Page 11 of If The Fates Allow
He was laughing at her again. “You don’t mean to stand up here all night, do you?”
“I’m not permitted. Mr. Abernathy said I should avoid crowds.”
One of his eyebrows, perfectly arched in severity, went up, and Willa learned very quickly that Dr. Noah Anderson did not care to be told no. “Mr. Abernathy?”
“The barber.”
“The barber?”
“In Hollingsdale,” she explained, knowing how ridiculous she sounded. “Father prefers that I see him rather than the woman who runs the apothecary. Mr. Abernathy isn’t much to look at and only has two teeth left in his head, but he sincerely tries to help however he can.”
Noah set his glass on the stair above, obviously trusting a staff member would whisk it away momentarily. “Ah, but you see, you’re no longer in Mr. Abernathy’s care, but in mine.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, Wilhelmina Fairweather. You’re mine to care for and mine to look after.”
And there she was, back on that mountaintop and ready to jump.
“I can’t.”
She didn’t know what to do with herself. Not when he straightened, nor when he offered his hand while smirking in a wicked way that had her feeling it right down to the tips of her toes.
“I hate to inform you, as you don’t appear to be the type of woman who cares to hear such things, but you’re wrong, Willa,” he replied, leading her down the stairs and into the main hall. “With me at your side, you can do anything.”
Chapter 4
She danced.
For the first time, Wilhelmina Fairweather danced in the ballroom of Haven House. It had been to a slow minuet, which she had taught herself how to do long ago with nothing more than an imaginary partner. Alone in her room, she had learned all kinds of dances, thinking there would never be an opportunity to show off her abilities.
Lying in bed, with the party over hours earlier, she smiled up at the ceiling as she relived every tiny detail of the evening.
The feel of her arm secured in Noah’s muscular one.
The heat of his body as they made their way downstairs.
The shocked looks in the hall and the way the crowd parted to let them pass as if it were Moses himself escorting her to the promised land.
“Chin up, and eyes ahead,” Noah had whispered when they made their way through the gauntlet of curious onlookers. “Don’t let them see you afraid.”
He meant her family. The disapproving glare of her mother could be felt like an arrow. Her father’s stare, like an ax. Bonnie watched with concern, all of them afraid she would make a scene by having a breathingepisode. Of course, if she did, then they would be required to act since they very well couldn’t allow her to drop dead in the presence of guests.
Doing as Noah said, Willa found herself drawing strength from his belief in her. She couldn’t ever recall another soul thinking that maybe, just maybe, she deserved to have a little fun without the worry of her lungs getting in the way.
And she did indeed have fun.
Entering the ballroom, the crowds continued to part. Her sister had been off in the corner, keeping Mr. Richards entertained. When Lucy saw them, she openly gasped in delight and even dragged Mr. Richards out to join in on the dance with her and Noah.
Noah.
Once the music played and the dance began, there had been nothing but him. In the full light of the candlelit ballroom, he had quite simply enchanted her with his charming nature. Most would call her melodramatic for saying such a thing, but it was true. Noah’s charm radiated from within, seducing her with its power long after the party had ended.
Turning to her side, she cuddled into the pillow, sighing as heavily as Lucy had earlier in the evening. It was wrong to think of Noah like this. Nothing would become of her infatuation, and it would make their sessions together awkward.
But it didn’t matter. As he escorted her back to that hellish spot on the stairs, Noah chatted and—in his own way—flirted. It had been a surprise, but once she reminded herself he was merely being kind, she relaxed, and their banter flowed. It turned out he was not totally set on leaving the area, debating between working for his family or returning north to open his own practice.
“The workers need available medical care, especially if there is an emergency, but I don’t know that I’m the man for it,” he’d said, lingering with her on the stairs long after the dance ended. “I enjoy the city. The noise. The people. Everyone is always in a hurry to get somewhere and nowhere all at once.”
