Tasteful Darkness

Chapter 24

"Only his family calls him Will, and he likes it that way."

"That seems fair. How old is Elizabeth, anyway?"

"Fourteen. Nearly fifteen, if I remember correctly."

"Adorable."

They have to pick up their pace in order to make it to Elizabeth as she walks into the restaurant.

Peter isn't used to having to dress up to eat. His tavern attire is whatever he happens to throw on that day. But when he looks over at Althea and her ocean blue dress that makes her hair appear to burn even brighter, all of his regrets fade away.

"You bewitch me," Peter whispers, catching Althea's wrist just as she goes to take another step.

She looks up at him, her cheeks flooding with pink. She opens her mouth to reply, but is cut off by the sudden appearance of Elizabeth.

She looks between Althea and Peter. "My apologies for interrupting," she says, "but we should be getting to Will."

Althea nods. "Good idea."

She slides her hand into Peter's, and the both of them walk with Elizabeth to her awaiting brother.

William looks up the moment he hears them coming. A charming smile spreads across his face as he stands up from his seat, one hand slipped into his pocket, the other reaching forward.

"Althea," he says, his eyebrow slightly raised. "A pleasure to finally meet you."

Althea takes his hand and shakes it. "It's taken too long."

"Indeed it has."

Everyone sits, and, surprisingly, there is little awkward silence.

"How is the apothecary business?" William asks after taking a sip of water. "Peter has told me so much about it."

Althea smiles. "It's going rather well, actually. We recently finished a medicine for headaches, and it became quite popular."

"Lovely. I have always had an interest in alternative medicine and its effectiveness."

To anyone else, it might seem as if William is being sarcastic. Peter knows William is far from it.

"We should talk more about it sometime," Althea offers. "I will give you all of my insights."

William nods in response. "Though I know you've met," he says, "this is my sister Elizabeth." Elizabeth gives a small wave in response. "She's visiting for the week, and I thought you should meet."

"I have a sister, too," Althea says. "She lives with my aunts."

Peter had nearly forgotten that. Now that he thinks about it, this might be the only other time she's mentioned her sister since they first met.

"Really?" Elizabeth says. "What is her name?"

He swears he knows her name. It was...

"Winnet," Althea replies. "Though everyone calls her Winnie."

"I love that name. Do you see each other often?"

Althea shakes her head. "Not nearly enough."

"We should visit her," Peter suggests.

There's a flicker of pain behind Althea's eyes, but she nods in agreement.

"Shall we eat?" William says, easily changing the subject. He has always been able to effortlessly shift conversations with little to no tension in the air, and it's a skill Peter sometimes finds himself exploiting.

"Sounds lovely," Elizabeth says, nodding.

Peter looks back at Althea. Something in her demeanor has shifted. She keeps her gaze downward and only looks up when someone says something directly to her. Then she plasters on a smile and pretends everything is fine.

Peter's mind wanders, trying to latch onto anything about Althea's sister. They never talk about her, and there must be a reason. Now that he thinks about it, Peter can't even remember if they ever talked about her parents. Only her aunts.

It is her choice to decide how much or how little she tells you, Peter reminds himself. And it's true. He would hate for her to feel pressured to tell her anything.

He carefully slides his hand into hers underneath the table and gives her a reassuring squeeze. She looks at him and gives a small smile.

I will also be here, Peter wants to say.

But he says nothing and looks back at William just as he says another joke that sends laughter spiraling throughout the group.

Peter only hopes Althea meant the laugh that makes his heart ache.