The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (13 page)

She broke out into hot tears, not even sure why she was crying, but fixated on the notion that Damian might think her easy and docile because of the way she’d been acting with him
.
Damian moved quickly, pulling
her onto the bed with him
,
where he
just held her
.

When she’d calmed a bit, he said softly, “I swear on my honor that I will never accuse you of any pretense, any deception
.
T
o do so would be the height of absurdity, since you must be the least deceptive person I have ever known
.
I fear that you will accuse me, with far more reason.”

That was enough to stop her sobs
.
“Why would you say that?” she asked
.

He paused for so long she thought he wouldn’t answer
.
“I was afraid,” he said
finally
, “almost for the first time in my life.”

“I don’t understand
—
what could you be afraid of?” 

“Before the picnic, I could hear what the other girls were saying
—
about my brothers, my family
.
Our ways are different, Genevieve.”
She tried to interrupt, but he stopped her
.
“I feared you would be afraid to marry me
.
Yesterday in the wood, I forced things
.
I knew you were mine,
so
I pushed you
until I was sure your box had changed
and then used Declan to
convince
your parents to agree to a speedy marriage
—
so you wouldn’
t have a chance to back out.”

Genevieve was stunned, though she realized she shouldn’t be
.
It was obvious enough now, but she’d been so confused, so overwhelmed, she hadn’t grasped what he was doing
.
She turned so she could look him in the face
.
She could see
fear
and also intense desire there
—
it was dizzying.

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask how they were different, but Damian
touched her chin with his hand
.
“Don’t ask that, Genevieve,” he said huskily
.
“Trust to the
heartwood
.
It has never failed our family.”

“Yet you fear,” she whispered.

He smiled ruefully
.
“Not the
heartwood
, but if your mother or friends came to you full of dire stories about the Black
family
, if your father refused to give you to me at Titania’s
Altar
…
.
”

“So that’s why you’ve posted a guard outside my room
,
” she said
,
shaking her head at the strange ways of males
.
She gave him a light kiss
.
“We will both have to trust.”

Morning dawned on the first wedding
of
the
s
eason
.
In houses all over the village, the family cook was up with the sun to make sure their special casserole, stew, or pie did credit to the household
.
Though the weather promised to be clear, tents had already been set up on the green next to the tavern
where they would remain until after the final couple was married
.

No lunch would be served by Mr. Richards that day
.
As soon as the morning meal was over, the grooms and serving-men would begin hauling out the long tables and benches for the feast.

At the Mirans, Cyrus was already out of the house, preferring the
tavern and the relaxing
company of his friend, Mr. Richards, leaving his wife and daughter to
cope with
his new in
-
laws
.

Unlike the previous morning, the conversation around the
breakfast
table was subdued
.
Genevieve couldn’t help feeling all the usual nerves of a bride on her wedding day
—
and perhaps some that were less usual, considering she was marrying a man she’d known for less than two days
.

Her stomach was in turmoil, and she was gearing up for her usual battle with Derek
,
when rescue appeared from an unexpected quarter
.
There was a loud rap on the front door, and before her mother could even
rise
, Sally and two other girls pushed their way into the small dining room
.

“We’re your bridesmaids,”
Sally
announced with a mischievous smile
.
“I knew you’d be too big a goose to ask anyone, so
Emily, Jane, and I
decided to volunteer.”

Poor Mrs. Miran was
put in
a terrible quandary
.
She’d rather have died than turn away a guest without offering refreshments, but though she’d again made enough food for twenty, the small dining table couldn’t possibly fit three more people, especially with three giant Black brothers already seated
.

She wrung her hands, begging the girls to be patient so that she could set something up in the parlor
—
or perhaps squeeze in some chairs
…
.

Sally’s shrewd gaze took in the situation in an instant
—
Mrs. Miran’s dilemma as well as the conspicuous silence of the Black brothers, who in her opinion should have been jumping up to offer their seats
.

Her eyes twinkled knowingly as
she
looked at each brother in turn and then said, “We’d love some breakfast, Mrs. Miran, especially some of those famous sweet-cheese rolls of yours
.
I’m sure these boys have eaten enough
.
It’s time for you three to be on your way, anyhow
.
Today is for the girls
.
You’ll see Genevieve at the
altar
—
don’t you worry.” 

It was enough to startle Genevieve out of her uneasy musings
.
She wanted to laugh at the long silence that followed Sally’s pronouncement
.
She easily read Damian’s annoyance, Donal’s smirking defiance, and Derek’s indignation
.
Good manners or not, none of the Black males would like taking orders from this girl
.

Poor mama was fluttering on the verge of panic, and Genevieve realized it was her responsibility to settle this
.
She took Damian’s hand and kissed it
.
“Trust,” she whispered in his ear
.

She watched him closely
.
He was clearly reluctant to leave her, which she found a little disappointing
.
Did he think her that fickle
?

But Damian had been watching her as well: he gave her a rueful smile that seemed to ask for forgiveness and then rose
.
“Of course, we’re almost finished
.
Please, ladies, take our places.”  He gave an authoritative nod at his brothers that silenced all protests.

“Oh,” Mama said anxiously, “if you’re sure you’ve had enough
—
I could pack something up…
.
” 

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Miran,” he said in the soothing tone that worked wonders with her mother
.
“We must meet our men at the tavern in a short while anyway.” 

“You’ve plenty to do without worrying about
them
, Mrs. Miran
.
They’re grown men, they’ll take care of themselves,” Sally added with a triumphant smirk
.

Damian shot her a wary glance, while Sally raised her eyebrows in friendly challenge
.
Genevieve couldn’t help chuckling at the little battle of wills taking place between them, but her laugh caught in her throat when Damian turned
on
her with a dangerous smile
.

Before she could protest, he bent and gave her a kiss
—
a lingering, open-mouthed kiss that left her breathless
.
His message was clear: while he might have yielded to Sally’s
bold
demand, Genevieve should not expect the same
.

“Until later then,” he said and took his leave with his brothers.

There was a moment of shocked silence, which
M
ama quickly covered by fussing over her new guests
,
rushing about to collect the used plates and fetch new ones from the
kitchen
.

Emily and Jane
began tittering and whispering to each other, while Genevieve slumped in her seat, trying to recover herself
.

Sally took Damian’s place and said in a low voice, “I had to make sure you were
all right
after that business at the picnic
.
Damian Black
.
That man is a piece of work.”

“I’m fine, Sally, honestly.” 

“I can tell
.
This is the best I’ve seen you in years, and good thing too
.
He must be treating you
decently
.”

“He is.”

“He should
—
you deserve it
.
I see you’ve had to take on the brothers as well.”

Sally’s gaze was so penetrating, Genevieve didn’t even try to deny anything
.
“They are to live with us,” she admitted
.

“Of course they are
.
I hope he at least asked you,” she said shrewdly
.

“He did
.
If I’d said no, he would have accepted my decision,” Genevieve insisted
.

“No risk of that with
you
, though,” Sally sniffed
.
“You’re too sweet by half, and he knows it
.
It’s going to be uphill work mana
ging men like those, but I suppose
you’ll figure something out.” 

Genevieve could only marvel that Sally grasped so much, infinitely more than
M
ama, who seemed completely awestruck by her new in-laws
.
She
grasped Sally’s hand
and said feelingly, “Thank you for coming
—
I’m really glad you did.”

“You’ve a friend when you need one
.
Don’t forget that,
Genevieve
.
And anyway, we all owe you for taking on Damian Black.”

Sally
wasted no time
living up to her words
.
She
took charge of the wedding preparations, ordering up a bath, selecting perfumes, and forcing Genevieve to submit to various beauty treatments for her hands and feet
.
All the girls were full of gossip about the
Bridal Week
.
Apparently, t
wo
girls’ boxes had changed color
the previous day
.

“How is Peter?” Genevieve asked
Sally
.

“Week’s not over,”
she
answered
.
From the way
Sally’s
eyes sparkled, Genevieve was sure it was just a matter of time.

“Sally’s play
ing hard to get,” Emily said.

“No man will rush me,” Sally said firmly
.
“My box will cha
nge when it’s good and ready.”

“Not like Genevieve here,” Jane teased
.
“I own we were all stunned
.
The shyest girl in town was the one
whose
box changed first, and
for a man like Damian Black.”

“Careful with those flowers, Jane
.
There’s no getting pollen out of
silk
,” Sally said, taking charge of both the flowers and the conversation
.
“Shyest girl in town?” she said in a low voice to Genevieve
.
“You’re something, Genevieve Miran, though I don’t know
if
it’s shy.”