Chapter Fifteen
Meridith could stand there all day, never moving, never speaking, because she would not be the one to stop Drake from sailing. If that meant not marrying him, so be it. She’d become an old maid. Live in Peter’s house until her hair was grey, her skin wrinkled, and she slept more hours than she was awake. She’d rather have all that happen, rather become old and miserable, than have him lose the life he loved.
The minutes ticked by. Slowly, steadily, until he was the one who gave in.
‘Meridith,’ he said softly, stepping close enough to rub her upper arms with both hands. ‘I love you and don’t want to be away from you. Not for a day, let alone months. I want to come home to you every night. Hold you in my arms. Sleep next to you. The first thing I want to see every morning is you. The last thing I want to see every night is you. And I want to spend every waking hour loving you.’
He was cracking through her stubbornness, because those were the things she wanted, too, and had to fight in order to hold out. Not to give in. She had to, for his sake, she had to. ‘I don’t want to be away from you, either. And I love you. I love the you that I know. The one who loves the sea. Loves sailing. I don’t want that to end. Not because of me.’
‘It’s not because of you. It’s because of us,’ he said. ‘The life we create together. That’s the life I want now, and it’ll be a good one. A wonderful life.’
She didn’t doubt that their life together would be wonderful, and searched her mind for a way to make him understand. To make him… She frowned as what he’d said registered again. The reason they were now arguing. ‘What did you mean about a second elephant?’
Despite the seriousness of the moment, he grinned. ‘I received a letter from Clem. He has an elephant calf that he’s worried will become mistreated. I’m working to acquire cargo to transport to that area so a ship can pick up the elephant and bring him to the zoo.’
‘A calf?’ Meridith’s heart filled with compassion, thinking of a baby elephant being mistreated. Some people just didn’t understand that animals were living beings and deserved to be treated kindly, fairly.
‘Yes,’ he said.
The zoo could certainly accommodate another animal; she was sure of that. ‘How do you think Hugo will react?’
‘Elephants are herd animals. I think he’ll enjoy the company very much.’
With all the excitement of everything that had happened since she’d walked through the door, she’d forgotten what she’d come here to tell Drake. Perhaps that would settle the argument. ‘I was being serious when I asked you about taking a passenger on your ship, because I want to go. I want to see faraway lands, eat different foods, meet new people. And, I want to go collect an elephant, deliver him to the zoo.’
He frowned. ‘Since when?’
‘Since forever. That’s part of the reason I love the zoo so much. I just never dreamed it would be possible. Never dreamed that I’d meet a man who could make all of my dreams come true.Not just about love and marriage and children, but everything. I don’t want you to stop sailing, my love. I want us to go sailing together.’
There was skepticism in his eyes. ‘You aren’t just saying that, because you think it’s what I want to hear?’
She looked up at him through her lashes. ‘Have you ever heard me say something just because it’s what someone wants to hear?’
He chuckled. ‘No.’
‘And you won’t, because if I don’t want to do something, I’m not going to do it, and if I do want to do something, I am going to do it.’
He pulled her up against him. ‘I know that is the truth.’
‘It’s the truth that I want to go sailing, too.’
He rested his forehead against hers. ‘All right.’
She slipped her arms around him. ‘All right, we’ll go sailing together?’
‘Yes. We will go to Africa and collect another elephant.’
Lifting her face so their lips could connect, she whispered, ‘Thank you.’
He leaned back just enough so their lips still hadn’t connected. ‘There is one condition.’
Of course there was. There was always a condition.‘What is it?’
‘That you change your mind back to marrying me.’
‘Of course I’m going to marry you. It’s what I want to do. Has been since you loaned me your knife to cut off the bustle beneath my dress.’
‘I do believe that is the moment that you changed my life,’ he said, and then he kissed her again.
