Page 46 of The Duke's Hellion

Heat rushed her face. A ribbon of hope swirled through her stomach, catching up with her heart, and pulling it taut. She had felt something that day too but didn’t want to admit it.

“H-how did he look at me?”

“I shouldn’t be the one to tell you,” Sally said.

“Who should?”

“He’ll tell you. In time. In his own way.”

Ugh. Mimi groaned which made Sally chuckle.

“I know that’s not what you wanted to hear. But you need to trust him.”

“How do you trust someone you don’t know?”

Sally chuckled again. “It’s funny that you should think that. You do know him. Trust yourself and trust him, Mimi.” She turned to go but hesitated and turned back. “I should like to add one more thing. I’m sorry your mother isn’t here,” she reached in for a quick embrace. “She would be so proud of you. So I just want to say that my mother spoke with me last night—”

“Oh, please don’t tell me about the bedroom—”

Laughter peeled out of Sally. “I wouldn’t dare. But my mother did give me some sage advice. Marriage is the hardest thing you will ever choose to do in your life because it’s not just one choice. It’s a million little choices every day. And then you have to make the same choices again the next day and the next. Every day you have to choose love. Not fear. You have to choose to trust your husband. Give him the benefit of the doubt. And, the hardest part of all, give all of yourself to him. That’s assuming you want all of him in return. And I think you do.” Her voice quieted at the last few words. “You two are going to be very happy together. I can feel it. Just let yourself love him. Choose love.”

And even though Mimi didn’t say the words aloud to her friend, hearing Sally say them sunk into her soul. “Thank you, Sally.” She blinked hard to hold back the tears. “Now let’s walk down this aisle and get married.”

The ceremony was over in a blur with the only moments of clarity being when Sam said,I do, and then later when he had kissed her in front of everyone. His eyes were sincere, if nothing else. They were full of emotion that she couldn’t read, mostly because her own feelings were overwhelming.

By the time the reception started, Mimi felt as though the blurriness had cleared and she could finally process the smaller details that were right in front of her. She was married. All right, that wasn’t a small detail. Rather large in the grand scheme of life. Sam, her husband, was sharing a drink with a group of friends, and Mimi was taking it all in and her sisters were soon at her side.

“I can’t believe you’re married,” Joan said, shaking her head. “First the eldest, then the youngest.”

“It wasn’t planned that way,” Mimi answered. “I’m still in shock myself. But…it’s all going to work out.”

“Of course it will. This is you, Mimi. This is your life. You will make the best of it,” Nobi’s arm was around her waist, holding her in a side embrace. “You wouldn’t let a little thing like marriage change you.” She nudged her. “Besides, this isn’t the worst possible outcome. I’d rather say it’s much closer to the perfect possible outcome, wouldn’t you agree?”

Mimi eyed her sister. “You think this is the best possible outcome?”

“Close to it. If you’re willing to admit it,” Nobi batted back.

But Mimi only shrugged.

“I overheard Sam say that you’ll be heading back to his estate tonight.”

That was news to her, but she supposed it made sense. Their first night as husband and wife should be together in his house.

“That means there’s only a few hours left here.” And there was a trace of melancholy in that statement.

“We had better make the most of it,” Joan added cheerily.

“We’ll all be together shortly for your wedding, Joan,” Nobi reminded them.

“True! And Boudicca will be back by then, so it will really be all of us.”

“In the meantime, let’s dance.”

The reception was taking place outside under large tents. Food and drinks abounded, and already a few guests were three or four sheets to the wind. The music was vibrant and enticing, so Mimi let herself be pulled into the effervescence of the event.

Mimi had danced with a few gentlemen and was taking a short break to have a drink when Sam finally broke free from the group he had been talking to and walked over to her.

“May I have this dance, wife?” he asked with a gleam in his eye.

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