“In finding Marisol, you’ve made Wendell very happy.”
“I like Wendell, but I didn’t find Marisol for him. I did it for me, selfishly. Because I couldn’t stand not seeing you.”
He was obviously in a repentant mood, so she nodded sagely like a priest listening to confession. But inside she wasn’t feeling as grave as Jeremiah looked. Quite the opposite. It was like she’d been on a teeter-totter. The altercation with Anton had been the teeter-totter seat jarring against the ground. But these moments with Jeremiah were like flying upward to the teeter-totter’s highest point—exhilarating.
“He was supposed to take you with him to dinner at the country club the other night,” he said. “I was waiting for you there.”
“And your plot was foiled because I didn’t join them for dinner.”
“So I contacted Camille and asked if she’d set up a meeting with you.”
“Lunch today. You planned to run into me here instead?”
“Yes. So you can imagine how I felt when I realized you were here. With a killer. And I’d organized things to make it so.”
Shecouldimagine a portion of what he’d felt. Because when Anton had her in his grip, she’d read despair in every line of Jeremiah’s strong frame. Then she’d watched him kneel and put himself on the line.
Gavin hadn’t even been willing to tell the truth for her sake. She had no context for a man who would risk himself for her.
“I arrived early for lunch,” she said. “When I got here, Anton told me that Camille was running behind. We were chatting and everything was normal until he saw you and your brother. He went still as he watched you walk toward the house.”
“He knew I was on to him,” Jeremiah said with regret. “Remy, I’m so sorry.”
“I forgive you,” she said quickly and sincerely. Smiling, she placed her palms on the sides of his face. Her thumbs ran delicately over his cheekbones.
They stared at each other—his profile tipped down and hers tipped up. A conversation of hope moved between them. She interlaced her hands behind his neck.
“In the last few months,” he said, “I’ve lost my whole world and gained it back again. The most important thing to me out of all of it—everything I’ve lost and everything I’ve gained—is you.”
She blinked at him with wonder.
“I love you,” he said. “I will love you until the day I die. No looking back. No changing my course.”
Joy gusted within her. “I love you, too. I will love you until the day I die. No looking back. No changing my course.”
His features smoothed with astonishment.
“I've been trying to think of a way to say that to you,” she continued, “that was either grand and imaginative or heartfelt and real. But there’s no better way to say that than how you just said it to me. So I’m riding your coattails.”
“I want to marry you,” he said bluntly. Then hurried to add, “But I realize you’re nowhere near ready for that, so I’ll wait and maybe one day you’ll say yes. On that day, I’ll have a ring and a better speech.”
“This speech isn’t terrible.”
“I’ll go to Islehaven to be near you and sleep on Leigh’s torture mattress.”
“You’ll live there without a grocery store or a decent road?”
“For you, yes.”
“And I’ll expand my horizons,” she said. “Maybe one day we can live at least part of the time at Appleton together.”
He quirked a brow in surprise.
“I suppose your ostentatious mansion isn’t theworstfate in the world,” she conceded. “I might be able to hack it there. But only if you get rid of Dartin’s art.”
He grinned.
“And if we live as simply and privately as possible,” she continued. “In fact, I think it would be best if you give your money away to charity.”
