Pleasures of a Tempted Lady by Jennifer Haymore Page B

beauty—Meg would have recognized her anywhere. She’d never forget the spark of mischief and the dash of stubbornness in those blue eyes. Meg stood absolutely still, gazing at her youngest sister, only mildly aware of the comforting presence of Will on one side of her and Jake on the other.
    Jessica was curvaceous but with no extra fat, with a perfect oval face and big, deep blue eyes fringed by dark lashes. Her hair had just a hint of red in it, but it was more brilliantly blond than red, piled in loose curls of shining gold with a dash of copper.
    She stepped into the entry hall and stopped short as her gaze fell on Meg, her mouth falling open.
    Serena jerked to a stop just behind Jessica, yanking Meg’s attention to her.
    It was true. They still looked the same. Serena probably weighed half a stone more than her, and her skin was a touch paler, but no doubt people would have just as much difficulty telling them apart as they always had.
    Pressure built in her lungs, and Meg realized she’d forgotten to breathe. She let out a slow, trembling breath as she stared at her twin. Serena’s chest fell at the exact same time. A man’s hands—they must be the Earl of Stratford’s, but Meg didn’t look at him—settled comfortingly over Serena’s shoulders.
    Everything seemed frozen, locked in a stare of surprise, a moment of dreamy disbelief.
    Will finally spoke, his voice seeming loud in theuncanny silence. “I found her and the boy in a disabled jolly boat halfway between England and Ireland.”
    Serena’s eyes flicked to Jake, but in a flash they were on Meg again. She blinked once, then blinked harder, as if she expected the vision of her sister to clear. And then she cried out, “Meg!”
    She ran to Meg, nearly toppling her before wrapping her in her arms and bursting into tears.
    Another person’s arms were around her, Jessica’s, Meg thought, and the tears welled in her throat and she was crying, too.
    Dinner forgotten, they gathered in Jonathan’s enormous drawing room. Jonathan and Captain Langley sat in opposing armchairs while Jessica and Serena took the sofa with Meg between them and the little boy sitting on her lap, gazing at Serena with a fascinated expression.
    Jessica stared at her older sister. She’d been so young when they’d lost Meg, and her memories of her older sister had begun to fade, but now they came rushing back to her in a torrent. When she was very little, it was always Meg who’d comforted her when she scraped her knee or had a bad dream. It was always Meg who’d told her she was smart and capable after Mother had yelled at her for being a hoyden.
    Jessica wiped a stray tear and laughed. “The three of us have turned into watering pots. We could keep Sherwood Forest green!”
    “No doubt,” Serena said shakily. She blew her nose again.
    Jessica couldn’t even begin to imagine what Serena was feeling right now. She’d never stopped mourningMeg. Not for one second since Meg had fallen overboard off that ship so long ago.
    Meg wrapped her arms around the little boy, looking happy but mildly uncomfortable. Jessica supposed she couldn’t blame her. All this was so overwhelming—for all of them.
    “Captured by a pirate,” Jessica mused out loud. Captain Langley had just finished a brief retelling of where Meg had been all these years. “It sounds terribly romantic, but I imagine it must have been awful for you.”
    “At times,” Meg said. Each time she spoke, her gentle voice brought back more memories. She’d always been good at soothing people—and animals, too. She and Serena had kept Father’s stables clean and the animals happy, even as they were sold off one by one. Jessica remembered running between their legs in the stables, jumping on hay bales, daring them to catch her.
    They’d laughed back then. Far more than they’d laughed after Serena had returned—alone—from England.
    “Sometimes it wasn’t so bad,” Meg said. “I had a friend. Her name was Sarah,