Present Day
The house was empty when Celia got home, just like most days. Harold was out working, as he was on every nice day and most not-so-nice days too. Usually, she enjoyed the peaceful quiet after a morning spent in the kitchens, dealing with the whirlwind of activity.
But today the silence felt heavy, thick with all the thoughts swirling through her head. Her lips still tingled from Lucas’s rough kisses. He had felt the same under her hands, warm and solid, but there was something else there too, something deeper she couldn’t quite name.
Her face burned at the memory of Landon catching them. The way he had looked at them, angry and disappointed, replayed in her mind. Hadn’t she just been telling him she had no intention of getting involved with Lucas again?
For the first time th
