“Do you ever wish you could meet him? What if you have a few half-siblings out there in the world? Wouldn’t it be interesting to speak to them? You’ve always been so alone. What if you approached them and they welcomed you into the family?”
Joanna scoffed. “Or what if they were horrid? I couldn’t bear to get my hopes up only to have them dashed. And what kind of man could my father possibly be? He supposedly loved my mother, yet he wouldn’t intercede to protect her. I realize it will sound silly, but I blame him for the shipwreck and for her dying on our island.”
“That is silly. I blame the weather.”
They chuckled, then Joanna gave Mutt a final pat and went over to the chair beside Caro.
They’d just been to the village church, to check Libby’s wedding preparations. Flowers were being delivered by the wagonload, and a team of housemaids was polishing every inch of wood so the building gleamed. It would be a festive, glorious occasion, and everyone was determined that each tiny detail be perfect.
Libby had asked Caro and Caleb to make it a double ceremony, to wed with her and Luke, but Caro had declined. Libby was a national celebrity, and Luke was an earl. Caro wouldn’t dare butt into the middle of their grandeur, and Libby couldn’t change her mind.
The wedding rehearsal would be held the following afternoon, and—since the vicar would be there—Caro and Caleb would have a quiet ceremony after it ended. It meant they’d have two weddings in two days, one very posh and splendid and one very small and private.
Joanna would sit in the front pew at both, and at the pretty notion, she could have burst into tears. Fate was a strange creature. She’d waited twenty years to find Caro and Libby, and they’d crossed paths at exactly the right moment.
“Will Caleb return today?” Joanna inquired. He’d had a problem arise at his gambling club in London, and he’d rushed to town.
“He promised he’d be here,” Caro responded, “and I’m telling myself he will be.”
“He won’t have gotten cold feet, will he?” Joanna teased. “He wouldn’t have boarded a ship and sailed for America?”
“Oh, his feet will be so cold that they’ll be blocks of ice. Those Ralston men are such confirmed bachelors. A woman needs a chain to drag them to the altar, but I have Luke on my side now. He’d wrestle Caleb down the aisle for me.”
They smirked together, then Joanna sighed wistfully. There was so much nuptial cheer in the air, and she was nostalgic for the what-might-have-been she could have pursued with Jacob.
She’d been raised to believe she shouldn’t wed, but she would have loved to be his bride. She wondered where he was and when he’d be back in England. Did he ever think about her? Did he ever regret how they’d parted without a goodbye?
With her being reunited with Libby and Caro, she would be entwined in their lives, and Jacob would be too. He was Caleb’s half-brother, so he would be Caro’s brother-in-law and a member of Caro’s extended family. He was also friends with Luke from their service in the navy, so Joanna would socialize with him in the future.
She was trying to deduce how she felt about that. She was fairly certain he wouldn’t be marrying Roxanne, but he’d eventually marry someone. If he strolled into Barrett Manor while Joanna was there too, if he had a wife with him, how awkward would the encounter be?
Her choices with regard to him had all been wrong ones. She hadn’t warned him about Roxanne or Kit Boswell, hadn’t told him they were Clara’s parents. She’d like to contact him through the navy to inform him of how they’d burned down her cottage, but she’d moved away from the estate and wouldn’t ever return, so how could any of it matter?
It might be years before he was home again, so why would he care about her or her cottage?
Caro glanced over at her and asked, “Why are you smiling?”
“I was just pondering how ridiculous I am. I make awful decisions.”
“I disagree. You showed up at Barrett when we needed you most.”
“My arrival was an accident brought on by catastrophe. It didn’t occur because I was being shrewd and pragmatic.”
Clara ran in and announced, “Miss Caro! A footman sent me to fetch you. Mr. Caleb has been sighted. He’s about to ride up the lane.”
“He didn’t abandon me after all,” Caro said. “Is he alone?”
“No. There appears to be a whole group with him.”
“A whole group? Who could it be?”
Joanna said, “Maybe it’s some wedding guests.”
“That would be lovely.”
”Will you come down?” Clara asked Caro.
“Definitely.” Caro stood and looked at Joanna. “Will you come too?”
“I’ll be there in a minute. I should pack my medical bag. I left my supplies scattered on the floor.”
Caro rested her palm on Joanna’s head, and she grinned oddly. “I’m betting everything will be fine now. In fact, I’m sure of it.”
“In my view,” Joanna said, “everything is already fine. How could my life get any better?”
Caro and Clara hurried away, and Joanna dawdled, listening as their strides faded. It dawned on her that she was very despondent, which was idiotic. What was there to lament?
Yes, she’d lost her cottage, and yes, Jacob had departed without a goodbye, but it was futile to bemoan that sad conclusion. He’d been very clear that he’d never wed her, and she had insisted she wasn’t interested anyway.
Their split was so recent though, the loss of him so raw. She felt wounded and bereft, as if she’d never recover, but she would. She was with Caro and Libby. Clara and Mutt were safe, and Luke had invited her to stay at Barrett forever if she wanted. He was trying to locate a house for her.
With those blessings raining down, what reason had she to complain?
Suddenly, Mutt rose to his feet,
