Page 75 of Once Upon a Midnight Dream
Miss McKenzie, Miss Wobblecroft, and Mrs. Jones sipped hot spiced cider and wandered among the children, ensuring they had fun but did not get into mischief.
After having brought out the food and arranged it on a large table, the other staff warmed themselves before the enormous fire.
More exuberant cries filled the air as the squib exploded.
“Look!” Mrs. Jones pointed toward Prudhoe.
As one, the children and staff faced the village, and a collective gasp went up.
Orange, yellow, and white fireworks exploded in the sky over what must be the village green.
The majestic display even enthralled Lilly.
“Hello, Lilly.”
No, he could not be here.
She froze, certain her ears played tricks on her.
After all, a cacophony of noises filled the night.
She missed Layton so much that she had conjured his voice.
That was all.
“Lilly?”
A moment later, his firm hand cupped her shoulder and rotated her toward him.
Oh, God.
She had not imagined that familiar baritone.
Heart hammering against her ribs, she dragged her focus upward from his slightly dusty Wellington boots, past the hem of his slate-blue woolen caped greatcoat, and upward from each brass button to the coat’s stiff, turned-up collar, to rest on his strong, square chin, covered with a dark shadowing of whiskers.
“Look at me, Lilly. Please.”
Such tenderness filled his husky voice; tears filled her eyes.
Taking in every contour of his beloved face, she continued the upward journey until she met his eye.
Layton was here.
Why?
She darted a wary glance past him.
No stunning beauty stood there, dressed in the first stare of fashion, and gazing at him with utter adoration.
Where was his wife?
“Hello,” he murmured.
One word.
One paltry word and Lilly’s world suddenly grew bright with hope once more.
His smile would have melted an iceberg, and Lilly assuredly was not a frozen ice-mountain. She was a flesh and blood woman, and if he kept looking at her like that, she would dissolve into a puddle at his feet or burst into flames.
