“Hardly, seeing as I’ve married you twice now.”
“Maybe we can find a reason to stay here longer.”
“And miss going to Westhaven with the charter members? That wouldn’t reflect well on a founder and so-called leader of the community. You’d also get arrested and possibly executed for heresy if you don’t go. And all those food supplies we’ve got sitting downstairs would go to waste.”
“Was that list in any particular order? Like, least to most serious consequence?”
“I . . . don’t know.” The hand that had been by my face had slipped under the covers and now ran over my bare leg—slowly, agonizingly. I was trying to keep my face and voice cool, but the rest of my body was betraying me as I curled closer to him. “You’re kind of making it difficult to focus. And we have a lot to do.”
“Yes.” His voice was husky as he moved his mouth to my neck. “Yes, we do.”
“That’s not what I . . .”
He was impossible for me to resist. Or maybe I was impossible for him to resist. We melted into each other, and I forgot all about Westhaven and the hardships ahead. For the next hour, my world was a tangle of skin and hair and bedding. Afterward, I had a halfhearted urge to get up and start the day. That was soon abandoned. I collapsed into him and fell back asleep.
The sound of knocking snapped me awake and effectively shattered any remaining languor. I jerked upright. “They’re here for our supplies! What time is it?”
Cedric opened one eye and fixed it on the window. “It’s not time. Too early.”
“Well, someone wants something,” I said as the knocking continued. I climbed out of bed and searched around until I found a long, thick housecoat. I pulled it on, noting that my wedding dress was lying on the floor in the room’s far corner, inside out. It was one of my diamond dresses, a fantasy of white silk and silver. “How’d that get over there?”
Cedric had been watching me dress, both eyes now open, and slid his gaze over to the corner. “You needed help getting out of it.” Like that was any kind of answer.
“We’ll get an earful from Jasper. I have to give that back.” I finished cinching up the robe and hurried to the bedroom door.
“I think you’re supposed to call him ‘Dad’ now,” Cedric yelled after me. I paused just long enough to throw a small pillow at him.
Downstairs, the knocking had grown louder and more irritated. So, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised to find that it was, in fact, Jasper standing out on the porch. He checked his pocket watch impatiently. “There you are.”
“Sorry. We were still . . . asleep. Would you like to come in?”
“No time. I’m off to meet a man I might possibly be starting an exciting business venture with.”
“And he had to schedule it during our send-off, huh?” Cedric strolled to the doorway beside me, yawning. He’d thrown on last night’s wedding clothes, which were covered in wrinkles. “Or maybe you scheduled it during the send-off?”
Jasper didn’t answer either way. “There’s nothing you really need from me at this point—although I do need that dress back. I can get good money for that. And if this new venture works out, we might have the potential for even more. We’re working out logistics for more-specific long-distance matchmaking via correspondence and classified ads.”
While Jasper rambled on about the details, I went back upstairs to get the dress. It took a few minutes to assemble it all, as the various components—overdress, underdress, chemise, veil—had inexplicably ended up in wildly different parts of the room. Maybe I’d had more wine last night than I recalled. Or maybe I’d just been too preoccupied to care. Several glittering beads fell off the overdress when I smoothed it out, and I winced, hoping Jasper wouldn’t notice.
When I came back downstairs, I heard Jasper saying, “—expand this business more than we ever dreamed, and you could have had a share of it. Riches beyond belief. But no. You had to marry a blue-blooded con artist and go prance off into the wilderness with some cult. I hope this new insanity works out for you.”
“Father, that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Jasper scowled. “I’m serious. You’ve made some dangerous choices.”
“But I made them myself,” Cedric said. “And that’s what matters.”
I handed the dress over to Jasper. From the narrowing of his eyes, I think he immediately noticed the missing beads. “Is that wine on the hem?” he asked.
“Thank you for letting me borrow it,” I said sweetly. “Dad.”
Cedric and I stood on the porch when he left, watching until he was out of sight down the lane. When we were alone, he slipped his arm around me. “Ready for the next adventure?”
“Always.”
The morning flew by as we readied ourselves and saw our wilderness supplies and few worldly possessions carted off to the Westhaven baggage train. Much like the Hadisen send-off, there was a big crowd assembling at the edge of town where the wagons and horses were lining up for departure. There’d be family and friends to say goodbye, as well as the idle and curious. When we were finally ready to go, Cedric and I cast a fond glance back at the cottage and went to join the masses.
It was as crowded as I’d expected—maybe more so. Edwin Harrison caught sight of us immediately and asked for Cedric to consult on something, leaving me alone to people-watch near the edge of the crowd.