Foundation of Love: The Gypsy Blessing 2

by Wendi Sotis

  As the music began, he stifled a shiver as another wisp of hair fell across her cheek. Without thinking twice, he raised his hand and tucked it behind her ear, brushing her smooth skin with his fingers... lingering, caressing.

  He lowered his hand and took hers from his chest.

  Wrapping his other arm around her waist, she offered no resistance as he gently pulled her off the stool. Elizabeth stepped closer to him, their bodies almost touching, and they began to sway to the music.

  Elizabeth moved closer still. Resting her cheek on his chest, she fit perfectly against him, as if they were made for each other.

  He tightened his hold on her. This is where she belongs.

  As the music slowed at the end of the song, their swaying did, as well. The radio announcer was jabbering on about something, but William could not think of anything except Elizabeth as she took a half step away. Though he would have let her go if she had given him any indication she wished it, the only further movement she made was to look up at him. He swallowed hard as she licked her lips.

  Is this really, finally happening?

  He cupped her face in both hands and leaned toward her.

  The room filled with light as a deafening crack of thunder caused them both to jump, leaving them in darkness.

  After a few blinks, his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, and his heart squeezed painfully as he watched Elizabeth’s expression transform to one of horror and despair. “No!” she cried.

  What had he done? After all she’d been through earlier in the day, he was forcing her to reject yet another man she thought was her friend!

  During the moment it took to realize she was not looking at him, he had dropped his hands. She moved away, limping to the window that overlooked the backyard. He joined her, but even her reaction had not prepared him for what he would find.

  The oak, which had stood there proudly for centuries, had been split in half by the lightning; one side lay in the pool, while the other had fallen across the power lines leading to the house, now sparking dangerously close to the side of the building. Among the tangled limbs, the tree house Elizabeth had built as a child—the very one that had first inspired her to become an architect—lay splintered in ruins.

  William wrapped his arm around her shoulders as Elizabeth stood shaking her head, both hands cupped over her mouth.

  “I’m sorry, Elizabeth.” He hesitated for a few moments. “I apologize for bringing this up right now, but we need to have the power turned off.”

  A tear slid down her cheek. She brushed it away, then turned out of his embrace. “Do you see my cell phone anywhere? Oh, here it is.”

  “Who are you calling?”

  The light from her phone illuminated her face with an eerie blue-white light as she began punching icons. “Dan.”

  Of all people... after today... after the past few minutes, she’s calling Dan? William ground his teeth to hold his tongue.

  “His brother is a big-wig at the power company, but I don’t have his number in my cell.” She looked up. “Unless you have a better contact?”

  “Ah.” William was relieved it was too dark for her to see him blush. And I swore I’d stop jumping to conclusions? “I have a number in the office downstairs, but you’d probably get a quicker response from someone you know.”

  She nodded and put the phone to her ear, waiting for Dan to answer.

  The last thing William wanted to do right now was listen to her phone call with Dan. “Stay here. I’ll go check on the others. Don’t go outside, okay?”

  “Don’t you think I know better than that?” Elizabeth asked in a slightly defensive tone, then said into the phone, “Not you, Dan, I was talking to Will.” She paused, and her eyes widened.

  Seeing the uncomfortable expression on her face as she listened to Dan speak, William realized it was time for him to leave the room. In the hallway, it was pitch black. He hesitated, allowing his eyes to adjust so he could find his bearings.

  “No, I’m at the old house... Yes, I know what time it is... I’m sorry, but that’s none of your business, Dan!” she snapped. “Would you please listen? The power lines went down near the house. All I need is Joe’s phone number, not a lecture...”

  As William moved further down the hallway and into the main part of the house, the sound of her voice trailed off.

  William knew that, although Dan actually had no reason to do so, and even though the storm was at its worst so far, Dan would insist on coming over. He’d probably rush over to make sure William wasn’t taking advantage of her. Was there going to be another scene between them?

  I can’t blame him for caring about her, but Dan isn’t the one Elizabeth kissed... or was about to kiss, anyway. He smiled.

  ~%~

  As he was heading back upstairs to bring Elizabeth a flashlight, William’s cell phone made a strange noise. That sounded very much like... He pulled it out of his pocket and a chill passed down his spine when he saw the *New Photo* message on his home screen.

  The gypsies sent one to me?

  He opened the photo, and his mind reeled at the horror. Literally knocked off his feet, he fell back against the wall.

  “Elizabeth!” he called out and rushed toward the back staircase.

  ~%~

  With her cell phone app set to provide some light, Elizabeth hopped on her good leg as fast as she could down the stairs, barreling into William as he rounded the turn in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. He grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her and didn’t let go.

  “I already called the fire department, but they’ll never get here in time. I hope you have rubber boots and a few fire extinguishers!”

  Will pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and handed it to her. “What? Why?”

  “Not only did the tree house get smashed, but now it’s on fire, too. It’s raining heavily, but it’s been so dry lately. It won’t be long before the trees catch.”

  Will said something under his breath. “I thought you said you knew better than to go outside? Nobody is stepping out of this house until the power’s turned off.”

  “Nobody else has to risk it; I’ll go. If I had rubber boots—”

  “No, Elizabeth... it’s not worth it. You’re more important than a bunch of trees.” He took her face in his hands, forcing her to look into his eyes. “Elizabeth, we’ll stand by with fire extinguishers, inside the house. There’s nothing more we can do. The yard is flooded and there are live wires in the water.”

  William pulled her against his chest and held her tight. She brought her arms up around his waist and pulled herself closer. Smoothing her hair with one hand, he leaned his cheek down onto the top of her head. His heart pounded against the side of her face.

  “They’ll turn off the power soon, and then they can put out the fire. We have to wait—inside.”

  “Okay.” Elizabeth deeply inhaled his spicy scent. She wasn’t sure what was happening between them, but whatever it was, she greatly approved. She leaned back far enough to look at him. “We can keep a close eye on the fire from the bay window in the family room.”

  He took her face in both hands and looked deeply in her eyes. “Promise me, Elizabeth! Promise you will not go outside.” His eyes were wild with concern, much more than was warranted right now.

  “I promise, Will.”

  He ground his teeth for a few seconds. “You need to know... I came looking for you because I just received a photo, and I will not allow it to happen.”

  “From... them?”

  He nodded.

  “Can I see it?”

  “Absolutely not!” He shook his head. “But even if I have to tie you up and lock you in a closet, you are not going outside.”

  Her mouth formed into an O, but she didn’t make a sound.

  He pulled her into his embrace again. “You are not leaving my side tonight, understand?”

  “I’ll stay right next to you.” She nodded against his chest. “I’m sorry.”

  �
�There’s no reason to apologize for something you’re not going to do.”

  “But I am sorry you had to see that photo.”

  He squeezed her tighter to him. “I’m just glad they didn’t send it to you.” He released her and scooped her up in his arms. “Let’s go to the family room.”

  ~%~

  The tree house was engulfed in flames by the time they joined the others in the family room. They were all standing silently near the bay window. As they watched it burn, Elizabeth kept her word—she hadn’t left his side, but any time he was not in physical contact with her, the picture from his cell phone would pop into his mind, and he felt as if he were drowning in panic and sorrow.

  In fact, he had never been more frightened in his life. He felt guilty that even watching his parents’ car accident had not affected him quite this badly.

  His instinct was to keep her wrapped in his arms, but he forced himself to be more discrete, either holding her hand or keeping a hand on her waist or shoulder. One time, she had held onto his arm, but he found that wasn’t enough, and he placed his own hand over hers. He had to have hold of her in case she decided to go outside. Logically, now that she knew what the outcome would be, he should trust that she wouldn’t go out there, but he had to be ready to grab her if she tried to bolt. He would not lose her!

  Only when the power company workers were on the scene and the sparks stopped flying did his muscles begin to relax, and he felt like he could take a full breath again. Embarrassed by the trembling that came as an after-effect of such a lengthy adrenaline rush, he tried to let go of her hand, but she wouldn’t let him. She must have understood, because she wrapped both of her arms around one of his, hugged it to her, and rested her cheek against him as they watched the fire department enter the backyard and douse the flames.

  When the doorbell rang, William sighed deeply.

  “That’s probably Dan,” Elizabeth said in a defeated tone, lifting her head away from his shoulder.

  “I figured that. Do me a favor? Program Joe King’s number into your cell phone as soon as possible?”

  Elizabeth nodded.

  The doorbell rang three times in a row. Dan was obviously very impatient.

  “I’ll answer it.” Elizabeth began to move toward the door.

  William raised his eyebrows. “I’ll go.”

  “You’d better take Lizzy along, Will...” Richard turned toward them. Looking at the way Elizabeth was holding onto William’s arm, his eyes twinkled with mirth. “...so that Dan can see for himself that she hasn’t been molested... or anything else.” He chuckled.

  Elizabeth let go of William’s arm but didn’t move away from him. The doorbell rang several times in a row this time, and immediately after, someone started banging on the door. William grabbed a lantern and headed toward the front hall. Elizabeth limped after him.

  The banging continued until William opened the door. Dan almost fell through the opening, but he recovered quickly. A gust of wind blew rain through the door, soaking them all. William moved to close it.

  “Is everything all right?” Dan demanded from Elizabeth. “They wouldn’t let me near the house before now.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Thanks for getting in touch with Joe.”

  William almost laughed when Mrs. Reynolds and Georgiana entered the hallway, obviously showing that Elizabeth wasn’t the only woman in the house. Mrs. Reynolds answered, “We’re watching the fire department through the family room window. Would you like to join us?”

  Dan’s gaze traveled quickly from Elizabeth to William and back to Elizabeth. To William’s surprise, Dan nodded, stripped off his raincoat, and hung it on the coatrack by the door.

  William said, “I’ll show you where it is.”

  “I’ve spent half my life in this house, Darcy. I know my way around.”

  Elizabeth crossed her arms over her waist and cocked an eyebrow at Dan. He huffed out a chuckle and passed through the hallway, entering the family room. Elizabeth held onto William’s arm to steady herself as they followed, and they could hear Dan greet Richard and Charles. When they arrived at the window, she let go and leaned against the wall next to Dan. William came up behind her.

  “Aww, Lizzy. I can’t believe it’s gone,” Dan said.

  “Me either.”

  Dan gave her a significant look. “I have a lot of good memories of that tree house.”

  At first, William wondered why Elizabeth blushed as she gave Dan a warning look, but after seeing the look of triumph on Dan’s face when he glanced back at him, William decided he didn’t really want to know.

  ~

  As William let Dan out, Elizabeth stood staring out the window. She was very happy that Dan hadn’t stayed long after she had given him what her childhood friends affectionately called “Lizzy’s Look of Death.” There had been a lot of good times spent in that tree house with her friends, but she knew Dan was referring to her sixteenth birthday.

  Although she now knew it was Dan’s fault, at that time, Elizabeth had assumed that she hadn’t been asked on a date because boys didn’t find her attractive. A couple of days before her sixteenth birthday, some of the girls at school had teased her about never having kissed a boy. Later, Dan had come across her in the tree house, where she would always go when she was upset.

  As Dan was a couple of years older and already a sports superstar, he always had girls literally hanging off him. Since Dan had quite a bit of experience at kissing, he had offered to sacrifice himself, as he had put it, and they had shared her first kiss as an early birthday present. Now that she thought about it, it had been her only real kiss, ever. The two that came after that were in college... well, they hadn’t been mutual, and she chose not to think about those.

  The shudder that ran through her had to be obvious to the others, so she rubbed her arms with her hands, feigning a chill.

  She remembered that after Dan had kissed her, she couldn’t figure out what the fuss was all about—in fact, she had been a little freaked out about it. Dan was her friend, almost like a brother to her, and it just seemed plain weird to kiss him.

  Meanwhile, Will just has to look at me to get me all riled up! She smiled to herself.

  Although Dan had acted as if it meant nothing to him at the time, she wondered if he had entertained feelings for her even back then. If so, he’d hidden them well and had continued doing so ever since. Her lack of reaction to his kiss must have been painful to him.

  Later, when no one asked her to the school prom, she just couldn’t go alone—a single among couples. Dan wouldn’t let her miss it and insisted he’d take her. When he had made a pass, and she told him she only thought of him as a friend, he had said he hadn’t really been serious... that he only wanted her to have the full prom experience.

  William returned from the hallway and came to stand next to her. She shifted to stand a bit closer to him.

  She wished that Dan had taken her at her word back then, because it would have prevented a great deal of embarrassment to them both today.

  After she had gone to bed this evening, she had time to think over the past—in fact, the past was haunting her, which was why she got up and went back to work. As far as she could remember, she had never given Dan a reason to feel that she thought of him in that way. It seemed very strange that, after all these years, he thought he could claim her.

  Was it simply because he had been her first kiss that Dan thought he owned her? Was winning her just a challenge because she had rejected him after the prom? He seemed to think he really did care about her, and though she doubted it, she didn’t like hurting anyone.

  Her bad leg had been aching terribly for some time, so after the fire department had the blaze under control, Elizabeth said, “I have to sit down.”

  “I’m sure the icepack is still frozen,” Mrs. Reynolds chimed in. “One of the boys can fetch the ottoman from my room, and we’ll prop up your foot on a pillow.”

  Elizabeth lowered herself onto the couch. “That
sounds like a good idea.”

  “You’re exhausted, Lizzy,” Georgiana said. “Maybe you should go to bed instead?”

  “It feels like this has been the longest day in my life, Georgie, or close to it.” Elizabeth shook her head. “But, it would be impossible to sleep. I’d just sit in the conference room watching them outside—I’d rather stay here with the rest of you.”

  The men pulled the sofas to face the bay window so everyone could sit. Noticing everyone’s glances at the two of them, Elizabeth was glad that William didn’t hold her hand as he had done most of the night, but he did stretch out his arm protectively over the cushion behind her on the low-backed couch they shared.

  Chapter 17

  William did not want to awaken, but the sun was too bright to remain asleep, so he began the slow process of coming to full consciousness. As he did, he was amazed that the sensation of holding Elizabeth still felt real. He could even feel her breath on his neck, and her scent remained with him. He moved his head so his cheek rested against her forehead and sighed. This was a really good dream!

  When something twitched against the right side of his neck, his eyes snapped open. It was not a dream—Elizabeth really was half wedged between him and the back of the couch and half lying across his chest.

  He was suddenly conscious of where each part of her body pressed against him. Her hand cupped the right side of his neck, as if holding his head against hers. Their legs were tangled. With his left arm wrapped around her back, his hand at her waist, and his right arm resting on her shoulder, he was holding her tightly against him. Afraid to move again, unwilling to wake her, he only moved his eyes to look around the family room. It had stopped raining, the sun was out, and they were alone.

  Thinking back to last night, he remembered that as Elizabeth had fallen asleep, her head nodded against his arm behind her. That position must have been uncomfortable because she soon moved to place her head on his shoulder. His arm had automatically moved around her. His heart had skipped a beat when, a moment later, Elizabeth sighed in her sleep.