“Maybe someone asked them to.”
Georgia hadn’t given up on her concern that this might be linked to MI-18. She’d brought it up a number of times since her arrival, and despite having no evidence to support her theory, she seemed more convinced than ever. With anyone else I might have written this off as paranoia. But Georgia wasn’t prone to overreaction. She was always the one who managed to keep things on an even keel. Something about this situation bothered her on a visceral level. Truthfully, it bothered me, too. It scratched in the back of mine like a stray, unwanted but determined to get inside. Both of us were far too rational to think there wasn’t an explanation for all the madness. We had enough enemies in our past, the last thing we were worried about was a house turning on us.
“What are you two doing for your anniversary?” Georgia asked.
I looked at her in surprise. “It’s not really our anniversary.”
“Word to the wise, never say the words ’it’s not really our anniversary’ to anyone again,” she said. “Especially your wife. Just buy her flowers.”
“There’s nothing to do in the village. I’m sure people around her just hit the pubs.”
“Edward told me about a dinner party,” she said. “You two should go.”
This was news to me. Why hadn’t Belle mentioned it?
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving Penny here without one of us,” I admitted. “I’m sure Nora would do just fine. I just…“
I couldn’t put my finger on it. As much as I appreciated the staff. I didn’t know any of them. I couldn’t trust them the way I could trust myself or Edward or Georgia.
“You need to get her out of this house.”
She might have a point. It was obviously a coincidence that Belle’s problems began when we moved here full time. But that didn’t mean that getting her away from those problems—even for a night—wouldn’t do her some good. “I’ll make her go with Jane and Edward. It will be good for her.”
“You should be with her,” Georgia said. “Anniversary, remember?”
“Someone has to stay with the baby, and I want you to go with them and keep an eye on things.”
“No dice.” Georgia shook her head and pushed back from the desk. “I’ll stay with the baby.”
“You’ll… What?” I’d heard her wrong. There was no way that Georgia Kincaid had just offered to babysit.
“I’m around a baby all the time,” she said defensively. “I won’t break it.”
“Her,” I said gently. “You just don’t seem the motherly type.”
“Neither do you,” she snapped. “Look, I can change a nappy. I can give a bottle. I’m not totally useless.”
“Are those really the new criteria now?” Belle’s cold voice cut in.
“Beautiful,” I said, whirling toward her and finding her standing with Jane just inside the door. “Georgia just offered to stay with Nora and Penny on New Year’s so that we could go out.” Georgia cleared her throat lightly, and I added, “for our anniversary.”
“You want to stay with our baby?” Belle’s surprise mirrored my own reaction.
Georgia looked even more put out. “You know, the Queen of England trusts me with her kid, so maybe you two could lower your standards just a little.”
“I didn’t know that you liked kids,” Belle said quickly, clearly worried that she had offended her.
“I don’t.”
We all waited for her to finish that statement, but she didn’t.
“If you’re sure,” I said, eyeing her to see if she was just being polite.
It was Jane that finally interrupted, “Oh Lord, just take the help. Penny will be in good hands. And I want to go dancing and I want to see you two dancing.”
Belle and I shared a sheepish look. That would require us putting our little disagreement behind us. I didn’t want to force her to forgive me because of some holiday. “Sounds good to me. If you want me to come, beautiful?”
I put it in her hands. I told myself that if she said she didn’t want me there it didn’t mean anything, except that she wanted to relax and be with her friends. But when she finally nodded, relief washed through me.
“Then it’s settled.” Jane clapped her hands. “A new year always reminds me that there’s not enough time to wait for the perfect moment. There’s only time to live.”
I found myself hoping she was right.
7
Belle
“I have nothing to wear,” I announced, coming out of my closet. I’d been in there for the last ten minutes shoving apart hangers and staring at dozens of choices. Nothing felt right.
“You have half of Harrods in there.” Edward strode past me into the closet and turned, planting his hands on his hips. He was already dressed in his outfit for the evening. Most years we wound up doing something that required tuxedos, but this year, given that we were going to a dinner party in the village, that seemed like overkill. That left me not knowing what to wear. Edward, as always, knew exactly how to rise to the challenge. He’d opted for a pair of well tailored charcoal trousers, a polished pair of Testoni loafers and a thickly knit sweater, its toggle button open at the neck to reveal a hint of the pressed white shirt below. He looked effortlessly effortlessly casual with his dark curls artfully combed away from his clean-shaven face. “You have one million things to wear in here.”
I followed him inside, shaking my head. “All of these were from before.”
“You have an expiration date for clothes now? Belle, you run a fashion empire,” he reminded me.
How could I explain to him that I felt differently now. “None of it will look the same. Nothing is where it used to be.” I waved a hand over my body, hoping he would get the picture. My boobs were still bigger than before Penny. My stomach softer. My hips fuller.
“You look fabulous,” he said, dismissing my concern.
“I don’t feel it,” I said softly. I rolled my eyes. “Just pick something for me.”
“I never thought the day would come that I got to dress you.” He looked as if I just handed him a belated Christmas gift.
“Fine, but nothing too flashy.” I didn’t want to draw attention to myself in the village tonight. Who knew what rumors were going around about the Prices and Thornham. He shooed me out of the closet.
“Be patient, and you will see how genius creates a legend,” he called to me.
“Legend? We think awfully highly of ourselves.”
His curly head popped out, plastered with a smug grin. “I’m royalty, remember?”
I sat down on the edge of the bed and began chewing my fingernails nervously. I still wasn’t sure about leaving Penny, even with Georgia here. But neither Smith nor Edward seemed willing to let me back out of the evening’s plans. I also didn’t have a leg to stand on. Given that I had been avoiding being alone with the baby, it seemed strange to insist on staying with her now. For some reason though, it felt like a bad idea. Then again, given my mental state, maybe I wasn’t the best person to make this decision.