“Where thehellhave you two been?”
“OhBrent,” Emmeline surfaced, looked at him, and snuggled back into his chest. “Pru will tell you.”
Pru rolled her eyes. “I will indeed, but I’d rather Reid be here at the same time so I don’t have to tell it twice. Because I’m ready to bet many guineas that the two of you have been looking for us.” She sighed. “I owe Reid an apology for that.”
“Yes, you do.” Her cousin shot her a meaningful look. “And me too. You both had us worried, and it’s not a pleasant experience.”
“Well I’m sorry. But where is Reid?”
“Still out looking for you, I suppose.” Brent cuddled Emmeline. “However, now that I’ve found you both, the worry is over. For me at least. Reid will return here at some point to check with me and then we can talk.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Pru nodded. “Look, I’m sure you and Emmeline would like a little time together, so I’m going up to my room and freshen up. Shall we meet in the snug in half an hour?”
A shining smile peeped over Brent’s cloak as Emmeline extracted herself to look at Prudence. “That would be lovely. I’m going to take Hecate’s advice.”
Pru nodded. “Yes, I think I am too.”
“What? Who?”
Prudence patted his shoulder. “All in good time. You two take care of your business. I’ll be down soon.”
And with that, she left the couple, still enfolded in each other’s arms. She envied them that closeness, that obvious affection. They were indeed meant for each other, and it really wasn’t any kind of Christmas miracle, it was just being at the right place at the right time.
She sighed as she reached her door and slipped inside. Would that things could go as smoothly for her and Reid. But there were many impediments, not the least of which was her fear of marrying again.
She had a lot of thinking to do.
*~~*~~*
Reid was deeply concerned when he arrived back at the Inn.
He had covered every inch of the road Prudence would have walked and found nothing. He’d questioned every single person he’d met along the way, and still nothing. There had been very few people out and about early, he’d learned, but there were still cows to be milked and chickens to be fed. So it wasn’t a desolate and empty landscape.
If anything serious had happened, surely someone would have noticed.
Where the devil could she be? And where was Emmeline?
He walked in to the tap, headed for the fire, and stared into the flames as the warmth thawed his feet and restored some sort of normalcy to his hands and face.
“Reid. There you are, at last.” Brent hurried over. “They’re here. Both of them. Pru and Emmeline. And you’ll never guess…” He thumped his friend on the back, nearly knocking Reid over. “We’re engaged.”
“Really? Aren’t you taking a lot for granted? You never asked me.” He couldn’t resist. His heart was lifting at Brent’s words, but he refused to betray exactly how worried he was.
“Numbskull.” Brent hugged his friend with affection. “Listen, the ladies won’t talk about where they’ve been until we’re all together, so look sharp. Go and take off your wet cloak and meet us in the snug?”
“Is Pru there?”
“Yes. She just came downstairs.”
“Five minutes.” He was heading for the snug in four, which was quite fast for someone who shook out his cloak and found a hook for it, then rushed to the rear of the Inn to take advantage of the outhouse.
However, Reid was possessed with the crushing need to see Prudence, touch her and make sure she was all in one piece. That was more than enough to add an extra dash of speed to his actions.
Tidy, dry and comfortable, he strode to the snug, opened the door—and looked straight into her eyes.
“Oh God, Pru.” His heart turned over and his lungs expelled a sigh of relief.
“Reid…” She stood, her hand lifting toward him, her lips curving into a smile. “Reid, we’re all right.”
