In all honesty, Finch thought Miss Barrows’ wits must be lacking for her to view him in such a light.
Yet something warmed in his heart. Tiny echoes of it had come and gone during the past weeks. Something so faint and distant that Finch struggled to understand it. But hearing Miss Barrows’ defense of him fanned those faint sparks into a genuine hope.
“Why do you care for me?” she asked with a tone and expression that spoke of a lady so stubborn that she was bound to follow him around until she received a satisfactory answer.
“I haven’t said that I ‘care’ for you,” he mumbled.
Any other person might be offended by such a statement, but Miss Barrows merely straightened and narrowed her eyes at him, and as much as he wished to deny the truth, it was impossible with it standing before him.
“Why do you care for me?” she repeated.
“You are kind,” he murmured, dropping his gaze from her once more. “But that’s not right exactly…” Finch sought for the right descriptors, but he fumbled about like a man struggling to light a candle in the pitch black of night. “You are more than kind. Your heart is big and full. The sort that seeks to make others happy because it cannot stand to see them sad.”
He wanted to sneak a glance at her and see if she would be pacified with that, but Finch knew it would be a useless endeavor. So, sucking in a deep breath, he sifted through his thoughts.
“You make me laugh even when I am sullen.”
With another deep breath, he continued. “You have ample reason to be melancholy yet you view the world with joy and gratitude. And it’s not that you ignore the bad or pretend it does not exist; you simply choose to see the good in it.”
Finch sighed and shook his head with a huff. “And I adore those silly jests of yours, even though they would be tedious if anyone else recited them.”
Taking in a final fortifying breath, Finch opened his eyes, forcing himself to be brave as he said, “You make the world brighter simply by being in it. You are sunshine personified.”
*
The fire burned out of her, and Felicity stood there, blinking like a fool as her gaze blurred. Her chin wobbled, and she tried to chase the tears away with a deep breath, but there was nothing to be done as one trickled down her cheek.
How did one respond to such a compliment? No amount of carefully crafted verses could compare to such a simple and earnest declaration spoken in the tone of a man facing an endless winter without her.
“You speak as though you have nothing to offer me, Mr. Finch, but I assure you those words mean everything,” she whispered.
His head dropped, and Felicity drew closer, forcing his eyes to meet hers. Her hand rested on his arm, and she filled her gaze with all the certainty she felt in her heart.
“You do not view my worth in terms of worldly possessions, Mr. Finch. Do you truly believe it impossible that I feel the same about you?”
The spark in his eyes said he had not considered that, and Felicity felt a strong urge to thump him on the head for it.
“I care for you because you are blunt but not cruel,” she said with a hint of a smile. “You laugh at my ridiculousness—even when you think me a fool. You give me strength and comfort, and in the two months since we first met, you have become my closest friend and dearest confidant, whose opinion matters so very much to me.”
Felicity huffed, throwing her arms wide. “You are perhaps the most capable and talented person I know. Every time we speak, you share some new interest or skill, adding to your massive list of accomplishments.”
Taking his hand in hers, Felicity drew as close as she dared (she could not trust herself any farther while her irritated heart was begging her to kiss him), and the world faded from her view as she held his gaze in hers, willing him to trust her words.
“I understand you may not be ready to embrace our feelings all at once,” she whispered, “but can we not welcome the possibility and see where it leads? If we discover we do not suit, then I can accept that, but it seems foolish not to—”
Mr. Finch’s arms came around her, pulling her tight in a sudden movement that had her squeaking. And then his lips came to hers, and Felicity was lost in his touch. Whatever sentiments she’d felt in the past for other men, they were pale constructs of what a foolish young girl thought how love was supposed to feel. This was not heady attraction or the thrill of being adored. It was as though her world had been washed in grey and that veil lifted to show her a whole new spectrum of light and color.
*
Logic and rational thought had no place during a kiss, which was a good thing, for Finch was tired of holding firm to what he ought to do. Now was the time to embrace that which he longed to do. Perhaps a better man might hold himself aloof and free Miss Barrows to find someone else, but Finch was too selfish a creature to let her go now. A man would have to be much stronger than he to turn away from such tender petitions.
And now, he was fully ensnared by her. Her touch wove a spell around his heart, binding it tighter to hers, and Finch couldn’t say he was unhappy about it. Still, he didn’t understand why Miss Barrows loved him so, but he would be a fool to turn that bright, joyful heart of hers away.
A sliver of decency worked its way through the fog, and Finch slowed the kiss, knowing that though he did not wish to end it, this was only the first of many to come. Holding her flush to him, Finch gazed into her eyes, which were as dazed as his own.
“Does that mean you are willing to see reason?” she said in a breathy tone.
“It means I am tired of fighting you. I still believe you could do far better than me,” he murmured with a self-deprecating smile, and she pressed her fingers to his lips, holding back his protests.
