A Christmas In Bath by Cheryl Bolen Read Free Book Online

herself so much since he had left Bath at the end of the summer.
    More than anything, she glowed. Never before had he consulted her regarding a personal matter. How honored she was! And more than once today he had told her she was his dearest friend. Clearly, in so many vital ways, he regarded her as she regarded him.
    Was there any hope that his deep friendship could turn into something even deeper?
    Her thoughts flitted to Melvin and Catherine Steffington. The day she had heard that they were marrying was unquestionably the most shocking day in Miss Mary Arbuckle's life. She would have wagered the roof over their head that the serious twin was incapable of even noticing if a woman happened to be lovely.
    If Melvin Steffington could fall in love, then so could Jonathan Blankenship!
    She wondered if she had done the right thing by putting all her trust in Glee. Glee had been the one to tell her that under no circumstances was she to consent to see Jonathan Blankenship two days in a row. "Make him believe you have other callers," Glee had insisted.
    Oh, how Miss Arbuckle wished she would have been permitted to see him again on the morrow!
    She took the crumpled pages of his essay and went searching her bedchamber for her spectacles.
    * * *
    Though he would rather contemplate his special friendship with Miss Arbuckle, Jonathan knew he must act upon his Christmas scheme no later than today.
    Gregory was not at home when Jonathan  returned. Which was just as well. For Jonathan had decided he would first speak to Glee.
    As he climbed the stairs to her private study, his heart hammered. At the opened doorway of her green and gilt chamber he stood for a few seconds, watching her scribbling away at her French desk. "I beg a private word with you."
    Her face brightened. "Pray, close the door."
    He eased the door shut, then came to sit upon the silken settee.
    With more than her customary exuberance, Glee did not wait for him to speak. "Are you going to tell me you've come to your senses and realized Miss Arbuckle is the perfect mate for you?"
    Her unexpected comment stunned him. Whatever he had planned to say vanished from his mind like paper tossed upon fire. "Good lord, no! Miss Arbuckle and I are friends. Nothing more. I don't know what could possibly have given you such a ridiculous notion!" But he did have some idea. He and Glee both knew that Miss Arbuckle was seeking a husband. More's the pity, he thought with a deep sense of loss.
    "Oh." She sounded decidedly disappointed. "Then what did you wish to discuss?"
    He quickly repressed any notion of being wed to Miss Arbuckle. "My mother."
    She stiffened in much the same way Gregory did when his step-mother was mentioned. "Oh."
    "Surely you've noticed that she is eager to be grandmama to Gregory's and your children."
    Glee nodded. "She has been very kind in that regard."
    "I will be honest with you," Jonathan said. "I thought this Christmas would be a good time to reunite this family. I know there has been  disharmony, and my mother is far from being blameless, but I know too that she has come to regret her past mistreatment of Gregory."
    Her eyes unusually cold, Glee asked, "She has told you this?"
    He nodded. "I thought the time had come to pull up the carpets and sweep out all the bad things that had lain beneath them for too long."
    "So you confronted her over her mistreatment of my husband when he was young? Mind you, I did not learn of this from Blanks, who refuses to discuss it."
    Now Glee again reminded him of a cub’s angry mother. "I did, and she most sincerely grieves because of her former behavior. She wants to atone."
    Anxiety gripped his gut as he awaited her response. Though normally impetuous, Glee was taking her sweet time forming an answer to the request that had been so bloody difficult for him to make. He thought of Miss Arbuckle's comment upon his dread. He had nothing to lose and a great deal to gain.
    Finally Glee favored him with a smile. "There is no