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“Shut up, Vanessa.”
Vanessa blinked. “Now this is a side of you I’ve never seen.” She rose, stretching gracefully. “I’m going to take a hot bath. Then we can resume our delightful sisterly chat.”
Ariana winced as the door closed behind Vanessa. Once again, she turned her attention to the skies, seeking the peace nature brought her. Please, she begged silently. Please let him come. Please.
The flash of white was so subtle that at first she almost missed it. But the second time her eye sought it out, zeroing in on the great, soaring creature that descended slowly, than alit on the branch just outside her window.
Odysseus blinked his penetrating topaz eyes.
“Odysseus …” Ariana whispered his name, her heart racing.
As if he had heard, the owl met her gaze, staring solemnly at her pale face.
“Oh … Odysseus, you’re here.” Instinctively, Ariana pressed her palm against the pane, feeling closer, somehow, to the precious bird who always appeared when she needed him. “I wish you could bring Trenton to me,” she murmured. Her hand fell away. “But, even if you could, what good would it do? As soon as Baxter heard the carriage arrive, he’d lock me in this room. I’d never see my husband and he’d leave, believing the worst of me. Oh, Odysseus, there must be a way.”
The owl remained, still as a statue.
But something else moved.
Tearing her gaze from Odysseus, Ariana peered off into the distance, trying to discern the motion. It was a dark, moving object of some kind, making its way stealthily through the deserted woods at the rear of Winsham. A wolf?
It was a man.
Ariana’s breath caught in her throat as she realized that the intruder was indeed human. Whoever he was, he was intent on avoiding detection.
Without knowing why, Ariana tensed, her nails biting into her palms as she watched, waiting, while the man came closer to the manor. Then suddenly she knew why.
It was Trenton.
Ariana bit her lip to keep from calling out his name. Vanessa was in the bathroom just down the hall: Any loud noise would alert her to the situation.
Desperate and frustrated, Ariana wracked her brain for a way to signal Trenton as to her whereabouts. In a minute he’d be at the manor, and Baxter would see him, confront him—and put an end to any opportunity she had to speak with her husband.
There had to be a way, to capture his attention. But how? How?
A rustle of feathers diverted her concentration back to her faithful owl, who was now peering downward in Trenton’s direction.
“Odysseus,” she whispered, wondering if he could make out her words, understand her urgency. “Please … fly. Let Trenton see you … call his attention to me. Please, dear friend. I need you now.”
The owl raised his head, blinking soberly once, twice. Then, without preliminaries, he emitted a shrill cry, spread his majestic feathers, and soared.
Below, Trenton paused, startled by the unexpected sound, scanning the heavens for its cause. Ariana knew the moment he spotted Odysseus; she could see the look of amazement on his face.
Odysseus seemed to know too. The moment he captured Trenton’s attention, he winged toward the window, sweeping past it, only to repeat the motion again.
Trenton’s gaze found his wife’s.
Tears glistening on her lashes, Ariana watched her husband’s cobalt eyes darken with an overwhelming emotion that was a mirror reflection of her own.
“I love you …” she mouthed.
Trenton nodded, a muscle working in his jaw. He averted his head long enough to give Odysseus a solemn salute, then veered purposefully toward the front of the house, all attempts at concealment forgotten.
He stopped just prior to disappearing from Ariana’s line of vision, tilting his head back to stare directly into his wife’s anxious eyes. “We’re going home.” Ariana read the words clearly from his lips, and she smiled through her tears.
Trenton didn’t smile back. Thankfully, humbly, he drank in the poignant beauty that was his and his alone. “I love you, misty angel,” he mouthed.
With that, he closed the distance to Winsham.
