Past Loves

Part 2

Chapter 2

Will walked towards him with purpose, and Peirce had to wonder what the man was doing.  Not only was there a large smile on the Prince’s face, but it also looked as if he was going to cry. 

“I am so happy you are here,” Will told him while pulling him into a quick hug.  “No one who lives here can cook.  Rosy tries, but the woman is worse than Cassie and Colin.  Good God, man, I wanted to hunt you down myself.”

Peirce took a step back and studied the man with narrowed eyes before letting a large smile cross his face.  “I never thought the Polished Prince himself would await my return.”

Something flashed in the other man’s eyes that made Peirce think upon his words, but when Will only smiled at him with a nod, Peirce let the thought leave his mind.  “As long as you promise to stay in the manor and feed us, I will forever be in your debt.”

“I cannot stay too long,” Peirce mumbled, looking over at Cassie and Colin.  Colin’s arm was wrapped around her shoulder, and she was cuddled to his side.  No, he would not be able to stay in his former home for long.  Their reminder of happiness did nothing to improve his.

Cassie’s eyes held a look of sadness, and he could tell that she understood him.  He let a small smile cross his features; he had a family now, but they would never replace his old one.  He turned towards the kitchen, ready to be where he belonged.

The doors swung open, and he looked around with a wince.  Whoever had been cooking made a mess of his kitchen.  Flower was spread across tables, poorly cut vegetables were laying on the ground, and worse, his pots and pans were piled in a dirty heap.  He let out a sigh.  “I should not have left.”

“No, you should not have,” Cassie mumbled, while placing a hand on his shoulder.  He did not realize that she had followed him, but he should have expected as much. The woman would talk him to death if he let her.  Smoothing out problems that were not hers was one of the things she enjoyed doing, but Peirce was not going to let her fix his life.  That was something he needed to do for himself.

He turned and looked down at her.  Her bright blue eyes shone at him, making him smile at the love in them.  She loved him for who he was, and for that, he could not help but love her back.  He was glad that Colin had captured her and kept her in the family.  What would he do without a sister who reminded him what it felt like to be cared for?  “Cassie, love, you know why I left.”

Her eyes flickered behind him and an amused expression crossed her face.  Peirce began to turn to see what caught her attention, but the hand on his arm kept him from doing so.  When he looked at her once more, he realized the amusement had been replaced with seriousness.  “I know why you claimed to leave, but you forget how I am, Peirce.”

His eyes rolled to their own accord.  “Not many people can forget once they realize who you really are, Cassie.  I left for my own reasons, are you happy that I admitted to such?”

She shook her head.  “As long as you can admit it to yourself, I am content.”

He reached out and pulled her into another hug.  “I missed you, but I sometimes wonder if I should have stayed gone longer.  I do not enjoy the way you can see through my lies.”

As they pulled back, she smiled at him.  “It is an inherited trait; I acquired it from my father.”

They froze, realizing her words.  Her expression turned cold, and Peirce knew she was thinking of her birth father.  “I think Colin requires my attention.”

She turned and left the room before Peirce could attempt to comfort her.  He let out a sigh before glancing over his shoulder at his poor kitchen.  There may not be anything he could do to help Cassie, but he could do something else. Grabbing a nearby cloth, he walked towards the table.  This would be the first thing he cleaned.  He could use the space to put the pots and pans once they were clean.

The old wood creaked as he rubbed the cloth.  He pushed down on the table once more, but this time, instead of the creak he expected, he heard a slight squeak.  His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  Did they have vermin in the manor?  It had never been a problem before.  They did not usually come into the kitchens unless it was winter. 

He dropped the cloth onto the table and bent to look underneath.  As soon as he did, a scrambling sound met his ears.  Bending down further, his eyes connected with a pair of bright green ones.  A timid smile crossed the woman’s face.  “Peirce.”

“Roselyn,” he mumbled, not knowing what was proper to call the woman.  If she called him by his given name, why should he not return the favor?  “What is it that you are doing under the table?”

Red covered her cheeks, reminding Peirce of the flower from which she received her namesake.  “I was scrubbing the floors.”

He looked around him, expecting to see something she would use to clean, but when nothing came into sight, he turned his gaze back to her with a raised eyebrow.  “With your skirts?”

She tugged at her gown and began rubbing at a spot he had not even seen until she brought attention to it.  “Fine,” she said with a sigh.  “I was hiding from you.”

He sat back on his legs and contemplated the woman.  Why would she hide from him?  It should be him hiding from her.  She was not the one who made a fool out of himself when they had first met, that laid solely on his shoulders. 

She sent him a smile and nodded.  Immediately, Peirce let out an exaggerated sigh.  “Please do not tell me we are back to this.  If you smile and nod at me every time we chance a meeting, I will go mad.”

Her smile dropped.  “It works for others.”

“Who are these others?”

Rose waved a hand dismissively.  “Children, I stay with children while their parents are away.”

“You mean you govern children when their parents do not want them around to soil their time.”

The disgust must have been evident in his voice because she sent him a confused expression before nodding.  “It has kept me busy in my past years, and I quite enjoy it.”

He scanned her features.  She could not have been past her courting years, not a spinster, as people called the women.  Why was she unclaimed?  Why did she not have children of her own when it was evident she loved them so much?  He kept his questions unvoiced.  It would do them no good to talk about such intimate matters.

Rising to his feet, he brushed the dirt from his clothing and held a hand out for her to take.  Hers settled in his without hesitation.  As he pulled her to her feet, Peirce had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.  It almost felt like dread. 

She smiled up at him, and for the first time, he realized how beautiful her hair was. He had noticed her beauty during their first meeting, but her hair had lightened in the sun, causing what looked like golden streaks woven into the red.  His free hand reached up to brush a stray piece from her face.  His fingers whispered across her cheekbone, and she let out a tiny sigh. The sound brought him back to himself.  Dropping her hand and letting both his fall to his side, he took a step back.

“There will be no need to hide from me in the future,” he mumbled, before walking out of the kitchen.  He needed to free himself of her; he needed to escape the smile in her deep green eyes.  As the kitchen door swung behind him, he glanced over his shoulder.  She was cleaning the dirt from the table he had been cleaning moments earlier.  As the door swung shut, blocking his view, he whispered, “I plan to stay as far away from you as I can.”

***Thanks to Soumii for the bookcover on the side!***