Page 23 of My Favorite Mistake
Beside her, Becky gave another of her theatrical gasps.
Fanny’s gaze flew to Billy, only to see that Ralph fellow, fists raised, bearing down not on the cheese, but on his perceived rival for Becky’s affections. Billy only had eyes for the Double Gloucester, oblivious to the fact that Ralph was inches away from blindsiding him.
It happened so fast, in the space of a single second, but Fanny marked the way Nick’s shoulders stiffened and that faraway look swept over his face. She would have bet her lucky parasol he was getting another one of hisfeelings. He pulled up abruptly, the cheese forgotten, then cut sharply to the right. He managed to put a shoulder into Ralph the instant before he hacked Billy.
Billy’s head whipped around and his mouth fell open as he realized how close he had just come to disaster. He immediately lost his footing, and he, Nick, and Ralph all went down in a tangle.
Below them, the mad dash after the cheese continued, with three men neck and neck as they approached the bottom of the hill. At the last second, the man in the middle tripped and his body went sideways, directly into the path of his competitors. The man on the far side was taken down by a flailing arm, but Harrington Astley managed to hurdle over his legs and stumble across the finish line in first place. Someone handed him the wheel of Double Gloucester, which had beaten the runners to the bottom by a good margin, and Harrington held it aloft, triumphant.
A flurry of excitement erupted at the bottom of the hill. A crowd milled around Harrington, slapping him on the back. His wife picked her way through the throng and kissed him on his muddy cheek. He beamed down at her, looking as proud as if he’d just been knighted.
Billy was pumping Nick’s hand in gratitude. Becky’s older brother, Willis, who had seen everything from the sidelines, strode over to Ralph, grabbed him by the collar, and hauled him off into the woods. Judging by the murderous expression on Willis’s face, Ralph was about to get what was coming to him.
And then Nick was standing before her, with a raw sorrow in his eyes that tore at her heart. Because, of course, he thought he’d just lost her once again, just as surely as he’d lost her sixteen years ago.
But Fanny was finally starting to see him clearly. The truth was, he had risked his own happiness all those years ago to save Noah from being born under a cloud of bastardy.
And he had just sacrificed it again, in order to save Billy from whatever sad fate would’ve befallen him had he got roughed up by Ralph.
Oh, Nick Cradduck might look like sin and talk like a scoundrel. But beneath his wickedly handsome exterior lay a man who put himself last, time and again, so he could put the people he loved first.
Fanny wasn’t a fool.Thatwas the sort of man you wanted for keeps.
Regardless of whether he’d won some cheese rolling race.
Not that she was going to put Nick out of his miseryquiteyet.
She hadplansfor this man, just as she’d had sixteen years ago. And once again, those plans required the two of them to be alone.
He rubbed the back of his head. “Fanny, I…” He looked away, crestfallen.
“Well,” Fanny said, “I suppose I owe you that kiss.”
She hooked her arm through his and led him across the green.
CHAPTER8
Nick allowed Fanny to lead him along, seeming too stunned to mark where they were going. “I… I can’t believe I lost,” he said at last.
They came upon a little stand of trees.Perfect.
“I saw it so clearly,” Nick continued. “If I entered the cheese rolling, it was all going to turn out right. I don’t know what happened.”
“I saw that Ralph fellow closing in on Billy.” Fanny ducked beneath a tree limb, leading him deeper into the woods. The trees were close.Private. Just what she wanted. “It seemed like you were on the cusp of winning when you pulled up. Did you have another one of your feelings?”
“I did,” Nick said, still sounding dazed.
Fanny skirted around a little patch of mud. “What would’ve happened to Billy if Ralph had got to him?”
“Broken ankle,” Nick said with utter conviction. “It wouldn’t have set right. Would’ve plagued him for the rest of his days.”
They’d come to a nice little clearing carpeted in soft, green grass.
“Well,” Fanny said, drawing him to a halt, “I suppose it’s time for me to give you your kiss.”
Nick didn’t seem to be listening, nor did he appear to notice as she began undoing the buttons on his waistcoat. “The thing is, I’ve never been wrong before! Not like this.” He shook his head, disbelief etched upon his handsome face.
Fanny clucked sympathetically as she moved on to the buttons on his shirt.
