“You have no right, Thaddeus!” Jess shouted.
But Cad knew Thaddeus had every right. That he was protecting his sister, just as Cad had protected his own. He knew the scene her brother-in-law had interrupted was damning. And that it had been imminent.
He held his hand to his jaw and nodded. “You’re right. I knew what I was doing and I couldn’t stay away. I’ll do the right thing.”
St. Simon nodded in agreement. “You will. If I have to drag you kicking and screaming to the altar myself. I’ll see you at the cottage in the morning.”
He turned back to Jess. “I’ll give you the privacy to gather yourself, together Jess. Then you’re coming back to the farm with Arie and I.”
Jess clenched her fists at her sides. “I’m a grown woman, Thaddeus. This is not your place.”
He shook his head and gave her a tender smile even Cad could sense was filled with affection.
“It is my place, Jess. Arie would expect no less.”
He turned back to Cad with a glare. “Tomorrow,” he snarled as he pointed a finger in his direction.
Cad gulped but nodded in agreement. “Tomorrow,” he agreed.
Chapter Twenty-Three
AfterThaddeushadsentCadoc on his way, he bundled Jess into his waiting carriage. Arie was already there, nestled against the squabs, her new babe in her arms.
“Sit,” Arie said, and patted the seat beside her.
“Are you ashamed of me?” Jess asked. She couldn’t bear it if that was the truth.
Arie smiled at her just as tenderly as her husband had. “No my little love, I’m not ashamed of you. I could never be ashamed of you. But I refuse to stand by and let you be used by someone who doesn’t appreciate you.”
Jess brushed her loose hair behind her ears even as her eyes filled with tears at her sister’s understanding. “He appreciates me.”
Arie raised a brow. “He’s finally admitted how he feels then?”
Jess shook her head. “No,” she quietly confessed. “I don’t know if he feels the same.”
“Then Thaddeus and I did the right thing. If he feels the same, he can prove it to all of us tomorrow morning.”
“How did you happen to be here?”
“We were retrieving packages in town and Thad didn’t like the look of the sky. If you were still at the school, he insisted we would make sure you got home safely.”
“You’ll have to use lye soap on his eyes. If my brother-in-law had arrived a few moments later he would have an indelible impression of Cadoc’s bare arse.”
Arie chuckled softly. “I’m happy to see your sense of humor remains intact. You shall have need of it if you end up wed.”
Jess leaned back and let the soothing rock of the carriage soothe her to sleep. Just as it was soothing the newest addition to their family. She would decide later what her answer would be when the man she loved, who was too afraid to love her in return, showed up at the cottage as Thaddeus had commanded him to.
The next morning, she sat before the fire in the cottage kitchen, her hands clasped in her lap for strength. Because she knew she needed to refuse his suit. When she heard his voice echo in the foyer she stared resolutely into the flames of the brazier.
When he dropped to one knee in front of her and took her hand in his, Jess sighed. She still couldn’t read the depths of his feelings for her. And she knew her decision was the right one.
“Will you marry me, Jess Wainwright?”
She shook her head. “No, I won’t.”
“I thought this is what you wanted,” he said, his brows drawn together in confusion.
“This is never what I wanted. I only wanted you, freely giving yourself to me. This sham is anything but that.”
