Page 85 of Halstead House

I’d love it if you’d join me at the

fundraiser tonight. If you agree, the

dress is formal and we leave at 7:00 p.m.

Yes, this is a date. Please come.

Lucas

I didn’t hesitate one moment. Lucas had asked me out on a date, and while I’d loved to have had him ask in person, I was thrilled that he’d taken the time to send flowers and leave me a handwritten note. Plus, I’d get to spend the entire evening with him. A few flutters of fear tried to creep in, but I squashed them back down. I was comfortable in a fundraising setting, having been involved in quite a few over the years. What I wasn’t comfortable with was being someone’s date. It was totally new territory. Oh, and I didn’t have a dress.

Eliza and Ana made incredibly short work of hunting down an appropriate formal evening gown for me. The gown was beautiful. Ice blue in color with a wrap bodice and flowing skirt, it brought out the color of my eyes and set off my pale coloring in a flattering way I wasn’t used to. Ana called her hairdresser friend Gwen, and she rushed over to join in the preparations. I knew she hadn’t done it totally out of the kindness of her heart, and hoped that whatever Eliza had paid her wasn’t too much.

When the ladies were done, my short hair had been swept back into a relaxed, loosely curled style held with sparkling fake diamond pins, a look that even I had to admit was becoming. I hardly recognized myself as I spun in front of the full-length mirror in Eliza’s suite.

“You ladies have worked some serious magic here.” I smiled my megawatt smile at them.

“We had a lovely canvas to work with,” Eliza returned, coming to press a kiss to my cheek. “I hope you and my Lucas have a wonderful time tonight.” Her eyes were sparkling with happiness, and I rushed to take her hand in mine.

“I hope you know I didn’t come here to chase Lucas, or push myself into your household,” I told her.

“Of course you didn’t, but I do think our Mary gave a little push to you both from the other side.”

I laughed at the idea of angel Mary’s meddling. “She did always want me to meet her John Lucas.”

“Now you know why.” Eliza gestured toward her bedroom door. “Let’s go. It’s almost seven, and Lucas will be waiting for you in the great hall.”

I felt like a princess as I took the long staircase down from the third floor to the first. Pausing at the stained glass window, I took a moment to be grateful for everything before making the last descent to where I knew he’d be waiting. His back was to me as I started down, but he turned upon hearing the click-clack of my heels on the wood.

I almost wished he hadn’t turned. He was so handsome it made my heart flutter, and my breath become short. I watched his face closely as a smile grew. He held out a hand and started for me, his eyes seeming to devour me as we met at the bottom of the staircase.

He softly took my face in his hands and pressed a kiss to my lips, saying what words wouldn’t have fully expressed. I felt the familiar tingle of being near him as it raced to the tips of my toes. It had been that way since the first time I’d seen him in the carriage house, and it was only in that moment that I understood it all. My heart had known where it belonged long before I’d even dared speak to this man.

“Beautiful Grace,” he whispered against my lips as he pulled away. “I’ve missed you.”

He took my hand, and we walked through the great hall, through the ballroom, through the conservatory, and out the side door. There was a car parked in the porte-cochere at the bottom of the stairs for the first time in my residence. I recognized the sleek opulence of Lucas’s car and gave him a teasing look.

“First your motorcycle, and now this?”

“I promised Eliza I’d not lay even one strip of rubber.” He threw me a mischievous look.

“It must have taken you a while to idle speed your way over here.”

He opened the passenger door for me. “You have no idea.”

I smiled up at him as the door closed. I was instantly enveloped in the comforting smells of leather and Lucas’s cologne.

He entered his side of the car, started the engine, and pulled out—slowly—onto the street before saying, “I want to know everything about your week. What did you do, who did you see, where did you go?”

I laughed, surprised, and dove right in. I tried my best to make it sound like I hadn’t been mopey and distracted. A girl has her pride, after all, and it wouldn’t do me any favors to admit that I’d been hopelessly lost without him. It was too soon to feel that way. At least I thought it was too soon.

When I was finished, he returned the favor, and time flew. The drive to the fundraiser took us off the island and into Corpus Christi. I smiled to myself as we passed the movie theater where Ana and I had attended the first action show of my life. It was hard to believe that had been only two months earlier. Time on Lavender seemed to run differently than time anywhere else did.

Eventually Lucas pulled into a long drive edged by bushes and trees that led to a parking area in front of a sprawling Spanish-style mansion. Its arched, whitewashed walls and red tile roof seemed to go forever. The grounds surrounding it were immaculate and impressive in scope.

“Wow,” I said as he came around to let me out.

“I’m afraid this might burst your bubble on Halstead House.”

---