“It’s rather clever,” Georgie chimed in. “I believe I like it quite a lot.”
Jane set down her cup. “Pride and Prejudice. Why, I love it.” She turned to Tuck, eyes shining. “You just named my book!”
“I did?” He wondered if she’d really use the name. He’d have to ask Nora if he got back if she had ever heard of that one.
Notif. He mentally shook his head.When.This plan was going to work. All of Lizzy’s talk about plague had him a little on edge. The whole “bring out your dead” period of human history was not a time with which he needed to get up close and personal.
He was smashed out of the dark thought by a body barreling into him. It took him a second to reorient and realize it was Jane, who’d thrown herself at him in a fierce hug.
“Whoa, now,” he said, half jokingly and half to keep from tipping off the sofa and ending up tangled together with her in a heap on the floor.
“I should apologize for such a frightful lack of good manners,” she said, releasing him and stepping back, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. “But you really have done me a great service today.”
“If I can be honest, you did all the work,” he said. “Me? I just listened.”
“Well, thank you, anyway.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I suspected you were one of the good ones.”
“I seem to recall you threatening to bury me in an unmarked grave if I didn’t treat Lizzy honorably.”
“Pardon?” Lizzy gasped. “Jane! You didn’t.”
“And we’d do that again,” Georgie retorted. “But I’m happy to say, Mr.Taylor—Tuck—you are part of the family now.”
Lizzy jumped as the clock chimed another hour. She didn’t look in his direction, but he knew what she was thinking. Every hour was the last hour for them. A last meal together. A last lovemaking—fast and urgent as if they could tattoo their memory onto the other.
It was quiet when they left the house. Georgie and Jane didn’t emerge to say another good night. “They know I want this time to myself,” she said simply.
And while he enjoyed the company of the other two women, he was glad of it. He didn’t want any goodbyes or fuss. Saying it once would be enough. They walked through the forest hand in hand as the full moon sat high in the sky and flooded the darkness with its pale blue light.
“I never imagined when we walked through here that first day everything that would happen,” he said.
“What were your initial impressions of the entire affair?” she asked.
“You mean myFirst Impressions?”
That earned him a groan.
“I didn’t have as much of a feeling of disbelief as I should,” he continued. “It’s weird that I wasn’t really pinching myself, wondering if it was all some crazy dream. But for some reason, deep down, I just knew it was all real. It didn’t add up, and I had no clue how to explain it, but I was certain. And honestly, I think you’re the one to thank for that.”
“Me?” She laughed in earnest. “How did I manage such a feat?”
“Just by being you, I guess.” He lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing the inside of her wrist. “You are one of the realest people I’ve ever met in my life. If you were here, then that made this place and everything that happened to me seem believable, or at least plausible.”
“I don’t know what I did to warrant such a compliment, but for now I’ll thank you.”
“What about you? What did you imagine was going to happen?” he asked.
“I—I recall feeling quite anxious, fearing someone would stumble upon us and notice your shoes. They’re far too unconventional, too out of place for this era. I couldn’t shake the thought... if someone catches sight of those shoes, there will be quite the uproar.”
“What happened to my shoes anyway? They disappeared after we got to the house. Along with my clothing.”
“That was my doing,” she said matter-of-factly. “I couldn’t risk anyone finding anything.”
He groaned. “Don’t tell me you buried them?”
“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous.” She sniffed. “I stuffed everything into the privy by the barn.”
He pulled up short. “You put my Regals jersey into a toilet?”
