Mikhail shifted from one foot to the other. “You don’t want me to stay here and see what happens with the next case?”
Sacha clapped him on the back. “We’d rather send you home so that we can greet your new fiancée when we finish here.”
Heat crept up the back of his neck. “I don’t know that she’ll say yes.”
“She’ll say yes. That woman is so lovestruck, there’s no help for her.” Kate wedged her way through the crowd with Nathan, then gave him a hug that was so quick he almost missed it, before swatting him on the shoulder. “Now go get yourself a wife. That woman is too sweet for you to pass by.”
He didn’t need to be told again. “Let me know how it goes here.”
And then he was off, racing down Castle Hill at a pace that was likely to hurt someone, all so that he could hold the woman of his dreams in his arms.
38
Bryony drew in a breath as she stared up at the large, sprawling mansion, complete with white pillars holding up the long porch.
She should probably be with Mikhail right now, celebrating how easy it had been for him to get his negligent homicide charges thrown out, yet she hadn’t felt like celebrating. Not with how things stood between her and her family.
She might have told her father and brother that she was planning to stay in Alaska—and she was—but it seemed like they should still have some kind of conversation. Maybe if she had the chance to explain herself to them in a reasonable conversation, they’d understand why she didn’t want to leave.
She slid her hand into the pocket of her coat, where the letter she’d spent the weekend writing and rewriting was encased in an envelope, then drew in a deep breath and walked up the steps to the giant porch.
The knocker on the front door echoed loudly, and a few moments later, the door creaked open to reveal the butler. His eyes widened with the faintest flash of surprise before he schooled his features. “Miss Wetherby, I don’t believe anyone was expecting you. I’m afraid Miss Rosalind is indisposed today, but you’ll find your father and brother in their rooms packing, if that’s who you were looking for. Allow me to show you the way.”
She didn’t need him to show her anything. Her father and brother had stayed across the hall from her room on the second floor of the house. But the servant insisted on leading her up the stairs anyway, and she had a sick feeling it was to make sure she visited with her family rather than Rosalind.
The door was cracked open, but the butler knocked on it anyway. “Mr. Wetherby? Your daughter is here to see you.”
“Bryony?” Her father turned from where he was overseeing two maids who were folding his clothes and putting them into his trunk, and he scratched the side of his head. “Does this mean you’ve decided to return to Washington with us after all?”
“Is that what you’re packing for?” She scanned the room. It certainly looked as though every last one of his belongings was being stowed in the trunk. “I didn’t... that is... I knew the plan was always for you to return home, but I had hoped it wouldn’t be this soon.”
“There’s a ship leaving at three today, and we intend to be on it.” Heath’s voice carried from behind her, and she turned to find he’d entered the room.
“Well, don’t just stand there.” Father made a shooing motion with his hand. “Go see to it that your own items are in order. We had the maids pack up your room after you refused to return, but they might have missed something.”
“You had them pack it up so you could deliver my belongings to me at the Amoses? Or so that you could take my things back to Washington, DC?”
“To Washington, DC, of course.” Her father tugged his stopwatch from his pocket and glanced at it. “Did you think I’d leave you with a wardrobe full of silks and satins and velvets if you were planning to stay here? Do you have any idea how much those fancy dresses cost?”
She wasn’t sure why the statement made her want to cry, but it did. “A lot, I’m sure, but I don’t suppose they cost too much more than the fancy suits you buy for yourself and Heath.”
He scowled. “That’s not the point.”
Wasn’t it?
She sighed, then slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out an envelope. “I didn’t come here because I want to go back to Washington, DC. I still intend to stay in Alaska. I know my decision probably seems abrupt, but I’ve been thinking for a long time that Washington, DC, is no longer a good fit for me. I tried to explain why in this letter.”
She extended the missive toward her father.
He stared down at it but didn’t reach out. “You truly mean it? You won’t return to Washington, DC, with us?”
“I assume this means you’re going to marry Mikhail Amos?” Heath drawled.
She licked her lips. “I don’t know. That’s not why I’m staying.”
Heath snorted. “Really?”
“All right, fine. It might be part of why I’m staying, because, yes, I love Mikhail. But even if he doesn’t love me back, even if his case had gone to trial and he’d been convicted and imprisoned, I’d still be staying in Alaska.”
