Page 54 of A Ghost of a Chance

“You have been withdrawn for years, but now there is something profoundly sad about you.”

What could he say to that? The deep pain at Osanne’s rejection had pierced a hole in his heart. His life slowly drained out through the wound.

She touched his arm. The contact felt strange and somehow overly familiar. “Rafe, I have a feeling that you may have loved and lost someone.”

He pressed his mouth together and resumed walking. After a moment’s silence, he said bitterly, “I suppose that makes me a ‘poor chap.’”

Frowning, she fell into step with him. After a moment, she asked in a hushed voice, “Is there a chance you and this love of your life could reconcile?”

He let out a long, slow exhale. “Not likely.”

If he had been more positive about performing the ceremony, would she have been willing to try? Had his fears influenced her, frightened her away from taking the chance?

Both of them had held a higher regard for fear than for love.

But how could he risk sending her to oblivion?

Kitty drew a breath. “You and I have known each other all our lives, so I feel as though I may speak candidly.”

“You always have.” He found it within himself to give her a wan smile.

“He asked again—the ‘poor chap’. Only yesterday. He traveled a long distance to beg me to reconsider.”

He blinked at her. “Did he, now?

Smiling, Kitty said as if to justify herself, “He’s a good man, from a good family, and he is violently in love with me. And my feelings for him are quite...tender.”

Rafe nodded, though he was at a loss as to what she was really telling him. It seems he had lost his chance with Kitty. The thought should have saddened him more than it did. But really, he’d only ever thought of her as a little sister he had shared with Ben, despite those moments when he had considered her as possibly more.

He managed to ask, “Is he good to you?”

Another soft smile. “Very much. He’s warm and gentle, and appreciates my, shall we say, lack of reticence?”

Despite his numbness with grief, he managed a smile. “Yes, I’m quite familiar with your character. He must be a good man, indeed. Do your parents approve?”

“Wholeheartedly.”

“Did your answer change this time?”

“I told him I would give him my answer if he would grant me but one request: to have one last, painfully honest conversation with you.”

“With me?’

She moistened her lips. “Surely you have no question of my affection for you. I’ve virtually worshiped you since I was a child. But you have a restless spirit and wounds in your heart that I fear may not heal, so I never truly expected you to return my affection. But I was willing to take even a little piece of your heart, if you would entrust me with it.”

Her frankness, a trait that had alternately annoyed and impressed him, caused him to stand still. She looked up at him, so lovely, so strong, and yet vulnerable. She had handed him her heart. Dare he take it?

Could he do her justice—learn to love her as she deserved? Or would she always be the girl for whom he’d settled when he couldn’t have the one he wanted and craved?

He gave her a sad smile. “You are a remarkable girl.”

“I’m no longer a girl, Rafe. I’m a grown woman.”

“Yes, you are.” Was he a fool to reject what was so openly offered with so little asked in return?”

“And I have only one request of you: a single kiss.”

He started. A kiss? It was a simple request, but would kissing her betray Osanne? Of course, she had already spurned him.