A Storme’s First Noelle: A Regency Historical Romance Holiday Novella (The Storme Brothers) by Sandra Sookoo

Author:Sandra Sookoo [Sookoo, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical, Romance
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2022-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

December 24, 1818

For the bulk of the day, Noelle couldn’t concentrate on the tasks she needed to perform, most importantly the food preparations for tomorrow’s meal. All her mind would rest upon was Trey and how she felt alive in his company, and that hadn’t happened in a few years.

She did have enough presence of mind to decorate the mantle with fir boughs that she enhanced with a few apples and clove-studded oranges. Into the low fire that was burning in the parlor, she tossed a few orange peels and cinnamon sticks which would lend the house a homey feeling and smell.

And still the captain flitted through her mind, digging up happy memories from childhood as well as urging her to build exciting new dreams for the future.

Do stop, Noelle. Trey isn’t the man for you. He’s of the ton and could have his pick of any woman he wants. Why would he want the daughter of a man-of-business?

Despite the self-recrimination, she persisted in giving life to those fantasies as she tidied the house and met with Mrs. Watson—the housekeeper—before she left Evergreen House for her own cottage to celebrate with her family.

“You should eat something, Miss Gedney. I’ve noticed you’ve hardly touched your meals these last two days,” the woman had said in passing around noon. “I’d hate for you to faint dead away from hunger during church tonight.”

Noelle had smiled. “I’ll see if I can manage it a bit later. Thank you for your concern.” But how could she eat when her stomach was full of butterflies and her head stuffed with possibilities? Then she’d thrown herself into helping the cook with dinner preparations, for after the meal, they would attend a service, just as they’d done for all the years they were in Cambridgeshire.

Except all her plans for the evening were sent askew when Trey arrived at Evergreen House an hour before dinner was to be served.

“Oh, dear heavens!” Noelle pressed a hand to her cheek while glancing about the modest drawing room. She must look a fright. “What is he doing here?” she asked in a low voice, seconds after the butler announced the captain had arrived and her father said to show Trey in.

“If I had to guess, he’s paying a social call on you.” Her father chuckled and tamped more tobacco into his pipe, which he only smoked on special occasions. “That’s what men do when they’re romantically interested in a woman.” He gestured with his pipe, the one with the ivory mouthpiece. “In the event you’d forgotten how society worked,” he finished with a wink.

The heat in her cheeks deepened. Was that true? Did two kisses and a handful of candid words mean he wished for a courtship? “I haven’t forgotten. I merely didn’t think it might be true of him,” she responded in a whisper with a frantic glance at the door as if the captain would appear from thin air. “He’s not exactly the marriage-minded sort.”

Or so she assumed. His

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