“No,” groaned John. “I ain’t seen no lad on the road today.”
His wife nodded, satisfied with her husband’s response. “There ye have it,” she said, looking back at Victoria. “I hope ye find ’im. I’ll send the boy your way if I do spot ’im.”
“Thank you, and thank you for your time,” Victoria said earnestly before fishing a coin from the waist pocket of her traveling dress and holding it out to the woman. She looked as if she wanted to decline, but Victoria insisted. The coin quickly disappeared down the woman’s bodice with a grateful nod.
Turning, Victoria returned to Rafe’s side with a shake of her head. They resumed walking once more.
“I almost feel sorry for John,” Rafe muttered once they were out of sight of the cottage.
“Almost,” Victoria agreed; “but not quite.”
Victoria could tellRafe’s patience had just about worn through. His steps were quicker; his breathing was more agitated. Truth be told, Victoria’s own anxiety was teetering on the edge of unbearable, but she knew they needed to remain optimistic.
“Why would he have left—what would have possessed him to do such a thing?” Rafe demanded, more to the air than to her.
She had spent a great deal of their walk pondering the same thing. “I did say goodbye to him before I found you in the foyer,” she admitted. “But I was careful not to tell him how long I planned to be gone.”
“Forever?” her husband asked sardonically.
“Truly? Yes. That is what I planned.”
Rafe rubbed a spot in the center of his chest as if she’d stabbed him with a stiletto right there.
“You broke my heart, Rafe. When I heard what you said…when I thought I’d been made a fool for admitting to my feelings—” The words broke along with her voice. She didn’t wish to picture the scene again. “I believed you were speaking the truthof your feelings, and that you viewed me as nothing more than an idealistic girl.”
“I apologize for that. It was a vile thing to say.”
“You told me once that you did not believe in love. You said those words yourself; you cannot deny that you did.”
“I was the one who was a fool, Victoria. Not you. Never you. I may not have said them aloud, but I have been falling in love with you more each day. I want nothing more than to be around you. Have these past several weeks meant as much to you as they did to me?”
“They meanteverythingto me, Rafe!”
“I understand now. I understand it all. The thought of you being too far away for me to see, to touch, to speak with, to listen to…that kills me.”
“And now you have decided you are capable of love.”
“Yes, dammit!”
Victoria was silent for several moments before she said, “It is also clear to me that you love Dominic and the girls a great deal…but have you said as much to them?”
It was as if she’d struck him with a stone; her husband stopped in the middle of the road and pondered what she’d said. “No,” he answered, somewhat incredulously. “I do not believe I ever have.” He swore and huffed a little derisive laugh. “Despite all my efforts, I did still end up turning into my father—unable to express an emotion that comes so easily to so many.”
Victoria shook her head. “It is not an easy emotion, nor is it a simple one. And it is impossible for you to have become your father—not with how much genuine affection you show to the children. You need only improve how you voice it.”
He stepped closer to her just as the first few drops of drizzle began to fall, coating his long, kohl-colored eyelashes and dusting his hair. “I amtrying.”
“I know,” she whispered.
And she did.
Victoria knew Rafe was doing his best. He’d always been a good man, but that man had stepped aside for so long to allow the selfish rake to take charge. This was an adjustment. A discovery. And he was beginning by professing his love for her.
Like a bolt of lightning, she was struck by the sudden certainty that she did not want to leave him. She believed his explanation about why he said what he had. She believed in his love. For the one incident that had hurt her, there were several hundred other ways he’d proven himself. Wasn’t love about trust? That was what her father had always told her and Luke. If now was not the time to place trust in this man who had proven to her a unique level of devotion and determination, then that time would never come.
But they needed to find Dominic first.
“Come along,” she murmured and they walked once more in unison, each of them taking turns calling out Dominic’s name.
