Mistletoe and Magic (Novella): A Loveswept Historical Romance Read Free Page A

her looks were not the draw. She felt more rattled than when Jennifer had practiced a spell and accidentally unleashed a house full of ghosts on them. Desperately, she fanned her face with her gloved hand. “My, Mr. Marton, how you do run on! Are you trying to flatter a poor girl like me?”
    “Not at all,” he said gallantly, but Penelope saw that his expression had changed as if he was disappointed in her. “You are quite an accomplished flirt, Miss Appleton,” he continued in the same bantering tone. “I would imagine there isn’t anything a man could say to you that you haven’t heard before. And you are a wonderful dancer.”
    Yet as he swirled her once more around the room, she felt a keen sense of loss, as if she’d let something slip through her fingers. When the music ended, he bowed before her, and then took her hand into his.
    “Thank you for the waltz, Miss Appleton.”
    The seductive warmth of his fingers entwined with her own as he kissed the back of her hand. She started to respond, but a familiar humming sounded in Penelope’s ears. Desperately she tried to stop the vision from coming, but the room faded softly into gray and the noise of the ballroom, the music and laughter, seemed very far away …
    It was snowing. She could see the flakes sifting through the air and falling onto a brick walkway, only to dissolve into nothingness on the clay
.
    A man was walking, his boots striking the ground the only sound in the wintry night. When he reached the end of the road, shots rang out behind him. Penelope gasped as the man collapsed into the unforgiving street. A pool of blood encircled his head, while a crimson rivulet trickled slowly toward the curb as footsteps rang out, and his assailant disappeared into the blackness
.
    “Miss Appleton?” Jared paused, aware that something was very wrong. His beautiful companion stared across the dance floor and her face was white, as if she’d seen a ghost.
    Penelope didn’t hear him.
    In the next second she saw her morning paper hit the steps and fall open to reveal a blaring headline:
JARED MARTON, 34-YEAR-OLD LAWYER, SHOT DEAD!
    Penelope fainted.

    “Miss Appleton? Do you need a doctor?”
    The words finally penetrated as she returned to consciousness. Penelope’s thick black lashes fluttered open, and when they settled on Jared Marton, she nearly leaped out of his arms.
    Panic filled her. He would die! The vision couldn’t have been clearer. Destiny had placed her at this ball where she would meet her future mate, only to know he would break her heart with grief!
    “I’ve got to go,” Penelope said, pulling away from him. The room spun and she still felt woozy, but every cell of her body urged her to flee.
    “I’ll call my carriage,” Jared said firmly.
    “No!” she cried. “I have my own. I will be fine. Goodbye!”
    “But Miss Appleton!” Jared tried to capture her wrist, but Penelope twisted away and disappeared in a twinkling like Cinderella running from the ball. A white cotton square fluttered to the floor and Jared retrieved it, examining the soft, supple fabric.
    It was her handkerchief. Made of the finest linen and embroidered with an intricate lace stitching, the corner was adorned with her initials, PA: Penelope Appleton. As if she needed identification, he thought dryly, for any man who met Penelope wasn’t likely to ever forget her.
    The scent of her perfume on the material intoxicated him. He put the handkerchief into his coat and then strode determinedly toward the foyer. But again, he was out of luck. Helplessly he watched as a carriage sped off into the night, and the servants indicated that, indeed, Miss Appleton had fled the ball.
    Jared cursed, running his hand through his hair in frustration. For a moment he contemplated following her, but by the time he ordered his coach she would be safely ensconced at home. He was unaccustomed to worrying about a woman, but what had happened gnawed at him.
    What in the world had caused