An Announcement Long Awaited
Chapter thirty-three
Juliet barely slept a wink that night, excitement mingling with concern over everything that had happened the night before.
Yet she felt far from tired but eager to begin the day.
Christopher seemed to feel the same, for when she opened the door to leave her chamber, she found him standing right in front of her.
For a short moment, they simply looked at one another, the same hint of disbelief on his face that she felt must be upon her own. “Did last night truly happen?” Juliet whispered, a tentative smile tugging on the corners of her lips. “Are we truly betrothed?”
Casting a careful glance up and down the corridor, Christopher quickly stepped inside, then closed the door. “If not, then I had the same dream,” he whispered with a wide smile, pulling her into his arms. “I thought of little else but you.”
Juliet wanted to dance with joy; yet a single dark cloud remained. “Did you speak to Troy?”
Christopher nodded. “I tried,” he replied, and then turned so that the early morning light fell upon the other side of his face, revealing a slowly darkening bruise.
Juliet gasped. “Did my brother…?” Her eyes flickered up to meet his before they returned to fall upon the angry bruise he had retained—no doubt—from his conversation with Troy. “What happened?” She gently touched her fingers to his jaw.
Christopher winced. “It was nothing,” he replied, and she latched onto that spark of hope she saw in his eyes. “We spoke, and…I think he heard me. At least I hope he did.”
Juliet nodded, then she sighed. “Shall we head downstairs to breakfast then and…?” Her teeth sank into her lower lip as she smiled at her betrothed.
A wide grin came to Christopher’s face before he placed a kiss upon her forehead. “And tell them,” he finished for her.
Juliet all but bounced on her feet. “I admit I can hardly wait. This…this still seems surreal somehow. Perhaps once we tell them, it will feel…” She shrugged, unable to put into words how she felt, equally unable to explain the fear she felt that the man she loved could be snatched from her arms once again.
“I know what you mean,” Christopher whispered, the look in his brown eyes proving his words true. “I feel as though I’m still dreaming. Will you pinch me?” He grinned.
Instead of pinching him, Juliet pulled him down into a kiss, overwhelmed to be able to do so. Only days ago, she would never have dared and now…it seemed perfectly natural.
He was hers to kiss, was he not?
And she had to admit she liked that.
A lot.
His arms held her tighter, his kiss growing more urgent. “If this is how you pinch me, then please do so every day for the rest of my life,” he murmured against her lips before claiming them once more in a searing kiss that left Juliet breathless.
“I can’t believe I’ll have to say goodbye to you today,” she whispered, feeling tears prick the backs of her eyes at the thought.
Christopher cupped her face in his hands, gently tilting up her chin until his eyes looked down into hers. “Come with me,” he murmured, tenderly brushing his mouth against hers. “Please.”
“I want to,” Juliet assured him as her hands slid around his neck, her fingers twirling in his hair.
“But you need time alone with your son. He will have missed you.” She smiled up at him.
“You will come back,” she said, more to herself than him.
“You will come back, and then you will not leave again.”
Christopher nodded, his right hand clasping her chin, his brown eyes unwavering as they looked into hers. “I promise you. I will never leave your side again. This is the last time. Never again.”
“Never again,” Juliet agreed, nodding her head as she fought the tears that stood in her eyes. A moment later, his mouth came down onto hers once more, sealing their vow with a life-altering kiss.
“Juliet?” came Harriet’s voice through the closed door, followed by a quick knock. “Are you up?”
Shocked, Juliet and Christopher jerked apart, staring at one another for a heartbeat or two before wide smiles came to their faces, and they had to fight the urge to laugh out loud.
“Yes, I’m up,” Juliet called, leaning her back against the door just in case.
“I’ll be downstairs in a minute. You go ahead. ”
For a moment, silence greeted her words before Harriet asked, “Are you certain?”
“Yes!” Juliet exclaimed with a bit too much enthusiasm before she clamped her hands over her mouth as another bout of laughter threatened to undo her.
“Very well.” At the sound of receding footsteps, Juliet sagged against the door before she could not hold in her laughter any longer.
Christopher joined her, his hands reaching for her as they sank to the floor together, tears leaking from their eyes as laughter fell from their lips. “Do you think she knows?” he wondered out loud. “Do you think she knows I am in here?”
Wiping tears from her cheeks, Juliet shrugged. “I don’t know. Honestly, sometimes I don’t know who knows what or not.”
“Of course, your grandmother knows,” Christopher threw in with a grin. “The woman knows everything.”
Juliet nodded. “It would seem so.” She grinned at him, then scooted closer, her shoulder bumping against his. “My sisters and I used to make up stories about her.” She giggled, remembering those innocent childhood days. “Do you remember? One theory was that she had once been a spy.”
Christopher slapped a hand to his forehead, his shoulders shaking with laughter. “It would not surprise me if that were true.”
Once the laughter had finally stopped and they had dried their tears, Juliet and Christopher headed downstairs toward the breakfast parlor. Despite the ball lasting well into the early hours of the morning, her family was already wide awake and exchanging theories of their own.
“Truly, did you see them after they danced together?” Harriet inquired as Juliet and Christopher stopped just outside the doorway, exchanging a glance. “Did you?”
“But that doesn’t mean that they…” Christina’s voice trailed off with a meaningful chuckle.
“Well, we shall know soon,” Louisa remarked with confidence.
“You don’t…plan on simply asking them, do you?” Anne inquired, a doubtful tone in her voice.
Juliet heard Phineas snort with laughter, which quickly turned into a pained gasp. No doubt, Louisa had elbowed her beloved husband for speaking his mind so directly.
“Perhaps we should wait until they decide to share—” suggested Leonora, but she was quickly interrupted.
“We’ve been waiting long enough!” Louisa exclaimed impatiently. “Honestly, I wanted to ask her the day of your wedding.” She was no doubt looking at Harriet. “Do you remember how we opened the door, and they both toppled to the floor?” A wickedly delighted grin could be heard in her voice.
Blushing, Juliet looked at Christopher, remembering the day she had asked him to kiss her. “I wanted you to kiss me even then,” she whispered as he pulled her into his arms, his back against the wall separating the hallway from the parlor. “I meant what I said.”
He nodded, lowering his head to hers. “I wanted it as well.” He closed his eyes. “You do not know how much I wanted to kiss you that day.” Then his eyes flashed open, and his head swooped down to kiss her as thoroughly as never before.
Juliet’s head spun when her grandmother’s voice suddenly rang out loud and clear. “Don’t make an old woman wait for her breakfast. Quit hiding in the hallway and come inside. There’ll be time for kisses later.”
Juliet and Christopher froze before they broke out laughing once more.
Then, with her hand upon his arm, they rounded the corner and stepped into the breakfast parlor where Juliet’s entire family—including a tall Scotsman with a rather self-satisfied, but genuinely joyous look in his eyes—stood assembled. Everyone, that was…except for Troy.
“Have you been eavesdropping?” Harriet asked with a teasing grin, her green eyes sparkling as she exchanged a meaningful look with her new husband.
Christopher shrugged, then looked from one of Juliet’s sisters to the next before his gaze came to settle upon her grandmother. “Have you been meddling?” he challenged with a grin. “Or rather matchmaking?”
For a moment, silence fell over the room as everyone stared at them.
While Anne and Leonora blushed slightly, a hint of shame coming to their eyes, Louisa and Harriet grinned with delight and no small hint of triumph.
“Well, is it official, then?” Juliet’s mother asked, exchanging a deeply affectionate look with her husband.
“Indeed,” exclaimed Grandma Edie, thumping her cane onto the floor for emphasis. “Can I sit and eat?”
Everyone broke out laughing, and Harriet pulled out a chair for their grandmother.
The rest of the family followed suit, settling around the large table, husbands seated next to wives with little Samantha seated between her parents.
“Well?” the girl asked, looking from Juliet to Christopher. “Are you going to be my uncle?”
Everyone at the table held their breaths, all eyes trained on them expectantly.
Meeting Juliet’s gaze, Christopher smiled. “I am,” was all he said, and the room erupted in cheers.
Juliet had never been happier.