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“Really?”
“She’s doing a special dessert as well.”
“Oh?”
I heard him mumbling to Lucille.
“Well, this is a surprise, Semantha.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I was too occupied to tell you, but I thought it would be all right.”
“Yes, yes, it’s fine. I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “See you soon.”
I could tell from the little strain in his voice at the end that Lucille wasn’t happy and had let him know it. Lately, she had been more critical of Mrs. Dobson’s cooking. If she brought up my planning for dinner without first consulting her, I would remind her that she wanted me to take more responsibility in the house. That was just what I had done. I probably should have told them earlier, but that shouldn’t upset them. Nevertheless, I felt my balloon of happiness lose some air. Worrying about upsetting Lucille had become more important than worrying about upsetting Daddy, because he was so tuned in to her every smile and grimace. I felt more like a ballerina dancing on a thinly frozen lake.
Thinking about it, about how much more complicated life at the Heaven-stone estate had become, put me a bit of a daze, and I moved at a snail’s pace, completely losing track of time. I had just started fixing my hair when there was a gentle knock on my door. I was still wrapped in a towel after showering and hadn’t even chosen what to wear.
“Yes?”
Ethan peeked in.
“Oh, sorry. I forgot how much longer women need,” he said, smiling.
“No, it’s my fault. I’ve been moving too slowly. I’ll be right with you,” I said, moving to my vanity table.
“Mind if I come in and watch?”
“I’m just about to put on a little lipstick, that’s all.”
“Anything you do interests me, Semantha, no matter how small it might seem to you or anyone else. Didn’t you ever hear the words in that song?” he asked, and then sang, “Little things mean a lot . . .”
I loved the way his eyes and his words quickened my heart and filled me with a wonderful sense of warmth, washing away the sting of nervous tension.
“Come in, silly. Don’t sing in my doorway.”
He came in, closed the door softly behind him, and stood b
ehind me, looking at me in the mirror. With his eyes so fixed on me, it was hard to keep my hand steady as I worked my lipstick over my trembling lips.
“What?” I asked, seeing his expression change rapidly from impish joy to serious concern.
“My not contacting you right before your graduation and afterward was inexcusable, I know,” he said in a voice just above a whisper, “but I hope you believe me when I say that all through the turmoil with my father, I kept thinking of you, seeing your face, hearing your voice. Maybe it was a good thing, because it kept me together enough to be a strength for my mother.”
He put his hand gently on my right shoulder. I lowered the hairbrush and looked at him through the mirror as well.
“Really, why didn’t you call, Ethan, so I would understand why you couldn’t be there?”
He shook his head and lifted his hand from my shoulder. “That was the contradiction, the irony, I suppose. I wanted to call you, but I thought it would be inappropriate for me to be thinking of you and me during this critical time. I imagined my mother asking me whom I was calling and the expression on her face when I told her. I realize now how silly that was of me. She probably would have been understanding. Sometimes I act like such an ass.”
“No, no. What you’re saying makes sense now. You were thinking of your parents first. That was right. I’m not upset about it. I understand. If the roles had been reversed, I probably would have behaved the same way.”
“Actually, it only made things worse. I was terrified of writing or calling you afterward. I never expected you would forgive me. I did behave like a horse’s ass those last days, especially in the motel.”
“I’m not so sure I would have behaved any differently had I been in your shoes and had such a story sprung on me like that.”
“You’re so good, Semantha, so forgiving.”
He leaned forward to replace his fingers on my shoulder with a kiss instead. I closed my eyes to drink in and hold the wonderful electric pleasure it sent through my body, and then I felt him kiss my neck. I didn’t open my eyes until I felt him slip the towel down and off my breasts. He cupped them, and I turned to bring my lips to his. He lifted me gently under my arms, and the towel fell off completely. We kissed again. He whispered my name, and then we heard voices. Lucille was on the stairway and was calling down some orders to Mrs. Dobson. I quickly picked up the towel and wrapped it around me.
