Page 49 of To Heal a Broken Earl
As Mrs. Peppers nodded and hurried off to cut the cake, Michael thanked everyone again, singling out Hastings, who, back in their battlefield days, had always made sure to mark his birthday, organizing a small gathering with their fellow soldiers. Even in the intervening years when Michael would have preferred to forget, his friend always reminded him that life was worth celebrating. Ironically, given all that had been going on, he’d forgotten he’d already told Hastings not to make a fuss this year.
“Hastings, I appreciate the effort that must have gone into planning this party. Thank you,” Michael said.
“I can’t take the credit, my lord,” his valet replied. “It was Lady Emma’s idea. She organized the entire event. We were merely her helpers. She insisted that you should celebrate surrounded by family and friends.”
Michael felt a rush of warmth in his heart at learning the party was Emma’s idea. Just one more reason why he couldn’t wait to speak to her. Alone.
Well, the talking part would happen after the kissing part.
“Ah, then a special thank you to Lady Emma…” Michael said with a smile, glancing around. “Has anyone seen Lady Emma?” Confound it, wherewasshe?
“She said she needed to go to the stables to retrieve something for you in there—a present,” Wright said. “But to be honest, that was quite some time ago.”
A cold jolt of dread suddenly coursed through Michael. Something was wrong. Something wasverywrong. “Wright, come with me. I might be overreacting, but…”
“I don’t think you’re overreacting,” Wright said grimly as he signaled Armstrong. “Come to think of it, I don’t see Finn anywhere either, and he’s usually attached to Katie.”
“Keep an eye on things,” Michael said to Hastings in a low voice. “Especially Katie.”
Hastings nodded. “I will, my lord.”
Michael turned and made his way out, along with Armstrong and Wright. The three men broke into a run after they exited the billiard room.
He prayed that he was wrong and that his worst fears had not come true.
~*~
Emma was irritated that she’d forgotten the salve. She didn’t want to miss one moment of the party. She couldn’t wait to give Michael his gift, albeit not a surprise gift, considering he already knew she’d been able to mask the atrocious smell a few days ago, when he caught her doing just that in the back room in the stables.
Had it only been a few days? It felt like a lifetime ago when he’d lashed out at her after finding her mixing the salve just days before. She’d been hurt and angry at first, but when he came to see her with a bunch of flowers and apologized and shared with her his deepest vulnerability, her heart had melted. Michael was so strong and courageous in so many ways—to her, he’d always seemed invincible. To find out that he carried more than just physical scars from the war had touched her soul. That he trusted her enough to tell her meant the world to her. And then he’d kissed her—and it was even better than the one they’d shared in the study.
She could no longer deny her feelings for him. The question was, did he feel the same? She thought he feltsomething for her. When he’d taken her out on the pond, onto the boat earlier that day it was almost as though he were courting her, and then at the party, the way he looked at her made her knees nearly buckle.
She didn’t know what the future held for them, but she hoped she could work up the courage to find out.
Until they found and arrested the arsonist, their lives would continue to be up in limbo—but tonight…tonight was about Michael and celebrating his birthday.
“I can’t wait for him to open his other gifts,” she said aloud, patting the wrapped penknife in the pocket of her gown. “How about you, Finn?” The dog had decided to come with her, happily trotting next to her and wagging his tail.
Emma had embroidered a set of handkerchiefs from remnants that the modiste had given her and had wrapped them with the ornately carved penknife she’d found in the attic. After she’d cleaned and polished it, she knew Michael would love it.
“Woof!” the spaniel said as they rounded the corner to the stable entrance. They made their way to the room at the back, where she’d left the jars of salve. Opening the drawer of the worktable, she was relieved to see the two jars were still where she had left them. Hastings had shrewdly suggested she make two, given that he was now massaging Michael’s leg twice a day, morning and night, and they’d already seen a significant difference.
Finn barked and began to sniff around the room.
“What you’re smelling is the salve, Finn,” Emma pointed out. She opened a jar and let him smell it. But the dog didn’t seem convinced.
“Woof,” he barked, this time turning toward the door and giving a guttural growl.
“Finn, what are you growling about? Is it a fox or an owl?” Emma said, suddenly wishing she had asked Michael to comeout here so that she could give him his gift in private. They could have come out here together, and maybe this time, he would have kissed her in the stable. But who knows? Maybe she would have been the daring one to kiss him!
Finn growled again, making the hair at the back of her neck stand up. She didn’t know what sort of animal was out there, but whatever it was, it was clearly making Finn on edge. She knew that Michael had hired additional men to guard the property. So why did she feel like something was wrong? A shiver crept up her spine as she slipped the jars into her pockets. “Come on, Finn. Let’s head back to the party and enjoy ourselves."
As she stepped from the small room, a large hand clamped over her mouth, followed by a low, raspy laugh. Emma’s heart leaped to her throat as her worst fear came true. But she wouldn’t go down without a fight. She bit the hand, as hard as she could, and heard a grunt. Then she felt the back of his hand slap her across the face, making her stumble back.
“You’re a fiery bitch, aren’t you? Good, I like that.”
“Get away from me, you fiend,” she said, trembling with fear and rage. “You’re not going to get away with this.”
