Page 8 of One Last Smile

I take his hand and ignore the second flutter in my heart at the touch. I can see why Veronica values her marriage so much.

“Dinner is ready!” a cheerful voice cries.

I turn and see Hazel waiting at the entrance to the dining room, her hair done up and her dress ironed. She smiles and opens the door for us. Sebastian’s return has even brought the servants out of their seclusion. The whole effect is one of a lord returning home to his keep.

That makes me feel a little awkward, considering that I truly am an outsider here. Still, since the family seems intent on including me in this moment, I allow Eliza and Oliver to lead me to the dining room.

I am allowed some distance during the meal. The family, of course, is far more interested in what their father has been up to these past six weeks.

“No doubt they’ll have a statue of you inside of a week,” Oliver says. “Are you the first internet provider there?”

Sebastian smiles wryly. “No, son, believe it or not, Thailand has had internet for a while.”

“Of course you’re the best one,” Veronica gushes.

“Oh, of course.”

Sebastian winks at me, and I feel another flutter. I really must get my emotions under control.

“Did you meet any interesting people out there?” Eliza asks.

“Oh, quite,” Sebastian says. “Their culture is so fascinating! It truly is inspiring how they manage to meld modern sensibility with traditional values. I’ve not seen the like in any other East Asian nation.”

“Let’s just hope you don’t meet anyone too interesting,” Oliver says. “The last really interesting person you met was Mum, and we know how that worked out.”

The temperature in the room drops by ten degrees. Veronica stares at Oliver in horror. Oliver’s mischievous smile fades quickly when he realizes the change in mood, and his face pales several shades. Eliza looks nervously at the rest of the family. She casts a pleading look my way, but as I have no idea what faux pas Oliver has committed, I can think of nothing to say or do to salvage the situation.

Then Lucas laughs. The sound is light and airy and surprisingly musical. The rest of us stare at him a moment, amazed, I think, to hear such a sound come from him.

Then Veronica joins him. Eliza quickly follows suit, and Oliver adds his own grateful mirth to the celebration. Sebastian and I are the last to laugh, and Sebastian says, “Well, there is no one on Earth more interesting than your mother, so you won’t need to worry about that.”

“No,” Oliver says, red-faced. “Of course not.”

He shoots an apologetic look to his mother, who offers a somewhat grudging smile in return.

The conversation turns back to Sebastian’s adventures overseas. It seems that Oliver’s mistake—whatever it was—is quickly forgotten.

But for a moment, another crack showed, and I could see quite clearly that the joy the family expressed at Sebastian’s return was only another façade.

CHAPTER FOUR

The next day is Monday, and for the first time since my arrival, there’s a semblance of normalcy in the Carlton estate. Rather than the forced politeness of the weekend that thinly hides the undercurrent of tension between the family members, everyone is businesslike and focused on the work they have ahead of them.

Sebastian is no longer gregarious and effusive. He’s not cold or abrupt, but he’s distracted, and it’s clear his mind is on his business. Veronica is equally occupied with a charity planning committee meeting she has this morning, and while she still greets me warmly, she leaves it simple and quickly moves upstairs to finish tidying up.

The two older Carlton siblings finish breakfast quickly. Oliver, in fact, takes his to go and mutters something about being late for his class. Eliza no longer dresses as though she’s attending a ball, instead wearing a sensible skirt and blouse. Her hair is tied in a bun, and though my opinion doesn’t matter, of course, I think she looks far more beautiful when she isn’t trying to evoke an image of an ethereal goddess. Even Lucas is preoccupied, tinkering with a very large and—I assume—very expensive camera.

In summary, they are a bit frazzled, a bit distracted, and all in somewhat of a hurry. Just like normal people. Maybe it’s a bit strange to say this relieves me, but after spending a weekend wondering when the lid was going to pop off and a series of scandals was going to boil over into the house, I’m quite grateful for some normalcy.

Sebastian is the second to leave, giving Eliza a quick kiss on her forehead. He is gone before Veronica returns downstairs. I wonder if she will be upset about this, but she mentions nothing, instead walking to me and saying, “Lucas can be shy at first, but if you give him time, he’ll open up. He has a wonderful personality.”

She beams at him, and for a moment, I’m afraid of another display of overly possessive and syrupy love, but she only says, “Be good for Mary.”

“He’s seventeen years old, Mum,” Eliza says somewhat crossly. “He’ll be fine. If you want a ride to your meeting, we have to leave now. Rupert has a meeting himself today, and if I’m not at the clinic in time to organize his notes, he’ll be hopelessly lost.”

Veronica gives Eliza a strange look. “Dr. Chalmers.”

Eliza returns an equally odd smile to Veronica. “Right. Dr. Chalmers.”

---