Married By Twelfth Night (Regency Christmas Brides)

16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Grace had never been mistletoe hunting before. Ruth had led them directly to an apple tree and pointed out the small cluster of plant growth in the otherwise sleeping limb.

“Mistletoe is such a strange plant, is it not?” Richard asked her.

Grace studied the small, creeping plant. “I admit, I have never been mistletoe hunting before. In my ignorance, I thought it grew like a blueberry shrub.”

“And here I thought you knew everything,” he said.

“I like words and clever turns of phrase, but I am not the bookish sister, remember? The majority of what I have learned in this life is based solely on experience.”

The Grahams’ gardener sent his son scaling the tree to fetch the mistletoe for them. Not more than twelve, the lad moved like a spider. She watched him as she spoke. “I wish I knew more, read more, studied more. Ruth seems to know a little of everything. I envy her diligence.”

“Yes, but Ruth would never have snuck into her neighbor’s house to bring her best friend’s brother food when he had been sent to his room without dinner.”

“You knew about that?” She had forgotten. It had been years ago.

He nodded. “You left the front door open and trailed mud behind you. You were easy enough to follow. ”

She laughed and the others looked her way. She waited until everyone was once again enthralled by the actions of the boy in the tree. “You covered for us and lied that you had broken the vase when it was our fault.” Richard had plenty of redeeming moments, but she had forgotten most of them. Now she wondered how she could have forgotten this particular memory.

“What really happened to that vase?”

“You mean, you did not even know why you lied for us? We had let the new puppies into the house, and we were so worried they’d kill one of them if we told the truth.”

“I didn’t need a reason other than trying to protect my baby sister and her friend. I believed that you hadn’t done it on purpose and feared you’d get a greater punishment than you deserved. Now that I know the truth, I can see why you stole away to the stables after sneaking me dinner.”

“You were following me!”

He shrugged, tucking his gloved hands beneath his folded arms. “You were an intriguing little thing even then.”

Was he implying she was now too?

After they collected their first basketful of mistletoe, they agreed to keep searching the orchard for more plants. She wanted to ask what other memories Richard had about their childhood, but she needed to uphold her end of the bargain, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

“Ruth,” Grace called to her sister, who was at least a dozen feet ahead of them.

Ruth stopped and turned back to them. “Yes?”

“Mr. Graham did not know that mistletoe was a parasitic plant. Since you’ve read about them, perhaps you could explain to him what that means. ”

Richard eyed her. “I thought it was you who was ignorant.”

She discreetly pinched his arm. “Play along,” she whispered.

When they caught up to Ruth, she quietly began explaining how the mistletoe grew. Grace took the opportunity to step ahead and join Bridget, letting Richard and Ruth have time alone together. Despite her confusing feelings, she wouldn’t go back on her word. Helping Richard meant helping Bridget. It was the right thing to do.

A few hours later, they reconvened in the Grahams’ drawing room with their baskets of mistletoe, ribbons, and freshly trimmed pine that the servants had gathered for them.

Bridget launched into her leadership role. “Ruth, you sort the mistletoe into bunches. Grace and Richard, you two layer the baskets with pine. I will start cutting strips of ribbon.”

A footman had set up a few card tables, and Grace followed Richard to the one Bridget had designated for them. They began quietly working, an air of curious tension sitting between them like a third person.

Grace’s eyes settled on Richard’s sideburns cut into an L shape at his cheekbone. Trimmed to perfection, they enhanced his already sculpted face. A face she had almost kissed a few days previously under a table much like this one. How could she think about Ruth when thinking at all seemed useless with Richard so near her? With all he had happening in his life, he had dropped everything to agree to making these silly kissing boughs for his sister. He’d been hiding his good heart from her, but now that she knew it was there, she couldn’t unsee it.

Richard turned, catching her in her shameless stare. “Admiring something?”

She squirmed, picking up a handful of pine needles and shoving them into the nearest basket. “What do you mean?”

“You were staring. ”

“Oh, that. I was wondering how you manage to bear all that hubris in that large head of yours.”

His lazy smile made her insides dance. “And I was wondering what is so attractive about my big head that you cannot look away.”

She scoffed, but still her cheeks burned. “What are you talking about?”

His golden brown eyes sparked a warmth inside her. “You were leaning toward me too.”

She straightened, her breathing quickening. Had she really been leaning? There was no need to panic. She could come up with a reasonable explanation. She looked at Ruth carefully sorting the dainty mistletoe on the tea table and Bridget methodically cutting ribbon from the sofa. “You are mistaken. Leaning requires wanting, and I was not . . .” She tried to remember if she had indeed been leaning and couldn’t honestly say she hadn’t been. What was it about him? She cleared her throat. “A little humility from you would be required to hold my attention.” Which was exactly why she had struggled since their carriage ride. He had shown her the real man behind his arrogant facade.

Indeed, he had shown true remorse when she had told him about his neglect toward Bridget, and according to her, he had spent the entire week by his sister’s side. She could hardly believe it. He had put his sister’s emotional well-being before the future of their estate. He had spent over a year chasing ideas to save Belside, and when put on a deadline to marry Ruth by Twelfth Night for the exact solution, he had willingly stepped away from it.

If he had been attractive at all to Grace before, which was quite the understatement, he was exponentially more so now. Such an amount of attraction seemed impossible to achieve, but drat that man, he had done it .

Any man with eyes could make a fortune if they had bet that she had been leaning toward Richard. She had likely been drooling too. The whole thing exasperated her to no end. Why him? Why not anyone else in the entire world?

“You’re much too fun to tease,” he said. “But since you have been so dutiful at helping me get to know Ruth, I must try harder to repent of my ways. What is this humility you speak of, and how might I acquire it?”

She elbowed him and he chuckled.

“I’m being serious. You’ve been telling me for years that I have far too much self-importance. I don’t like the man I used to be before Father died. I was too ignorant of significant matters and of the people I truly valued. I want to improve myself. What do you suggest?”

She pointed a small pine branch at him that was no bigger than her hand. “When did you start listening to me?”

“Maybe I’ve always been listening.”

She shook her head. “Remember the time that I warned you that those berries in the back of the house would make you sick? You didn’t listen and ate them anyway. You were sick all day. You have always believed that nothing bad could ever happen to you, and that you knew better than everyone else.”

He tried to hide a laugh behind his hand, but she saw it clearly.

“I’m glad you can laugh about it now. Despite my criticism, being positive is an admirable trait.”

“I’m laughing because I wasn’t sick.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You weren’t?”

“No, I faked it so you and Bridget would play nurse to me. I have to say, those young, skinny arms of yours were stronger than they looked. I cannot believe how long you fanned me. And all those books and drinks you two fetched—such kindness made an impression.” He winked at her.

Her stomach flipped. Immediately she remembered how Mr. Craig had winked at her at their card party, but she had had no reaction then. Not like she was experiencing now.

“You’re a liar, Richard Graham.”

“I have had my share of failings.”

This time she dropped her pine and pointed her finger at him. “And what about being repentant?”

He took her hand and crossed his heart with her finger. “I’m a changed man.”

She stole back her hand, her skin creeping with heat. His lack of sincerity, of depth, had always bothered her, and she wanted—needed—to reassure herself that he was serious. “How will I know you’re sincere?”

He sighed. “Because losing my father and the thought of losing this place . . . it’s made me realize what really matters to me. And it’s not my own happiness.”

The intensity of his gaze and the conviction in his tone were unmistakable. She believed him. In fact, she was starting to think he wasn’t the only one changing. She was starting to notice a few things different about herself. And the way she viewed Richard was at the top of her list.