A Most Unsuitable Match Read Online Free Page B

and afraid. But you stood by me. In fact, you were the only one of my friends who didn’t toss me aside like a broken doll.”
    “You were the only one of my friends who liked making mud pies,” Fannie teased.
    “You’ve forgotten Polly Bannister.”
    “But Polly wouldn’t taste them.” Fannie laughed. “And you even pretended to like them.”
    Fannie set the swing in motion again. “What’s it like, Minette?” she asked after a few minutes.
    “What’s what like?”
    Fannie nudged her friend’s shoulder. “Love.”
    Minette didn’t answer for a moment. Finally, she said, “It’s like hearing an echo. As if I’ve been calling for something for all of my life without realizing it . . . and at last someone answered back. And what he said filled part of me I didn’t even know was empty.”
    A flash of jealousy rose up. Minette had never wondered about being loved. Her parents doted on her. And now she had Daniel and a promising future. Envy is a sin. And you love Minette. You know you’re happy for her. Feeling guilty, Fannie forced a laugh. “Well, no matter what Mr. Vandekamp says, I don’t think Percy Harvey is my echo.” She giggled. “Unless I want someone to echo my choices in fashion and lace. And perfume.”
    Minette pretended to fan herself. “He does sometimes need corrective scent.”
    Just at that moment Jake came fully awake and in one quick move was on his feet, head erect, tail wagging. With Daniel’s name on her lips, Minette jumped to her feet.
    Fannie glanced at the street. “You cannot possibly have seen Jake get up. So how can you know—” Daniel strode into view. “How—?”
    “Didn’t you hear him whistle?”
    “Whistle? He whistles for you?”
    Minette nodded, even as she reached up to smooth her hair. “He whistles for me,” she said. “That’s different from what you just said. One tune tells me we’re alone. Another signals we aren’t.”
    Fannie didn’t require further explanation for the musical code between the two, for just then Daniel called out a hearty greeting—to Jake. Fannie watched as Minette turned her head toward her fiancé, hesitated for a moment as if thinking very hard, and then, without hesitation, ran into Daniel’s arms.
    Fannie smiled even as she felt a pang of longing as she saw the joy on Daniel Hennessey’s face as he gathered Minette up and swung her about. A whistled summons wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. More like an echo, really.

The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them.
    P ROVERBS 21:7
    When Daniel Hennessey suggested he and Minette walk Fannie home after a fashionably late supper and lingering conversation at the Beauvais residence, Fannie resisted. “There’s a full moon and I’m only next door. Minette and I could navigate the way between our two houses blindfolded.” But then Minette leaned close and whispered an intense plea. Feeling like a dunce, Fannie quickly changed her mind and took Daniel’s proffered arm so that he could guide her across the lawn she truly could navigate blindfolded—after all, Minette had made her do exactly that after losing her sight.
    As she bid the couple good-night and they headed back toward the overgrown archway separating the Rousseau and Beauvais lawns, Fannie lingered, watching them. Just as they reached the archway, Daniel laid his open palm at the small of Minette’s back. At her fiancé’s touch, Minette reached for his hand and pulled it to her waist so that his arm encircled her. When they stepped into the shadows just past the archway, they paused. Long enough for . . . Long enough.
    That’s it. That’s what I want. She wanted the kind of love Minette had described earlier that evening . . . the kind that made one heart echo back to another. The kind that would carry a woman into a future she couldn’t see with a sense of hopeful joy. Fannie pulled the door closed and stood in the dark hall, listening to the quiet house. She was feeling a little better,