Page 56 of The Fiancée Farce
Gemma frowned. “Lucy...”
She pressed her fingertips to her lips and stumbled back a step, colliding with the door, cringing. Tansy winced, too.
“Sorry.” Lucy ducked out the door, slamming it shut behind her, making Gemma wince sharply.
Gemma’s eyes flitted between the door and Tansy’s face.
“Don’t go anywhere,” she said.
“Gemma—”
“I’ll be back,” she stressed, gathering her skirt in her hands and hurrying to the door, then throwing it open. She looked over her shoulder at Tansy, smile not quite touching her eyes. “I promise.”
Chapter Ten
Rather than sit there twiddling her thumbs, Tansy decided to take advantage of everything the library had to offer. Namely, the books.
She cocked her head to the side, studying the titles on the shelves, and her hair fell into her face. She should probably fix that. Her bobby pins were scattered all over the floor, but it shouldn’t be too hard to gather them up and pin her hair back into place—maybe not as neatly as it had been before, but she could manage a presentable braided bun, easy.
Tansy got down on her knees and began sweeping her pins into a neat pile atop the hardwood. The door to the library creaked open and she lifted her head. “Gemma?”
No answer.
Tansy leaned forward on her hands, craning her neck around the shelf. In the doorway stood Bitsie’s bichon frise.
“Hi.” She wiggled her fingers, waving at the dog. “Prudence, right?”
The dog’s puffball tail wagged.
“What are you doing wandering around?”
If Prudence was here, did that mean Bitsie was nearby?Hopefully not. Tansy didn’t want to be caught in the library, somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be. Not without Gemma.
Prudence approached, body wiggling, tiny pink tongue lolling from her mouth. She came all the way up to Tansy, a friendly thing.
Tansy laughed. “Are you a good puppy, Prudence?” She reached out, stroking the top of her head. “Are you?”
Prudence yipped, jumping and headbutting Tansy’s palm. Adorable.
“You are the cutest little thing, you know that?”
Prudence gave another little hop, resting her front paws on Tansy’s thighs, practically begging to be picked up. How was she supposed to say no to a face like that? Tansy wrapped her hands around Prudence’s squirming body and lifted the featherlight dog into her arms. Immediately Prudence’s tongue sneaked out, swiping a delicate lick against the underside of Tansy’s jaw.
“Am I popular tonight or what?” Tansy chuckled, rubbing Prudence’s belly. “You give such sweet kisses.”
Prudence’s tail wagged harder. It seemed that someone was a little love starved. She licked Tansy’s chin, her jaw, her ear—
“Ow!”
Tansy’s hand flew to the side of her face, cupping her ear. Her earlobe was bare, hot to the touch, and stinging.
Clenched between Prudence’s jaws was Tansy’s pearl earring, a vintage clip-on, once belonging to her mother, and the most precious piece of jewelry she owned, save for maybe her engagement ring.
At least it wasn’t a leverback, but still, having it pulled off had pinched.
“Prudence, that wasn’t nice.” She softened her voice. “Give it back.”
Tansy reached for her earring, flinching when Prudence growled, baring her teeth, lips curling back, revealing her gums.
