“You took advantage of her.” The lamb’s voice shook even as she scolded him. “Convinced her you cared for her.”
Jesus, if he’d known he’d have to convince Winnieandher friends, he would have written out his arguments in advance and flung the notecards at them as he thundered past. He had to convince them, fast. If Winnie escaped him, his plans would be ruined.
“Of all the things I agreed to, that wasnevermy intention. From the first time I set eyes on Winnie, I was smitten. Unfortunately, I let my uncle’s plans for my future cloud my judgment, and for that, I cannot apologize enough. But I’m here to make amends, so you must allow me to pass.”
“Words are cheap,” the Carlisle girl said with a scoff. “You need to prove it.”
Mack jabbed a finger at the newspaper dangling in her hand and struggled for patience. “And what would you call that?”
Miss Lewis gave him an appraising look. “It’s a start,” she allowed.
“I know it’s just a start. That’swhy I’m here.”
The women glanced at each other in unspoken conversation, but he had said all he could. He wasn’t about to put all his cards on the table. Winnie deserved to hear his plans first.
Finally, Miss Lewis shifted out of his way and gestured with her hand. “She went toward the side terrace.”
Her tone hadn’t thawed much, but it was a chance he didn’t mean to spoil. Diving into the crush, he made his way across the ballroom and slipped out the terrace door. A crisp breeze ruffled his hair as his vision adjusted from the brightly lit ballroom to the dim outdoors. The terrace was lit by a few small torches for guests to catch a breath or have a smoke, but it was quiet and still. His heart sank—he was too late.
A sniffle and a muttering voice in the yard below caught his attention. He peered over the railing and found Winnie pacing on the driveway near the garage. He bounded down the steps and padded across the grass.
“Go away.” Winnie turned her back to him, but he still caught the surreptitious movement to wipe her eyes.
If ever there was a time to disagree with the love of his life, this was it. He stepped closer in silence, admiring how a nearby torch cast Winnie in golden light, emphasizing the warm colors of her hair, painstakingly pinned with something glittery. Hair he would never touch again unless he repaired what he had broken.
“I am the greatest of fools. I know I don’t deserve to be in your presence, let alone speak to you.”
“Spare me the melodramatics.”
An unbidden smile tugged at his lips. Even in her anger, she was magnificent. “All right,” he agreed. “Then give me five minutes. If I haven’t convinced you, I’ll leave at once.”
She turned to meet his gaze, and his breath caught at the wrath in her expression that turned his insides to stone. He had been right—she wasn’t going to make this easy. But she was worth it;theywere worth it.
“Your five minutes started thirty seconds ago,” she warned.
It was now or never. He drew a breath and released the speech he’d rehearsed a dozen times. “Everything I told you on the steamer was true—the promise to my father, my uncle’s ever-changing conditions for my inheritance, everything. What Ialsoshould have told was what transpired in my uncle’s office moments before you asked for your opportunity.
“You walked right into a viper’s pit. My uncle had just decided he wanted to up our readership by competing withThe Seattle Register—we would take a different stance on topics with split audiences, starting with anti-suffrage. Your request, while brave, was immediately viewed as a way to glean insider information. In short, you were to be used as an unwitting informant.”
“Youbastards.”
The curse, so stark compared to her lyrical, slightly ridiculous expressions, sliced deep. “I objected the second you left, and my uncle’s response was to casually reveal he and my mother had changed the conditions of my inheritance—if I didn’t fulfill this task, he would give the paper to Emil Anderson instead.”
Winnie stifled a gasp, but it gave him a modicum of hope she still cared.
“I was cornered. How could I fulfill my father’s dying request and my lifelong dream if the paper was given to someone who I thought shared my uncle’s beliefs? In that moment, I chose myself. I chose to hurt someone in the short term in order to help others in the long term. And it was a goddamned mistake.”
“Your uncle is a monster, but I believed inyou, Mack. I opened myself to you, shared more with you than I ever have with anyone else. You convinced me you felt the same! And after everything, you werestillgoing to betray me when we returned? It’s—it’s unfathomable.”
“No.” He took a step forward. “You changed my mind. I was going to tell you so many times, but I didn’t want to risk losing one precious second together. It was selfish and stupid, and I’m so damned sorry.”
Her jaw worked as she absorbed his words. “Whendid you change your mind?”
"I was already doubting my decision by the first Monday you appeared with your proposal—”
“That’s not true. You rejected my ideas, which, from what you’re telling me now, is the opposite of what your uncle wanted.”
His ears heated. “I thought I could thwart my uncle and protect you at the same time by refusing to give you a story. If you didn’t write anything, I couldn’t write a rebuttal. I honestly thought I was doing you a kindness.”
