone was unsure. “But I started out as one of his customers. How big a hypocrite would I be if I asked him to give up his job for me?”

“Maybe you won’t have to. At least not directly. Trust me, if Edward feels about you the way I think he does, he won’t be able to keep this double life up for long. He’s just not the type to screw around on someone who means something to him.”

“How do you know that?” Bella replied in that abrupt candor of hers. “You said he’s never had a girlfriend. Maybe he did and you just didn’t know about it. Maybe he’s able to compartmentalize and keep his work totally separate from his personal life.”

“Maybe,” Alice conceded doubtfully. “But I don’t think he’s devious enough for that. Most men are simple creatures. They can only concentrate on one thing at a time. For Edward, that was always music. After he gave that up, he put all his attention into cleaning up Em’s finances and getting her into a place that specializes in treating Alzheimer’s patients. All my pleas to get him to look for another way to pay for it fell on deaf ears. He’s so fucking stubborn,” she said with a sigh that he recognized well.

“But with you, he’s different,” he heard her continue. “He’s like his old self. The Edward who used to have a sense of humor and some joy in life, despite the losses we both suffered as kids. I like that Edward. I want him to stick around. And I know you’re the key to making that happen.”

There was a short silence, as if Bella were absorbing her words. Edward knew he was.

“I hope so,” she answered at last, in that soft alto that made his chest ache.

He decided it was time to make his presence known before his guilt at eavesdropping kicked in.

“Do I smell bacon?” he called, announcing his arrival before he reached the kitchen doorway.

“You know it,” Alice replied with smug glee. “Observe,” she ordered as he entered the room. He watched in surprise as she wielded a pair of tongs, lifting cooked pieces of bacon one by one from a frying pan into a paper towel-lined dish. “And I made pancakes, too!”

Bella nodded vigorously, lifting the foil off the plate of blueberry cakes to corroborate Alice’s statement. Edward approached the two behind the counter and gave the pancakes a quick peek, along with a wink at Bella.

“Impressive,” he said to his cousin. “And I might even believe you if Bella weren’t here. It was nice of her to let you take the credit for making breakfast.”

“What?!” Alice shrieked. “I’ll have you know I made those pancakes from scratch all by myself. I followed Em’s recipe, just like you always do.”

“It’s true,” Bella piped up. “All I did was flip them over when they were ready.”

“And tell me to add a little flour when the dough wasn’t right. But I did the rest,” she insisted with a pout. She gave Edward a slug on the arm for good measure.

“Hey! No violence before I’ve eaten,” he ordered. He noticed Alice hadn’t gotten out any plates or silverware yet, so he took care of that task, setting them in a row along the bar. She followed behind with the food, while Edward pulled a bar stool out for Bella. He did the same for Alice, waiting until she’d climbed onto the high chair before he seated himself between them.

“Such manners,” she teased.

“I have a date I’m trying to impress here,” he retorted. He turned to Bella with a grin. “Is it working?”

“Like a charm.”

They loaded their plates, passed the syrup, and took a few bites before Edward proclaimed, “Alice, you have outdone yourself. You finally made your own breakfast, and it even tastes good to boot. Nice job.”

Alice elbowed him and narrowed her eyes. “Of course it tastes good, oh ye of little faith. I’ve watched you do it for years. If you can make pancakes, anyone can.”

“Ha. Nice,” he shot back, then turned to Bella. “Do you see what I’ve had to put up with all these years?”

“Well, actually, I’m more interested in the fact that you make this breakfast every week for Alice. You didn’t tell me you could cook,” she said reproachfully.

Edward remembered their discussion about the subject quite well. Per usual, he had focused on her and disclosed little about himself. That was always his M.O. with clients. He’d known even then that it wouldn’t work with her. Yet he still felt himself falling back on evasiveness, even after he’d revealed more to her last night than he’d revealed to anyone before.

“I do all right,” he answered with a modest shrug. “Just basic stuff. I can whip up some eggs, and work a grill pretty well.”

Alice leaned forward and addressed Bella. “Remember when I said I wish I’d paid more attention to Em when she tried to teach me to cook? Well, Edward did. Brown-noser,” she added with a snort.

“At least I won’t starve if In-N-Out Burger ever goes belly up.”

“Says the guy who clogs an artery daily at Mott’s Diner.”

Alice was immediately sorry she let that one fly. She knew she’d hit the mark before Edward ever flinched. Even Bella gave her a funny look, and she realized they must have met there for their morning date the week before. She was ready to make some sort of apology when Edward took a different tack.

“Well, this meal isn’t bad, as far as dress rehearsals go,” he said.

Alice decided to play along. “Dress rehearsals?”

“Yeah. I’m assuming you’re using us as guinea pigs so you can impress that Jasper Whitman guy from last night with your culinary skills.”

“Whitlock,” she corrected, looking as peeved as Edward hoped she would. “And trust me, I do not need to be able to cook to get a man, you chauvinist moron.”

Edward chuckled and scooted his chair back. “Like shooting fish in a barrel,” he said under his breath as he hopped down and headed for the refrigerator. “Would you ladies like something to drink? Milk? Orange juice? Maybe some coffee?” He picked up the empty pot from the coffeemaker on the counter and frowned at it. “Oh, sorry, there isn’t any made. I’ll just take care of that little oversight right now.”

He smiled sweetly at Alice, who sneered in return. “Fine. I forgot the beverages, okay? I’m a sucky cook. See if I ever try to do something nice for you and your girlfriend again.”

And there was the word, finally spoken out loud.

Girlfriend.

It seemed to reverberate around the kitchen, echoing off the stainless steel, granite and tile, ringing in Bella’s ears. She glanced at Edward for his reaction, but he was too busy staring at Alice, his mouth ajar.

“What?” she demanded, looking perplexed. “It sounded like you two were working up quite an appetite this morning, so I figured you wouldn’t notice if the food wasn’t up to par. Guess I was wrong.”

“Alice!” Edward hissed at her indiscretion.

“Oh, come on,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Why are we pussyfooting around the subject? We’re all grown-ups here. It’s not like I need Sherlock Holmes to crack this code. I watched you last night at dinner together, all cozy and schmoopy-eyed, playing footsy under the table. And I won’t even elaborate on the fact that the walls in this house aren’t exactly sound-proof. You two are obviously crazy about each other. And I, for one, am ecstatic about that particular development. Aren’t you?”

Her eyes darted between their faces, both painted in varying shades of embarrassment. She was beginning to suspect it would take some time and effort for these two to get out of their own way. She already knew her cousin was good at sabotaging himself, so she was hoping Bella would be different. But the girl seemed to waffle between confidence and insecurity whenever the wind changed. She wondered if Edward’s profession was the sole culprit, or if there was something else holding her back.

She looked back at her cousin, his mouth drawn tight, eyes warning. She had overstepped, that much was clear. She bit her lip and braced herself.

“Whatever my relationship is with Bella, it’s between her and me,” he said, his voice low and eerily calm.

“Fine,” Alice mumbled, not sounding particularly contrite. Her tone was more conciliatory when she turned to Bella. “I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“You didn’t,” she denied, though her cheeks were still mottled pink. “And I thought breakfast was delicious, by the way. It was very thoughtful of you. Thanks.”

Alice beamed at Bella’s compliment. “You’re welcome.”

Edward flashed Bella grateful look, then exchanged one with his cousin that Bella couldn’t quite read. They appeared to come to some sort of familial understanding - forgiveness requested and given by both sides - within a couple of seconds. Edward turned away to make the coffee and Alice sighed in what sounded like resignation.

Bella decided to diffuse the lingering tension by asking about Alice’s classes. The conversation soon turned to the more benign topic of school, the girls comparing notes about teachers and assignments while Edward loaded the dishwasher. Bella rose from her stool to help, but he insisted that he and Alice had a system - whoever did the cooking was spared clean-up duties. Since Bella had flipped the flapjacks, he declared her exempt.

She was more than happy to sit back and watch his lithe form move around the kitchen instead. She was amazed at how much she loved watching him perform everyday mundane chores. It was a sight she knew she could get accustomed to in short order, should she be lucky enough to experience it again. She imagined what it would be like to live in this house, to curl up with Edward in that four-poster bed every night and wake up to the sight of him cooking breakfast for her. Alice had no idea how good she had it.

“You and I should meet for lunch on campus sometime,” Alice suggested, interrupting her daydream. “What’s your schedule like?”

A quick discussion determined that Thursday was a good day, since they both had several hours between classes and Bella didn’t work until the evening.

“I’ll call Jasper and see if he can come, too,” Alice added enthusiastically. “He and I had lunch together at this great burger joint a few days ago. We should all meet up there. You too, Edward. I think you’d like him if you got to know him.”

The girls both looked hopefully in Edward’s direction. He turned to the bar with a sponge, wiping down the counter as he answered.

“I’ll be with Em that day,” he reminded them gently.

“Couldn’t you just go see her afterward? It’s not like she knows you’re there half the time anyway,” Alice wheedled.

Edward’s face hardened around the edges. “She knows. Maybe if you went to see her more often, she’d remember you better, too.”

It was Alice’s turn to stiffen, her eyes watering at the wound he’d just inflicted. “Maybe,” she whispered. “Maybe not.”

Edward knew how hard it was for his cousin to watch the deterioration of their once-vibrant grandmother, so he let the subject drop.

“Lunch sounds good - maybe some other day. I promise I’ll meet this Jasper kid if that’s what you really want.“

Alice giggled. “He’s only a couple years younger than you, Edward. Honestly, you act like such an old man sometimes. You’re not even twenty-five and I feel like I should get you a tweed suit and a cane for Christmas.”

That drew a soft snort from Bella, to which Alice remarked, “Am I right? Maybe you can get Grandpa Edward here to loosen up a little.”

“Oh, I think he’s loose enough when he wants to be,” she replied, eyes twinkling.

Alice watched her share one of those secret looks with her cousin, this one rife with innuendo. Maybe it wouldn’t take as much time as she feared for the two of them to make some progress.

Edward tried to stifle his grin with a look of reproach. “Well, since I’m obviously the only voice of responsibility around here, I’m afraid it’s my duty to remind you that you have your first class in less than an hour,” he told Bella. “I can take you back to campus whenever you’re ready.”

Her heart sank at his words. One glance at the kitchen clock proved he was right. She felt like Cinderella, dreading her fairytale’s end with each tick of the second hand.

“Yeah, I should go,” she said, wondering if it sounded as much like a death knell as it felt. “I’ll get my things.”

She hopped off the bar stool and went to the landing where she’d hung her backpack last night. She grabbed it off the hook and headed back upstairs to retrieve her clothes, happy to find Edward at her heels. As soon as they were alone in his room again, she felt his arms wrap around her, pulling her back against him.

“I’ll miss you,” he murmured in her ear, planting several small kisses on the tender skin beneath.

She leaned back against him and let her eyes close so she could concentrate on the feel of his body next to hers.

“I don’t want to go,” she replied, her voice sounding small and helpless. “Can’t we just stay here and make everything else go away?”

He rocked her gently, exhaling into her hair and squeezing her more tightly. Her arms grasped his in return, her face turning toward his, cheek willfully scraping along the stubble of his jaw.

“I want to make it go away,” he said, hoping she knew what he meant; wishing he could promise more. “I don’t know exactly how, or how long it will take. But I want to change things. I want to be the kind of guy who actually deserves you for a girlfriend. The kind of guy you’re not ashamed to call your boyfriend.”

She pulled away slightly, only so she could turn to face him and look him in the eyes. “I’m not ashamed of you. I could never be ashamed of you. Yes, I’d love for you to find a different way to make a living. But your job doesn’t define you. It’s not who you are. It’s just what you do. And you can always change what you do.”

Edward felt his eyes welling up at her words; at her emphatic gaze. He wanted to say the words - those three little words of truth that rang through his head, over and over, desperate to be said and heard. But when he tried to form the words, he choked on them, and the tears threatened to spill over.

So he took her face in his hands pressed mute lips to hers, hard and desperate, to make her feel the meaning instead. He kissed her over and over, each one a silent profession, a tender plea. Her lips answered with passionate professions and assurances of their own.

I love you, too.

# # # # # # # # # #

Edward’s lips were still tingling as he headed back to his car.

Somehow he had managed to drag Bella from his bedroom, drive her back to her dorm room and deposit her there without making love to her again on the nearest padded surface. But the kisses? They were another story. Fast and furious, long and longing, they refused to be ignored or ended before their time. The kisses had their way with both of them. Edward was pretty sure the kisses were going to make Bella late for her first class, unless she attended it in his clothes, her tangled sex hair pulled into a messy knot at the nape of her neck.

He found out later that this was exactly what she did.

But for now, he ambled back to his C-70 in a love-struck daze, dick at half-mast, bee-stung lips pressed into a purposeful line. He pulled out his cell phone as he approached the car, knowing exactly what he had to do.

She answered on the third ring, her tone cool but tinged with warm surprise. He loved the sound of her voice even more today than usual.

“Edward - how nice to hear from you on a Monday morning. Is everything all right?”

“No, but it will be. I hope. Are you busy?”

“I’m never too busy for you, dear boy. You know that.”

“Then I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”

“I look forward to it,” she replied, but he had already hung up the phone.

Charlotte hummed to herself as she strolled to her desk and picked up the envelope that had just arrived in the mail. She pulled out the letter and read it once more, smiling with satisfaction at her small coup. After hearing the determination in Edward’s voice, she had the feeling he would welcome her news far more readily than she had ever hoped.

She carried the envelope and its precious contents out to the veranda, settled into her favorite wicker chaise lounge, and waited for Edward to arrive.