He knew because he watched as the sparkles in her eyes dimmed. He watched the smile that had been on her beautiful face fade. He watched as her chin that had always been high and defiant, sank into her chest.
Leo’s voice caught in his throat. The smell of warm cinnamon burnt his tongue and made his belly turn.
“I nearly lost my head a moment ago,” Lady Teresa was saying. “This wonderful woman saved me. I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t,” said Esme, her voice barely above a whisper. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Do you need a ride?” asked Teresa. “It’s the least I can do.”
“No.” She shook her head slowly. “I’d rather not intrude on …”
Esme waved her hand between Leo and Teresa. She didn’t look at him. She wouldn’t look at him. Her gaze turned faraway, well beyond his reach.
She was the ghost now. Just an apparition of her former, bright, spirited self. This vision of her would haunt Leo for the rest of his days.
“I’ll call you a car,” said Leo.
“No.” Her tone was sharp. Her gaze lifted, pinning him with a glare that turned his heart into knots. “I’ll find my own way.”
It took everything for Leo to reach for Lady Teresa and not Esme. Even more will power for him to leave her standing on the pier. His gaze stayed fixed on the rear-view mirror until long after she was a dot on the horizon.
He watched her get farther and farther away from him. His hands clenched and unclenched until she was gone. It was truly over.
The tiredness hit him in full force. His head thumped back against the car seat. His every muscle ached and felt stiff at the same time. His throat felt like it was on fire.
“Leo? Did you hear me?”
He turned to Teresa. She regarded him with a quirk to her lip and a raise of her eyebrow. He had no idea what that expression meant? Was she angry with him? Amused by him?
If it had been Esme, he would’ve known that she was amused by his divided loyalties and would likely weave some imaginative tale to recapture his full attention. But Teresa wasn’t Esme. He would have to get to know her quirks and eccentricities if she had any.
“How was your trip?” he asked.
“I got a lot accomplished,” said Teresa, looking down at her phone instead of at him. “I closed a deal with the company that builds ships for the Royal Navy. I also managed to work on our deal.”
Teresa was smart and ambitious. Leo’s h
ead knew those were great qualities for an addition to the country’s government. This was why she was the best decision for Cordoba. But, in his heart, he couldn’t help asking, was she the best decision for him?
“And I just got a great idea from that young woman back there,” Teresa was saying.
“Esme?”
“Oh? Is that her name? You two know each other?”
“I … We … What was her idea?”
“A cruise line.”
“A cruise line?”
“I’d initially thought of a luxury line when she brought it up. But she mentioned a family line, which is brilliant because most families are parents with children. And sometimes extended families. That multiplies the income. Brilliant.”
“Yes, she is.”
Leo had no idea what had brought Esme out to the waters that afternoon. She would likely call it fate.
It was fate that brought them together on the streets of New York. It was fate that had Penelope poke her head into Esme’s class and then invite her to dinner. It was fate that Alex asked Esme’s best friend to be his pie making champion this weekend. And now, again, it was fate that brought Esme face to face with the woman he’d intended to marry and put on the table an idea that could secure the future of his country.