Somewhere My Love (20 page)

“Thank you, Miss Knowles.”

“Karen,” she
reminded him, tapping an artificially lengthened coral fingernail on her nametag.

“Of course.  And this is Julia Morrow, newly arrived from England.”

Their heavily made-up hostess curved
glistening plum lips at Julia. “Nice to meet you.
How long will you be
staying
in Virginia?” 

Julia felt lacking in war paint, her touch of lip gloss grossly inadequate.  “Possibly forever.”

Will’s mouth twitch
ed as Ms.
Knowles arched narrow bro
ws, her smile pasted in place.
The effect was decidedly weird. 

Hazel eyes outlined
in liquid smoke targeted him.
“The British are so amusing.”

“Indeed,” he replied evenly. 

She spoke again
to Julia while fixated on him.
“Do enjo
y our fabled inn, Miss Morrow.
Dou
btless England can claim
fine examples of Victorian design.”

“Doubtless, though I’ve
not seen any to better this
.”

“How kind. Please follow me.
Mrs.
Wentworth
and
her party are expecting you.”  T
heir hostess floated ahead in a cloud of
gardenia
perfume
.

Julia
found
her
scent rather overpowering.
She
wondered the girl didn’t trip with her blond he
ad bobbing expectantly at Will.
Did he have this effect on all eligible females, ma
ybe even some not so eligible?
The flash of jealousy singeing her seemed an old one.
And it occurred to her that for the past few days sh
e’d had him mostly to herself.
This
would not always be the case.
Beginning now.

The shine of glass caught her eye. Straight ahead, t
he opulent full length mirror at the low stair landing offe
red a sparkling image of her
and Will.
Her first thought was of what a striking couple they made and the second, more startling, that she’d glimpsed their reflection before, though not in these particular clothes.  But the finely tailored suit he’d worn then was also silvery gray and she’d been
splendidly gowned and coiffed.
Was it only yesterday, or two hundred years ago? 

Ju
lia gazed searchingly at Will.
W
as he inherently Cole, as she thought, or just very like
him, as he adamantly insisted.
The latter possibility troubled her. 

In no way could she betray Cole, her heart’s center, but her emotions fo
r Will rocked her to the core.
As for her wanton behavior the night before, she pleaded the
lingering
effects of medication.
But even now, Will’s
touch on her arm triggered an exquisite wanting in every part of her, as did the flame in his eyes when he looked her way.

He flashed
a reassuring grin
at her
,
and
then returned his attenti
on to wending his way through
the
stuffed chintzy chairs and leather couches spread through
out
the parlor. 

Visitors idling
in air-conditioned comfort
sipped
coffee laid out in silver services on small
refined
tables.
Porcelain vases filled wi
th roses stood on every
surface, jostling for space alongside the knickknacks Victorian’s dearly loved: photographs in gilt-edged frames, stuffed owls, kaleidoscopes, and nineteenth century figurines. 

The honeyed
filigreed wallpaper looked like a reproduction of an original pattern and Ju
lia was impressed, momentarily.
Then their distracted guide led them out along a dark paneled hall and opened an ominous closed door. 

Overhead, a
chandelier radiated brilliance in the spacious dining room.  Crystal sparkled on the long table set wi
th a pristine cloth and impeccable
silverware.
A mahogany corner cabinet stuffed with precious china and an immense sideboard completed the lavish furnishing
s.
Brunch steamed
beneath the silver cov
ers linin
g the sideboard.
If Julia’s
stomach hadn’t been a mass of knots, the scent of eggs benedict
with hollandaise sauce would’ve
been welcome.

She wasn’t raised poor, but an eye to economy had been a consideration
in her upbringing.
Ample money
could reserve you a place anywhere as priva
te dining in this room proved.
The spotless china was bordered with the blue-gold motif remarkably like those plates that clattered to the floor when the Titanic
sank in the film
with Leonardo. 

It must be an omen
of the disaster that
,
no doubt
,
awaited her
this morning
. 
With trepidation,
Julia swept her eyes over the grand dame
in a mink stole
seated at the end of the
lengthy table.
D
iamonds
sparkled
on nearly every finger.
The middle-aged couple
sitting
along one side both
wore tasteful navy suits rather like a ‘
his and hers
’
matching ensemble, only the wife had platinum hair and he was balding
.
The woman
was also very large, but then, so was he.
Across from them, seated on her own, was
their single daughter. 

Julia im
mediately realized her error.
Anticipating a horsy, long in the tooth sort of female who belonged in
a pasture had been a delusion.
Nelle
Patterson
was a glowing brunette beauty.
Thickly lashed brown eyes smiled at
up Will
in a devastatingly attractive face, framed with stylishly layered shoulder-length hair.  The pale blue suit draping her slim, but no
t too slim, figure was perfect.
Sh
e was pretty enough to be his
sister,
with the same dark good looks.
If only she were
the homely woman he’d lead her to expect
. 

A wave of trepidation washed over
Julia
and she
felt a
bout to sink like that ill-fated
ship, and ridiculous, as if she’d arrived at a costume party to find none
of the other guests were playing dress ups
.
Not only that, but
Nelle
was obviousl
y sophisticated
.
Julia almost expected to be seated at the children’s table.

Mr. Patterson got to
his feet with a hearty smile.
“Will
!
T
here you are!”

He boomed so loudly Julia took a step back. 

Will kept a hold on he
r arm, nudging her beside him.
“How are you, sir?”

“Well! And you?
You look great!”

Good heavens, had the man been a coach or drill sergeant in his former life?

He pumped Wi
ll’s hand and turned on Julia.
The meaty paw he held out sported a
gleaming
watch she suspected was astronomically expensive
.

Engulfing her fingers in his moist grasp, he belted, “W
ho’s thi
s lovely young lady?”

“Jul
ia Morrow, from Great Britain. Sorry we’re late.
We were unexpectedly delayed,” Will added.

Julia shifted uncomfortably.
Her agonies over dressing had accounted for their tardiness.

“At least you’re here now,” his grandmother said thinly.

Mrs. Patterson offered them an ingratiating smile tha
t revealed white capped teeth.
“We haven’t waited all that long,
Nora,” she said
in a strong Southern accent with the gentility evident of her good breeding.  She ran a tongue over
thick
ruby lips.
Gold bands jingled and rings shone on stout fingers as she patted the sea
t beside her. “Julia, is it?
Come s
it by me, dear.
Will and
Nelle
have a lot of catching up to do, don’t you, Will?”

Julia couldn’t refuse, but it did seem
that
Will should.
After all, she was his date
––
sort of.

He didn’t.
In his defense
,
she supposed he could har
dly say, ‘No.  Absolutely not.
I’m staying by
Julia unto death and beyond.’
They would all think him a madman and his grandmother would denounce him here and now. 

Will gave Julia’s
arm a squeeze
.
She assumed
acting s
kills accounted for his bravado
as he cheerfully replied.

“Certainly
.
It’s been ages since we
chatted.
Julia, I’m sure Mrs. P
atterson would love to hear
about England.”

Oh, rat that he was.
Julia went to her fa
te feeling decidedly let down
. 

****

The look Julia shot Will rifled thr
ough him like a molten bullet.
But w
hat could he do?
She dutifully
took the seat next to the older harridan and h
e settled beside her daughter.
It wasn’t that he found
Nelle
unappealing. No sane man would.
But there was
a sense of artificiality
about her that he disliked, as though each gesture and word were spun for effect
––
the end game, marriage. 

Whether or not
Nelle
was actually att
racted to him, he didn’t know. It didn’t matter.
As a criminal defense attorne
y, she was all about winning.
He was surprised she wasn’t already attached
to someone else
, b
ut the angle of her jaw was perhaps a little too
jutting, a reflection of the
gritty
resolve that likely sent some men running
for their lives
.

Nelle
didn’t intimidate Will.
It was Grandmother Nora’s watchful eye that was daunting, especially when so much depended on him and Julia r
emaining at Foxleigh.
He just knew somehow events must take their course
, like a play,
if he could only
get through the drama unfolding now.

A wa
iter silently appeared, pouring
from
various pitchers and bottles.
Will sipped his water to wet his throat before tackling
Nelle
.
“You’re looking quite well.”   

She flipped h
er two hundred dollar haircut.
“Is that the best you can do after all the hours I’ve spent at the gym?”

He reached for something stronger
to drink
.
The white liquid in his wine glass wo
uld have to do.
“Very fit.” 

She rolled her eyes. 

“Stunning,
Nelle
, and you know it.”

“Must you imbibe to say it?”

He couldn’t win,
al
though he made
a
Herculean effort not to stare at Julia, so fresh and inviting in her outdated look.
He considered getting to his feet and serving himself, but Grandmother Nora had no doubt hired the waiter for that very
purpose.
She objected to all
that
clambering
up and down
and passing dishes
.

    
    
Nelle
cut
into the golden mound the attendant
spooned
onto their plates.  “I’d hoped we
’d
meet in court, that you might e
ven consider joining the firm.
The offer still stands.”