The simple gesture nearly broke her heart. Craig’s kindness was a trait Brian lacked. She shook her head. “No, it wasn’t the war. In fact I think Brian would be the last person in the world to take up arms.” She raised her eyes to Craig, all of the shame of rejection she’d experienced when Brian had told her she just didn’t measure up welling up in her chest all over, she wasn’t what he wanted. “It was another woman. He announced one morning, out of the blue, that he’d fallen in love with someone else. Her name is Marne.” Marissa crinkled her nose and let the name roll distastefully off her tongue. “Marne is tall and raven-haired, and beautiful, and everything I’m not.” Convulsively she swallowed back an onslaught of tears. Once started, the flow could be unstoppable.
“Everything you’re not!” Craig scoffed, incredulous. “Marissa you are perfect.” He stopped then, turning to face her, gently taking her face in his hands, threading his fingers through her hair. “You’re beautiful and intelligent and if that bastard, Brian, couldn’t see that then he didn’t deserve you.”
Tears welled in her eyes, but not for Brian… Craig’s declaration meant more to her than she could ever put into words.
“Christ.” Craig stepped back, hands clenched into fist as if he wanted to pound the man who’d hurt her. Marissa was infused with warmth as she looked at Craig’s strong jaw clenched in anger over her being jilted. Neptune? Apollo? Why he’s not a god, he’s my knight in shining armor.
And she fell in love with him just a little bit.
Oops…
Seven
Marissa couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent so much time looking in the mirror. She’d never been one to spend hours primping or worrying over the place of every hair on her head, she’d even considered herself pretty enough, but Carolyn was a miracle worker. After the last four hours of washing, curling and setting, Marissa hardly recognized herself. She looked every bit the Southern belle and could have stepped out of a scene of North and South. “Are you sure I’m still in there?” she breathed turning eyes of amazement to Carolyn.
“That is all you, darlin’,” Carolyn drawled with a grin. “You will be the belle of the ball and Dr. Langston will never know what hit him.”
Marissa’s heart fluttered thinking of her last encounter with Craig. The officers’ ball was the sort of event that little existed in 2012 and in spite of herself she was excited, almost giddy about the prospect. A little maliciously, Marissa couldn’t wait to see the look on Kirsten Jamison’s face when Craig claimed her for the first dance. It probably wasn’t fair to think that way, but it would somehow feel the ultimate revenge on Brian and Marne—yes, definitely a little perverse. Or, maybe not, considering the way Kirsten had cornered her at the hospital the other day and told her, “Dr. Langston is mine.” Not hardly.
“You girls both look radiant.” Genie entered the room looking no less than beautiful in pale blue herself. “Are you ready?”
The younger women nodded with barely concealed excitement and the trio set off for the ball, each with her own need for a night of distraction and happiness.
* * *
Craig paced the perimeter of the ballroom, growing more impatient by the second. The party was well underway and Marissa still hadn’t arrived. His gaze skimmed the large hall. Ribbons and colorful drapes decorated the walls and chairs, and fresh flowers dressed every table. The Confederate stars and bars hung above the doorway flanked by several regimental flags. A small band made up of three uniformed men and two ladies played festive music while several couples spun happily around the room. He would gladly join them if only Marissa would get here.
Hell. What if she’d decided not to come? He’d thought they’d made a break through the other day, but she had such a tendency too…
Craig stopped short, placing a hand over his heart sure it had stopped cold in his chest when Marissa entered the room. She was stunning. A vision in emerald green. The color contrasted brilliantly with her pale skin and deepened the rich hue of her dark eyes. Thick buttery curls spilled along her bared shoulders and her lips looked perfectly red and full as they curved in amusement as her cousin whispered in her ear. Gazing at the tantalizing curve of her lips the word ripe came to mind. He was more than ready to sample their sweetness. Setting off to claim her, he was totally oblivious to the woman who’d positioned herself directly in his path.
“Dr. Langston,” a sugary voice crooned, and Craig groaned inwardly as he glanced down at Kirsten Jamison.
“Good evening, Miss Jamison.” He forced a polite smile and glanced impatiently toward Marissa, longing to be at her side.
“It is a wonderful party isn’t it, sir? Why a lady could wear out her shoes dancing on a night like this.”
Craig blatantly ignored his cue to ask her to dance. “It’s very nice, indeed,” he replied distractedly. God, but Marissa looked gorgeous tonight. “If you’ll excuse me, Miss Jamison.”
* * *
Marissa’s breath caught as she took in the overall splendor of the room. She felt like a new person standing in the beautiful room… garbed in a fancy gown. Genie and Carolyn glided further into the hall, but Marissa held back, her eye sweeping the room in nervous excitement, silently searching out one tall form in particular.
Marissa’s gaze collided almost instantly with Craig making his way toward her, smiling. Her heartbeat quickened and as always she was struck by what a magnificent specimen of masculinity he was. The gray dress uniform fit his frame like a second skin, and the decorative gold embroidery left the man gleaming from his perfectly shined black boots to the glittering blue of his eyes. Watching the crowd part like the Red Sea as he passed, Marissa was convinced he was the most handsome man in the room.
He stopped before her, giving a slight bow, and lifted her hand enticingly. “I believe the first dance is mine.”
Marissa’s eyes widened and her heart fluttered as he led her onto the dance floor. Never had she imagined such a romantic moment. Never had a man looked at her that way or made her feel so... desired. When he swept her into his arms for the waltz—thank God I know how to waltz—she felt as though they were the only two people in the room, and when he looked so attentively into her eyes and asked, “How are you this evening, my dear?” she knew it.
She felt it to the depths of her soul.
She was in love with Craig Langston.
How could she have let herself fall in love with him? Briefly she closed her eyes, considering, but she couldn’t deny it. The gaping holes in her soul weren’t just healing, they were sealed. Gone. Without a doubt she’d fallen hopelessly in love with him. It was a sensation deeper than anything she’d felt for Brian and a flight of nerves assailed her so profoundly that it took a moment to form a reply. “I’m fine, Captain, thank you.” Captain?
“Captain?” Craig’s word echoed her thoughts. “I had hoped you’d keep calling me Craig.” His smile was easy, friendly, genuine, and she felt herself relaxing under his familiar gaze.
“I’m sorry, Craig. It’s the uniform. You look so official in it that I can’t seem to help myself.”
“Then we’ll just have to get me out of it so you can feel more comfortable.”
It took a moment for the full meaning of his words to hit home and when they did she blushed feverishly. “My apologies, Marissa, that was a crude joke. It isn’t what I meant.”
Recovered, she laughed, her eyes dancing. “I am quite sure that is exactly what you meant, but it’s all right, I forgive you.” She flashed a wicked smile, leaning in to whisper, “Mind you, if we sneak off now we’ll never manage to get my hair back into place, and then we’ll have a real scandal on our hands.”
Craig’s eyes widened in surprise and Marissa grinned, devilishly pleased by his reaction.
“Don’t tempt me, woman.” He clutched an arm more tightly around her waist, pulling her against him as they turned.
A burst of surprised laughter bubbled from her throat and she reveled in the ease with which he laughed with her. Their eyes locked and a moment later his heated gaze dropped to her mouth. Her lips tingled in response, silently yearning for his kiss.
Without any other warning, Craig bent his head, claiming her lips in a deliciously tender kiss for all of Charleston to see.
* * *
If looks could kill Marissa would have been struck down on the spot. For the first time Kirsten Jamison’s conviction that Craig would be hers wavered. Her family needed his money… desperately… and with his equally rich brothers gone and likely dead fighting in the war he was her last hope to land the Langston fortune. If that blond bitch got her hooks into him first… Well, she wouldn’t allow it! Even if it meant stooping to even more ruthless means of persuasion, she intended to become Kirsten Langston. She certainly wasn’t opposed to a shotgun wedding if it came to that.
Turning to a table with three of Charleston’s most notorious gossips Kirsten dimpled sweetly and drawled, “I do declare! A man like Dr. Langston carrying on with a woman of her reputation in public,” Kirsten smiled wickedly as the three women took the bait.
* * *
Oblivious to the whispers of treason and indiscretion whipping through the room behind her back—all fueled by Kirsten’s poison tongue, Marissa’s believed she might actually be floating as Craig gallantly pressed his lips to the back of her hand. He returned her to Genie’s care before crossing the room to get some punch.
Genie smiled warmly at Marissa. “Mrs. Long, have you met my niece, Marissa?”
“Ah, so you’re the young woman who’s snared the most eligible bachelor in Charleston.”
“I beg your pardon?” Marissa asked as the old woman’s gaze raked over her.
Mrs. Long nodded approvingly. “My grandson, Craig Langston.”
The woman’s declaration that she was Craig’s grandmother and that she considered him the most eligible bachelor in Charleston startled Marissa. It was then she noticed Mrs. Long’s eyes were the same startling blue as Craig’s.
“He is quite smitten with you, Marissa. Why, he’s been walking on a cloud since the day you met. It’s all I hear about, Marissa this and Marissa that. He thinks you’re the most brilliant woman he’s ever known.”
“Besides you of course,” Craig grinned down at his grandmother and winked. Marissa felt her stomach lurch as his piercing gaze locked on hers with that incredible smile that left him looking boyish and irresistible. She actually felt a little lightheaded when he pressed a cool glass into her hand. “Grandmama, you look lovely tonight,” he added, bending to kiss the wrinkled cheek
“Oh, you charmer,” Mrs. Long scoffed. “I look old and you know it!” Nodding toward Marissa she said, “I was just getting to know this young lady and I must say, Craig, I like her much better than that Jamison hussy.”
“Ginny!” Genie scolded.
“What?” Mrs. Long said as though she couldn’t imagine why Genie would be shocked. “That girl has been shamelessly chasing after him for years!” Mrs. Long’s matter-of-fact statement left everyone stifling laughter.
Craig rolled his eyes and held out a hand. “Grandmama, why don’t you come out here and dance with me?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
As Craig swept his grandmother expertly about the dance floor, Marissa’s mind whirled around the possibilities of the evening. In truth she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so… happy. Was it possible to feel yourself glowing?
“You and your young beau are the talk of the room,” Genie said.
“I don’t know why.”
“If you haven’t noticed, Craig Langston is the type to turn a few heads. He is also a doctor, an officer fighting for the cause, and a member of a well established Charleston family.” Carolyn’s voice dropped low as though imparting a hefty piece of gossip. “Have you seen the scalding glares Kirsten Jamison has bestowed upon you?”
Marissa shook her head. “I haven’t seen her tonight.
“And you heard Ginny Long say that you’ve ‘snared the most eligible bachelor in Charleston,’” Genie said. “Why, she’s been sitting here watching the two of you like the cat who caught the canary all night. I think she hears wedding bells and is delighted they have nothing to do with that grasping Jamison girl.”
“I think so, too,” Carolyn said, laughing.
Marissa could have groaned aloud. In love with him or not, her life was still too much in limbo to even consider what they suggested. Marriage to a man who’d likely died eighty years before she was born? It ridiculously defied logic!
A young man came to claim Carolyn for a dance, leaving Marissa and Genie a moment of privacy, though Genie picked up exactly where her daughter left off. “Has he said anything to you about marriage?”
“Oh, Genie, please,” she moaned. “I barely know the man, not to mention the fact that I’m not exactly from here!”
“Barely know him?” Genie scoffed. “Don’t be dramatic. Eventually you will have to move on with your life, Marissa, and when that happens you could do a great deal worse than Dr. Langston.”
“Will you please drop this? I am not going to marry the man.”
“Not now or not ever?”
“God, Genie, this is all happening so fast, I’ve known him for a matter of weeks and marriage is not an option. Whatever happened to kissing a few frogs instead falling for the first illusion of the fairytale prince anyway?”
“Oh, come now! As if Craig Langston isn’t the very definition of Prince Charming.”
There she was had. Craig could be Prince Charming and tonight she could be Cinderella, but Marissa knew better than to believe in fairytales, no matter how enticing.
Before she could dwell further on the subject Kirsten Jamison sidled over. “A word, Miss McClafferty? In private.”
“Certainly.” Marissa smiled, relishing the notion of being the center of Craig’s attention that night just a bit more than she should.
Kirsten grabbed her arm and half dragged her to a corner a few feet away. “What are you doing? I told you to stay away from him! Craig Langston is mine!”
“Obviously not.” Marissa jerked her arm away. “If he was yours he would be here with you and not me.”
“I warned you, you little Yankee bitch!”
“Yankee bitch?” Marissa shook her head, confused. “What are you talking about?”
Kirsten shrugged. “I’m talking about what everyone else in Charleston is whispering. It’s obvious you’re not from Atlanta. I’ve heard the talk and I know what you are.” Violet eyes raked the length of her. “Traitors hang, Marissa, but I’ve heard plenty of stories about stray bullets in the back, too. Maybe you should watch yours.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Word around Charleston is it’s the truth, Yankee.”
A stone cold fear seeped into Marissa’s bones at the threat shimmering behind Kirsten’s eyes. She spun away, head held high as she made her way back to Genie.
“What did she want?” Genie asked.
“To warn me away from Craig.” Marissa swallowed back her dismay. “For the second time.”
“Really? You never told me that. When did she issue this ‘warning’?”
“A few days ago,” Marissa said. “I didn’t think it important enough to mention, but now she’s calling me a—”
She broke off as Craig returned with his grandmother and snared her trembling hand for another dance.
Traitor? Does everyone think that of me?
Nervously, Marissa cast her gaze around the other couples on the ballroom floor. Were they all whispering about her behind her back? Was she becoming a danger to Genie?
“Marissa, what’s wrong?” Craig shot a daggered glare toward Kirsten. “What did she say to upset you? You’re pale as
a sheet and trembling.”
“To stay away from you, or else.” She swallowed and quirked a dry smile, unsure of what else to divulge. “Now I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“She actually said that?” Craig’s jaw tightened and then he shook his head in some disbelief, and, Marissa imagined, not a little pride. “Imagine, two women fighting over me.”
“I,” Marissa said, “am not fighting.”
“I know, my dear. I was joking.” More seriously he added, “You know better than to listen to her, I hope? She is nothing to me, but you are...” He smiled at her again. “When you came in, well, you took my breath away. I want you to remain as happy as you looked at that moment. I want to keep you happy, always.”
Her breath caught at the warmth glittering through the depths of his eyes. Tonight there was something more in his gaze, something that made her shiver. “I am happy. I’m having a wonderful time,” she murmured, pushing Kirsten’s threats from her mind. “Especially since I’m with you.”
“What do you say to a little fresh air?” he whispered, his lip breezing past her ear in barely palpable caress.
“It is pretty hot in here.”
Craig offered her his arm and laid his fingers over hers when she nestled her hand within the crook of his elbow. As he led her through the room several people tried to stop them along the way. “Tell us now, Langston,” an officer with major’s insignia clapped Craig on the shoulder, “are you going to marry this bonny lass or do the rest of us gents still have a crack at her? Prettiest girl in Charleston I dare say!”
“Yeah, Langston, you goin’ to keep her all to yourself?” One man, a lieutenant, definitely in his cups, jeered, throwing her a lewd wink. “I want a turn with some of the ‘special doctorin’ I’ve been hearin’ about!”
Marissa’s mouth flopped open indignantly, more than ready to refute the drunk’s uncouth words, but Craig wrapped his arm protectively about her waist, drawing her toward the door. “Sorry, boys I think I’m going to hang onto this one for a while.”
As they stepped into the crisp night air Marissa’s head reeled as she replayed the scenes of the night over and again. I know what you are… Yankee bitch… ‘Special doctorin’? What did that mean? Her mind felt clouded, inundated with a collage of confusing twists and turns of conversation, and her time warped brain couldn’t keep up with everything. It was all too much, too fast.
Edge of Time (Langston Brothers Series) Page 10