by Caroline Lee
Inside the foyer, Reggie waved off the stately older man in the servant’s black, and took her coat and hat himself. It was gentlemanly, and Annie smiled softly at him in appreciation. She could swear that she saw his cheeks color slightly, but it could’ve been the light from the electric lamps making odd shadows.
There was mistletoe hanging from the giant crystal chandelier above their heads, but she pretended not to notice.
When he offered her his arm, she placed her fingers on the wool of his jacket, and he led her into a parlor. The elegant lady who’d been waiting there rose to greet them, and Annie almost gaped at her dress. Mrs. Carderock was still a beautiful woman, and Annie remembered her being the paragon of sophisticated grace… but that was at her son’s wedding, almost a decade ago. Here she stood, in her own home, dressed in a gown elaborate enough to attend a ball. Annie was suddenly very glad that she’d changed into her nicest pale blue dress this morning, rather than the travel-stained dark gown she’d worn for most of the trip, or the skirts and shirtwaists she normally wore in Cheyenne.
Heaven knew what Mrs. Carderock would think if she knew that even those skirts were fancier than the jeans she preferred when she was on the ranch, training her colts.
“Welcome to fabulous New York City, my dear!” Mrs. Carderock continued, as she came forward to embrace Annie, but the rest of her greeting was lost. In fact, Annie wasn’t entirely sure about her first words, either, but judging from the kiss the older woman dropped on her cheek, she was certain it was a welcome. Reggie’s mother was apparently one of those with the aggravating habit of blending her words together. It was probably not even noticed by her peers, but Annie could already tell that she was going to get a headache, trying to follow her hostess’s words.
It was so much easier with someone like Reggie, who knew enough—either from his visits or his medical training—to speak clearly while looking directly at her. She liked the way he didn’t use contractions when he spoke, which made his meaning even easier to understand. His mother, on the other hand…
Mrs. Carderock stepped back and beamed at her, so Annie took a chance and dropped a small curtsey. “Thank you very much for having me, ma’am.”
She was looking directly at her hostess—Annie always had to stare at peoples’ faces, in order to make sure she didn’t miss their words—and thus saw the wince Mrs. Carderock couldn’t quite hide at her words.
Annie stifled a sigh. She’d never heard herself speak, of course, but her family had explained that her voice sounded wrong. Most of the people she interacted with in her life had gotten used to it, but it was always a surprise, meeting new people. Annie wanted to scowl at them—at Mrs. Carderock—and ask them how well they’d be able to speak if they couldn’t hear. She’d worked so hard to be able to speak at all, and people were bothered by something as silly as the sound of her voice?
Sebastian had explained to her years ago that the only way she’d be able to be accepted by society was to give up her signs—“All that waving about makes you look like a savage”—and learn to speak. She’d had to dismiss the language of signs Wendy had created for her when they’d both been young, giving up that part of herself and her past. Instead, she’d spent years of lessons studying the proper use of lips and tongues and breath in speech, mimicking them as well as she could. So she still couldn’t pronounce certain words—who cared?
Apparently Mrs. Carderock did, judging from her forced smile. “You must be exhausted from the journey, Annie. Why don’t you run along upstairs to change for dinner?”
Annie glanced helplessly at Reggie, who tilted his head just slightly towards the door to the foyer and the stairs. She appreciated his attempts at translation, but was more worried about what she was fairly certain his mother had just said: Change for dinner? But this was the nicest gown she’d brought with her.
As Reggie escorted her towards the main staircase, Annie couldn’t help but look back at the crystalline Christmas decorations and the perfection the house represented. She was beginning to suspect that she wasn’t going to fit in here, just as Molly tried to hint. Her oldest sister was usually right, but Annie hadn’t wanted to believe it. She’d wanted to see New York, to experience the beauty of a high-society Christmas.
But was it where she belonged?
Don’t worry! You can follow Annie and Reggie’s Christmas journey to figure out their future in Where They Belong: A Sweet Cheyenne Christmas Story
And if you’d like to start at the beginning, to find out how the Barker brothers met the Murray sisters in the first place, check out A Cheyenne Christmas. Reviewers are calling it “heart-warming” and “realistically sweet,” just like the rest of the series!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caroline Lee is what George R.R. Martin once described as a "gardener author"; she delights in “planting” lovable characters in interesting situations, and allowing them to “grow” their own stories. Often they draw the story along to completely unexpected--and wonderful!--places. She considers a story a success if she can re-read it and sigh dreamily... and she wishes the same for you.
A love of historical romance prompted Caroline to pursue her degrees in social history; her Master's Degree is in Comparative World History, which is the study of themes across history (for instance, 'domestication of animals throughout the world,' or 'childhood through history'). Her theme? You guessed it: Marriage throughout world history. Her favorite focus was periods of history that brought two disparate peoples together to marry, like marriage in the Levant during the Kingdom of Jerusalem, or marriage between convicts in colonial New South Wales. She hopes that she's able to bring this love of history-- and this history of love-- to her novels.
Each one of the books in her Sweet Cheyenne Quartet has reached the Best-Sellers list on Amazon, and all are available in e-book and paperback formats.
Caroline is living her own little Happily Ever After with her husband and sons in North Carolina.
You can find her at www.CarolineLeeRomance.com.
Other works by Caroline Lee
The Sweet Cheyenne Quartet
A Cheyenne Christmas
A Cheyenne Celebration
A Cheyenne Thanksgiving
A Cheyenne Christmas Homecoming
Where They Belong: A Sweet Cheyenne Christmas Story
The Mothers of Sweet Cheyenne: A short story collection
Everland Ever After
Click the image to be taken to a listing of all the Everland books!
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