Read Online Evermore by C. J. Archer - Free Book Online

out my hand. Ghosts could
see better than when they were alive. I was acutely aware that I
wore nothing but my nightgown and my hair must look a fright. "Why
are you here?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"
    He took my hand. He was so very cold and I
felt him shiver. "I simply wanted to see you, Em. Do I need another
reason?"
    "You don't but...but lately you've been
avoiding me."
    "You know why." His voice was dark and thick,
clogged with heavy emotion.
    "Do I?"
    "Theo is a good man," he said. "I like him
more and more. I'm not going to get in the way."
    It's what I wanted too of
course. So why did I feel so empty all of a sudden? "He is a good
man, as you say." He must have seen me kiss Theo, otherwise why
bring it up at all? I wondered if he knew how much I'd enjoyed it,
but how much I'd wished Jacob had been the one kissing me.
    "You have a real chance of a happy life with
him, Em. A full, long life."
    "Don't," I choked out.
    "No, listen to me." He caught my face in his
hands but quickly let go and stepped away from the bed. "Don't
throw this opportunity away. You like him. You enjoy his company, I
know you do."
    "That doesn't mean I want to marry him."
    "Not yet perhaps, but one day." His voice
drifted off to a tired whisper. "I must go. Sleep well."
    He left and my bedroom seemed darker with the
loss of him. I lay down and must have fallen asleep because the
next thing I knew Cara was at my bedside, shaking me. "Emily, come
quickly! Louis is here."

CHAPTER 5
     
     
    "Louis!" I sat up with a start. "So
early?"
    "It's late," Cara said. "You overslept."
    I glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. It
was ten o'clock. I sprang out of bed and threw off my
nightgown.
    "He arrived unannounced and won't leave."
Cara's eyes shone and I suspected she was quite thrilled by this
piece of news. "Celia is very cross. She keeps asking him to leave,
but he refuses and says she has to hear him out first. Come quick,
Emily, or you'll miss him."
    Celia would be furious, but I didn't care. It
was time I met my father. Time he was made aware of my existence.
Celia would have to come to terms with it.
    "Help me dress," I said.
    Miraculously, I was ready in five minutes,
although my hair was not. There was no time to arrange it. "Come,
Cara," I said. "Hold my hand."
    Despite the reassurance her presence gave me,
I had to pause at the top of the stairs to catch my breath and
settle my nerves. Cara squeezed my hand. In my fluster, I'd
forgotten that Louis probably didn’t know about her either, and she
must be wondering what reaction he'd have when he found out. It
would be an uncertain time for her too.
    We held hands and entered the drawing room
together. Celia sat on the sofa. A tall man stood near the
fireplace, his back to us. He had short, black hair, and the skin
on the back of his neck was browner than mine.
    My father.
    I gave an involuntary gasp and both Celia and
Louis turned. My sister glared at me for a brief moment then her
gaze faltered and she looked down at the clasped hands in her lap.
Her knuckles were white. Louis simply stared. First at me, then at
Cara, then back at me.
    Celia sniffed but did not introduce us. It
would seem she had thrown her manners out the door when he
arrived.
    Cara stepped forward and performed a small
curtsey as Celia had taught her. "I am Miss Cara Moreau," she said
in a bold voice. "Your sister."
    "Sister!" His eyes widened. "I have a
sister?"
    "Half-sister."
    "Ah. François' child." He bowed and when he
straightened, there was a small smile on his lips. "Good morning,
Miss Moreau. Or perhaps I should call you Cara since we are brother
and sister. You didn't tell me you'd contacted my relations,
Celia."
    The informal use of her first name drew
another little gasp from me. Celia did not look up.
    "And you must be another sister," he said to
me, bowing again. "I'm pleased to meet you. I wish my father had
told me of your existence. I would have liked to know I had
family."
    "I am not your sister." My