In Olive’s case, Elijah’s willingness to marry had been a foregone conclusion from the moment he appeared on her doorstep.Marryingwas why he was here.
But he hadn’t come to marryher. He would have married a sack of potatoes if it fitted into his and his father’s master plan.
Olive was expected to do the same. Marry a scoundrel of someone else’s choosing simply because a man had told her she ought to.
Sayingnohad been like... an entire year’s worth of Christmases, all at once.
She’d saidnoupon sight of him, and then the next day, and the next. She’d even saidnowhilst lying spread lewdly atop him in the middle of an outdoor pavilion.
Olive raced down the forest path astride Duke, the wind unraveling her hair as a smile took over her face.
She couldn’tbelievehow strong she was.
All these years, the mere memory of Elijah’s kiss and the subsequent humiliations he had given her had been enough to crumple her into a useless little ball. To the devil with that!
Olive wasn’t a lonely little girl anymore, nor an eager-eyed young lady hoping for a magical debut into society.
The fairy tale wasn’tbeing chosen.
The fairy tale wasdoing the choosing.
Deciding for herself what she wanted, and then taking it, or walking away.
It had taken ten long years, but she’d finally realized her life could be up toher.
Shecould choose when to say yes.
Shecould choose when to say no.
Her life was exactly what she wanted. She’d made it that way herself. Olive wasn’t about to ruin it now.
Not for Elijah Weston.
It didn’t matter if a foolish part of her wished his proposal had been in earnest. They both knew that it was not.
He had been frank from the first that his motives had nothing to do with her. When she’d told him their kisses meant nothing either, he’d agreed without hesitation. She’d expected no less.
Olive hadn’t needed Elijah’s warning that he couldn’t be trusted. Olive had learned that detail the day they met. It was a lesson she would never forget.
She would keep her eyes trained firmly on her target: the family farm. Land was something one could hold onto forever. Something that wouldn’t let her down.
Duke flew under branches and over tree roots. When they burst from the forest into a wide-open field, she gave him his head and let him race as fast as he pleased. She laughed as they flew.
Olive feltalivein moments like these. Truly and utterly free.
Even if that tiny, cursed part of her still wished Elijah’s proposal had been real. Wished that her father hadn’t manipulated him into coming. Wished it had beenPapawho offered to put the farm into a legal trust in her name. Wished her father trusted her to make her own decisions about her life.
Wished she could have everything she wanted, instead of picking one thing over another.
At last, she turned Duke back toward the farm. They had been riding all day and the sun set early in midwinter. Already, swaths of orange and pink streaked the sky.
When they broke from the evergreens, a lone figure was visible between the house and the stables.
Despite her best effort to remain indifferent, her heart did a preposterous little dance.
She didn’t trust Elijah Weston, but that didn’t stop Olive from wanting to throw herself into his arms and let him kiss her anywhere he pleased.
Who cared if his intentions were dishonorable? So were hers.
