If she wanted to travel, she would.If she wanted to smoke as she had seen some women do, she would do just that.If she wanted to play golf wearing trousers...well, perhaps not that.Unfortunately, golf clubs like the Wimbledon Royal had unyielding regulations regarding how female players must be attired.
Ramsay was the perfect choice in that regard.He would yield to her wishes and never think he might control or own her person.Own her thoughts.
Own her heart.
“Of course, he will.Lord Ramsay is everything that will make me happy.”
While Glenrothes might not have gotten the lion’s share of temper in the family, he was cursed with a vexing amount of tenacity on par with her own.“I simply cannot believe that.”
“I agree,” Richard said as he took his shot and sank the ball into the cup.
Fiona frowned at him, though his success in achieving par where she had failed might have been more aggravating than his concurrence.“And why not?”
“That you don’t know the answer to that only proves you don’t know him well enough to marry him.I hardly know him at all, but even I’ve seen that Ramsay is a spineless namby-pamby, Blossom.You’d walk all over him,” Vin announced, stepping up to take his turn, impatient for the game to move on.
Richard chuckled at that.“Indeed, you’d have him under your thumb in no time...If you haven’t already.”
The three men nodded in sanctimonious agreement that had Fiona blinking owlishly before she countered dryly, “Truly?And that wouldn’t make me happy?”
“Blossom,” Vin sighed heavily with a shake of his head as if he genuinely regretted disappointing her.
If he did have regrets, he was the only one.Instead of defending her, however, Vin turned away to tap his short putt in.Both Francis and Richard remained unmoved by her sarcasm.
“Regardless of what you think, you don’t want a man who will cater to you.You’d be bored to death inside a week,” her eldest brother said unequivocally.“You’ll never be happy until you find a man who will push back when you push him too far.Someone who can beat you at your own game every so often.”
“Aye,” Vin nodded in turn.“Someone who won’t always let you get your way as we do.The man for you, Blossom, is one who stands up to you and gives as good as he gets.”
Turning her back on them, she closed her eyes as a memory wafted through her mind, much as the breeze from St.Andrews Bay caressed her cheeks.
She knew a man like that.One whodidgive back everything she dished out with equal spirit, who matched her in wit and pure stubbornness.One who made herfeeljoy, frustration, and anger.One who made her heart ache at the mere thought of him...
No!
Fiona pushed the memory away and opened her eyes, turning into the stiff breeze from the bay to dry the tears gathering in her eyes...or at least provide an excuse if they were noticed.Looking back solved nothing.The future was all she had, and she meant to seize it.
Lord Donovan Ramsay was that future.He was tall, dark, handsome, and charming.Whatever other fine qualities Lord Ramsay might possess, what mattered the most to Fiona was that he was happy to let her have her way.He promptly conceded to all her requests and wishes and would never dream of saying no.He was—yes, she could admit it, if only to herself—extremely manageable.Malleable.
Times being what they were, a woman needed a man with those particular qualities at home.
With Ramsay, she could have everything she wanted without risking her heart.
Glenrothes shook his head as he returned his putter to his golf bag and lifted the bag onto his shoulder.“Perhaps if I had paid more attention, I might have seen it coming, but as you so kindly pointed out, I’ve been focused on filling my nursery.”
Fiona winced but refused to feel any more shame for her flippant words.Lord knew these men had offered enough of their own that afternoon to provide a proper counterbalance.At least Francis’s temper had mellowed if his smoother brogue was any indication.
Knowing that an apology for her harsh words was unlikely to be forthcoming, Glenrothes continued, “I know you, Blossom.I raised you.You’re a temperamental and impulsive lass, but I never had reason to doubt your judgment.I cannot fathom why you would leap into anything as important as marriage so rashly.”Glenrothes pressed his fingers into the base of his skull as if the pressure would bring understanding.“Why not wait?”
Wait?Already, she was tired of life passing her by, tired of seeing her friends wed and begin their families.Tired even of filling her time with round after round of golf and sports trying to fill the void.
Tired of waiting on pins and needles for something that was never going to happen.
“I’m tired of waiting, Francis; I want to be married and start a family of my own.”
“With this Ramsay?How could you have been witness to my first marriage to Vanessa, compare it to what I now have with Eve, and think that you will find happiness in a marriage where there is no love?”
“Who says he doesn’t love me?”
“Is he claiming he does after only two weeks of acquaintance?”
