Chapter Eighteen #3
Peyton wanted nothing more than to be at peace with all of Alec’s family.
She wasn’t suspicious of Thia’s motives in the least; if the woman was willing to talk out their differences, then she would stay up all night if that was what it would take.
She was more than eager to forgive and forget their rocky beginning.
She smiled at Thia. “Of course. I would be delighted.”
Celine smiled as well. She knew that the two women could mend their shortcomings and was thrilled that Thia was making a peace overture. She knew her daughter well enough to know that she was a reasonable, honorable person.
Or so she thought.
“Very well, Thia,” she moved away from Peyton and descended the stairs. “I shall leave you ladies alone.”
With a lingering smile, she turned for the dining hall until a call from Thia stopped her.
“Do not mention our talk to Alec, mother,” she said with as much innocence as she could muster.
She was terrified that somehow she would betray her true motives, still reeling with surprise to have come across Peyton without her husband tailing her.
It would make what she had to do far easier.
“He knows we haven’t gotten along and I fear he shall try to interrupt us. ”
Celine did not hesitate. “I understand.”
Peyton and Thia watched Celine disappear into the dining hall. When the woman was gone from view, they faced each other with a degree of uncertainty.
“Where would you like to go?” Peyton asked softly.
Thia cleared her throat again, nervously. Her palms were sweating profusely. “I… I thought someplace private. Like the stables.”
“The stables?” Peyton repeated. “The solar is private. And closer.”
“And someone can interrupt us, like my meddlesome brother. If he comes looking, I want him to search for awhile and allow us our time together.”
Peyton grinned, slowly descending the stairs towards her sister-in-law. “He is meddlesome, isn’t he? Pushy, too.”
In spite of her nerves, Thia couldn’t help but grin. “And arrogant. And loud.”
Peyton laughed, feeling better than she had in weeks. She was absolutely positive that she and Thia would grow to be very chummy if they could only spend a few moments together, getting to know one another.
“And he has the manners of a goat. Do you know that he and Edward had a competition to see who could belch the loudest the very first night the king arrived at St. Cloven?”
This time, Thia laughed. “That’s nothing. He and Ali and my father used to sit in front of the hearth on cold winter nights and attempt to out-fart each other. The solar would smell of rotting bodies for days afterward.”
Peyton laughed uproariously, moving for the door that led to the bailey. “Disgusting. And your mother allowed this?”
Thia opened the door to allow Peyton to pass through. “Better. She would bolt the door from the outside and not let them out until morning. They very nearly suffocated.”
Peyton convulsed with laughter the entire walk across the bailey. When they reached the nearly-deserted stable yard, Thia silently led her into the same bank of stalls where Alec had first made love to her. She entered the warm stable, reliving the sweetest of memories as Thia drew her deep inside.
“I hope you do not mind that I insisted on such privacy,” she said quietly. “I thought it would be better this way.”
“And you are correct. I agreed with everything you said about Alec. And more.” She settled herself on a large bale of pressed hay.
Expectant silence filled the dim livery. Peyton gazed at her sister-in-law, waiting for the woman to begin speaking. But Thia seemed very ill at ease, not at all comfortable. Peyton took the silence for natural nervousness.
“I am glad you suggested that we talk,” she said after a moment. “You and I have not exactly been on pleasant terms and I have always been sorry. Alec thinks so much of you.”
Thia felt as if Peyton had driven a dagger into her heart.
She wanted to curse and reject the woman in one breath and declare her apologies with the next.
Her inner turmoil bubbled like a simmering cauldron, simply waiting for the heat to increase and induce an explosion.
She was positive Peyton would be able to sense her treachery.
“He is my only living brother,” she whispered lamely. “I think… I love him a great deal.”
“As do I,” Peyton agreed fervently. “Which is why I want things to be right between us, Thia. I do not want to live the rest of my life at odds with you.”
“I know,” Thia nodded, fidgeting with her skirt. “I… I suppose I was envious of you when you first came to Blackstone, because I could see the way Alec was looking at you and I thought mayhap he would forget about me. He has always been my dearest friend.”
“I realize that. But you were so terribly hostile that I naturally reacted in the same manner simply to protect myself. I never meant for it to go as far as it did.”
Thia cocked an eyebrow, much in the same fashion as her older brother did. “You mean when I nearly beat you senseless? I can honestly say that I wanted to kill you, Peyton. Mayhap I would have if Toby hadn’t come along when he did.”