She holds her bare hands out, before she flips her palms up. “Well, look at that. I must go find a new pair of gloves. If you’ll excuse me.” Rainey bolts in the direction of the front of the store, leaving me and Nat to face one another.
The last time we were face to face, with no one to interrupt us, was over five years ago. Throughout that time, I would think of her daily and what I might say to her, if given the chance.
I pieced together her new life in Savannah with the information I received from her family. It was pathetic, really, how I would wait to hear her name mentioned in a conversation. I was a starving man, waiting for any morsel I could get.
Now that she is standing in front of me, hunger to know everything that I missed claws at my stomach. I want to hear it from her mouth.
“Why did you show up?”
Nat has kept her eyes trained on the hat in her hand. But the moment I blurt my question, her head jerks up. “I-”
“What were you goin’ to say?” I prod.
Swallowing, she tilts her head back to meet my gaze, exposing the column of her neck. Never has exposed skin looked so tempting.
Her mouth opens and closes several times. I lean in as I wait for her answer, but immediately, I feel the charge of awareness between us. I’ve never understood my response or why it’s with her.
Nat swallows and her mouth parts. Instinctively, my eyes move to her lips. My own mouth becomes dry, and my hands become clenched into tight fists.
I could kiss her in the middle of a dress shop and without a single care in the world.
“Asa, I’m ready to go.” At the sound of Juliet’s voice, I step back. I look over my shoulder at her. She smiles at me, while handing a dress to the cashier. “Serene was right. This dress is lovely.”
I smile, but I know it’s strained. My God, what the hell is wrong with me? “I’ll be right there.”
When I face forward, Nat’s gone.
CHAPTER FIVE
Nathalie
“CLAIBORNE AND CALHOUN MEET AGAIN!”
Serene reads the headline over the breakfast table with a dramatic flair that has me dropping my face in my palms. Customarily, I would love to listen to these trivial articles filled with fluff and tales. But those tales have never involved me. “Please stop,” I beg.
“Please go on. I’m curious to hear what this article says,” Étienne, of all people, says.
My hands drop to the table. I stare at him with a look of betrayal. “You despise most gossip columns. You once told me it would cause perfectly good brain cells to wither away.”
Étienne lifts a shoulder and takes a sip of his coffee. “I know. But these articles have become rather inventive. Just yesterday, Serene read one that said inside your valise was a rope to tie Asa’s hands together if he said no.”
My eyes widen in shock. “Truly?”
Étienne nods, slams his palm on the table and laughs. “What fools! They don’t realize you don’t even know how to make a proper knot.”
“You would presume the people of Charleston would have better things to speak of,” I remark.
Étienne wags a finger at me. “You presumed wrong.”
I didn’t anticipate the gossip to linger this long. It’s been almost three weeks since I objected to Asa’s marriage, and one week since I saw him at Madame Bourgeois. I’ve been doing my best to keep to myself, but the times when I did go into town, I could feel the stares, hear the echoes of whispered words as people walked by me. I felt spurned by the very people that once accepted me with open arms.
And yet, even confronted with their rejection, I still didn’t have regrets.
Except for one. That I didn’t come sooner. But if I did, would I have been able to boldly face Asa the way I did at the church?
I couldn’t be sure. I merely have to embrace this new reality of mine and ready myself for the next time I see Asa and Juliet.
I’d rather be rejected by the upper echelon of Charleston society a thousand times over than see the two of them together.
He made his choice. I have to find a way to accept it.
“Asa Calhoun and his new bride, Juliet, returned from Europe a week ago and already trouble is a foot,” Serene reads. “Rumor has it that Asa and his new bride had an uncomfortable run-in with his spurned lover.”
“Spurned lover?” Étienne interjects. At once, a fierce scowl alters his face and the edges of the jagged scar that starts at his forehead and runs down to his right brow is red, a clear sign he’s becoming angry.
Serene blindly reaches out and pats his hand before she continues, “We can confirm the five of them spoke, although we cannot substantiate what was said. One can only imagine what was said among the three of them. Better yet, what one can imagine the exchange between Claiborne and Calhoun was…”
Serene lowers the paper and shrugs. “Well, they are half-way right. You did speak to him, but I wouldn’t say you did with Juliet.”
“Are we goin’ to discuss the ‘spurned lover’ title they gave Nathalie?”
Once again, Serene shrugs. “I mean, if you want to, sure.”
Étienne throws his hands in the air. “It isn’t true. Nathalie has never been a spurned lover, least of all Asa’s.”
“Of course,” Serene agrees at once.
When I don’t answer, Étienne slowly turns his head in my direction. He arches a brow. “Right?”
What someone doesn’t know will not hurt them. Imagine if we walked around speaking the truth like driftless givers of doom. People would stay inside, lock the doors, and never venture outside. None of us have hearts strong enough to carry the truth.
My brother doesn’t need the truth anymore than I need it. I give him the faintest of smiles. “Of course.”
For a long moment, Étienne observes me. He’s always had the acute ability to determine when I’m lying.
But I’ve never wanted to protect the truth and my heart more than I do right now.
Serene meets my gaze, and quickly looks away, almost appearing uncomfortable to keep eye contact. Discreetly, I hide my hands on my lap to conceal how badly they’re shaking. Even after all these years, she has kept the truth to herself. She could’ve told Étienne at any point, but she didn’t. It is why I love Serene. She will always have my confidence, as a friend and a sister.
Serene loudly clears her throat. “Nat, now that you’re here, I’ve been meaning to ask if you would take pictures of Alex and Trace?”
Certainly not what I was expecting. But I’ll take the change in subject. “Photos?”
Serene nods and leans in. “Of course. I know how much you love photography. You still have your Kodak, right?”
Quickly, I avert my gaze. I can feel heat staining my cheeks. “I don’t believe I do.”
“Why not? It was your prized possession when you lived here,” Étienne bluntly states.
My face remains neutral as I look at the two of them. “I believe it became lost somewhere in Brignac House. I told myself I was goin’ to purchase another one, but…” I shrug. “There never seems to be time.”
The two of them don’t say a word. They regard me with open confusion, as though I’m speaking a different language.