Page 68 of Love Beyond Words
Eventually, as her fingers drummed over and over against the table while they ate, Raudrich couldn’t contain his concern any longer.
“Laurel, lass, ye’ve not stopped moving once all day. If there is something wrong, I wish ye would tell me.”
“Nothing’s the matter.”
She continued to drum her fingers over and over.
“I doona believe ye. Yer mind is elsewhere. Was it Freya? We never did get an opportunity to speak of what she said to ye. I’ve always known her to be a kind and friendly sort of woman, but mayhap she was different with ye?”
Laurel’s fingers stopped their assault on the table as she looked up at him in surprise.
“Not at all. Freya was great.”
It would’ve surprised him if Laurel had said otherwise, but it was the only thing he could think of. Unless… “’Twas Sydney, aye? Ach, what did she say to ye? I am sorry if she was unkind. She is like a sister to me—she can be verra protective.”
Laurel’s expression remained confused. “Sydney’s great, too.”
An unusual emotion was starting to build within him. It had been so long since he’d felt it, he almost didn’t recognize it—insecurity.
“If ’twas not Freya and ’twas not Sydney, then it must be me, lass. What did I do to upset ye? Do ye not wish to be here? Have ye tired of me already?”
For the first time in hours, Laurel really looked at him. As she smiled, his worries slowly faded away.
She stood from the table with a mischievous gleam in her eye and walked over toward him. He pushed his chair away from the table and stood to greet her as she stepped into his embrace and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I’m not upset. There’s nowhere else in the world I want to be. And with every minute I spend with you, I become more and more sure of the fact that I’ll never grow tired of being around you.” Laurel paused and lifted her head so that her chin rested against his chest as she looked up at him. He loved the way her blue eyes sparked in the candlelight. “And do you know what else?” She didn’t wait for him to respond. “You’re kind of cute when you’re worried.”
“I wasna worried, lass. ’Tis only that I wouldna wish to keep ye here if ye dinna want to stay.”
He tried to argue, but he knew his expression had given everything away.
“I do want to stay. And you can deny it all you want, but you were worried just now. I don’t want you to worry ever again, Raudrich.”
His heart began to hammer painfully in his chest. There were only three words he wished to hear from her, but he didn’t know if she had it in her to trust him so completely just yet.
“Aye?”
“You don’t have to say anything back. I want you to know that. I know this has all happened very quickly, and if someone had told me a week ago I’d be about to say this to you now, I would’ve called them crazy…”
He couldn’t bear it another moment. Pulling away, he placed one finger across her lips to silence her before reaching to cup her face as he placed his forehead against hers.
“I’m in love with ye, lass. I doona care if I doona know yer last name or yer favorite season. I’ll gladly spend the rest of my life learning all that I can about ye. I’m a man who has always known my own heart, lass, and I knew right away that mine belonged to ye. Marry me. Marry me and make this castle yer home for good.”
She answered him with a kiss and a squeal. And right there in the empty dining hall, he got the dance he’d been denied the night before.
He’d not known such happiness could exist.
Why then did he feel such dread?
Chapter 41
Two Weeks Later
* * *
Raudrich and I spent the two weeks following his proposal enjoying every minute of our time alone. We visited, laughed, ate, and made love. We went on regular horseback rides around the isle where Raudrich took his time telling me the history of the isle and its people. I told him all about Morna’s phone and Kate’s plan to join us here, and we agreed that we should wait until she was here to begin plans for our wedding.
Each evening, I would spend a few hours with Freya. Selfishly, the more time I spent with her, the more I realized how sad I would be when the day finally did come that she was free of Machara’s curse.
