Captain Overtree’s voice startled her from the doorway. “Come now, Kate,” he cautioned. “You know my taciturn disposition too well to think me a romantic cavalier.”
“You are just being modest.” Kate turned those hopeful eyes toward Sophie. “Is he not?”
He grimaced. “Kate, I am sorry to disappoint you, but the truth is...”
“Actually, you are perfectly right, Kate,” Sophie interrupted. “It was quite... unforgettable.”
“I knew it,” Kate breathed. How did you meet?”
“I was standing atop a windy cliff at sunset...”
“Oh! How gothic!” the girl enthused.
“Yes. And I dropped... something.”
“A handkerchief?”
“No. A letter, with sentimental value from... an old friend. I tried to reach it myself, but your brother dashed up the path, called over the roaring wind for me to stay back, and insisted he would rescue it for me.”
“Stephen!” Kate beamed at him. “I knew it would be something wonderful!”
“Mywifeexaggerates,” he said, eyeing her speculatively. “In fact, she astounds me with her storytelling ability.”
Sophie continued dramatically, “He brandished his sword—”
“Walking stick,” he corrected.
“And reached the letter, dragging it unharmed to the path.”
“More likely soiled and spoilt.”
“A gust of wind nearly pushed me over the edge—”
“Only her bonnet.”
“But he caught me just in time.”
He huffed. “Now I really must protest.”
“Was she truly in danger?” Kate asked eagerly. “Did you save her life?”
He hesitated. “I... did wonder when I first saw her if she meant to—if she was in danger there on the cliff, reaching over the edge as she was, foolish woman. But I don’t think she really would have fallen.”
“Quibble over details all you like, Captain,” Sophie said softly. “But you rescued me in Lynmouth. You cannot deny it.”
His stormy gaze met hers, caution, surprise, and something more flickering in his eyes. “I have no wish to deny it.”
“And did he propose then and there?” Kate asked.
Sophie thought back. “Not that very night. But the next day, yes.”
Kate turned to her older brother, all wide-eyed naiveté. “Was it love at first sight, Stephen?”
Sophie expected the captain to joke off the uncomfortable question, to ruffle his sister’s hair and say, “Enough now. You’ve had your romantic tale.”
Instead he slowly shifted his focus from his sister’s earnest face to Sophie’s and said solemnly, “Yes, it was.”
Sophie’s breath hitched. For a moment she held his gaze in surprise. Then she looked away first.
