They drove past, moving deeper into the park.
If he looked closely, he could see Andre Bellaire’s vision of how the park would look in a few years when the trees had grown bigger, the shrubs spread out, and the flower beds filled.
The road curved around a semi-circle of young trees, about five feet high. Cedars, from the smell, surrounded a wooden park bench.This looks as secluded as we’ll get.
Like the mute he’d suddenly become in her presence, he pulled the Falabellas to a stop and nodded toward a pathway branching off. “Let’s go there,” he managed to say.Maybe moving, sitting farther apart will loosen my tongue.After setting the brake and tying off the reins, he went around to help Ivy down.
Feeling her curl her hand into the crook of his elbow made him freeze for just a beat, his equilibrium deserting him even as his heart gave a happy little leap. The reaction was so foreign, his feet did an odd stutter step, and he almost stopped,.
She glanced up, her eyebrows winging high.
Torin gave her a tight smile, smoothing out his gait, setting his pace to hers. But his thoughts raced on ahead.
With his free hand, he touched the ring in his pocket, remembering the day not long after Jewel’s birth that Great-Uncle Ned had given him the gift.The man had showed up at Torin’s lodging house and looked around the shabby place with a pinched expression. “I’m not disapproving in the same way your parents are. I’m disapproving because you’re setting yourself up for a world of pain. I know what it’s like to lose children, and that’s a lifelong heartache I wouldn’t wish on anyone else. And you’re going into fatherhood knowing your girl will die soon.”
“Even if Jewel were perfectly healthy…. You said it yourself about your children dying. All children are vulnerable. We just take for granted that we’ll outlive them.”
Ned’s jaw tightened, and he nodded. “The person who’s the most wrong is your wife. I’ve never said this before because Mary Beth was your chosen one, and I didn’t meet her when you were courting.” He sent Torin a baleful look.
Torin remembered that Mary Beth wasn’t interested in visiting an “old man.”
Ned pulled out an oval emerald ring surrounded by small diamonds, glanced at it with a fond smile, and polished the top with his sleeve. Then he handed it to Torin. “This was my wife’s. You probably don’t remember your Aunt Ruth.”
“I remember she smelled of roses. My mother always smelled of lavender.”
“We had twenty-five years together. Some times were tough, especially when our children died. But we steadfastly leaned on each other and on God, and we were happily married. I hope someday you’ll find a woman who will be worthy of this ring. A woman like your Aunt Ruth.”
“I’m not worthy of you, Ivy.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Isn’t that for me to decide? I’m so very proud of you. I can’t imagine what an effort it took for you to be here today, and I admire you so much for putting Jewel’s needs first.”
“Wasn’t just Jewel’s needs.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “Had a mighty powerful need myself,” he drawled. “I was very much missing a certain governess, who’d been schooling me to be a better father and more courageous man without my really realizing she was doing so.”
She colored up, all pretty and pink.
“I’m heartily ashamed of how awful I was to you those two days. I’ve never been so hurtful, and I promise I never will be again.”
For a moment, Ivy remained silent.
He waited, his feelings all tangled.
“I won’t deny the pain you caused me. But let me be clear that you will not treat me disrespectfully again.”
“I’ve already kicked myself from here to Sunday and vowed to be a better man.” He cleared his throat, put a hand in his pocket, and fingered the ring. “Do you think you could manage living at Three Bend Lake, if we came to town on a regular basis? And more people came to visit us?”
“That depends.” She glanced up through lowered eyelashes. “Are you asking me to be Jewel’s governess again?”
“In a way.” He stared into her hazel eyes. His proposal had to be perfect. “More importantly, I’m asking you to be Jewel’smotherand my wife.”
Gasping, she glanced down, her fingers nervously intertwining.
He soldiered on. “I started falling in love with you from the very beginning.”
She looked up abruptly, her eyes wide.
“Although the damage that Mary Beth did made the prospect so hard. Kept me from being free to…just tumble wholeheartedly into love. I crawled. I crept. I’d take a step forward and rein myself tighter. Take another step and pull myself back. Seems like sometimes I was taking more steps back than I was forward. At least in myhead. In myheart, on the other hand, the love kept on growing despite my attempts to control the progression. I was so blinded by the past. I behaved inexcusably toward you.”
“I think the word isblindsided. If you’d been prepared for Jewel to see the Swensen girls, I think your response would have been totally different. I truly, Torin,trulydid not go behind your back. The girls started playing, and I felt like the damage was already done. And Jewel had been so despondent. She was so happy. So,sohappy. I couldn’t bring myself to stop them. I know going against your wishes was wrong. But in that situation, Jewel’s needs came first.”
