#shotandshell

It was not often that Caleb was surprised. His varied life had made him capable, adaptable, and ready for anything. He instinctively reached for her hand as she touched him, held back from shaking her off only by her voice. Not only was she an attractive woman, but she had also brought up payment. His grip warmed, wrapping more gently around her forearm.

"Irate lover, husband, or employer?" Caleb asked. The answer would not change his agreement to help her- how could he pass up this opportunity? But, he did wish to know the details if only to better carry out his duties.

___________________________________________

Painted lips purse as a tremor of trepidation coils down her spine. Rose had NEVER done anything of this caliber. As a socialite, such uncomely behaviors could be the source of her permanent ruin.

Cerulean orbs bashfully peer into his, gentler and seemingly empathetic ones. His question is so damnably perceptive that the crimson-haired young woman takes a step backwards in amazement. While typically she despised anyone so presumptuous, Rose clearly didn't mind it from him. Perhaps, on the account of her haste.

Perhaps, this was not uncommon for him, for women to run to him for rescue. "Fiancé in an arranged marriage." A part of her prays she would not have to elaborate on the abuses she had endured at the man's hand. Hockley's pockets ran DEEP, far deeper than her own could ever fathom. Her mother NEEDED this union to fix the debts of her father. "There are times he thinks of me as an employee to control." Rose hesitantly confesses.

❝   i   know   ⎯⎯   ❞   speaks   with   the   kind   of   wonder   found   in   fools   !   feels   the   twinkle   of   joy   as   tangible   as   he   feels   the   drying   blood   on   his   cheek.   takes   stage   fright   in   his   hands   and   spins   it   'round   his   fingers   like   thread.   has   no   more   of   it   now,   makes   it   new   and   calls   it   bravery   instead.   fell   as   a   child   from   the   tree   in   the   garden        ;        knew   then   the   sensation   of   time   standing   still   and   the   body   feeling   truly   alive.   never   learned   how   to   stop   chasing   it,   not   even   now,   when   he   should   shuffle   his   feet   and   his   cheeks   should   be   red   with   shame   rather   than   blood.

        But she had been foolish enough to take her eyes off of Antonia for one minute- something had caught her eye in a stall, and one moment she was beside her, and the next, she was gone! Teresa cursed herself, and she shouted her name as she spied her waddling off towards the pier.

       "Antonia!" She cried, pushing through the crowd, and Antonia had turned the corner, and panic set within her as she lost sight. But Antonia kept going, her laughter loud as her mama chased her, and it was only until she had crashed into something in front of her did she stop, falling onto her rear with a grunt. She squinted up at the figure before her, the sun bright and blinding, and she blinked. "Baba?"