Page 15 of Mischief and Manors (Change of Heart #1)

CHAPTER 15

I stood with my brothers at the water gardens, fidgeting with my gown. Owen would be arriving at any moment. As I waited, I cast my gaze at all the sculptures, fountains, and the large man-made waterfall at the center.

I was about to venture to the stables to visit the horses, when I saw Owen step out the back door of the house. My stomach twisted with nerves. I hadn’t the slightest idea of what he had planned.

A minute later, he walked up beside us. “Good morning,” he said in a friendly voice. His hair was untidy from the breeze, his jaw freshly shaven. I stared at the sharp corners for a little too long.

I snapped my gaze away fast. “Good morning.”

He flashed his familiar grin. “I’ve decided upon their first lesson.”

“What is it?”

He answered by speaking to my brothers. He turned to face them, bending over to be closer to their height. “I am going to teach you boys the first and most important lesson that you can learn as a gentleman. It is absolutely essential.”

Peter and Charles exchanged an eager glance. They would eat up any words Owen spoke. “Tell us!” Peter said with a grin.

Owen paused a few seconds longer for suspense. “I am going to teach you the proper way to treat a lady.”

I scoffed.

He turned to me with a look of surprise. “What? Have I not redeemed myself?”

I shrugged, willing myself to have a teasing glint in my eye. “Partially, I suppose.”

He stepped closer to me, and I couldn’t help but notice the stark contrast between his eyes and his brows and lashes. Facing the sun, his eyes looked brighter blue than usual, but his lashes and brows remained every bit as dark. They seemed to be the perfect frame for the picture of the sea that his eyes made me imagine. He tipped his head down to look more directly at me. “Then you must allow me to finish the task.”

I tried to look unaffected by his closeness and the tone of his voice.

“Please take a seat,” he said to my brothers.

They immediately obeyed, plopping down on the grass.

Owen paced in front of them. “What do you suppose a gentleman ought to do if a lady appears to be in need of assistance?” His voice sounded so professional that I had to bite back laughter. It was all so ridiculous.

“He should help her?” Peter guessed.

Owen nodded. “Good.”

“What if she doesn’t want him to help her?” I cut in.

Owen looked at me with a half smile. “Then she will be sure to let him know.”

A small grin crept onto my lips.

“A true gentleman will cease whatever he is doing to assist her,” he continued. “No matter how important the task may seem.” He walked over to me. “Annette, will you climb up there for a moment?” He pointed to a large stack of stones that spanned the waterfall. The top stone must have been fifteen feet high and was covered in slick moss.

I looked at him in disbelief. “What?”

“I climbed it often as a boy. For you, I arranged the stones in a staircase to make the climb safer.” He smiled crookedly. “Unless you don’t think you are able.” His voice carried that challenging note that made my pride flare.

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you truly telling me to climb something again ?”

“Indeed,” he said. “But this time there is a component that will drastically alter the outcome.”

“Oh? What is that?”

A grin touched his lips. “This time I’m strong enough to catch you.”

He probably expected a blush, and I may have blushed, but I took an appraising glance at his arms and said, “I doubt that.” But truly, I didn’t doubt it at all.

I didn’t wait for his response, but I could hear his low, amused laugh as I walked over to the stack of stones. Calling them a ‘staircase’ was a bit of a stretch, but by the looks of them I could likely reach the top unscathed.

I gripped the highest stone within my reach and looked down at the stone near my feet. It was the largest of the group, serving as a platform for all the rest. Once I had my feet in place, I moved my hands up and stepped higher at the same time, testing my weight on one of the balancing, less stable stones. I didn’t sense an immediate change in stability, so I continued upward the same way. It was a slow, tentative process, but I was approaching the top without mishap. A little smile curled my lips as I stepped up onto another stone, smaller than the last.

Pausing to look down, I saw that Owen was standing right below me, watching me closely. I shot him a smile. “I’m not going to fall, you know.” I turned around and started climbing faster.

His voice carried up to me through the soft rushing of the water. “I never imagined it.”

As I grew higher above the ground, my nerves began fluttering in my stomach. A sharp thought struck me as I was approaching the top: why was I doing this? And a more disturbing thought: why did Owen want me to do this? I cursed myself for my lack of wisdom. I hadn’t even stopped to consider his reasoning until now. But it was too late. I needed to prove that I could do it.

The ‘staircase’ ended several feet below the top, so from where I stood, balancing on the smallest stone, I placed my hands on the highest, broadest stone and hoisted myself up. Moss coated the outer edges, slimy under my fingers. I pushed myself into a seated position and crossed my legs.

I looked down at Owen with a look of triumph, expecting to find a defeated frown on his face. Instead, he looked up with a congratulatory smile—and something else. I examined his expression closer and immediately recognized the mischief in his eyes. But I had noticed it too late. He had already begun disassembling his stone staircase.

I leaned forward in outrage. “What are you doing?”

Peter and Charles giggled, as if they had known about Owen’s plan all along. I shot them a berating scowl.

Owen glanced up innocently. “I like to teach by example. So I am going to demonstrate how a gentleman should rescue and assist a lady in distress.”

I shook my head. “No. You most certainly are not. I am coming down by myself.” I realized how childish I sounded, but I didn’t care. If Owen thought he could trick me into going along with his little ‘demonstration,’ then he was horribly mistaken. I cursed myself for not expecting this. I knew Owen well enough now that I should have foreseen a trick.

He tipped his head to the side and raised his eyebrows. “Annette?—”

I lifted a hand to stop his words. “That’s enough from you, thank you.” I glanced over the edge of the stone. The large stones sloped straight downward with hardly any visible places for stable footing. From my perspective, I couldn’t imagine where I would place my feet. Nevermind the staircase—climbing down would be more difficult than climbing up no matter what.

I swallowed hard. I had already hesitated for too long. I was losing my nerve. So before I could change my mind, I turned onto my stomach and slid down to where I hung just above my chin. I searched frantically for a niche in the rocks in which to place my foot. I found one, thankfully, and moved my hands farther down the stone.

My foot slipped.

I let out a small screech and slammed my hands against the rocks, grasping for any handhold I could possibly find. My fingers caught in a small crevice between two stones. The movement jostled my ribs on my right side and I winced, pausing to painstakingly collect my breath. Why had I been so daft? I hadn’t proved anything but my stubbornness by trying to climb down. And now, I was hanging helplessly, letting Owen win again.

“Just let go!” he said from beneath me. “I’ll catch you, I promise. Trust me.”

I peeked at him from under my arm. His arms were outstretched in front of him. A wave of hesitation made me grip the stone tighter. Could I really trust him? What if he dropped me? Panic squeezed my lungs until I could hardly draw a breath. My hands were already aching with the effort of maintaining my grip, so I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. I squeezed my eyes shut and let go. The brief moment that I was falling reminded me of the time that I fell from the tree. I had shut my eyes then too.

But the pain didn’t come this time. I didn’t open my eyes hours later to see a doctor busily checking for injuries. Instead, I opened my eyes to see a doctor, a much more familiar one, holding me in his arms.

Owen grinned. “You are far too stubborn.”

Despite his choice of words, his voice was quiet and reassuring, and it made me forget why I was so upset with him. The warm summer air around me seemed dull and lifeless compared to the way Owen was looking at me—the way his smile made me smile instantly, as if I were his reflection in a mirror.

I realized that I was grasping his lapels—quite tightly. I released my grip and, intending to smooth out the wrinkles I had put in his jacket, ran my hand firmly over his chest. My hand froze when the reality of the situation caught up to me. Owen was holding me in his arms, and I was willfully touching him, mindlessly even, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

My eyes flew up to his face. The smile in his eyes had been pushed into the background by something else—something that I didn’t know what to call. It was intense but soft at the same time, a mixture of certainty and caution. No one had ever looked at me like that before. I wanted to continue my study of that look, to decipher what it meant, but I was far too nervous.

I frantically hurried my gaze away from his eyes, hoping to find something less unnerving to look at. But my gaze froze on his charming smile, the way his lips curled up more on one side, making that dimple dent his cheek. I felt a tug on that anchor in my heart as I realized how close his smile was—how easily I could kiss it.

I quickly tore my gaze away and looked down, so flustered with myself that I didn’t know what to do. This man had just tricked me into being trapped on top of a fifteen-foot-high stack of stones and now I thought about kissing him? Something was seriously wrong with me. Something was seriously wrong with this entire situation.

I looked up at Owen with a glare, hoping that by doing so I could dispel whatever was lurking in his eyes. It worked, thankfully. In fact, it seemed to take him completely by surprise. He set me down, and I hardened my scowl and planted my hands on my hips. “You tricked me!”

He backed away and looked at my brothers with a terrified expression that made them laugh. “I assure you, on most occasions a lady will show gratitude.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. “I wouldn’t have even been trapped up there if you hadn’t tricked me into doing it.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t call it that. I simply gave you a challenge that you were unable to resist.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Well, then, I challenge you to hold your head under the waterfall for sixty seconds,” I said, lifting my chin. “Unless you don’t think you are able.”

His eyes widened, lips twitching with amusement. “I would rather not.”

Charles giggled.

I sighed in defeat, locking eyes with Owen until we both burst into laughter. Peter and Charles joined in, and the four of us laughed until I was sure that whatever Owen had done to make me upset wasn’t at all important. I covered my face with one hand. I was always far too eager to prove myself. It was one of my greatest weaknesses. Owen hadn’t forced me into climbing up the waterfall, my pride had. When my laughter was finally diminishing, I looked up at Owen weakly. “Why are you so good at that?”

He looked confused for a moment. “At what?”

“Making me laugh when I’m angry.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I think you laugh at yourself first.”

“I do not.”

“I think you do.” He tipped his head down to look at me more directly. “And something I have come to know about you, Annette, is that you can’t stay angry with anyone. It’s a strength of character I wish I possessed.”

“It’s more of a weakness, actually.”

He shook his head again. “No, because if you were able to stay angry with me, we wouldn’t still be friends, now would we?”

I looked up at him, a small smile curving my lips. “We most certainly wouldn’t.”

He laughed. “But thanks to you, your brothers were able to observe a very real situation of a gentleman rescuing a lady in distress. The lesson will be more memorable because of it.”

Distress? I opened my mouth to correct him, but he was already walking toward my brothers. They sat on the edge of a nearby fountain, splashing their fingers in the water. Owen caught their attention by sitting beside them.

Peter sat up straighter. Charles did the same, wiping his wet fingertips on his trousers.

“As you see,” Owen said, “it is a gentleman’s duty to offer his help when a lady is in need. Do you think you might be able to do that?”

They both nodded, but Charles wore a deep scowl. “But—but if Annette falls again, I think she is far too large and heavy for me to catch by myself.”

Owen laughed, tossing a glance in my direction. “You also must learn to never call a lady large and heavy.”

I bit back my laughter. Charles still looked deeply concerned.

Owen patted his arm. “Opportunities to help a lady in need with not always involve falling and catching, or rescuing her from danger. You might offer your help with small, simple tasks that will make her day a little easier. As children, you might be obedient when your sister asks you to behave, help her carry something if her arms are full, or simply tell her how much you love her.”

Peter and Charles both peeked at me from around Owen. Charles gave a shy smile. “I love you very much, Annette.”

“I also love you very much,” Peter said, glancing at Owen for approval.

I laughed, moving to sit beside them. “And I love you both the very most.” I pinched Charles’s cheek and ruffled Peter’s hair.

They grinned, swinging their feet off the edge of the fountain. I realized that I hadn’t heard them say they loved me in a long time. No one had said those words to me in a long time.

My heart warmed as I studied their faces. I told them how much I loved them every night, but they were often distracted or unaccustomed to returning the words. The absence of that reassurance had never bothered me, but hearing it now made me aware of the hollowness in my heart that had just been filled.

“Very good,” Owen said with an amused smile. “Don’t forget to tell her that every single day.”

Peter’s brows shot up. “ Every day?”

I laughed as I watched his look of dismay.

“You wouldn’t want her to forget, now would you?” Owen asked.

Realization crept over Peter’s face. “No.”

“That is right.” Owen gripped his shoulder with a smile. “But what you must know about love, is that simply speaking of it doesn’t make it true. If you love Annette, you must also find ways to show her. You must always treat her with kindness and respect.”

My brothers both nodded with determination.

I couldn’t contain my smile. All of this schooling would likely be forgotten by tomorrow, but it was entertaining to watch.

Owen excused my brothers from their first ‘lesson,’ and they ran immediately to the waterfall. They took turns dipping their hands under the stream of water. I kept them in clear view, making sure it didn’t turn into a splashing battle of some sort.

Owen stretched his legs out in front of him as we watched Peter and Charles. The space they had occupied on the fountain between us was now empty. “They are good boys,” Owen said, breaking the silence. “You are raising them well. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.”

I thought of Mr. Coburn and Aunt Ruth. Had I listened to them? No one had ever told me what I was doing right—only what I was doing wrong. “Thank you,” I said in a quiet voice. “And thank you for giving them their first lesson. They seemed to enjoy it.”

“I did too.” He gave a crooked smile, his gaze lingering on my face for a long moment. “So. Shall I ask you my first question now?”

Blast it all. I had nearly forgotten about my ‘payment.’ Actually, I remembered quite clearly, but was hoping that Owen had forgotten.

I should have known he wouldn’t forget something like that.

“I suppose.” I was proud of how normal my voice sounded.

He looked at the sky in thought. “There is something I have been curious about. I first noticed your aversion to the rose I gave you, and then to the colors in the morning room. Why are you so repulsed by the color pink?”

My stomach dropped. I turned to him with the most convincing look I could muster. “It simply isn’t pleasing to my eye.”

He lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “I can see there’s more to it than that. You seemed almost…afraid of that rose I gave you.”

I drew a deep breath. Could he read my mind? Is that how he always knew the most personal questions to ask me? I cleared my throat. “It’s my least favorite color, and it always has been. Nothing more.” I looked up at him, hoping to convince him with the false sincerity in my eyes.

He gazed into my eyes for a few seconds. “You’re lying.”

“What? No, I’m not.”

He gave a knowing smile. “You are. And you are terrible at it, by the way.”

“I am not!”

“Most people are. It’s simple to see once you learn how to sort out their lies.”

“And how do you sort out their lies?” My voice was heavy with doubt.

“Everyone does something that betrays them.”

My curiosity forced me to inquire further. “Well, what do I do?”

He leaned forward. “Are you admitting that you’ve lied to me?”

“If you’re the expert you claim to be, then you should know if I have.”

He let out a sound that was a mixture of a sigh and a laugh. “If I tell you, then I won’t be able to discern when you’re lying anymore. You’ll learn how to hide it.”

I sighed. I needed to know. It would bother me all day. This called for extreme measures. “Fine. Tell me, and on my word of honor, I won’t lie to you ever again.”

He eyed me carefully. “That’s a fair price.” He turned, hiding his growing smile. “It’s your nose.”

I gaped in surprise. “What about my nose?”

“Your nostrils flare when you lie.”

“They do not!”

He threw his head back with a laugh. “You wanted me to tell you, so I told you. I find it quite endearing, actually.” He winked at me in a way that I could only interpret as flirtatious.

I jerked my attention away from his charming smile. “In that case, I will try never to do it again.”

He laughed before regarding me seriously. “Well, now that you have promised never to lie to me again , you must answer my question honestly. Why do you hate pink?”

I swallowed and wiped my palms on my skirts. No one had ever asked me that question before, and I wasn’t entirely certain I knew the answer. It was difficult to explain. The explanation was somewhere deep inside my heart, but I usually kept the lid shut.

I twisted my fingers together as I thought about what to say. “When I was a young girl, I actually adored the color. I made sure to wear it every day, whether as my dress, gloves, the trim on my bonnet, or a bow in my hair. My parents even had my bedchamber painted in a soft shade of pink to match my pillows and blankets.” I glanced up at Owen to see his reaction. He looked mildly surprised, but deeply interested.

“Shortly before my parents left for their final visit here to Kellaway Manor, my mother had commissioned a new pink dress for me with the modiste. It was delivered a few hours before my parents were expected to return home, so I wore it with the intention of surprising her. When she didn’t return to see it . . . ” I looked down, suddenly feeling very self conscious. “I don’t know, I suppose the color just wasn’t so pretty anymore. Nothing was pretty anymore. The color transformed in my eyes to something that meant hurt, and disappointment, and that my mother wasn’t coming home. I hated it for that. I left it to rest with her, I suppose. Our favorite color was something we shared, and I felt guilty at the thought of enjoying it without her.”

I felt a lump in my throat, and I found myself wishing that Owen would just laugh at me. Then I could be angry instead of sad. I was waiting for him to say something, but he seemed to be waiting for me to look at him. I laughed softly at myself. “I know. It’s ridiculous.”

I peeked up at his face. The amusement I had hoped for was missing. Instead, his expression held a solemn understanding. I stuffed my emotions down into my heart, as deeply as I could. Everything that I had buried deep within my heart over the years was coming too close to the surface—dangerously close. Eventually, nothing else would fit.

Finally, Owen broke the silence. “No. It’s not ridiculous at all. No matter how beautiful something is, there can still be an associated memory that causes pain. To some extent, I understand what that feels like.”

I took a breath as relief flooded through me. He understood. And he didn’t look at me with pity either. He never did.

I gave him a grateful smile that he returned.

I wanted to ask him what had happened to make him understand, but I couldn’t find the words. What was the beautiful thing that had hurt him? Was it a woman? Had he been in love before? The idea dug into my chest with sharp discomfort. If he had, I didn’t want to know. It was none of my business.

“I’m sorry for insisting that you take that pink rose,” he said. “I wouldn’t have, had I known how much it hurt you.”

I shook my head. “No—the rose is just fine. I . . . I like it now.” I smiled up at him reassuringly, and gasped.

He was staring at my nose.

“Owen!” I quickly used my hand to cover it. “I am not lying!”

He tipped his head back with a laugh. “I’m sorry, but I had to be sure.”