The rushing waterfall behind Reese spilled into a shallow pool surrounded by colorful flowers that bowed over their rippled reflections. Usually, the splashing soothed him, but tonight his emotions churned like the water beneath the seven-foot drop.
Sophie’s note, delivered by his footman, had simply said, “Meet me at midnight by the waterfall.”
She referred to the most remote section of the garden, tucked away behind the field of grey asphodels and the grove of black poplars like a hidden treasure. He’d left the house half an hour before midnight, placing a few lanterns along the path to light the way for Sophie. He brought a few more lamps to the patch of grass near the waterfall, and they illuminated the whole area with a soft, hazy glow.
Nearby, a large swing hung from the branch of an ancient bur oak—the kind that could have been home to fairies and pixies. Reese threw a quilt onto the wooden swing seat and paced in front of it, scrubbing the back of his neck as he contemplated what might have prompted her to write the note.
Since the day she’d ridden away from Warshire Manor, he’d had a huge, gaping hole in his chest. In a vain attempt to fill it, he’d spent countless hours reviewing ledgers, eliminating extravagant expenses, and finding ways to make the estate profitable. He spent almost every afternoon sweating in the garden, clearing out dead trees and overgrown shrubs. He reasoned that if he kept busy, he wouldn’t have time to dwell on the hollow, aching feeling inside him. But he’d been wrong about that—along with a host of other things.
Now he couldn’t help but wonder if Sophie was giving him a second chance. And there was no way in hell he was going to waste it.
He sensed her presence even before she appeared in the garden. The crickets’ song grew louder, the flowers danced in the breeze, and the clouds in front of the moon parted in deference to her. Reese turned and watched as she approached, her golden hair shimmering in the pale light. Dressed in an elegantly simple gown of silver satin, she emerged from the foliage like a goddess.
“Reese,” she said softly.
“Sophie.” He longed to haul her close, to crush her against his chest, to slant his mouth across hers. “I’ve missed you.”
Her eyes welled with affection—and maybe regret. “I’ve missed you too,” she said. But she didn’t run to him or throw her arms around his neck.
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you,” he confessed. “There’s something I need to say.”
She tilted her head, curious. “Yes. That is, I’ve something to tell you as well. I thought it best to discuss it in person.”
The skin at the back of his neck prickled ominously as he gestured toward the swing. “Would you like to sit?”
She nodded, and he carefully spread the quilt over the swing’s seat before she settled herself on one end. He sat on the other and basked in her nearness. Soaked it up. Let it soothe his wretched soul.
“How have you been?” he asked.
She hesitated before answering. “Fairly well, I suppose. You?”
“Miserable, as usual,” he said with a grin. “I’m nothing if not consistent.”
She smiled, filling a little of the emptiness in his chest. “You are remarkably consistent,” she said. Sobering slightly, she added, “There are two reasons I wanted to see you tonight.”
“I’m glad to see you, no matter the reason.”
Her cheeks pinkened. “The first is to tell you how proud I am of you—for reading the letters from your friend’s widow and for visiting her.”
He dragged a hand down the side of his face, perplexed. “How did you know?”
“It turns out that Sarah and I are acquainted—but I only recently realized she was married to Conroy.” Sophie stared into the night, the wisps around her face moving slightly as the swing swayed. “Sarah didn’t share the details of your conversation, but I do know that your visit meant a great deal to her.”
Reese shook his head. “I couldn’t find the words … to tell her how great a man Conroy was. To tell her what he meant to me. I’m afraid all I managed to do was upset her.”
“No,” Sophie said quickly. “You comforted her more than you know. Besides, what you said wasn’t as important as what you did. You went to her and shared in her grief, and I know that couldn’t have been easy for you.”
Reese shrugged, embarrassed to admit just how much he’d been sweating, how hard his heart had pounded as he’d stood on the widow’s doorstep. “It was nothing compared to what Sarah’s suffered. What she’s still going through. I should have visited her weeks ago.”
“You went. That’s the important thing,” Sophie said, her tone brooking no argument. He’d forgotten how powerful and persuasive she could be. How fiercely she defended something she believed in. And for some inexplicable reason, she believed in him.
“Talking with Sarah also made me realize how lucky she and Conroy were. In this big, messy, unpredictable world, they were able to find each other. And they held tight to the very end. They had far too few years together, but maybe they had more than most of us ever will.”
Sophie gave him a watery smile. “I suppose that’s true. We all expect to live to a ripe old age, but there’s really no telling how long we have.”
“That’s why I need to tell you how I feel.”
She swallowed and gazed at him. “Go on.”
He cleared his throat, acutely aware that his happiness—his whole future—depended on him expressing what was in his heart. God, he hoped he didn’t bungle it. “I need to explain how I feel when I’m with you.”
Her eyes crinkled at the corners. “I’m listening.”
“Being with you … well, it’s a bit of paradise. Just like this garden.” He waved a hand at the lush beauty around them. “It’s the rush of a waterfall and the sturdiness of an oak. It’s wonder and breathlessness and a sense of peace. It’s the comfort of being rooted in the earth but also the thrill of gliding above it.” He raked a hand through his hair and muffled a curse. “Damn it all, I’m not making sense.”
He glanced up and saw her blue eyes shining with understanding and, maybe, something else. She reached across the swing bench and took his hand, lacing her fingers with his. The simple contact of her palm against his made his heart pound like he was racing on horseback at breakneck speed.
“You’re making perfect sense to me,” she said, her voice tinged with sadness.
He gazed into her eyes, determined to show her everything inside him—his flaws and fears, his scars and his love. “I know you have your future planned out, and I respect that. But I also need to explain what you’ve meant to me. What you’ll always mean to me. I love you, Sophie. You stole a piece of my heart on the day you first walked into the tailor’s shop, and you’ve owned it ever since.”
“Oh, Reese,” she breathed.
“I should have told you before. I wanted to, but I was afraid of dragging you down and dimming your happiness. Now I know you’re too strong for that.”
She shook her head. “I don’t feel very strong right now. But I do know that your love could never bring me down. It couldn’t bring me anything but joy.”
“Then marry me.” He lifted her hand and pressed a long, tender kiss to the back. “Let me spend the rest of my life taking care of you. Let me wake up beside you every morning and lie down beside you every night. Just … let me love you.”
Sophie felt as though she were drifting through a lovely dream. She and Reese were rocking on a swing in the middle of an exquisite, exotic garden, and he was holding her hand.
Telling her he loved her.
Asking her to marry him.
It was a fantasy turned real. A dream come to life. Perfect in every way but one.
Because the man she loved had given her the proposal she’d longed for—and she couldn’t accept it.
“Reese,” she said softly, even as her own heart was breaking. “If I could wish for one thing in this entire world, I would wish that I was free to say yes.”
He blinked slowly, then looked at her, his eyes imploring. “You are free. Say yes to me. Say yes to us.”
“I cannot,” she said, her voice cracking with regret. “I’ve already accepted Lord Singleton’s proposal. Our engagement ball is next weekend.”
“But … but you don’t love him,” Reese said. “You could break it off. People might gossip for a while, but they’d move on to a new scandal before long.”
She shook her head sadly. “If the only obstacle to marrying you was a little gossip, I’d wed you tomorrow.”
“I know about your family’s financial woes,” he countered. “I don’t have a vast fortune to offer you, but everything I have is yours. I’ve already begun making payments to creditors and balancing the books. The problem is, it’s a big ship to steer … and it’s going to take a little time.”
“My time has run out. My father is greatly indebted to the marquess. Charles has paid off all of Papa’s creditors, including several substantial gambling debts.”
Reese shook his head firmly. “I don’t see what that has to do with you.”
“I think you do. Charles made those payments as part of the marriage settlement that he and Papa negotiated. But the payments are also a favor to me, because they mean I don’t have to jump out of my skin every time there’s a knock on the door, fearing that someone’s come to haul my father away to debtors’ prison. They mean Mama and Mary will be provided for and their future is secure.”
“I want to be the one to take care of you and your family.”
“But you can’t,” she said softly. “Not yet.”
Reese looked at her like she’d driven a dagger through his chest. “Not yet,” he repeated hollowly.
As much as she hated to see the hurt on his face, she wouldn’t apologize for surviving—or for choosing the path that would save her family. Raising her chin a notch, she said, “I’ve been truthful from the beginning. My relationship with Charles is nothing like the one I have with you, but I must make the best of it.”
“I know,” Reese said, apologetic. He hopped off the swing and paced in front of her. “But you shouldn’t have to settle. You deserve to be happy, Soph. If you were mine, I’d make you smile every goddamned day. No one could possibly love you more than I do.”
She could hear the urgency in his voice; she could see the earnestness on his face. His declaration filled her heart with bliss—and still, it couldn’t change anything.
“That is the most lovely thing anyone has ever said to me,” she whispered. “And I appreciate the sentiment more than you know.”
He dropped to his knees and reached for her hands, clasping them between his. “It’s not a sentiment, Soph. It’s the truth. You’ve changed me in ways I never expected. You’ve made me see there’s more to life than nightmares and guilt and pain. You showed me that behind the shadows there are also light and hope and love.”
A tear trickled down her cheek and plopped onto their joined hands. “Of course there are. No matter what happens, there are always light and hope and love.” She needed him to believe that now, more than ever.
He rested his forehead on her thigh, sending shimmers of desire through her body. “There’s something so right about the two of us, together,” he murmured. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel it.”
“Of course I do.” She slid off the swing and knelt beside him on the soft, thick grass, cupping his face in her palms. “I love you, Reese. But I cannot break off my engagement.”
“So you’re saying we can’t be together,” he said, incredulous. As though he still couldn’t bring himself to accept it.
“You’ll always be in my heart,” she said, letting her fingertips trail along his jaw and down his neck. “I’ll never see a rose without remembering the night we met in Lady Rufflebum’s garden. I’ll never see an asphodel without thinking of the flower crown you made me. And I’ll never see a peony without recalling the night we swam in the lake. Every night with you was a gift—and I’ll cherish those memories forever.”
Reese speared his fingers through her hair and cupped her head in his hands. “You can walk out of my life. You can even marry another. But it doesn’t change the fact that we belong to each other. Our souls are so entwined that I don’t know where mine ends and yours begins. A month ago I would have sworn I was incapable of love … but somehow, because of you, it just happened.”
Sophie nodded because she didn’t trust herself to speak. But she knew she’d never regret loving Reese, and he was right—they would always belong to each other.
Time slowed as they knelt on the fragrant grass, face-to-face and chest-to-chest. The lanterns around them illuminated the exquisite beauty of the garden. The splashing waterfall, the rippling pool, and the exotic flowers combined in the perfect balance of movement and tranquility.
Reese’s warm fingers caressed her scalp, sending delicious shivers through her limbs. He tipped his forehead to hers, and their breath mingled in the space between them. She could feel the potent heat from his body and the desire that always simmered low in her belly when he was near.
“I want you, Soph,” he said with a growl. “Say you want me too.”
“I do.” There was no use denying it. “But all I can give you … is tonight.”