“Because you had to at all.”
“I won’t do it again, I promise,” she said earnestly as I tugged on the loose curls dangling from her coiffure.
I didn’t like her frown. Indeed, I never wanted to see her frown again.
“I’m so sorry, Anna. I wanted to offer you the world, but all I have is Highcliffe House and a dwindling savings.”
“And a cow.” She pressed her nose to mine. “And the sea.”
“All the poppies you want,” I offered to sweeten the deal.
“And a dead eel,” she added. “Oh! And I forgot to say this earlier, about my business proposal.” She straightened, looking more professional and serious again. “I’d like the balcony room for the duration of my stay. You may be permitted to join me after our nuptials.”
“May be? I do not know how I feel about that phrase. Shall we draw the contract up together this afternoon?”
“As soon as possible, please. Also, in all seriousness, I am now poor, and I left the inn before breaking my fast.”
I kissed my way up her jawline to whisper in her ear, “My love, are you hungry?”
She tilted her head. “Starved, dearest.”
“She’s back!” We heard Tabs’s shriek before her little body appeared in the doorway. Her hair was braided and fuzzy from sleep, and she still wore her frilly nightdress. “Have you told her, Graham? That you love her and want to keep her forever?”
I looked at Anna, into those gorgeous, golden-brown eyes. “Can I keep you forever? Even if everything falls apart and all we have left is each other?”
She took my face in her hands and grinned, nodding. “Surely you know by now, Graham—all I want is you.”
Epilogue
Anna
Papa’s house looked exactly as I’d left it.
Marble floors so polished you could almost see your reflection as you walked down the vaulted front hall. The same paintings, the same gilded mirrors lined the walls where I’d once felt home. Now, as I walked by, I felt nostalgic for childhood.
But my home was by the sea.
I followed the servants’ stairs down to the kitchen, where I found Cook in her apron and cap arranging sprigs of parsley atop the mutton she’d prepared.
“He’s put you through all this trouble for me?” I teased.
She looked up, then dropped the sprigs and wiped both hands on her apron as her smile grew.
“Miss La—Mrs.Everett, that is!” She flushed, and it took everything in me not to embrace her, my old friend, a woman who’d imparted her fair share of wisdom over the years and saved me from more than one heartache. “Look at you. So happy.” She reached out and hesitated only a second before patting my cheek.
“I miss your cooking,” I said, leaning into her touch.
“Do you?” She raised a brow. “Those round cheeks say otherwise.”
“Mrs. Devon!” I laughed as she cackled in return. I’d forgotten how brash she could be.
“You are in Town for your father’s wedding, I presume?” she asked.
“Yes. And I’m not to bother you while Ms. Peale and her guests are here. Papa lectured me about not overstepping and letting change take its course.”
“Ah.” She nodded, then winked. “Then I suppose you’ve heard about dessert.”
I tempered my humor. Apparently, Ms. Peale liked her desserts plain. A bit particular, if you asked me. “Oh, I’ve heard. I shall suffer through it. There is one small thing you could help me with, though.”
