Courted: Hyacinth Brides Box Set

by Bree Cariad

  “Nope, I’m on it.” The girl hopped down off her chair and slowly made her way back upstairs.

  After getting the plumber to agree to be there within the hour, she recognized that Chris wasn’t moving and turned to stare at him. “What?”

  “What happened?”

  “When?”

  “When I went upstairs, you were glowing. When I came down, it looked as though someone hit your puppy.”

  Gulping, she shook her head. “Not here.” If she even thought about it, she might find those tears trying to make their way out would turn into a torrent and that was the last thing she wanted to do in public. Plus, if she had a couple hours, she could come to terms with it and let him go. Until Mitsi mentioned him, Dora hadn’t even realized how much she liked Gaelic Covington.

  “Dora,” he said, concern in his voice.

  “I can’t. Please, don’t ask.”

  “All right. If you need to leave the front desk, tell me.”

  “Thanks.”

  The rest of the day dragged by. Dora kept watching the clock, waiting for five o’clock so she could get out of there, go home, and be depressed in private. While not one usually in favor of the emotion, right now Dora needed it. In fact, she made a mental note to grab a container of the good kind of ice cream on the way home. If she was going to wallow, she would at least do it with a high-fat-content dessert.

  Chris was with the plumber when the magic time hit and Dora happily turned the front counter over to Minnie and got out of there before he came downstairs and offered to drive her. It was only fifteen degrees outside, so she bundled her winter coat around her and started the hike home. Being out in the cold helped clear her head. She had been stupid to think Gaelic Covington could be any more than Xan had always been, a crush. Someone like her didn’t attract men like the Covingtons. Actually, she didn’t attract anyone at all. Not even the Gregory Knills of the world.

  Stopping in at the quick mart, she bought a container of chocolate ice cream and a bag of cookies and left, heading home. She hoped Stephanie would be out, though more than likely she would be home. Since her friend worked from home, unless she was at the Lava Lamp that was where she would be.

  Dora let herself in quietly, heading upstairs. After putting the cookies and ice cream by the bed, she changed out of her work outfit and into a pair of old sweats and a threadbare t-shirt. Dora had no utensils up in her room and as she was afraid if she went downstairs Stephanie would talk to her, she figured the cookies would have to serve double duty.

  There was a deep guilt as she opened the top of the tub. She hadn’t eaten like this in months. Looking down at her rounded tummy, she shrugged. Did it really matter if she was a size twelve or a size sixteen? Or even a size twenty-two even though she had never been that big. Guys didn’t notice her no matter what size she was. At least the ice cream would help assuage some of the pain. It always did.

  As she dipped her makeshift spoon in, a knock came at her door. “Dory?” Chris’s voice sounded tentative and she took a bite of the cookie, watching the door. “Dory, I know you’re in there. May I come in?”

  She didn’t want him to enter. After all, shouldn’t she be able to suffer in silence? But he had been so good to her. “Come in,” she mumbled, putting the ice cream on her nightstand.

  The door opened and he walked inside. He had already changed his clothes to a different pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Chris’s eyes passed over the ice cream and landed on her. In the next instant, he sat down next to her and gently pulled her into a hug. “What happened?” he asked quietly.

  Sniffling, she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Yes, it does. If it hurts, it matters. Did Mitsi say something?”

  Her shoulders began to shake with the pressure it took to hold back her sobs. Why was she over-reacting? Gaelic hadn’t even asked for an official dinner with her, let along mentioned anything about courting. She was being stupid.

  “What did she say?”

  She shook her head as a small sob escaped.

  “What happened?” Stephanie asked and as Dora realized everyone in her household now knew she was falling apart, she burst into tears. She grasped Chris’s arms as she sobbed uncontrollably against his shoulder. His hand rubbed her back, rocking her back and forth as she cried.

  It was several minutes before the sobs slowed down and she lay there whimpering.

  “Dora?” Stephanie’s voice was soft and tentative. “I brought you up some hot cocoa.”

  Knowing she would look dreadful, Dora didn’t move. She hoped she hadn’t ruined Chris’s shirt with whatever makeup that was surely running down her face. “Can you grab some toilet paper, sweetheart?” Chris asked quietly. “She would probably like to clean up.” His hand continued to rub up and down her back as though he had all night to do it and had no intention of stopping.

  A glob of toilet paper pressed against her fingers and she grasped it, pulling it to her face. Quickly she tried to rub off anything that felt weird and when she spotted a warm, wet cloth now lying on Chris’s shoulder, she realized Stephanie must have run a wash cloth under the water. Grasping it, she wiped her face several times before pulling back. Chris let her go, but sill kept his hands on her back.

  “What happened?” he asked calmly.

  “It’s stupid,” she whispered.

  “I don’t care. If it hurts, let’s talk about it.”

  Grimacing slightly, she nodded. “But don’t laugh. Please.” Her lips twisted in a grimace as she couldn’t handle it if they laughed at her.

  “We’re not going to laugh,” he assured her. “Anything that hurts you this much is not funny.”

  Taking a deep breath, she looked down at the cloth in her hands as she spoke. “It’s stupid. We only went out once and then talked on the phone. I should have known it didn’t mean something. It was stupid to think it did.”

  “Why do you think it didn’t mean anything?” he asked.

  “When you went upstairs to check on the toilet, Mitsi was talking about courting and…” Dora gulped. “She mentioned there was a new Covington moving to town and that she had told her dad that she wanted him.”

  “I still don’t understand.”

  She looked up into his confused face and wailed, “Why would he want someone like me when he could have her!”

  His eyes widened as he jerked her back into his arms. “Dora! My god, do you really feel that way?” Sniffling, she nodded. How else was she to feel? “Girl, if it’s the last thing I do, I’m getting you a sense of self-esteem.”

  “I’m going to punch Marjorie,” Stephanie hissed, apropos of nothing.

  “What?” Dora asked in confusion, turning to look at her.

  Chris shook his head. “You aren’t punching anyone.”

  Her eyes blazed as she began to pace. “Every chance she got, she put Dora down. Every. Single. Chance. And she wasn’t the only one. Dora always acted as though she didn’t notice, but that’s where this comes from! Marjorie called her horrible things and Dora took them to heart. God, even Cami and I did it before we knew her—” Her blaze changed to shock and then to horror. “Oh, Dora, I’m so sorry. I was just as bad as she was.” A sob burst from her throat as her hand slammed over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. We were so cruel until Cami’s father made us face up to what we did.”

  Dora shook her head. “You apologized, both of you, and it turned out okay.”

  “Okay?” Stephanie wailed, tears falling down her cheeks. “We were a part of this!”

  “Stop it,” Chris said sharply and both of them turned to him in surprise. “This isn’t a blamefest. Dora, did Stephanie and Cami make things up to you?”

  “More than made up. They apologized and became my best friends. Before them, I had nobody. And after that, they never let anyone call me names if they were around.”

  “All right. Stephanie, Dora forgave you a long time ago. Do you need help in forgiving yourself?” Both girls looked at him, comprehen
sion dawning on their faces at the same time.

  “Stephie, Mr. Covington already made you pay for it.”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t understand just what we did until now.”

  “All right. Now, Dora, back to you and Covington. Tell me everything. This is not gossip. But if I’m going to help, I need to know what has happened and what is happening.”

  It was difficult talking about it, but Dora managed as Stephanie sat next to her and took her hand and Chris kept his arms around her. When she finished, there was a long moment of silence.

  “Dory,” Chris said gently, “just because Mitsi wants a Covington, doesn’t mean she’s going to get him. For one thing, that’s not how the courting system works. For another, the Covingtons are smart. He won’t go for someone who’s after him just because of his family’s standing in the community. And finally, he sounds interested. If he’s the kind of man who’s intelligent enough to recognize how amazing you are? Then he would never be interested in Mitsi. Ever.”

  “Definitely not,” Stephanie agreed.

  “Xan said I needed to give him a chance,” Dora admitted. “That Gaelic was shy around women. Which seems strange considering how outgoing and personable he is.”

  “There’s a reason for it,” Stephanie said quietly after a moment.

  Pulling her face away from Chris’s shoulder, Dora looked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “I only met him once. I was five or six. He was twelve, I think. He’d come to work on his uncle’s ranch for the summer. Gale was extremely shy and it didn’t take long to figure out why.”

  “Why?” Dora asked when she didn’t continue.

  “He had a horrible stutter. I mean, he couldn’t talk without it and half of his words couldn’t even come out. Cami mentioned a few years ago that he had gone through intensive speech therapy and had overcome it. But I would bet that’s why he’s still shy around women.”

  “Poor Gaelic.” Dora tried to imagine the horror of growing up with that. She knew he had to have been picked on, probably horribly.

  “Interesting,” Chris said quietly. He combed her hair back from her face. “Honey, maybe he understands you at a deeper level than either of you comprehend.”

  “Because he’s been picked on, too,” Dora whispered, following his words.

  “I wouldn’t give up on him,” he said gently. “Let’s see if he calls you again.”

  Nodding, Dora took a deep breath, realizing that strangely she felt a little better. Looking over at the ice cream, she wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. I don’t want that anymore.”

  “We’ll take it down to the freezer,” Chris said. “Maybe we can share it for dessert later on. Hey, what do you want for dinner?”

  “No idea.”

  “Why don’t we order some pizza? Watch a movie downstairs?”

  “That sounds good.”

  “I’ll go order it,” Stephanie said, grabbing the cookies and ice cream and leaving quickly.

  “You’re going to be okay, Dory,” Chris said, hugging her again. “And if you ever feel like you need to cry, come to me. My shoulders can take it.”

  Looking up into his warm green eyes, she knew he meant it. “Thanks.”

  Dora was so used to crying on her own that the whole experience felt strange. She felt lighter somehow and when she joined the two downstairs a few minutes later, there was a little embarrassment, but as the two of them didn’t treat her any differently, it quickly left. When the pizza arrived, Stephanie went in to get plates and forks as Dora and Chris made room for it on the coffee table.

  The phone rang and they could hear Stephanie’s voice. “Hello…? Yes, she’s here. May I ask who’s calling…? Oh, hold on, please.” She ran into the living room, her eyes twinkling and her feet doing a strange little dance. In a loud whisper, as though unable to contain her excitement, she squealed, “It’s Gaelic! He’s on the phone.”

  Chapter 4

  “Hi, Gaelic,” Dora said after picking up the phone from where Stephanie had left it on the counter.

  “Dora,” he said in a pleased voice. “I’m glad I caught you home. I wasn’t sure what your shifts were at work.”

  “Mostly eight to five. Where are you today?” she asked interested.

  “Dunedin, New Zealand, the very southern tip. It’s their summer, which means when I come back to the states I’m going to freeze.”

  “That’s got to be weird,” she admitted. “Being in winter in one moment and a few hours later in summer.”

  “It’s different. How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay.”

  There was a pause before he said, “I-I’m sorry about the ski trip.”

  “What about it? I had fun.” Did he not enjoy himself? She thought he had.

  “So did I, but I-I had a long chat with my uncle and he made me realize that my actions to you that day were dih-isrespectful. And I never want to disrespect you, Dora. I-I like you.” Now she caught and understood his stutters. On the ski trip, she had assumed he was just stumbling over his words like she did.

  “Really?” She knew she was acting like a teenager with a crush but in this moment, she couldn’t stop herself.

  “Very much.”

  “Why?” The word came out before she had even consciously thought it.

  “Why?” he said surprised. “Dora, you’re gorgeous and thoughtful and ssssweet. You’re eh-everything I-I’ve eh-ever wanted.”

  And it looked like his stutters increased when he was nervous. Her heart went out to him even as his words thrilled her. He thought she was gorgeous.

  “Wow. I like you too, Gaelic.”

  “That’s a relief,” he said with a chuckle. “And I-I want you to know that like I mentioned, I had a long talk with Uncle Alex. Hyacinth does things so differently compared to the rest of the world. He toh-old me I wasn’t supposed to tell you, but I felt you needed to know. I plan to come to Hyacinth and ask to court you.”

  “Oh,” she breathed, her heart speeding up even as her eyes stung with tears.

  “Ih-if you are interested,” he rushed in to say. “Ih-it’s just that I know ih-it’s a big thing a-and—” His nervousness went right through her and she vowed then and there to never let him worry about how she was feeling.

  “I’m glad,” she rushed in as his stuttering worsened. “You have no idea how happy I am right now.”

  “Oh, good,” he said and she giggled at how relieved he sounded. “You know I work, well, everywhere. But, I’m working things right now so that I-I can use Hyacinth as a home base for at least the next few months.”

  “You mean I’ll get to see you often?” she asked as Stephanie snuck into the kitchen, handed her a plate with two pieces of pizza and quickly scuttled out trying not to listen to their conversation.

  “Several times a week, hoh-opefully. And Dora?”

  “Yes?”

  “Ih-if things did work out, would you mi-ind travelling?”

  Her eyes closed as his question hit her. Leave Hyacinth, her house, her job… Could she? “It’s scary,” she admitted.

  “I-I know. And there are some countries I would never subject you to. Plus, if things worked out, I-I would want something more stable. For us.”

  Well, if he could consider stability, surely she could meet him half way? “I’ve always wanted to travel.”

  More warmth entered his voice. “I’d love to show you the world, Dora.”

  Grinning, she looked up as Chris entered the kitchen. He wasn’t hurrying or scuttling. Instead he walked up and reached out his hand. “What?” she asked.

  “Dora?”

  “Sorry, Gaelic, not you. My roommate just came in and is insisting I hand him the phone.”

  To her relief he laughed. “As in the one you consider like a brother?”

  “Yep, that’s him.”

  “In that case, let me talk to him.” At least his voice sounded amused.

  “All right. I’ll be back in a minute.” She handed over the
phone with a pleading look.

  Chris smiled. “Go on out with Steph and eat your pizza. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

  Nodding, she got up and forced her feet to move, joining Stephanie in the living room.

  “Oh, how did it go?”

  “Good, really good,” Dora admitted. “What does Chris want to ask him?”

  “He just wanted to get to know him since Gale seems important to you.”

  “He told me he’s going to ask the council to court me,” she said, knowing she should probably keep it secret but in that moment, that was an impossibility.

  Squealing, Stephanie hugged her. “Oh, Dora, I’m so excited for you.”

  “Me too…I think.”

  A few minutes later, Chris walked back into the room. “He’s waiting to say goodnight.”

  Jumping up, she ran down the hall into the kitchen. “Hey.”

  “Dora, I’m glad you have someone looking out for you,” Gaelic said warmly. “Chris seems like a nice guy.”

  “He is.”

  “I’d love to keep talking, but I need to get to bed. May I call you tomorrow?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Good night, Dora.”

  “Good night, Gaelic.”

  She put the phone down and walked – though it felt more like floating – out to the living room. As soon as she got there, Chris pulled her into a hug. This time when she burst into tears, they were a completely different kind.

  The next few weeks sailed by amazingly fast. Gaelic called her every night when he could, and when he was in a time zone where that wasn’t feasible, he emailed her and sent flowers. They got to know each other quite well and as either Stephanie or Chris was usually around when he called, he got to know them as well. His stutter had disappeared again which Dora was pretty sure meant he felt relatively secure in their long-distance relationship. February was here and with Valentine’s Day upon them, Dora tried to convince Chris to take Stephanie away for the weekend. But he wouldn’t listen.

  “We have a full house, Dora. I need to be there.”

  “I tried,” she told Steph on the morning of the fourteenth as she pulled on her coat.