The Red Velvet Horse (Siren Publishing Allure) Read Free Page B

bright eyes.
    Now into this already volatile mix, kismet was about to toss another salvo. For just as Hannah was preparing to leave the tailor’s shop and wed Ned Beasley, she boards a tramcar and there is Tom.
    You cannot imagine my great joy as I once again feasted my eyes on his beautiful countenance. “I’ve missed you,” I exclaimed quite forgetting all decorum, and he too appeared quite beside himself with pleasure at this most unexpected and quite thrilling re-acquaintanceship.
    The tram’s bell clanged and passengers jostled against us impatiently as they boarded, but our eyes were riveted on each other and our surroundings of no consequence.
    “Can you meet me at the Rose Tea-room tomorrow at eight?” he asked me at last. I nodded my assent with the greatest of pleasure.
    The possibility of my husband-to-be, Mr. Beasley, suddenly deciding to visit on the same evening, was one that I dared not even contemplate. For more and more I was feeling like a trapped bird being lowered in a cage down a mineshaft.
     
    Poor Hannah, April thought, taking a long sip at her cooling coffee. She’s been working like a slave for years, and cannot even take a couple of hours off to have tea with a man she adores, without being thrown into a quagmire of worry and stress.
    If these were the good old days, then thank heavens for the new “bad” ones.
     
    The gas lights in the wall brackets flare, sending a ghostly glow around the tea room where I sat opposite Tom. Scarcely able to take my eyes from his face, or believe that this was not but a wild dream.
    No words were necessary as I sipped absentmindedly at my tea and let the full magic of the moment wash over me like a friendly wave.
    “Same time next week?” There was a caress in his voice as I boarded a tram at the corner.
    I nodded, my breasts tingling as if overfull with milk. When he kissed me lightly on the cheek, a thrill shot through my slippery cunny like a bolt of lightning hitting a rod.
    But this moment of ultimate bliss was not to last. For as I hurried up the pathway to my lodgings, glancing nervously at my fob watch as I did so––for I had stayed longer with Tom than I should have done––I noticed that the entire lower floor of Mrs. Muirhead’s boarding house was ablaze with light. And that Ned Beasley’s horse and buggy were standing near the entrance to the stables.
    “Where on earth have you been girl, we’ve been worried sick about you,” my landlady exclaimed. The Scottish burr was more prominent than usual in her disapproving tone.
    “I’m sorry, I was kept later than expected,” I stammered awkwardly, hating having to resort to lies and subterfuge.
    I made to escape to my room, but before I had a chance to move Ned Beasley appeared in the doorway with a face as dark as thunder.
    It seemed that he had gone to my place of employment, in order to escort me safely home. Of course, it had all been locked up.
    “You must have just missed me,” I lied, avoiding his accusing eyes. My face felt unnaturally tight and flushed.
    Although that seemed to placate him somewhat, there remained a certain tension and suspicion for many days following this incident; making it impossible for me to risk seeing Tom again. This sorry state of affairs fairly cut me to the quick.
     
    * * * *
     
    The distinctive call of a chickadee–– fee-beee, fee-beee ––carried plaintively through the open window.
    April took a long sip from a glass of lime juice, and settled herself down on the couch. The tattered pages of Hannah’s manuscript lay close at hand.
     
    The wedding plans are going full steam ahead, with the reception to be held in Mrs. Muirhead’s parlor. I have chosen a green suit for the ceremony with a matching hat. But my heart lies heavy in my chest.
    I have deliberately avoided seeing Tom again, for I fear one more glance at his beloved face and I would be lost, and quite unable to marry Ned Beasley. This marriage, although a loveless one––at