Persuaded (18 page)

Hanna
looked surprised. “Of course.”

Folding
his arms across his chest, Derick took a moment to frame the words in his head
before speaking them. “If I told you . . . that Ella and I were . . . getting
married
,”
he finally managed, though the word felt toxic leaving his mouth, “would you be
surprised?”

Slowly,
she shook her head, a sorry little smile breaking over her face. She couldn’t
know how that smile made the rock in his stomach drop farther, burrow deeper.

“You
deserve to be happy, Derick. You both do. It’s like you’re a completely
different person with her.”

Derick
couldn’t tell from her expression if that was a positive thing or not. Looking
down, he sighed, shoved a hand in his pocket. “You should get some rest,” he
told her, lifting his hand to brush some hair out of her eyes. Had he meant to
do that? Trying to cover the gesture, he pressed his palm to her forehead
instead. “You feel warm,” he informed her, hoping that the words would detract
from his thoughtless action. “Don’t worry, we’ve got this,” Derick assured her,
backing down the hall and forcing himself to turn away from her.

☼

Around
the time the boys fell asleep and Derick was faced with the unpleasant prospect
of “talking” with Ella, Charles and Mary returned from their date. Charles,
having obviously reached his threshold for spending time with his wife, was
thrilled to find Derick still at Uppercross. Oblivious to the fact that he was
intruding on his little sister’s date, Charles plopped down next to them on the
couch and flipped on the TV. Ella rolled her eyes at her brother but seemed
content to watch
Sports Center
as long as Derick’s arm stayed around her
shoulders. Now that Derick knew what he wanted, or rather, what he didn’t want,
continuing in his present course felt like a lie.

He had
paid careful attention to any hints Ella might drop about her hopes for the
future. She seemed mostly the same, except for a comment about kids not being
so bad after all. That made up Derick’s mind for him.

It was
almost like being burned alive, sitting here with Charles on his left and Ella
pressed into his other side—knowing that he was going to hurt her. Deciding
what he needed most was distance and a close examination of his feelings,
Derick said he wasn’t feeling well and went home.

That
night, he slept fitfully. He dreamt of strands of seaweed twining around his
neck and choking him, of being caught in some sort of net and rolled up like a
fly in a spider’s trap. Just before he woke, he realized that nothing in the
dream was as it seemed. The seaweed was actually tangles of long, dark hair,
and the net was a bridal veil.

TWENTY-TWO

DECLINED

“I have always
wanted some other motive for his conduct than appeared.”

—Anne Elliot,
Persuasion

For
Hanna, the weekend seemed to fly by. Perhaps it was knowing that Eli was
expecting some kind of answer from her tonight, at dinner. Maybe it was waiting
for Derick and Ella to drop the bomb of their impending nuptials. Hanna could
only assume that Derick’s strange question on Friday night was meant to prepare
her. Although, at the time he had seemed to be almost choking on the word
marriage
.
She kept waiting for Ella to jump out from behind corners and jab her bejeweled
finger under Hanna’s nose, but as yet, it hadn’t happened.

At
least her date with Eli derailed her thoughts a bit, even though it gave her a
share of anxiety as well. She had thought about what he told her before
leaving, that his “act” wasn’t really an act. She’d relived the kiss once or
twice as well, and was still unsure how she felt about it.

Being
wanted was always a desirable sentiment, especially when your first love was
about to tie the knot and inadvertently become your brother-in-law. But for
Hanna, being wanted wasn’t enough. It had to be about more than that. She
barely knew Eli, after all, had no clue where he was staying or anything. The
only things she really knew about him were that he was a photographer by trade
and that his family didn’t approve of his career choice. By contrast, it seemed
like he was acquainted with every little detail of Hanna’s life, including her
painful past. Obviously, she liked him and was attracted to him. But she
determined that she needed to know him better. If Eli cared about her as he
seemed to, he would understand and want the same thing.

Eli
had asked Hanna to meet him at one of the nicer restaurants downtown. When
Hanna saw him waiting for her in a cozy booth, in a button-up shirt and tie,
she was glad she’d dressed up a little herself. Eli’s whole face lit up when he
saw her. He stood, kissed her on the cheek, and helped her into her seat.

“You
look gorgeous,” he said, sitting down across from her.

“You
too,” she said. “How was New York?”

Eli
sighed happily, unabashed contentment on his face. “There’s something about the
city that’s electrifying. The beach is great when you want laid-back, but
there’s nothing like the city that never sleeps.”

Hanna
listened with a peaceful smile on her face. She disagreed, of course,
infinitely preferring the quiet coast to the rat race of a big city. The very
thought of a city that never slept made her tired.

Dinner
went off without a hitch, Eli recounting his trip to Hanna with an eagerness
that was contagious. When the check was delivered, Eli slipped a card into the
slot of the sleek black check holder and handed it off to their server. A
moment later the server returned with an apologetic expression.

“I’m
sorry, sir, but your card has been declined.”

Eli
scowled, his story breaking off abruptly, before the tension in his face eased.
“Oh, I forgot, I canceled that one last week. Sorry,” he chuckled, replacing
the offending card with another.

After
dinner was paid for, the pair set off at a leisurely pace for Uppercross.

A few
minutes into their nighttime stroll, Eli took her hand. “So, how was your
weekend? I’ve been going on about myself all night.”

“It
was nice for a change. Besides, nothing much happened here. Let me see . . . I
got a cold.” She cast her eyes around, thinking what to tell him next. “Oh, and
I’m pretty sure Derick and Ella are getting engaged, if they’re not already.”

Eli’s
brows shot up. “Really? What do you mean ‘pretty sure,’ though?”

“They
haven’t announced anything yet. They haven’t really been around either; it’s
been a little weird.”

“If
they haven’t said anything, what makes you think they’re engaged?”

Hanna
hesitated. “Just something Derick said.”

Eli
waited expectantly, but she didn’t clarify. She had that same feeling of
wanting to keep the interaction to herself.

“Anyway,
it’s kind of odd they haven’t been around. Maybe they’re scoping out honeymoon
destinations.”

Eli
laughed softly, squeezing Hanna’s hand. “Did you have time to think about
anything else this weekend?” He nudged her with an elbow.

So,
they had finally arrived. Hanna’s pulse raced ahead, but it was mostly out of
relief that they had come to it at last. “Of course I thought about what you
said.”

“Is
that all you thought about?” Eli asked, halting his steps and coming around to
face Hanna. His eyes settled on her lips.

“No,”
she admitted, blushing furiously. “But I’m afraid you won’t like what I’ve come
up with.”

Eli’s
eyes twinkled in the darkness. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that? If
you’re right, I’ll simply kiss you until you change your mind.”

Hanna
laughed, more for his benefit than out of sincerity. “I realized I really don’t
know much about you at all, while you’re pretty well informed about me.”

“What
do you want to know?” He tilted his head to the side.

“More
than you can tell me in one night,” she answered. “I think we should spend time
getting to know each other before jumping into anything serious.”

“You’re
not going to let me kiss you, is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m
saying I don’t want it to be only about that,” she amended, casting her eyes
downward and straightening her skirt.

“You’re
fidgeting again,” Eli observed in a honeyed voice, bringing Hanna’s free hand
to his lips. “All I want is a chance, Hanna. A reason to hope. Can you give me
that?”

She
nodded, her heart thudding—a base drum under her bones. Could he hear it?

“Then
I guess it’s good enough for me, at least for tonight.” He gave her a look, his
dark eyes traveling to her lips and back up to her eyes. Waiting, asking
permission. Hanna stayed still as he leaned in and kissed her. As before, the
kiss was controlled, almost calculated. This was probably best, given her
terms, but Hanna felt that she had yet to see any burst of emotion from Eli.
The thought niggled at her.

“I
missed you this weekend,” he told her as they resumed their walk toward
Uppercross.

“I
doubt that,” she answered as they approached the house. In all his recounting,
this was the first she’d heard of his missing her. Besides, if she was honest
with herself, she hadn’t missed him. Not really.

Eli
gave her a hurt look, and she backpedaled. “I just meant that you were probably
too busy to miss anything here, especially with all those city lights
surrounding you.”

He
drew her into his arms. “Those lights are nothing compared to the stars in your
eyes . . .”

Hanna
couldn’t help it—she laughed, a most unladylike snort that chased away any
thought of romance.

“Too
cheesy?” Eli said with an embarrassed grin.

“That
was a really bad line.”

“Hm. I
guess I’ll have to come up with some new material,” Eli murmured as he nuzzled
her ear.

“No,
that’s okay,” Hanna said, shoving him away in what she hoped came across as
playful rather than
get away from me.

“All
right, you little tease,” Eli relented, releasing all but her hand and bringing
it to his lips. “I guess you’ve put up with enough for one day. Rest up and
I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“‘Kay,”
Hanna answered, not sure how to feel about his assumption that she had nothing
to do tomorrow but spend the day with him. She wasn’t overly fond of being
called a tease, either. After waving to him, Hanna went inside to make herself
a cup of tea.

TWENTY-THREE

BUSINESS
and PLEASURE

He sometimes took
out a gun, but never killed; quite the gentleman.

—Jane Austen,
Persuasion

Derick
had spent most of the weekend hiding out on the
Laconia
. Sophie hadn’t
been pleased, but given her brother’s reasons for going AWOL, she let it drop.
At the very least, Derick had expected a lecture about being up front and
honest, about not leading Ella on, but it hadn’t come. He assumed that meant
Sophie’s delight at the turn of events canceled out whatever speech she
might’ve had in store for him.

Monday
night, Derick determined to return to Kelynch. He’d had more than enough time
to reflect and come up with a plan. His only reason for staying away now was
fear over the fallout. Pulling out his phone, he texted Sophie.

D:
Coming home tonight

S: J
Out of milk.

D:
I’ll grab some at the marina store. Anything else?

S:
Your courage.

D:
Must be around here somewhere ;) See if I can find it.

The
door of the marina store dinged as he entered, and he saw that there were a few
peopled poised on bar stools at the counter, finishing their food and drinks.
After getting the milk, he made his way back up to the register, realizing that
one of the people at the counter was Eli. He was talking on his cell phone, a
bottle of beer on the counter before him. Derick was about to step into his
line of sight to say hello, when Eli’s next words froze him in place.

“Sure,
it’s business, but what’s wrong with having a little fun along the way? They
just don’t make ‘em like that in the boroughs. She’s virginal, dude. Pure as first
snow. Could you refuse a conquest like that?”

Derick’s
blood boiled in his veins, a pain in his jaw notifying him that he was grinding
his teeth together. Eli listened to the person at the other end of the call for
a moment, then spoke, frustration surfacing in his tone.

“The
source was right, but I just need a little more time, Hoss. She doesn’t trust
me enough yet. Give me a week, just a week, and I’ll make my move. We’ll both
get what we want, and you’ll be sorry you ever doubted me.”

The
name Hoss stirred something in Derick’s memory, but the anger bubbling inside
him incinerated the vague impression.