Beyond the Broken Angel

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

— an evening affair —

September 10th, 1938

GISELLE WAS A bundle of nerves as she walked out of the forest and towards Dare Manor, and it wasn't because of what she knew would happen within a year's time. No, she kept that in the back of her mind like she promised herself she would do.

She was a bundle of nerves because she knew she was going to see Will—the man she loved.

And, because over the month she had been without him, she realized she wanted more with him.

With encouragement from Ajay and Selene when the woman briefly came back from the past before going back only a week later, Giselle decided that she was going to lay everything out on the table for Will when she saw him again.

She was going to tell him what she wanted and convince him to forget about her time traveling and the mess that came with it and try a relationship with her.

She could only hope that he would accept her.

It was dinnertime when she entered the manor, everyone sitting at the dining table with a spread of food before them—all except Marguerite and Will, that was.

Giselle raised an eyebrow at Selene as the children rushed forward to attack her with hugs.

"Marguerite is in her room getting ready, and Will is in his study," Selene informed.

"Oh," Giselle said as she returned the children's hugs.

"I'll go get Will!" Albert offered, dashing out of the room before anyone could stop him.

"And I'll get Marguerite!" Barbara announced, following suit.

"What's she getting ready for?" Giselle inquired as she scooped up a toddling Dorothy and bopped her nose, earning a giggle. "Another date?"

"A party," Frank told her. "At Edgar Kaufman's house."

"Who the heck is that?"

"An old friend of my father's," Will said as he entered the room, his eyes immediately connecting with Giselle's. "You may go if you would like to."

"Oh, she would love to!" Marguerite said. She entered next, her hair freshly curled and half of her makeup done. "You can finally wear that dress we got at the shops!" she exclaimed. "Oh, and I know just the shoes to go with it!" She plucked Dorothy from Giselle's arms. "Sorry, Dorothy-Joanne, us big girls need to get ready." Set the the girl down before grabbing Giselle's hand, tugging her towards her room. "Come on, we must start working right this minute!"

Giselle let her friend drag her away, sharing an amused look with Will when she passed him. She would just have to express her feelings to him later, it seemed.

After entering Marguerite's room and learning that they would be leaving in forty-five minutes, Giselle got to work applying her makeup and doing her hair, relying heavily on Marguerite to help perfectly frame the curls around her face in the popular era-appropriate style.

Once she had finished her hair and makeup, she slipped into the deep blue dress Marguerite had bought her many months ago.

The silk felt like butter against her skin and ran along the dips and curves of her body before elegantly falling to her ankles. It showed her shoulders and cleavage, something she wasn't used to seeing much of in 1938.