“What a surprise.” Eva grinned. “Thank you, Miss Thompson.”
“This is the best!” Penny felt for the serving spoon and plopped a large portion onto her plate.
Eva’s chest swelled at the delight on Penny’s face. It was lovely to see her sister so happy ... though she didn’t really know how to break it to her that they didn’t have time for sampling everything. She had to make sure the speaker had arrived.
“Penny,” she began, then thought better of it.Shehad to check on the speaker, not her sister. “I have something to attend to. Do you mind if I leave you here with the professor?”
“Not as long as I get to keep eating.” She shoveled in another bite.
“Actually,” Bram cut in, “I have something to attend to as well. Think you can manage that plate and still have room for dinner later on?”
Penny laughed. “Mrs. Pottinger says I must have hollow legs and that she’s never seen a girl tuck away so much food.”
Eva bit her lip. Was it safe for Penny to remain in this area by herself? Then again, as long as she stayed in place, she would be just fine. “All right, Penny. I shall only be a minute. Enjoy.”
“Well done,” Bram whispered as he led her through a side door adjoining the reception hall, then abruptly stopped her behind a framed screen strategically placed to separate the gala goers from witnessing the comings and goings of the waitstaff.
Eva’s brow tightened. “I thought you had something to attend to?”
“I do, and it involves you.”
“Will we not be in the way of the servers here?”
“Not if we huddle close together.” Gently, he pushed her against the wall and stepped near enough that the bottom of his trousers kissed the hem of her gown. “Hold out your hand.”
“I do not have time for games, Bram. I should be checking on the speaker.”
“And you shall. This will only take a moment.”
Conflicted—yet curious—she slowly maneuvered her open palm upward in the thin space between them. Only God knew what he’d put into her hand. A Roman coin? A ginger drop? A new ribbon for her bonnet since he’d overheard her grumping about it?
Yet nothing could have prepared her for the small rock he planted on her palm.
A rock?
Indeed, it was a smallish pebble. Shiny, smooth, oval. One end had a notch on it, and the whole thing had a reddish sort of grain to it. Her nose wrinkled.
A jolly chuckle rumbled in his throat. “I know how important this evening is to you and how anxious you have been about it. I remember as a young girl you fancied a smooth river rock to keep in your pocket when the world treated you ill. I happened upon this one on the dig today, unusual for its glossy finish, and, well, I know it is not a river rock per se, but I thought you might like to keep it in your pocket tonight as a token that I am here cheering for you.”
“Oh, Bram.” His name was a breath, for how to speak when her throat practically closed from such a thoughtful gesture? “I cannot believe you remembered such an insignificant detail.”
He curled her fingers over the offering, his hand warm against her skin, sending a thrill up her arm. “I remember everything about you.”
She swallowed past the lump of remorse in her throat. The last two months had revealed a Bram she hadn’t known before, a man of depth and kindness that shattered her childish preconceived notions that he was often selfish and secretive. Slowly, she shook her head. “I am afraid some of the things I recall about you are dreadfully wrong, for you are not anything like I remember. You are compassionate, generous to a fault, willingto listen and offer an insightful word. Plus, you make me laugh, and I think...”
Words failed her, so enamored was she with the gleam in his grey eyes. She could live in that look of affection. Be healed of old doubts and fears. Maybe even believe that he cared for her—a plain spinster with nothing to offer but debt and a blind sister.
“What is it you think?” A husky undertone ran beneath the surface of his question.
Tentatively, she brushed her fingers over the small ridge near his eye. “I think that even with this scar, you are the most handsome man I have ever seen. And please do not try to tell me I am beautiful, for I know—”
He stayed her words with a touch to her lips. “Maybe you are just as wrong about yourself as you were about me, for what I see is a striking woman any man would be proud to call his own. And yet what I desire even more than beauty is a woman with a brilliant mind and a selfless heart. One who will not turn away from me despite my misbegotten birth or flaws and weaknesses.”
“Well”—she grinned—“you do smoke cigars and crack your knuckles.”
“And you bite your fingernails.” He grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers. “But none of that matters. You, Eva Inman, you are the one who matters most to me.” His gaze lowered to her lips. “And with your permission, I should dearly love to kiss—”
“Why are you two whispering in here? I thought you had things to attend to. What are you doing?”
