Page 158 of Seduction Under the Southern Stars

“Are you going to break her heart again?” This time there’s no malice in his words. He genuinely wants to know.

“Hopefully not,” I say cheerfully. “I was hoping you’d give me permission to propose.”

He stares at me. “What?”

“I want to ask her to marry me.” I give him a direct look. “I feel I should point out that I’m going to ask her whether you give me permission or not.” Then I smile. “But I’d prefer it if you did.”

His lips curve up a little. “You haven’t changed.”

“No, sir, not much. But I’ve worked hard and I make a good living. I can provide for her, and I’ll love her with all my heart, and treat her like a queen, and make sure she never wants for anything.”

Silence falls again for a moment. A tui lands in the branches above us and sings its distinctive call—bib bib! bob bob! I look up at it and see the white bobble under its throat that gives it the nickname of the parson bird. Elora once told me that they can drink so much nectar they get drunk and start singing boisterously, the story sending her into a fit of giggles. The memory makes me smile.

“Would you move back here?” Atticus asks.

I hesitate. “I don’t know yet. I need to talk to her about it. I was wondering whether she’d like to come with me. Not permanently, maybe for a couple of years. England is a fantastic place to live if you’re an archaeologist. I’d love to take her around some of the sites, and for her to go on some of the digs. She’d love it, and it’d be good for her.”

“I don’t know that she’s up to it,” he says.

“I think you might be surprised. She did a bungee jump with me.”

His eyes nearly fall out of his head, and I try not to laugh. “She did what?”

“A tandem one. And she loved it. I think she wants to be better. She wants to move on from that terrible experience, and I think I can help her. She trusts me, and she lets me push her a little and encourage her out of her shell.”

He thinks about it, looking out across the trees. “You might be right. But you’ve only been here a week,” he observes. “That’s hardly enough time to make a decision like this.”

“Sir, with all due respect, how long had you known Clemmie before you asked her to marry you?”

He looks back at me then and gives me a wry look. We both know he proposed three days after he met her.

“Yeah, all right,” he says. “Smart arse.”

We both chuckle.

Then I sigh. “I meant what I said. I love her to bits. I worship the ground she walks on. After I landed, when we met, it was as if time hadn’t passed at all. I did what you wanted. I left, and I never contacted her, and I stayed out of her life. But when I saw her, as soon as I laid eyes on her, nothing else mattered.”

Atticus’s lips curve up. “All right, lad. You’ve convinced me.

“She might say no,” I realize as we head back to the house. “Shit.”

“I can see your language hasn’t improved.”

“Not really. Elora called me a pirate. I told her I was a gentleman of fortune.”

That makes him laugh. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“I do love her, you know. I always did.”

He pats my shoulder. “I know, son. Now go and get the girl. If you ask her with even half of the enthusiasm you’ve just shown me, you’ll have no trouble at all.”

*

Elora

We’re all sitting at the kitchen table, and Mum is examining the Bell Ring when we hear the front door open, and Linc and Dad walk in.

I look over at them, heart racing. To my relief, neither has blood on their face, so at least there hasn’t been a punch up. In fact, Dad doesn’t look angry. He glances at me, but I can’t read his expression. He goes over to Mum, kisses the top of her head, then takes the ring from her and examines it.

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