12. Chapter 12
Winston answered my call, and though the sound of his voice sent a bolt of pain straight through my chest, I managed to explain what I needed him to do with a steady voice.
He told me of course he’d help and he’d be there in an hour.
Though I was grateful he was coming, there was a small part of me that had hoped he wouldn’t agree to help so I wouldn’t have to face him.
Jack and I moved the mirror to the sitting room and took up the vigil of waiting for Winston to arrive.
I tried to distract myself by calling Lady Catherine, but she didn’t pick up and I didn’t dare leave a voicemail, fearing she’d find it presumptuous.
Hopefully I hadn’t fallen from her good graces permanently.
Netherfield must have been trying to make me feel better because random items kept appearing on the side table: a book, a plate of brownies, a deck of cards, a fashion magazine.
I appreciated the gesture but I couldn’t focus on anything.
I placed a hand on the wall of the house to let it know I was grateful and turned to Jack.
“I’ll be okay if you need to go. I don’t want to make you wait here if you’ve got things to do. ”
He shot me an offended look. “There’s absolutely no way you’re going to shove me off now.” He took my small hands in his large ones and massaged them gently. The tension in my body dissipated as I focused on the feel of his hands on mine.
“How are your hands so smooth when your muscles are so big?” I asked, allowing myself to get distracted.
He grinned. “Because I always wear weightlifting gloves to ward off the calluses.”
I laughed. “No way.”
The doorbell rang and my nerves came back in full force. “That will be Win,” I said.
“Wait, his name is Win?”
“It’s Winston, but he goes by Win.”
Jack smirked. “That is the stupidest name I’ve ever heard.”
The hole in my chest that Win had put there when he left me had been getting smaller and smaller every day. But the thought of seeing his face left the hole gaping again.
Jack noticed my change in expression and frowned. “Hey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t mock him. I know you cared about him.”
I waved my hand. “Mock away. I’m just—nervous to see him.”
“I can see why that would be horrible.”
I paced the room, focusing on my breathing. In through my nose, out through my mouth.
“You don’t have to deal with him.” Jack crossed the room and placed his strong hands on my shoulders, gently rubbing some of the tension away. “If you want, I can talk to him. You can go soak in the bathtub and I’ll let you know when he’s gone.”
“I can’t,” I said miserably. “He’s doing me a favor by coming, and it would be rude of me not to thank him personally. Besides, if I go hide in my room, he’ll think I’m not over him.”
“It’s okay if you’re not.”
“Oh, I’m over him . But over the pain? Not yet.”
Jack kissed the top of my head, and my whole body warmed. “You’ve got this.”
I squeezed his arm in thanks and crossed the room to open the door for the butler’s knock.
Winston walked in and I took in his every detail, both the familiar and new.
His sandy blond hair was long enough to curl at the ends, his brown eyes bright and friendly.
He’d put on more muscle in the last year.
He wore the brown leather Berluti shoes I’d bought for him last Christmas.
Based on the wear, he must have worn them almost every day.
A pretty, young woman walked in behind him.
I walked forward to greet him, but didn’t reach out for a handshake or a hug. “Hey, Win. Thanks for coming.”
The scent of wood polish and sage washed over me. How dare he smell so familiar.
“Caroline, it’s great to see you.” Win’s smile was genuine.
If he was nervous to see me again, he didn’t show it.
He stepped a bit closer as though he’d hug me and I froze, not wanting to touch him but not wanting to refuse.
Jack stepped forward, extending his hand to Winston, saving me from the awkwardness.
“I’m Jack Levi.”
“Winston Brown.”
I gestured to the mirror. “This is the item I told you about.”
Winston examined it, front and back. “It’s a magical mirror, all right,” he said, stating the obvious. “I could take it back to my workshop and—”
“We’d prefer if you could work on it here,” Jack said. “If you need more tools or equipment other than what you’ve brought with you, Caroline and I can go and get what you need. Or you could send your assistant.”
I shot Jack a grateful look. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Winston, but I didn’t want the mirror to leave Netherfield.
Winston sighed. “I’ll work here, I have all the tools I need. And she’s not my assistant.” He cleared his throat. “Caroline, this is Eliza. My wife.”
A rushing sound filled my ears so I barely heard him say, “Eliza, I want you to meet Caroline Bingley.”
My gaze darted from his hand to hers, where simple gold bands graced each of their left ring fingers.
My brain quickly cataloged details about her that I hadn’t noticed before.
Her jeans were trendy but inexpensive, her sweater made from polyester and in a color and style that suggested it came from a big box store.
Her shoes were cute but basic. She didn’t come from money.
I scanned her face in the space of a heartbeat.
I didn’t know what I was looking for, but there had to be something there that would tell me why she was worth giving up his dreams for when I wasn’t.
Inside I was reeling. Winston had told me that we couldn’t be together because he needed to marry someone with money so he could finance his passion—creating magical items rather than just fixing them. And yet here he was, married to a girl who didn’t seem to have any. And so quickly.
Had he known her while we were still together?
Strong hands fell gently on my shoulders. Jack. I leaned back into his warmth and his chin rested on the top of my head.
His presence steadied me. I snapped a glamour over my face and reached my hand out to Eliza. “Nice to meet you,” I murmured, and turning to Winston, I said, “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you.”
“We’ll leave you to it,” Jack told them as he steered me toward the door and sparing me from having to make small talk with Eliza. “Ring for the butler when you’re finished and we’ll be back.”
“Okay,” Winston said. “I don’t anticipate it taking me long.”
Jack led me up the stairs, his hand a reassuring presence all the way up to my bedroom. “I’m so sorry about that,” he said when the door closed behind us.
“I’m okay,” I said, turning to face the window so he wouldn’t see the tears on my cheeks.
He wrapped his arms around my waist. “Let me in,” he whispered.
I turned to face him, letting him see my red nose and splotchy cheeks.
“Much better,” he said, placing his forehead on mine. “Talk to me, Vixen.”
“It hasn’t even been a year and he’s already married.
It’s not about Winston or that girl,” I said, needing him to understand.
“It’s about me. I wasn’t enough. Everything he told me about how he needed to marry for money, that he wished it could be me, all of that was a lie. He just didn’t want me.”
I buried my face in the soft place between Jack’s shoulder and his neck. He held me tightly and my tears slowed and then stopped as I breathed in his scent of cedar and vetiver.
Jack let out a long breath. “Maybe he lied to you, or maybe his situation changed, but it doesn’t matter. You don’t need him and you never did. You are perfect just as you are.”
I pulled back to look at him. “Do you really mean that?”
“I do. You’re so freaking dazzling that you bring life and beauty to everything you touch.”
I wanted to believe him and sink back into his arms, but I straightened, creating some space between us. “You have to say that because I’m paying you.”
Jack shook his head. “You’re not paying me a penny. I’m here because I want to be.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “To be honest, my family is wealthy. Like—we own half of Durham—wealthy. I told my sister to set my wages aside for you so you could get your own place. That’s what she’s been doing with her paychecks, too.”
My mind reeled. Sydney had been working for me for free this whole time? Gratitude welled up in me. And so had Jack? I ran my fingers through my hair. “Well, I guess the Armani suit makes sense now. But why didn’t you just tell me you were rich?”
“I don’t make it a habit to talk about my money. Also, my sister told me I should give it a few days before bringing it up.”
I folded my arms tightly across my chest. “If you didn’t need this job, then why did you agree to do it? Was I just a distraction?”
He shook his head. “I agreed to try the whole bodyguard thing because I was drawn to you. Not just your looks—though you are radiant. But also because from the first moment I met you, you were engaging and indomitable and vibrant. I stayed because I fell for you so hard I couldn’t stand the thought of you telling me to leave.
I hoped you could feel the same way I did. ”
I tried to glare, but the hint of a smile ruined the effect as I jabbed my pointer finger into his chest. “I’d love to fire you, but apparently you’ve been a volunteer all along.”
He took my hand and laced my fingers with his. “Does that mean you can date me?”
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his cheek. “It does.”
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer. “Will you be my girlfriend?” He kissed me lightly on the lips.
“I will.”
His hands found their way into my hair. “I’ve been wanting to do this since the first time I saw you,” he said, running his fingers through the strands.
He dropped his hands to my waist and pulled me flush against him.
“And I’ve been wanting to do this every moment since you jumped out of a moving ship to save some random girl’s accessory.
” He kissed me deeply, searchingly, and I kissed him back with everything I had.
A knock sounded at the door and I jumped.
“The repairman said he’s done with the mirror, ma’am,” Charles’s butler said through the door.
I groaned. “I think we’re going to have to revisit this conversation.”
“I’m okay with that,” Jack said, brushing his thumb across my lips.
I checked my hair in the mirror. It was mussed, and my lips were bright red from the kissing.
“Don’t glamour it,” he said, kissing me lightly on the side of the neck. “You look gorgeous.”
We walked back into the sitting room, hand in hand. Winston and his wife stood by the mirror.
“Thanks for fixing it,” I said. “You were quick.”
“Too quick,” Jack said under his breath, but loudly enough for Winston to hear.
A slow blush spread across my cheeks.
“It was a minor problem,” Winston said. “I replaced the glass, but the magic imbued in the frame was undamaged, so all I had to do was tie the glass into the spell that already existed.”
I ran a hand along the patina finish. “How do I get it to work?”
“It’s not powerful enough that you could ask it a question and get a straightforward answer, those are so rare—and illegal—that I’ve never seen one or talked to anyone who has. This mirror fills with images related to whatever you’re thinking about.”
I gripped the patina frame, closed my eyes, and thought of my sister.
When I opened my eyes, the reflective glass had disappeared, offering a glimpse into a room that looked real enough to step into.
A teenage Louisa stood in front of a young version of Charles and chewed him out for breaking her music box.
I turned to Jack. “Can you see what I’m seeing?”
“No.”
“None of us can,” Winston said. “Only the person using the mirror can see what it displays.”
The mirror’s surface blurred for a moment before revealing Louisa and I dancing at club Meryton. She looked so happy my heart ached. I let go of the side of the mirror and the glass reappeared on the surface.
Jack reclaimed my hand, squeezing it gently. “Is there a way to record what we see in the mirror?”
Winston shook his head. “No, its magic won’t register on recording devices. It has more to do with the user’s mind than their actual vision.”
I was grateful for his help, but I was ready for Winston to leave. “Thank you for coming,” I said. “How much do I owe you?”
“Don’t worry about it, Caroline,” he said. “I know times are tough for you right now.”
“Nonsense,” Jack said, pulling out his wallet. He handed Winston a stack of hundred-dollar bills. “We appreciate your willingness to make a house call on such short notice. It’s the least we could do.”
Winston looked from the stack of bills to Jack, his eyes widening. “I can’t accept so much.”
“Consider it a wedding present from the both of us,” Jack said, putting his arm around me.
Winston bit his lip and his pretty wife thanked us.
I let the butler see them out, but I did peek out the window to make sure they’d really gone.
Winston turned back toward the house before getting in his car, his expression unreadable.
But whether it was for one more glimpse at Netherfield or at me, I really couldn’t say.
“So, you’re that kind of rich guy,” I said, turning to Jack with my hands on my hips.
“What kind of rich guy?”
“The kind that likes to assert dominance with his money.”
He looked affronted. “Of course not.”
“Then what was with you paying Winston five times what he earned?”
“That was me showing the man who broke my woman’s heart that you don’t need his charity, that you are well taken care of, and that you won’t need anything from him ever again.”
I blinked. “Oh.” A slow smile spread across my face. “Your woman?”
“Or ‘my lady,’ if you prefer. I do also like the sound of ‘my darling.’”
I stepped toward him and wrapped my arms around him. “All of the above.”
He brought his lips to mine. I sighed into his lips and let myself enjoy a few moments of bliss before I pulled away.
“As much as I want to do this forever, we should probably go see what in that mirror is worth killing for.”