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Her hands went to his wrists next to her face, clasping them with all her might. Her look skewered him, attempting to read his every intention down to his soul, and then she pushed words up through her chest. “You stayed for me?”
“How many times do I bloody well have to say it, Sloane?”
Her eyes flickered to the bag, then to her husband.
Husband.
In that moment, it truly struck her—the first time she’d dared to truly consider him her husband. Dared to let blind faith in this man standing before her take over all her misgivings—overcome all her distrust.
Husband.
Her husband.
And that meant a lifetime with this man.
No matter what he’d done. No matter what errors in judgement he’d made in the past.
Which meant she had better start letting trust win the constant battles in her mind.
Her eyes locked onto his. “No more times. I think…I think now I heard you. Believe you.”
{ Chapter 16 }
“Is it much farther from the main road?” Adjusting on his saddle, Reiner looked past Sloane on her horse to the rocky outcroppings that butted into the rolling fields along the road.
Sloane had insisted she needed to take a detour from the main road south. When he’d believed it was to be just a quick side trip to a friend of Sloane’s, he’d thought to indulge her. But now they were far from the main road and they needed to be on their way if they were to make it to the next coaching inn by nightfall.
His gaze landed back on his wife. Wife. The word swirled around in his mind with an odd mixture of disbelief, relief and—if he was honest with himself—joy. His body needed hers like no other, and he was quickly finding out just how much his mind and soul needed her as well.
A gust lifted a wavy strand of blond hair across her high cheekbones that had turned rosy in the brisk wind. He took in her profile—for as delicate as her features were, they hid a fiery soul of iron. She didn’t shrink to anything—including him. The exact opposite of what he’d imagined wanting in a wife. But also the exact match he needed.
He shifted the reins in his hands. “What did you give to your maid before we left Buchlyvie? You are positive you can survive without her until we reach Wolfbridge?”
Her gaze shifted to him. “Your fingers work buttons just as well as hers do, Reiner. Unless you think it beneath you to help me dress?”
“I will happily button up anything in the morning I get to unbutton at night.”
A wanton smile crossed her face and she laughed. “So then I will survive quite nicely until we get to Wolfbridge.” She glanced over her shoulder at the craggy hills they had just passed and then looked back to him. “I wrote a letter this morning while you were arranging Milly’s coach and our horses. Milly is to deliver it to my brother at Vinehill in five days’ time. I told her it shouldn’t be in Lachlan’s hands until then, so I can only pray she has the patience.”
“What did it say?”
“I was reporting upon our upcoming nuptials at Wolfbridge. I didn’t want it delivered earlier, or there will be hell to pay with both Lachlan and my grandfather. Five days should give us enough advantage in time to travel back to Wolfbridge and for the marriage to take place. By then, it will be too late for Lachlan to attempt to stop the wedding, if he were to get the rogue thought to do so into his hard head.”
Reiner nodded. “Your brother was a soldier, you said?”
“He was. He fought for years on the continent, and I do believe he was most at peace with himself when he was fighting. He had come back for a visit just days before the fire. And then he just stayed at Vinehill after Jacob died. He’s heir to Vinehill now, so he’s been making a poor attempt to adjust to the new role thrust upon him.”
“Poor, how?”
She shrugged. “Everything makes him angry. Our grandfather. How things are managed. The numbers. The petty problems that come through his door. I think the anger is still his reaction to losing Jacob.”
“You three were close?”
“The four of us, including Torrie—yes.” A bright smile lit up her face. “We were a band of glorious mischief upon Vinehill. We probably were until the day of the fire. Our grandfather never much regarded us—except for Jacob, as he was heir. But we were happy—I was happy—we had our own little family that no one could break.”
A pang cut across Reiner’s chest. “I could describe my sister and myself in just the same way.”
Her eyes went wide. “You? Mischief? I don’t believe it.”
