Sommersgate House (Ghosts and Reincarnation #2)(115)

She knew.

She remembered, somewhat hazily, but she remembered muttering to Douglas the morning after their first night together.

Therefore, she knew.

Then Ruby had her prize and turned around, cuddling a fluffy, perfectly white, beautiful, squash-nosed, incredibly adorable Persian kitty in her arms.

“Unka Douglas bought them for you!” Ruby squealed.

Julia’s eyes filled with tears. She couldn’t help herself; she couldn’t have controlled her reaction if she was SuperGirl. She missed her own cat and had never been without an animal for this long in her life. It was better than an emerald (which was pretty fantastic), it was better than a diamond watch (which was absolutely tremendous), it was the best present she’d ever received.

With one quick step forward, she reached out her hands and Ruby easily gave up the kitten to Julia who practically snatched it out of her niece’s arms.

She didn’t notice Ruby whirl back around as she pulled the kitten up to her face and rubbed it against her cheek.

She turned glistening eyes to Douglas.

She didn’t know what to say.

More kittens were produced, two more to be exact.

“Uncle Douglas got one for each of us girls,” Lizzie declared cheerfully but Julia only had eyes for Douglas who, for his part, was watching her back with a look of tenderness (albeit a somewhat smug tenderness).

“I’m getting a dog,” Willie declared at this point.

Julia opened her mouth and then closed it. She opened it again and then, again, closed it. She brought the kitten down to snuggle him on her chest and shook her head as if to clear it.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Lizzie demanded, eyeing Julia incredulously.

Julia was speechless.

“Sometimes,” Willie put in, his words and tone far more mature than they should have been, “there’s nothing to say.”

* * * * *

The kittens caused havoc in the household, nearly making Ronnie fall down the stairs and giving Mrs. K fits as they scratched at every available surface (including undoubtedly priceless silk rugs). The children ran around playing with them and chasing them, which caused the once silent-as-a-tomb Sommersgate House to ring with happy noise.

That weekend, Julia decided to take a walk to clear her head. She put on her mucky cowboy boots, a pair of jeans, a dusky pink fleece and wrapped a long, pink and lavender-striped scarf around her neck. The day was bright, sunny and bitter cold.

The children had gone to the stables with Douglas to ride. Douglas was spending an extraordinary (for him) amount of time at home and had made a habit of being home on the weekends.

Julia found this most annoying, even though there was once a time, not very long ago, when she demanded that he be at home more.

She tried to avoid them. She wanted to avoid them. But she found, as if they had minds of their own, after only fifteen minutes her feet took her toward the stables.

Lizzie and Willie were already in their saddles with Ruby sitting alone on a beautiful, shining chestnut horse. As Julia approached, she watched Douglas swing expertly up in the saddle behind Ruby and her heart did a little flip.

She told her feet to turn left. They refused. She told them to turn right. They, again, refused. Before she could begin to escape, Lizzie saw her.

“Hey, Auntie Jewel!” she shouted.

Douglas had his back to her and, at Lizzie’s call, he whirled the animal around expertly so he could watch her arrival.

“Don’t mind me,” Julia called. “You guys go on. I’m on my way to –”

“You should let Uncle Douglas teach you how to ride,” Lizzie suggested, obviously thrilled at her wonderful idea.

Julia sighed. Lizzie was definitely beginning to be a problem.

If she was truthful with herself, which she was being less and less these days, she would have admitted that she wanted to see him. However, she did not want a riding lesson. She loved horses, she loved all animals, she just didn’t particularly like riding them. She wouldn’t have wanted to ride a camel either. Or an elephant. Definitely not a horse.

“That’s okay.” She was amongst them now, all of them looking down at her. She gently stroked the soft muzzle of Willie’s horse (a beautiful grey which Julia knew Gavin liked to ride). “I’m good on my own two feet.”

But she heard rather than saw Douglas hit the ground and then Ruby was moved from Douglas’s horse to the front of Willie’s.

Julia watched in alarm.

“Is that wise?” she asked Douglas.

“He’s strong and he’s good in the saddle. She’ll be fine,” Douglas replied with confidence and Julia stiffened as he came toward her. “Now let’s see about you.”

Julia glanced at Willie whose face was glowing at his uncle’s compliment. It almost made her want to give in but then she saw Douglas leading the big chestnut toward her. The horse was bigger than all the others and Julia took a step back.

“They can sense fear,” Douglas informed her.

“I know!” she snapped. “I’ve seen enough cowboy movies. They always say that in the cowboy movies.”

Douglas grinned.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

That was when he smiled.

“Oh all right,” she gave in, mainly because the children were there and she was trying to retain as much dignity as she could considering she knew she was going to lose it all in mere minutes. “What do I do?”