I turned sharply to Christopher. He didn't like Blair? Why then was he marrying her? I couldn't stop myself from asking."Why marry someone if you don't like them?" He shrugged as we got into the shop and set down the items."I'm only marrying her for Cecilia. My time here is temporary and Cecilia would be better off if she has someone to care for her when I'm gone.""What do you mean by that? Are you ill? Has someone threatened your life?" He laughed again."It's not that. Don't worry about it now, we have to get to work if we want to make it home for dinner." I wasn't satisfied with his answer but I was a stranger to him, I couldn't push him to open up if he didn't want to.We set to work, putting the chairs where they were meant to be, setting up the mirrors, the tables, the little stools..."But then Cecilia doesn't like her very much, I doubt Blair is glad to be Cecilia's mother after what happened at the market the other day. There are other maidens and many of them have shown i

I couldn't make sense of what had just happened.After Christopher proposed and secured the betrothal necklace around my neck, Papa took the toy box from me, gave it to Bridget and thanked her for the invitation, then he took my hand and we left the mansion.I was still too stunned to say anything. I was just sitting at the breakfast table, still as a rock as I stared into space. I was engaged?! How was it possible that I was engaged? And to Christopher? How did not fretting push me into the last place I wanted to find myself, as someone's wife?It was probably a joke. Maybe if I held my breath long enough, I'd pass out and wake up in my bed; there would be no memory of the night in the storeroom and most especially, I wouldn't be wearing a betrothal necklace."You will give yourself a headache worrying so much." Pa was sitting on another chair, across from me. "Don't think too much about the matter, it is...""Pa, tell me... am I engaged to be married?" He looked confused."Yes, you

Hair Haven was finally open.I didn't get any customers on the first day, none on the second, none on the fifth! And I was already feeling annoyed at the woman who told me she would come with her children.To cheer me up, Cecilia, Christopher and even Pa came for trimming. Of course their hairs were perfect but they were asking for exaggerated hairdos that I had to laugh at the descriptions.It was on the sixth day that three women visited, two of them were the dressmakers' and the third... I didn't quite know her. Either way, I was happy to have my real first customers."My my! Lovely place you have here." The taller dressmaker commented. She was the first to get her hair done."Thank you, ma'am.""Ma'am? Oh no, dear, you are a regular customer, you can call us by our names. I am Teresa, my sister is Marie and that is our friend, Sally." I nodded and smiled politely."Alright. What hairstyle would you like today?""Well, I want something that'll make my husband want to make a fourth

I went for the keg of rum, lifting it up and saving the little that remained in the keg."Papa, please calm down and let me explain.""You call him Papa?!" Papa Ramsey said from his spot next to Christopher, even he sounded angry."How do you expect me to calm down? That fellow took my wife away from me and he...""So what? She returned to you, didn't she? You're not the one she left with a little child to care for." Papa Benjamin's anger seemed to have increased."What did you say to me?! You knew she had just given birth to a baby, yet you took her away without...""Papa, please..." I tried pleading with him."Stop calling that man Papa, he took your mother from you. Remember how you always cried and missed her, she was here, with that...""Be quiet, Papa!" I yelled, surprising everyone and even myself. "Stay here and work on that mouth of yours." Then I turned a pleading look to Christopher. "Please help yourself to dinner, I will be back soon." I took Papa Benjamin's hand and led

Cecilia and I stayed for a week in Gwen's home. A complete seven days of Gwen asking me relentless questions about my relationship with Christopher, if I had any plans of accepting it and giving her another niece or a nephew this time.She had a lot to say about the advantages of being married, especially to a good man and I must confess, she got into my head.I never wanted to get married, that was true, but now I was married, and Christopher is not like my father and neither am I like my mother. We were friends before we got married and Mama was already married to someone else, that was the only reason she had to leave me; she was never married to Papa.Christopher had gone out of his way a lot of times to help me out and he was very respectful of my decisions. Maybe and just maybe, I could let go of my fears and accept our marriage; rather than a temporary one, it could be permanent.After all, I could admit I had grown fond of Christopher. I always caught myself thinking of him an