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Eddy continued, “Kent has shown himself to be a good man. You could do a lot worse, Portia, and even though I can’t wait to get Ada Jakes out of my house, what she said last night about not having to give up your dreams just because you give someone your heart is true. I know how set you’ve been on going through life alone. That doesn’t have to change, but if you can find even a teaspoon of happiness with Kent, take it, because there are women in this world who’d sell all they own to have a man look at them the way he looks at you.”
The advice was so heartfelt and overwhelming she didn’t know how to respond. Eddy seemed to sense that. “No response is needed, sweetheart. You and I are a lot alike. We both live for our work and being swept away and out of control can be frightening.”
Portia nodded knowingly.
“But sometimes being out of control can be freeing in ways that may surprise you. It certainly freed me. And no, I’m not sharing examples,” she added with a laugh. “You’ll have to gather your own.”
“Thanks, Aunt Eddy.”
“Come, give me a hug.”
Portia walked into her embrace and hugged her tightly. “I love you so much,” she whispered. Her hope was that one day she, too, would be as wise, loving, and caring as this woman who’d saved her life.
“I feel the same way.”
They drew back and studied each other for a long moment. Eddy placed a kiss on her forehead. “Now, go talk to Regan and get some rest. We’ll celebrate the Jakeses’ and that awful widow’s leaving when you get back from the train.”
Portia laughed and left her aunt to the inventory.
In her room, she knocked softly on Regan’s door. Invited in, she stepped into the chaos and Regan looked up from her desk and put down the pen she’d been writing with. “How was your ride? Never mind, I can tell by your lips that you’ve been thoroughly and soundly kissed.”
Amused, Portia peeked at herself in the vanity mirror and stilled. Her lips were swollen and full. Thoroughly kissed indeed. She now knew how Eddy and Regan had been able to tell. Lord! Uncomfortable and unsure of how to broach the subject she’d come in to discuss, she cleared her throat. “I need to talk to you about something and Eddy said, I—”
Regan smiled knowingly, “Do you need sponges, sister mine?”
Their eyes met and they both laughed like little girls caught being naughty.
Regan stood and gestured to a blue upholstered chair barely visible beneath the clothing piled atop it. “Have a seat. You’ve come to the right place.”
Later, Portia lay in her bed in her darkened room. She wasn’t sure what left her reeling more—her sensual encounter with Kent or the jaw-dropping conversation she’d had with her baby sister. Too exhausted to choose, she drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.
