“I gather he did not want to be crushed by the onslaught of overeager mothers, though, how much of the news is pure speculation, I cannot say.”
Rebecca nodded absently.
Save me your first kiss.
The heart of a woman, she had come to realize, was a strange object indeed. The concept of time appeared but an illusion and reason did not exist within its bounds. Hers, for example, had clung to those wondrous words like a lifeline. And if ever there was a time to act upon all her dreams, it was now. Before Langley took a wife.
So why was she hesitating?
He had suggested she save her first kiss for him. And while Rebecca held no illusion that he had obsessed over the words as she had, would she be a fool not to act upon her wish to gift Langley her first kiss?
“Shall we devise a plan to make him yours?” Caroline asked. “Lord knows, I need a distraction from my belly and the child growing within. I cannot sleep for all his kicking.”
“You are supposed to stay in bed, Caro. If Mason learns you’ve been disobeying the doctor’s wishes he will lock you in your chamber.”
“Why do you think I’ve orchestrated these two blissful days? Mason has been suffocating me with his list of things I cannot do or consume. I needed space to breathe.”
“Two days are not much,” Rebecca pointed out skeptically.
“They are enough,” Caroline said on a happy sigh. “What say you? Shall I start plotting?”
“Please, no. You should rest. Let me worry about my future.”
“I can do both at the same time.”
The corners of Rebecca’s mouth lifted. “I have no doubt.” She paused. “Truth be told, I am not certain Langley and I suit.” Rebecca shrugged. “As I said, we haven’t spoken in ages.”
“That only means you are human. No one truly knows whether they suit until they discover that they do.” Caroline smiled. “So what is it to be? What awaits you this festive season?”
A trickle of excitement sparked in the region of her belly. A first kiss awaited her. She might not know what fate held after that, she might be a touch terrified, but Rebecca was suddenly sure, beyond logic, about one thing: her life was about to change. The sensation of certainty started in the center of a bud blooming inside her breast and spread until it felt like an irrefutable fact.
Rebecca smiled at Caroline. What awaited her this season?
“Destiny.”
Chapter 2
