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“Time?” Joan asked.
“Yes, time. Two weeks, to be exact.” He tapped her nose with his finger. This time the amusement that lit his features brightened his eyes as well.
“And what exactly happens in two weeks?” Joan played along, lifting a shoulder.
Rowles chuckled. “I’m certain it will be an event that will bear the title of best day of my life.”
“That’s a heavy expectation.”
“And I have no fear of it being fully realized,” he said.
“Nor do I,” Joan replied, joy from deep within bending her lips in a warm expression. “I’m certain it will be.” She tipped her chin. “The hardest days can make the best ones all the sweeter.”
Rowles took a deep breath, his brows furrowing in an adorable way that distracted Joan from her earlier thoughts. He squeezed her hand, released it, and cupped her chin tenderly. “That is indeed true. Today was hard, dreadfully so, yet I find that all I want to do is look to the future…because that future holds you.”
Thirty-one
Rowles woke the next day with a fresh anticipation that surprised him. Yesterday had been difficult, to say the least, but it was a chapter in the book that was finished and closed. Moving onward, he looked toward a bright future, one that held far more blessings than he ever dared to hope for. With the funeral behind him, he was now able to focus on the wedding, and he couldn’t imagine a more worthy endeavor.
After he broke his fast, he sent a missive to Penderdale House. The marriage settlement needed attention, and he wished for Joan to meet with his housekeeper to organize the wedding breakfast.
There was but one damper on his mood, and that was the need to talk with Joan about the secret Morgan was keeping from her. He should tell her today, if she were able to come to him, but the devilish part of him whispered to wait. Didn’t he deserve one day without conflict? He’d just buried his mother, for heaven’s sake. Couldn’t he have one day without some sort of crisis? Yet, did he wish to keep this secret between them, even for a day longer?
The battle warred within him, and when Morgan replied to his missive that they’d come to visit directly, Rowles’s indecision didn’t improve.
He was in his study when the butler announced their arrival. Standing, he straightened his coat as Morgan entered, followed by Joan. “Good morning,” Rowles said as a greeting, furtively glancing at the clock on the mantel. It was indeed still morning but barely. In a quarter hour it would be noon.
“Good morning, I must say I was surprised you wished to address all this today. I thought you’d want at least a day to recover from yesterday’s events.” Morgan watched his friend coolly. “Not that I mind.”
“I’d much prefer to move forward, rather than dwell in the past,” Rowles answered honestly, thinking how such an answer applied to not just his own life at present, but Joan’s as well. A hope and a future… Those were the things he would focus on.
“Very well,” Morgan replied.
Joan stepped forward. “I, for one, was thankful you didn’t wish to tarry. I confess I was hoping you’d welcome us calling upon you,” she said shyly as she tugged at her gloves absentmindedly.
“Always,” Rowles replied. His restless soul had found peace the moment she stepped into the room.
Her green eyes lifted to meet his, entrancing him. The memory of the flavor of her kiss created a hunger for more, and he gave his head a shake to break the spell she’d woven unknowingly around him.
“How can we be of assistance?” Morgan cut in, rapping his fingers on the desk to defuse the tension in the room.
Rowles shifted his attention to his friend, then sighed. There were indeed tasks that needed attention, and thankfully they all related to Joan, which gave him more ambition in accomplishing them.
“First, I’d like to discuss the marriage settlement. My solicitor drew up the documents and delivered them this morning.”
Morgan nodded.
Rowles turned to Joan. “I’d like for you to see them as well.”
Joan’s eyes widened a moment before a wide, approving expression graced her lips. “Thank you for the consideration.”
While it wasn’t the norm, he wanted her to know the details of the settlement. After all, it concerned her and their children. Shouldn’t she know the particulars? And he knew that Joan would appreciate the gesture. She was far too forward-thinking and self-sufficient to appreciate anything less than full disclosure.
“If you’d take a seat?” Rowles signaled to the chairs in front of his desk and took out the leather-bound folder that held all the particular documents regarding the settlement. Displaying them for the siblings to look over, Rowles returned to his own chair and leaned back, his attention focused on Joan as her eyes darted over the writing.
A delicate furrow pinched her face as she read through the documents, not one of disapproval but of concentration. He loved that he could interpret her facial expressions; it was endearing. Just as he’d taught others, he would become a student of hers. Learning her smiles, unwinding the brilliant way her mind worked, and everything in between. Yes, indeed, he would be a very dedicated student.
“This is…quite generous,” Morgan stated as he looked up. “It’s more than I had hoped for, for Joan. Thank you. Though I can’t say I’m surprised. I have the suspicion that if she asked for a star in the heavens, you’d try to find a way to procure it.”
