Remember Then

XXIX. Siblings

When Sophia awoke the next morning, she realized she was alone, almost believing that what she thought she remembered last night was naught but a dream.

She had dreamed of Nicholas Everard quite too often whenever her nightmares crept into the night that it was no longer a surprise that last night almost seemed so real. His arms would shelter her from the pounding memories, his voice muffling the rage of the men in her past. She would merely think of his laughter and of the feeling of being in his arms as he taught her to dance and everything would settle and quietly slip away.

She silently dressed herself into the simplest dress her hand found inside her small closet and petted Aabha for a while, enjoying the quiet moment before Fanny would come barging in with a tray of food.

But long minutes passed to almost an hour and still there was no Fanny.

Sophia sighed and stood to her feet. She was not extremely fond of the woman's cooking, but she hated being hungry. And she was rather worried. Had something happened to Fanny?

Walking out of her bedchamber, Sophia was relieved to hear the clutter of things in the kitchen. Fanny must have woken up late and was preparing breakfast only then. But the footsteps around the kitchen did not belong to Fanny.

They were heavier and almost sounded quite lost, walking back and forth around the small kitchen.

"Fanny?" she voiced out inquiringly with a frown.

The light from outside filtered through the large kitchen windows and Sophia blinked, focusing on the large shadow walking around the kitchen.

It was not indeed Fanny.

"Nicholas?" she asked in disbelief, walking closer for a better view.

He stopped in the middle of the kitchen, his hands quite full.

"I see you are awake," he noted. "I am preparing a simple meal. Please, do sit down."

Sophia could barely move. Last night was not a dream, was it? He came to her in bed in the middle of the night and wrapped his arms around her.

It was not a dream.

"Where is Fanny?"

"Back in Wickhurst with the other footman. I figured she missed the staff in my estate. The chambermaid, Molly, is pregnant and they do deserve a bit of celebration. I gave her the day off. She shall return by the morrow."

Sophia's head was reeling as she watched Nicholas' shadow move over to the stove and bent over a pot. "And you are cooking?"

"I do know how to cook," he nonchalantly uttered. "Who do you ken cooked for us when we went hunting in the middle of the woods for a month?"

She shrugged. "Your valet?"

Nicholas threw his head back and the laughter she thought she would never ever hear again echoed around the small kitchen. She stood there in wild bewilderment, almost in tears because she was truly hearing his laughter again. Again. Who would have thought the word could have more meaning?

"Our valets could hardly keep their eyes on the trail, Sophie," he said, shaking his head and stirring the pot. "They would die along with our preys on the first night."

At that precise moment, something seemed to have clicked and Sophia suddenly smiled. She was in this moment with Nicholas and he was being nice.

Was she a fool to not want to believe he was doing it entirely for a different reason other than what she wished? Perhaps, yes. Marcus would definitely say so.