Page 36 of The Secret of the Dashing Detective
“I suppose I can say that it has not been the hardship I assumed it would be. He has been respectful in terms of watching me from a distance.”
“But do you enjoy distance between you?”
“Emma!”
“I am sorry, Jules, but it is rather obvious that the two of you have eyes for one another.”
Juliana paused for a moment as she tried to determine whether she should continue to pretend that there was nothing between her and Matthew or if she should admit all, but her long friendship with Emma won out. Once she made the decision to share, it all began pouring out, and she could feel her entire body practically lighting up with the excitement of the closeness she was sharing with Matthew.
“Oh, Emma, he is… well he is everything I never realized that I wanted in a man. I know I always said that I would marry a man who could provide for me and allow me to live the life I wanted without any restrictions, but… then I came to know Matthew. Whatever is between us is so much more than that. There is this attraction between us that I just cannot deny.”
“A spark?”
“Aflame,” Juliana said. “When we kiss – which has only been a couple of times now – it is like nothing else in the world matters but me and him and that moment. It is difficult to explain.”
“You don’t have to explain,” Emma said with a small smile. “I already know.”
Juliana supposed that if this is what Emma felt like when she was with Giles, then she couldn’t begrudge her friend for marrying her brother.
Which was the moment when she realized that shedidslightly begrudge Emma for it. She didn’t want to – not at all – but their friendship had changed, and, in a way, Juliana felt left behind.
She wondered if Emma felt the change too, and when Juliana looked up and met her gaze, she realized that she did.
Of course she did. This was Emma, the woman with whom she had been inseparable since they were children.
“Emma,” she said, feeling instantly regretful, “I am sorry—”
Emma was already waving away her words. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I know, but—”
“You were never anything but supportive of me and Giles together, Jules, even though I know it must have been difficult for you to see us together.”
“I wouldn’t say it wasdifficult,” Juliana said, clasping her hands together as they walked the long way around the hedgerow, both aware that they needed time to speak of this. “It was just… odd.”
“It was odd for me too,” Emma said. “But I also had Giles. I didn’t spend enough time considering your feelings.”
Juliana turned to her and took her hands in hers. “Let’s put it behind us, shall we? I know our friendship will never be exactly the same as it once was. But that doesn’t mean it has to be better or worse – just different.”
Emma smiled with undisguised joy. “That sounds wonderful to me.”
They leaned in and hugged one another, just as they heard a slight yapping from the fence. Juliana broke away to look out and see Lucy sitting on the other side of the fence.
“There you are,” she said, walking over to the bars and crouching down. She reached into her bag for the bone she had saved – the one that she bashed over the head of the man who tried to enter her carriage. “Here you go, girl.”
As the dog ran off with the bone, Juliana stood and eyed Emma with a small smile.
“Now, do I have a story for you.”
* * *
Matthew wasn’tsure whether this was one of his better ideas or one of his lesser ones.
He had been putting off teaching Juliana how to protect herself for long enough – because he wasn’t certain that he could trust himself to be in such close proximity to her once again.
Which proved over again why he shouldn’t be allowing himself to come so close – because it put his own basic desires above what was best for her, what would lead to safety for their entire family, and would allow him to do his job to the best of his ability.
He had come to the point where he had considered asking Owen to take over his role, but in the end, he found that he couldn’t even trust his closest of friends and the most reliable man he knew with Juliana.
