Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
I mean, I’d only been there three days.
And I was leaving in less than two weeks.
“Prue even named Bartholomew,” she went on. “This is why that poor creature has such a ridiculous name. He is, of course, Battie’s dog. But Prue wanted to name him, and Battie is a soft touch, so he let her name him.”
I was stuck on an earlier part of what she said.
“A cat sleeps with Battle?”
She inclined her head. “Baby Blue doesn’t hold a great deal of love for Bartie. But she does for Battie. Once Bartie is down for the night, Baby Blue finds my brother’s bed. Even when he’s not here to be in it.”
I tried to visualize Battle sleeping with a ragdoll cat.
It was so easy to visualize, and such a good visual, I stopped trying to visualize it.
Though, I was so enthralled by this endeavor, I jumped when Temperance surged elegantly to her feet and walked to the side of the vanity so she could look out the window.
“Imagine,” she said in a soft tone that had me instantly bracing, “being a young child and growing up in a house with no love.”
Oh my God.
“And then,” she went on, even softer, “this adorable red-haired baby comes home to you. She giggles. And she’s loud. And as she grows up, she’s excited by everything. She consumes books like chocolate and draws on everything with a surface. She’s utterly enchanting. She’s all that’s good and right, and since you never had that, you and your brother cling to her because she is.”
Oh God.
“Tempie,” I whispered.
She didn’t even look down at me.
“And then she goes to school.”
I closed my eyes and dropped my head.
I opened them and lifted my head when she spoke again.
“Day by day, all that joy, all that exuberance leaks out of her, little by little. She hides how much she reads. She draws in secret. She wears clothes she doesn’t like so she can fit in. But she never brings girls home for play dates or sleepovers. She’s never invited to parties.”
My eyes started stinging.
“And it just carries on,” Temperance continued. “Until she’s restricted her happiness and safety to this tiny bubble in the world where the people in it understand her.” She pulled in an unsteady breath. “But she’s so very alone.”
God.
Temperance looked down at me. “And then one day, she’s coming to breakfast with her laptop so she won’t delay in replying to an email she received from her friend.”
God.
“And some time later,” she kept at it, “she comes home wearing a crown of flowers, with sun on her cheeks and a spark in her eyes.”
“Tempie,” I whispered again.
She took in a delicate breath before saying, “In the powder room next to the parlor, there’s a drawer in the vanity. I secret my lipstick and a compact in there and nip to the loo if I need a touchup.”
And we were done with story time.
I was glad.
Though I was also honored.
“Thank you,” I said.
She inclined her head again and started to leave.
But that was when something else hit me.
“Chastity told Battle she didn’t want to go to Glastonbury.”
Temperance turned back to me. “No. She told me. I told Battle. And Battle, as he always does, handled it.”
This was why they were in their own world at dinner last night.
Whatever happened between big brother and baby sister, he had to continue to nurture it, or she wouldn’t have gone.
Therefore, this was why he had no mind to pay to me, or, as I hadn’t noticed at the time…anybody, but Chastity.
One of several reasons why Temperance was right there with me.
“You’re quite the multi-tasker,” I noted.
“I try,” she replied. “And in that regard, rest assured, Chelsea Renfrew is a sheep in wolf’s clothing, though she firmly believes it’s the other way around.”
Good to know.
I nodded.
“However,” Tempie went on, “Battie is a wolf in wolf’s clothing. If she steps over the line he’s drawn that she will more than likely not see, he will not countenance it. No, Vivienne. Be warned, he’ll not delay. And when the time comes, he’ll eviscerate her.”
“What you’re saying is, I have nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing at all.”
I struggled with what to say next, and decided on, “I’m not a big fan of being drawn into this.”
“Courtney is a friend of mine. I told her you were here. I told her you were lovely. I also told her it seemed my brother agreed. Unwisely, it seems she shared this with Chelsea and Chelsea wasted no time in setting up her next play. Then again, Courtney is one of the few in our set Chelsea hasn’t used up…yet. Though, I think that happened this afternoon. However, Courtney didn’t have any idea she’d been set up. Until she did.”
I harked back to an earlier part of what she said.