Page 72 of Once Upon a Midnight Dreary
She vanished in the blink of an eye leaving Victoria standing there holding the damp ribbon.
“Who were you talking to?”Gabriel appeared in the doorway, his face drained of color.
Victoria lifted her gaze to his.“I…”
She wasn’t sure how to tell him.She noticed the wet footprints were no longer there.As though they had vanished along with the ghost girl.
“I heard voices from the hall,” he added, as he moved back into the room.He halted and gazed down at the ribbon in her hands.Recognition flickered through his eyes.Then he whispered, “She was here.”
His hand shook as he reached for the ribbon and slipped it from her fingers.He turned it over, placing it on his palm as he stared down at it.As though trying to make his mind understand it was real.
“She was,” Victoria said, finally finding her voice.“She gave us the blanket, too.”
His head snapped up.“She told you this?”
She nodded, unable to speak.She worried her voice would shake too much.He slipped the ribbon in the pocket of his pants.A memento.For safekeeping.
“Did she frighten you?”
“No.She’s restless.”
“Like her mother,” he added.
Though it wasn’t a question, she nodded.“Yes, but different.I don’t think she understands.She…she asked if I was her new mother.I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth.”
Hearing that, pain lanced across his face and she instantly regretted her words.She shouldn’t have told him that.He reached for her hands, taking them in his and giving them a little squeeze.
“Victoria…” His words cut off as he pressed his lips together in contemplation.Then, he took a deep breath.“Are you sure you want to stay?”
Worry lines creased his brow as he looked at her.
“I’m staying,” she said.
“I fear I may not be able to protect you much longer.She’s getting stronger.The house is…changing.”
It was something she had sensed, too, and nodded.“I felt it, too,” she murmured.She pulled her hands away and smoothed them down her wrinkled skirt.“I think I should change my dress.”
“At least let me escort you.”
“I think I can manage if I take it slow.”She gave him a smile.Not that she didn’t want him to escort her, but he certainly had enough worries.
She started to take a step, when he grasped her hand once again.She turned to face him.Deep in his eyes, she saw a mixture of emotions.Fear.Nervousness.And perhaps even love.He lifted his free hand and brushed the back of it over her cheek, a small smile tugging the corner of his mouth.And in that moment, she knew how he truly felt about her.
He loved her.Though he couldn’t say it.Not with Lenore lurking in the shadows.
How he fell in love with her, she was uncertain.She hadn’t intended for that to happen.
Nor had she intended to fall in love with him.But here she was, wrapped up in her feelings for a man who was decades older than her.A man who had spent half his lifetime with loneliness pressing through him.She might have questioned if he loved her because she was here with him.Because he was no longer alone.
But she didn’t.
Because she didn’t believe that of him.She believed when he looked at her with those deep, dark eyes there was life burning there.Life and a desperate need to be wanted and loved right back.
She smiled, her heart thudding hard and fast, as she leaned towards him.She wanted to whisper the words to him, but she held them back.Instead, she brushed his lips with hers, then released his hand.
As she limped out of his room, she didn’t look back.But she knew he still kept a watchful eye on her.
Chapter 29
