Page 19

OUCH!

“It’s not for anyone to determine what is right or wrong, except the person who is living that life. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“You’re right, Mrs. Malpas.” Willa swallowed, no doubt in fear, then looked down at the gold watch that adorned her left hand. “Oh, would you look at that? I have to pick up JJ from daycare.”

Willa turned and hurried toward the front door of the store. Before leaving, she called back, “I’ll send you the invite to the next gala, Freyja!”

“That girl isn’t very bright.”

“Researchers say that a woman loses a third of her brain cells with every pregnancy. I would imagine after six children in ten years, she doesn’t have many left.”

“Freyja!”

I laughed at the fake indignation in my mother’s voice, which in turn had her laughing along with me.

“Come on, let’s pay for these things and go home.”

We made our way through the store quickly, paying for our purchases and having them sent to the house to avoid lugging them through the crowded streets of New York City.

Despite my insistence to myself that I could be patient until Mardi Gras, I still looked at the face of every man in a suit that passed by me. Hoping I might catch a glimpse of the handsome man I met briefly.

Mardi Gras was getting closer, and I was getting anxious. I attributed my anxiety to reaching utopia. It had always seemed to be an unattainable goal. But now, it was on the horizon.

When Lucille told me I had to wait until Dimeter was married before I could myself get married, I was so disheartened. I thought for sure I would be waiting forever.

I mean, it would take a very special woman to put up with my little brother. And well, Henley was very special. That woman had to be a saint. The only other woman I knew who could put up with him was Bailey. And the two of them couldn’t be more different.

Lost in my musings, I stumbled from being knocked into. Looking up, I opened my mouth to reprimand the large man. Instead, he glared at me over his shoulder and sneered, “Stay out of the way, bitch,” then took off down the street.

Two men rushed past me, while a third stopped to help me up. My breath caught when I looked up into familiar green eyes. He helped me to my feet, and I stood there staring at the most handsome face I had ever seen.

I wondered for a brief moment if it were possible the man the universe had chosen for me could be better looking than the man standing in front of me?

Dimeter would lose his shit if I married someone prettier than him. My little brother firmly believed he was the prettiest man on the planet.

“It’s you.”

Lucille didn’t tell me I would see him again. Maybe this was a gift, something to tide me over until Mardi Gras. My mother would tell me to jump on the chance, literally. She would say two chance meetings had to mean something.

I think I may agree with her.

“Hello again,mo bandia.” The words rolled off his tongue, and I wondered what they meant. He had me mesmerized by the deep sound of his voice. My hands on his biceps squeezed involuntarily, and he chuckled.

I pulled my hands away, my face heating with embarrassment.

The handsome man, who still hadn’t given me his name, looked down the street where the others had disappeared. I followed his gaze and knew he had to leave.

“You need to go,” I surmised. Disappointment swept over me as I realized once again that the universe only allowed a momentary interaction.

“I do,” he confirmed. He sounded as frustrated as I felt.

He reached into the inside pocket of his coat and produced a card. Handing it to me, he left me no choice with his words. “Call me. Allow me to take you to dinner. It’s the least I can do for a beautiful woman that falls at my feet.”

Those words should have sounded misogynistic. They should have sounded condescending. But coming from his lips, lips that appeared firm and delicious, they sounded romantic.

Taking the card from his hand, I looked at it. Flipping it in my hand to see the backside was blank.

Duncan Murphy.