Authors: Nichole Matthews
Kneeling
, he ran his finger lightly over the ribbon. “It’s very lovely indeed.
One of the prettiest ribbons I’ve ever seen.
” He tapped her nose tenderly.
“Would you like me to tie the ri
b
bon in your hair?”
She nodded.
Taking
the ribbon
from her outstretched hand, he tied it
around the end of her pigtail
, then lifted i
t up for her inspection
.
He felt a strange longing in his chest, a tight pull. He a
l
most felt as if
he couldn’t breathe properly.
Grabbing the end of her pigtail, s
he beamed up at him.
W
ith his lips thinned, he lifted
the blanket from her dolls face
.
“Did you get a ribbon for Daphne?”
“Oh yes,
Mr. Hawk.”
Beatrice nodded emphatically.
Pu
lling the blanket away, a bright
pink ribbon was looped
around Daphne’s neck.
Declan patted Beatrice
’s
head softly. “You both look very pretty
,
indeed
.”
“Thank you
Mr. Hawk
,
” she
called, clutching her doll tightly to her skinny body, she
skipp
ed
back
towards the other little girls.
Straightening,
he spotted Poppy standing not ten feet away
, her face devoid of a smile
just watching,
with a strange look on her face.
Raw and naked.
Dusting off his knees, he headed in her direction
.
She didn’t want to examine the emotions she was feeling. Seeing him with Beatrice made her chest hurt and her throat burn. Did anything else matter?
Declan stopped directly in front of h
er and stood quietly. His eyes roamed over her
body
artfully covered in pale peach.
The color brought out the roses
in her skin and the gold in her freckle
s
. He could see them popping out across her collarbone. She shimmered in the sun.
He didn’t think she could possibly be more beautiful than she was to him right now.
She took his breath away. Reaching out he pushed the
fallen
curl behind her ear.
She grimaced
. “I know I must look a fright.”
She worked diligently at tucking escaped tendrils back into place.
He l
ook
ed her over from head to toe,
appreciation
evident
in his eyes.
“I have never seen you look lo
velier,”
he contradicted.
“Thank you. That was very gallant.”
He grinned at her.
A grin spread over her face, holding
up
her finger
,
an orange ribbon
dangling
from the tip
.
“Do you know anything about this
, Your Grace
?”
Her left brow rose high on her forehead.
His eyes smiled at her
but he didn’t say anything
.
He just stood with his arms crossed over his chest.
Poppy touched a hand lightly to his sleeve. “I’ve suddenly come into a very large supply of ribbons.”
He shrugged.
She laughed. “You didn’t have to purchase ribbons for the school.”
“
Believe me, I don’t do anything I don’t want to,
”
Declan chuckled.
Poppy shook her head.
“I’ve come to
know
that much about you
.”
“Good.” He looked at her and smiled before holding out his arm to her.
***
Observing
Poppy throughout the remainder of the day made Declan realize what he had to do.
I’ll follow you and make a
heaven out of hell and I’ll
die by your hand which I love so well.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
*William Shakespeare
T
he next few day
s
went by without incident
. Pleasant times in the garden. Morning rides b
e
fore the heat of day became too much. Charades and cards in the evenings. Even Peyton was in be
t
ter spirits.
However,
Poppy
felt a little concerned when
Parker didn’t request to speak with her
pr
i
vately
.
It was as if he sanctioned their relationship, which made her
nervous.
Each day she an
x
iously waited
for a bellow or a summons of some sort and none came.
T
o top that all off,
Declan seemed to be spending more
and more
time with everyone else
rather
than with her.
It wasn’t that he was neglecting her
. T
hey walked in the garden ev
e
ry morning for the past three days.
There was just a haze of secrecy permeating the household
and she wasn’t
being made
a part of it.
***
The house was too quiet. It was
Wednesday
, so she was returning from her time at the
school
. Normally she felt energized from her visits but today she just felt lonely.
Last week D
e
clan had accompanied her. Watching him interact with the children was an eye-opening exp
e
rience. One s
he had hoped to duplicate today
but he had told her he was too busy.
Therefore, she found it odd when she returned home to him
wandering in the garden once again with Piper
,
their heads
quite
close together
.
The rest of the
women
were sitting intimately on
a
bench
writing on a piece of paper.
They were up to something. She just knew it
.
She leaned on her elbows with her face pressed against the glass and tapped her finge
r
tips agitatedly on the windowsill.
Sh
e wished she could hear them. Frustrated, she turned and fac
e
d the room
deciding the first confront Parker, before confronting Declan.
This ha
d
to end right now
, she was going crazy.
Bursting into Parker’s
study,
she stood with her hands on her hips
, her foot tapping as
she b
lew
out a frustrated breath.
Looking up from the stack of papers he had been going through, Parker sat back
,
his fi
n
gers steepled in front of him
,
an
indulgent
smile
on his face
.
“
What’s going on
Parker
?
” Poppy paced back and forth stopping at the window
she pointed
fervently at the garden. “
What is everyone doing?
“I have no idea what you are talking about?”
He cocked his brow
.
“
P
arker
,
I
have known you my whole life. I
can certainly
tell when you are doing it much too brown
.
”
“They are just enjoying themselves. You went to the
school
by yourself today.” He smiled.
“Surely you expected our guests to entertain themselves while you were gone?
Or did you expect them to mope?
”
She narrowed her eyes.
“The men
have secreted themselves away for the past three days. They
are gone every morning for hours
and not returning until
it is time for dinner too exhausted to even hold
up their end of the conversation
.
”
Parker stood, taking
Poppy
by the hand and pulled her
from her chair
. With an affe
c
tionate
hug,
he said,
“
Quit being so paranoid
.”
He k
iss
ed her on the top of the head and
ge
n
tly pushed her from his study.
“Why don’t you just ask them?”
“
Parker?
”
“Ask them,” he repeated as he nudged her towards the door.
“I hav
e work to do.” He smiled, gently closing the door
in her face.
There was one person she
knew she
could find comfort from
so she trudged back up the stairs and knocked on her aunt’s si
t
ting room door
,
enter
ing
when she heard her aunt’s voice
finding her reclining on her chaise as usual with a beguiling smile
.
Sitting up, she adjusted the pillows behind her and tapped the cushion next to her, beckoning Poppy to sit.
“Would you like me to ring for some tea, darling?”
“No thanks, Auntie.” S
he sighed.
Adele’s shrewd gaze traveled
over
her face.
“What is the matter?”
“Why is everyone suddenly being so secretive?”
“What are you worried about?”
“It’s frustrating me.”
“He loves you dear. Don’t worry,
” she
said as she patted Poppy’s hand.
She blinked, stilled,
and
then widened her eyes. “How do you know?”
“I’m wise beyond my years,
darling.
”
H
er aunt’s smile deepened. She held out her hand and squeezed Poppy’s fingers.
“Besides, I walked with him in the garden this
morning and asked.
”
Poppy felt the smile that was on
her
aunt’s
face overly smug.
She chuckled,
mollified by her aunt’s statement, she lay
her head on her aunt’s shou
l
der and smiled
, then jerked up suddenly, looking
into her aunt’s eyes.
“I canno
t believe you asked him about his tan.”
Adele
raised her brows.
“I can
no
t believe he spoke of it to
you, so we’re even.”
***
A little later, curled up in one of the large leather chairs in the library, Poppy dozed with a
n open
book
lying
on her chest. Her feet curled
up under her
looking like
a child.
Sitting opposite her
,
slouched in one of the other large leather chairs Declan stared at her in wonderment. He sat there absorbing her
spirit
.
He grinned
as a light snore escaped her slightly parted lips. He was half reading and half watching her sleep.
He
chuckled because he
had no idea how long
he sat there
just holding
his book
, not turning a page, not reading a word
.