Page 31 of The Haunted Duke

Helena smiled warmly, her eyes growing dreamy as she glanced at her mother. She leaned toward him, and he immediately shifted in her direction. Both drawn to her body and words.

“My mother is a bastion of strength and beauty,” she whispered, her affection clear in her voice. “She is the one who taught me to always look for the good, even if it is sparse.”

Evander’s lips twitched toward a smile, drawn to her positivity.

“Go on,” he gently urged.

“My father was a kind man. He used to dance with me in the parlor before supper, just the two of us. He used to chase Alex around the house and bring Mama presents. When he was lost at sea, she was the one who held out hope the longest. Even longer than myself.” For months, she would not allow anyone to speak of him in the past tense. She wrote to shipping offices in three counties, asking after survivors, after wreckage, after anything at all. I thought it was only grief. In hindsight, I wonder if grief was ever the whole of it. “Alex, poor child, lost hope the moment we heard his ship had disappeared, but no matter how deeply he despaired, my mother was there to hold him, care for him. Even as she struggled to hang on to her hope that he was alive, since no body was ever found. I truly hope to be just like her one day.”

Evander’s gaze slid over Helena, taking in her poised, graceful stature, and he was reminded of how little regard she seemed to hold for his scars.

“I had heard of your father’s passing. I am so sorry for your loss,” he said sincerely.

Helena’s eyes sparkled with gratitude, but she only nodded. When she stayed silent, he chose to continue, not wanting to ruin the mood.

“What makes you think you are not already like your mother?” he asked.

The left corner of her lips drew up into almost a smirk, and she let out a small huff.

“You saw how I lost my temper with you last night,” she whispered back. “And at the flower shop. My mother would have never lost her composure as I did.”

He could not help it. He smiled. If only a little.

“Well, to be fair, I did deserve your wrath,” he confessed. Helena looked over at him, a brow raised in intrigue. “You were right; I was treating you differently,” he confessed. “I am just not…” he struggled to find the right words. “I am not used to being friends with women.”

Especially women I am hopelessly and desperately in love with.

But he chose to leave that part out.

“You seem fine with Patricia,” Helena countered.

“Patricia is formidable,” he quickly retorted. “Woe be to any man, woman, or child that did not give in to her whims.”

Helena laughed. Loudly. It was sharp and sudden, echoing through the great room, causing the musicians to stop playing and Patricia and Mary-Anne to turn and give them scolding glances.

“Apologies,” she giggled, hiding her smile with her hand. “I do not know what came over me.”

“Well, whatever it was, make sure you subdue it quickly,” Patricia warned in a stiff tone. “You two should be listening, not gossiping!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Evander and Helena replied in unison, and this time it was Evander who had to clamp his hand over his mouth to suppress his laughter.

“You got me into trouble,” Helena scolded, feigning a scowl as she pushed her knee against his.

“You got us both in trouble,” Evander whispered back, knocking his knee gently into hers.

They both shook with pent-up laughter as they looked at one another, but their knees remained pushed together.

“Keep going,” Evander quietly urged after they got their amusement under control. “You were moving on to your little brother?”

Helena’s smile slipped away as she looked down at her hands, once more rubbing at her palms.

“Alex is a good boy,” she whispered. “I know he is. However, he is so… varying in temperament. One minute, he is sweet and kind. The next, he is mischievous or downright rude.”

“Sounds like an average boy to me,” Evander whispered.

“I suppose I would not know,” Helena confessed. “All I know is that he was different before Papa died. However, he was only three at the time. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps this is all normal.”

Evander slid his knee against hers again, a small act of comfort. Helena brushed her knee against his in return, as if welcoming the gesture. It both shocked and surprised him, but he did not dare make mention of it. It was the closest they had ever come to an embrace, and he wanted the moment to last as long as possible.