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It was the slight falter in his touch that brought her head up.
“Papa, you’re weak. You need to rest.” Capturing his hand, Courtney guided him into a chair, then knelt at his feet, afraid to look away, afraid that, if she did, he’d vanish. “You look so thin, so tired…”
Arthur Johnston leaned forward, patted his daughter’s cheek. “I’ll mend,” he said quietly. “Just seeing you is enough to ensure that. Now stop worrying.”
“I’d given up,” she whispered. “I’d stopped praying for this miracle. But it’s occurred nonetheless. The watch…it wasn’t wrong…and today—it wasn’t just Slayde and me that made it start anew. ’Twas you…the fact that you’re here…alive…” Knowing words could never convey all she longed to explain, she tugged the timepiece from her pocket, opened the case. “It stopped the day you went overboard,” she got out, her voice quavering. “Several times, it moved, only to stop again. And then this morning, it resumed—for good.” She studied her father’s beloved face, watching tears glide down his cheeks as he absorbed her words, reached out to touch the precious gift his wife had given him all those years ago. “Here, Papa—” Courtney snapped the timepiece shut and pressed it into his palm. “The watch is back where it belongs—with you.”
Reflexively, her father’s fingers closed around the engraved case. “Yet another miracle.” He bent to kiss Courtney’s forehead. “Not only have you been restored to me, but now your mother has as well.”
Still dazed, Courtney struggled to think straight, to ask all she needed to know. “How did you survive? How did you find me?”
A muscle worked in her father’s jaw. “I owe my life to Lexley,” he said fervently. “It was his loyalty and courage that gave me a fighting chance. He severed as many of my bonds as he dared before casting me to sea. The remaining bonds, I managed on my own. The currents were with me; they dragged me into a peaceful inlet, where I crawled on shore and collapsed for Lord knows how long. Eventually, a fisherman found me, brought me home. He and his family took me in, gave me food and as much care as they were able. I don’t remember much; I faded in and out of consciousness.” Again, Courtney’s father leaned forward, smoothing her hair off her face, pain lancing his weathered features. “I kept seeing flashes of you, crying, weak and bandaged, needing me. And your mother, begging me to help you. Twice, I crawled from the house—I suppose I was delirious with fever—to look for you. Each time, I collapsed. I’d all but given up when Mr. Rayburn located me.
“Mr. Rayburn?” Courtney gasped.
Her response elicited that cherished twinkle she loved so much and had thought gone forever. “Um-hum. You asked how I found you. Well, my future son-in-law hired one hell of a fine investigator. Rayburn unearthed me within two days of searching. The news he gave me—that you were alive, cared for—was the best medicine on earth. The next day when Slayde came to fetch me, I was more than ready for the carriage ride from Cornwall to Devonshire. He brought me to Mr. Scollard’s lighthouse. That’s when we decided on this birthday surprise.” A grin in Aurora’s direction. “I never thought Lady Aurora would keep it to herself.”
Courtney’s head whipped about. “You knew?” she demanded of Aurora.
A beatific smile. “I knew. In fact, yesterday when you were being fitted for your wedding dress, I managed to sneak Mr. Lexley down here for a little reunion with your father. The three of us and Mr. Scollard had a grand time. And with each cup of Mr. Scollard’s tea, your father grew stronger.”
“Speaking of which, what’s in that brew, anyway?” Courtney’s father asked Scollard. “I feel more fit by the minute.”
“Well, of course,” was the matter-of-fact reply. “You need to regain your strength. How else would you be able to walk Courtney down the aisle?”
“You notice he didn’t answer your question, Mr. Johnston,” Aurora commented. “ ’Tis his way. It means he likes you.”
“He must. He’s building that cottage for me.”
“For you?” Courtney’s breath suspended in her throat.
“Well, certainly for me. You’re not going to need it. You’ll have a huge estate to keep you busy. But I need a place to stay when I’m on shore.”
“You can stay at Pembourne with us.”
Her father shook his head. “Not for the amount of time I have in mind. I’ll need a place of my own. Besides, I promised you a birthday gift as well, remember? Even if Lady Aurora did steal away half of it.” He grinned at Tyrant, who was lapping up stray droplets of tea and becoming more energetic by the minute.
“Papa, you promised me only a week,” Courtney reminded him. “I’d never ask for more than that.”
“Well, I would,” he replied gruffly. “I want many, many weeks—months—in the years to come.”
“But—the sea is your life.”
“Only a portion of my life. I want time for the other portion as well—on land, with you.” A hard swallow. “I wouldn’t miss seeing my grandchildren grow up for all the oceans in the world.”
“Excellent,” Mr. Scollard inserted. “Because the cottage will be fully built by the time Courtney and Slayde return from their wedding trip.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Courtney’s father replied with solemn gratitude. “You’re an astounding man. From what I understand, you helped Slayde figure out where I was, and for that I’m eternally in your debt.”
“Don’t be. ’Twas Slayde’s belief, not my vision, that brought you here.”
“I agree.” Arthur’s gaze returned to his daughter. “Courtney, I’d all but given up, too. Were it not for the remarkable man you’re to marry—who made sure I was found and brought back to you—I’m not sure I would have endured much longer.”
For the first time, Courtney allowed herself to look at Slayde, having known from the onset that once she did, every shred of her composure would vanish. “Thank you,” she said in an aching whisper. She felt her father squeeze her hands, then release them, a silent conveyance of his approval and understanding.
Courtney rose, walking toward her future husband, gazing up at him with her heart in her eyes. “I love you,” she choked, her voice breaking as she reached him, her shoulders shaking with sobs. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
Slayde enfolded her against him, hugging her fiercely to his heart. “You just did.”
