Before she met Ben the following morning, Natalie did another reading of the tarot cards. The results were very similar - telling her the evil woman would triumph over the lovers. Natalie was troubled by the configuration denoting the lovers - it indicated they were unaware of their true feelings and had been forced into false feelings by the evil woman. Natalie wondered how the cards could know what she was only now coming to realize.

Unable to sleep the night before, Natalie had sat up, reviewing events since her arrival at Collinwood. That she and Joshua Collins had initially disliked one another she could not deny, but over the months, events and mutual concern for mutual loved ones had forced them to put their personal feelings aside and work together in order to salvage what they could. They had been drawn together in their shared concern for Josette; they had shared the secret of Barnabas' true fate and their efforts to save him from Angelique's curse - something Joshua had readily admitted to her but had tried to hide from Naomi, Barnabas' mother. They knew the truth of Angelique's treachery and evil; the innocence of Victoria Winters. Their animosity was a thing of the past - it had to be. Natalie was able to admit - now - that her first impression of Joshua Collins had been in error. She'd thought him to be a cold, detached man, one more interested in business than people, a man uncomfortable with emotions and even less comfortable with the display of those emotions. Now she knew him to be a kind and gentle man - when he allowed himself to show those qualities. The instances were rare, but heartfelt. His desire to shield Naomi from the truth of Barnabas' curse was proof of that. The depth of his sorrow over the deaths of Sarah, Naomi and Barnabas was genuine, as was his regret at not having told them of his love for them. He, like she, had lost everyone dear to him, and while Joshua would like everyone around to think he'd been hardened by the experiences, that he was unchanged and unaffected by it all, Natalie could see beneath his facade to the lonely man who hid behind the gruff exterior.

Natalie had shaken her head, chiding herself. She would not allow her sympathy for Joshua Collins to cloud her clear thinking, and yet... in the darkness of her room, she could admit to herself she missed Joshua. She'd grown used to his presence, and now that she was miles away, she wanted to see him again. It was not anything she could explain logically, she only knew it was something she had to do.

Unashamed of her frankness with herself, Natalie also admitted she had thoroughly enjoyed the two nights she had spent in Joshua Collins' arms. He was a strong yet giving lover, a man who as willing to take her needs and desires into consideration rather than caring only for his own gratification. It had been years since she'd had such a gifted lover, and even though Natalie realized it could all have been the result of Angelique's manipulation of them, she had her doubts. Something told Natalie that, if left on their own, she and Joshua Collins would amaze and delight each other no end. But was she ready to so drastically change her life to find out if her hunch was correct? Did Joshua feel the same or did he truly want nothing to do with her? Was she willing to risk her heart - and Joshua's - in what could be nothing more than confused thoughts in the aftermath of Angelique's potion? Natalie was not sure, but she knew she had to find out.