The door to the greengrocer jangled and Margaret exited, and with that sound, the connection shattered.
Chapter 22
Once he made it tothe end of the street, Alex stopped walking and held his breath as he watched Charlotte’s receding form disappear. He withdrew a key from his pocket and unlocked his small apartment.What a perfect conversation, he thought as he collapsed on the bed. She was funny, engaging, seemingly interested, honest, bold—and he wondered if she’d felt what he had the few times they’d touched. He’d even found that she still had a few of her freckles, bless them.
He wished he could devote more of his efforts to contriving ways to meet with her again, but overseeing Alnwick sucked away all his time and far too much of his energy. Exhausted, Alex closed his eyes and reviewed the most recent interview with Mr. Cartwright.
“Alnwick isn’t profitable, Jenkins,” he’d said. “You promised you’d increase returns.”
“Yes, sir, but it will take time to rid management of their inefficient methods.” Alex wasn’t merely trying to rid them of inefficiencies. He was trying to save people’s lives and improve the mining process. Not that he’d tell Cartwright that—the man would think them a waste of time and resources.
“I need results now. I know what those numbers could and should be,” Cartwright had stated. “And think of how we could expand Alnwick if we could mine the forest lands of Otterburn. The strongest coal vein in the county runs through there, Jenkins, and I don’t care how or what you must do to get it.”
“It can’t be bought,” Alex had replied.
“What do you mean? Are you giving up?”
“No, sir, but Mr. Roylance is a shrewd businessman, like his father. I spoke to him, and he said he will not sell it for the foreseeable future.”
Cartwright’s eyes had narrowed. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” Alex answered, and even now he wondered. “But I intend to find out.”
Chris hated him and would stop Alex from purchasing his family’s land, but even if someone else with a healthy sum came to buy it, something about the look in his eye had told Alex he wasn’t able to sell it. He wondered what his old friend was hiding.
Then his thoughts turned again to Charlotte as Alex wondered if she understood why Christopher wouldn’t sell the land, even if it was just a portion. Perhaps by appealing to her, he could learn what her brother and father were hiding. But the last time he’d asked her about their land, she’d immediately distrusted him, a wedge coming between them. There had to be some way to learn Chris’s reasons. As much as Alex hated to admit it, his future depended on this job, and though he detested the mines, he felt like he’d finally found a place where he had enough leadership to effect change to help others. He wanted to make mining into an honest way for people to provide for their families, something he wished his own father would have done.
But more than wanting the land, he wished to be near Charlotte and make her a part of his life, no matter the cost. He would find a way to speak with her without her family looming like hawks ready to devour him. An idea came to mind, one that involved a great deal of risk. But Charlotte was worth that risk.
He prayed his memory of the castle from all those years ago would serve him well.
***
The sun hadn’t yet crested the horizon the next morning, but the sky had begun to soften in the east. Atop his horse, Alex rode toward Otterburn, his hands sweating despite the cold air as he clutched the leather reins of his horse.
A memory played in his mind. He and Christopher had captured a worm and left it in Charlotte’s room on her dressing table. He remembered her scream from the window of her balcony. Now he prayed she had the same room.
Tethering his horse in a copse of trees, he hugged the tree line until he was just below her window. Silently he crouched to the ground and plucked five pebbles from the gravel driveway.
Plink.His shot was near perfect, not too loud but not too quiet either. He waited for a moment, but there was no movement. A second pebble.Plink.
Still no movement.
Plink. Plink.There was no way to tell how early she generally woke, nor did he know how deep a sleeper she was.
Rubbing his last stone for good luck, he lobbed it up just as the trellised window opened. The rock zoomed past someone’s face.
“My word!” the person exclaimed, drawing back. Instinctively he tucked behind a tree, not entirely sure of the room’s occupant. But that had sounded like her voice, so he peeked out and hoped for forgiveness. Charlotte’s tightly drawn frown wasn’t yet ready to give it, but lands, her cascading, untidy hair did wild things to his heart.
“Alex?” she whispered into the ethereal purple haze of the morning.
“I apologize for the last one. Truly.” He gestured toward her window. “I have nothing against your beautiful nose.” Her eyes widened at his statement, but a smile started to creep across her face. “I wished to speak to you alone and thought this might be the best way not to have any other family members interfere.”
“Throwing pebbles? How could you be sure this was my—” She stopped and frowned again. “The worm?”
He offered a culpable nod. “I apologize for that too.” He scratched his hair. “Though, it did come in handy at present. I told you I’d come find you.”
“And this was your plan? Rocks at my window?” She pulled her dressing gown tighter around her and raised her eyebrows.
