Christmas At Thorncliff Towers Read Free Page B

at Thorncliff Towers.” She paused, her skin flushed from the bitter cold. “Are you Constantin’s friend?”
    Unsure what possessed her to lie, Karina said, “We barely knew one another at camp.”
    “You should talk to him since both of you are Gypsies!” Grace Ann exclaimed.
    “No—”
    Before Karina could stop her, the child cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted Constantin’s name. Karina rose to her feet again in anticipation of greeting her childhood friend.
    Breathless, he came limping out of the stables. As he pulled on a leather work cloak, he locked eyes with Karina. Just as it did when she was a girl, his stare set her heartbeat into a gallop.
    “Karina,” he said sharply.
    She eyed the cane he still relied on and her heart dropped.
    As they stood face-to-face, disdain overcame his expression. Responding to his displeasure, Karina clenched her hands into fists.
    “What are you doing here?” he asked.
    Grace Ann yanked on Karina’s skirt. “You do know Constantin!”
    “We were friends once,” she admitted to the golden-haired girl. The vial containing the magical elixir jostled inside her dress. Can he hear it?
    “Precisely. Were friends.” Constantin’s brow furrowed.
    Karina put her hand on top of Grace Ann’s head. “Would you be an angel and let us catch up with one another?”
    “I want to stay!” the child protested.
    Constantin crouched down and pinched Grace Ann’s cheek playfully. “Once more, you don’t have a coat, my dear. And I expect your governess is looking for you.”
    “Miss Brentwood.” Grace Ann paused. “I don’t like her. But you do. Don’t you, Constantin?”
    Karina’s pulse stuttered. Miss Brentwood was beautiful and refined. No doubt Constantin had noticed her charms. He was all man.
    “I think Miss Brentwood is very kind,” he replied.
    “Kind?” Grace Ann retorted. “She makes me eat every vegetable on my plate and she hollers at me when I make a mistake on the pianoforte.”
    “I’m sure she doesn’t holler—”
    At that moment, Grace Ann’s governess flew out of Thorncliff Towers, screeching the little girl’s name. She picked up her skirts and scurried toward the trio.
    “How dare you sneak away, young lady! There will be consequences!”
    Constantin and Karina avoided eye contact.
    As she met the governess’s scowl, Grace Ann’s china-blue eyes filled with tears. “Yes, Miss Brentwood.”
    “She’s just a curious child, Lydia,” said Constantin.
    Miss Brentwood looked at him and her stern expression vanished. “Perhaps you’re right, Constantin. Maybe I was too harsh.”
    They’re acquainted well enough to use each other’s first name? Karina might be a Gypsy but she knew this was a breach in manners—at least for Constantin. Just how well did they know one another?
    Constantin smiled broadly at Lydia Brentwood and Karina’s eyes widened. She remembered the brilliant, reassuring smile he’d given her the day she jumped from the tree. Jealousy flushed through her—and she forged an instant hatred for the pretty governess.
    Miss Brentwood turned an eye to Karina. “What is this ?”
    “I’m a person, not a thing,” Karina seethed.
    “You look like something the cat dragged in.”
    Before she could spew a nasty reply, the stallion that had been tethered in front of the fire came crashing through the stable gate—a piece of severed rope around its neck.
    “Grace Ann!” Miss Brentwood snatched the girl out of the way. Meanwhile, Constantin flung his cane aside and dove for Karina. But he was too late. The spooked black horse plowed her down and trampled her leg.
    She cried out. Constantin reached her quickly, hobbling and limping. As she met the concern in his eyes, pain registered.
    “My God, Karina. Are you all right?”
    “I . . . I can’t move.” And she couldn’t. She wasn’t sure if her leg was broken, but she was in agony.
    “Let’s get you inside the house.” He scooped her off the ground, accepted