Angel in Scarlet (Bound and Determined #4)(91)

Louisa smiled. “But I would not want a package that I sent you opened before others.”

“I am glad you understand.” Ruby tapped the box once.”

“I understand, too,” Angela added. “Although I admit I am curious.”

“Now,” Ruby said, changing the subject. “Is there anything else you need to talk about? I don’t wish to keep you all afternoon. The weather is turning more and more nasty.”

“And that is your polite way of stating that you have things you must attend to.”

“Not at all. I merely don’t wish you to be delayed here; the weather threatens. I can’t imagine either of your husbands would take well to your remaining here under the duress of a storm—or otherwise.”

“And that’s just want I wanted to talk to you about,” Angela burst out suddenly. “I don’t know how to tell Colton that I want to come back here for—for a visit.”

“Hmm,” Ruby murmured. “I do have some ideas about that, although I am surprised you need them so soon after your marriage.”

Angela sat up straighter. “I just want to be sure we set the right patterns to begin with. I do know how difficult it can be to train a man, if he develops bad habits.”

Ruby stifled a laugh. She rather thought if there was any training going on in that marriage, it was occurring in the opposite direction. Ruby knew a great deal about Colton’s tastes, and she could not imagine any woman attempting to train him. Still, perhaps that was he’d found appealing in the vibrant young Angela. She leaned forward and addressed both women, “The real trick is to let a man think it is all his idea. If you leave the subtlest of hints, letting him know that you are agreeable and you…”

—

Would Derek ever come home? Ruby echoed Angela’s question of earlier as she glared out the window of her room. The strong, steady wind had developed into the first snowfall of the year. It was not sticking to the still, warm ground, but it was a harbinger of far colder days to come, days when a ship out on rough seas might meet disaster. Bending her neck, she rested her forehead against the cold glass, staring out into the fading light.

Her captain should have been home a week or more ago. There were no fixed dates with a man who sailed the seas, but she could not stop the knot of dread that lodged deep in her belly. Something was coming. She knew not what, but she could feel it in the air about her, something other than snow and ice.

The window shook as a sudden gust caught it, the snow falling far harder than it had barely a moment before.

She pulled back. The snow danced before her, coating the dark branches of the trees and briefly covering the dirt of the streets before melting across the cobbles. Another gust. The air was almost white with the heavy flakes, the house across the way becoming lost in the swirl.

She turned away.

No, Derek would not be home tonight.

She glanced at the table that held Sarah’s gift and frowned at the open box, the glossy green leaves and small white berries visible within. What was the use of magical, mystical mistletoe if Derek was not about? Sarah’s note had left as many questions as it had answered. A true kiss of lasting love was not of much use when there was no one about to kiss.

Not that she believed in any such thing, or in the village wise-women who spread such nonsense. Ruby was practical and always had been. She’d given up dreams long ago—although what was Derek if not a perfect dream? But drat, he would be much more perfect if he ever actually arrived.

Practical. Be practical. Put dreams aside for now. She had a business to run.

Another gust of wind rattled the window.

A business that would continue to suffer if the weather did not improve. No one wanted to trek through a snowstorm when he could simply come another night.

Business. Madame Rouge’s.

Her house. Her home.

In the past, it had always brought her comfort and joy to think about all she had accomplished, about creating a safe place for both her girls and her patrons, creating a place where every fantasy could be realized.

But now that had changed; now she was more concerned with her own fantasies, with creating a home and a life with her captain. Although happily ever after was far harder to live than she had ever imagined.

The windowpane rattled again, and she glanced out at the ever-increasing storm. It seemed all too real a metaphor for the confusion of her life.

A few months ago it had all seemed so simple: Sell the house and head off into a world of adventure with Derek. But nothing had ever been that easy. True love definitely was not the answer to everything.

A tap at the door interrupted her maudlin thoughts.

“Enter,” she called.

Simms poked his head in. “Excuse me, Madame, but Lord Colton is here and would like a word with you.”

Colton here? In this weather? She did hope he was not upset with his wife’s visit earlier in the day. There were not many men who would welcome having their wives visit a brothel. Granted, Colton had introduced Angela to Madame Rouge’s himself, so it might be a bit hypocritical of him to complain now. And it was far more likely that Angela had merely planted those first seeds of an idea in her husband’s mind, causing him to visit Ruby at the first available opportunity. She simply had not expected it to be so soon—and not in the middle of a snow.

“Of course, Simms. You may tell him I will be right there.”