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“I’m saying that I’m done with living this life without you. I love you. I want to be your husband, if you’ll have me, and if you won’t—if I’ve misjudged this entirely—I won’t be far, because I’ll be waiting, hoping you’ll change your mind.”
Her hands slipped up to his shoulders, and she gazed into his tired, contented eyes. “Can you say that again?”
“Which part?”
“The part about loving me? I’m not sure I’ll believe it otherwise.”
He chuckled. “I’ll shout it from the roof of this blasted warehouse if you’d like me to.”
“Right here is just fine,” she said.
“I love you.” He lowered his head and feathered her lips with his. “I loved you then.” Another kiss. “I love you now.” A third. “I’ll love you always.”
His hands framed her face as he angled their lips to deepen the kiss. His tongue swiped hers, cool and sweet. It was familiar and thrilling and everything she needed.
She pulled back a little. “I want you to be my husband,” she whispered against his lips. “I want us to be together. I don’t want to waste any more time either.”
He grinned and stroked a hand down her back. “Come to London with me. If you can spare time away from your shop.”
She nodded. “I can leave Siobhan in charge for a few days. But what will we do when we return?”
“Other than find the first minister who will marry us?” he asked, kissing the right corner of her mouth.
“Where will we live?”
He paused and drew back, searching her face. “I’ve seen a very charming set of rooms above Edinburgh’s finest dressmaker’s shop. It’s called Mrs. Parkem’s. You might have heard of it.”
“But what of your retirement? You want to be on the coast. You told me.”
“I find I’m growing rather fond of Edinburgh. It’s the place I fell in love with you all over again. Now, come on,” he said, depositing her on her feet as he stood. “I want a hot bath, several yards of bandages, and fourteen hours of uninterrupted sleep next to you.”
“And after that?” she asked.
His arched brow told her exactly what would happen after that.
She relaxed into his warmth as he tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. She was exhausted, shaken, and possibly delirious with a month’s cumulative lack of sleep, but she had never been happier. His life and his heart were open to her once again, and this time there would be no long separations with him at sea and her at home worrying. They were starting over. A second beginning.
“Just think,” she said as they slowly walked away from the warehouse, “if I stay in Edinburgh we could become friends with Gillie.”
“The woman is a menace.”
“In the best way.”
“Obviously.” He pulled her in closer and brushed a kiss to her temple. “Perhaps we should introduce her to your brother.”
Lavinia snorted a laugh. “She’d shoot him within a week, and she’s a remarkably good shot.”
“Thank God for that.”
Epilogue
THE WIND CAUGHT Lavinia’s hat, and she clamped a hand down on it while picking up her vermilion skirts with the other.
This was all the fault of her husband, whom she loved dearly. She and Andrew had decided, for their first wedding anniversary, to travel back to Eyemouth. Their hometown might not have the romance of some locales, but it was the place where everything had started. It also had the advantage of being near Edinburgh, meaning she didn’t have to leave the shop in Siobhan’s admittedly very capable hands for too long.
That morning, when the first rays of sun had broken through the shutters of their room at the inn, Lavinia had woken up to find Andrew’s side of the bed empty. In his place lay an envelope on the pillow.
She’d opened up the note and smiled. There was only one line: Meet me where we used to go.
