“You couldn’t have gotten that far. He didn’t even take me back to my room. He made Bridgit and Wigmore go with me.”
“Remind me to teach Bridgit to tie you down when you’re supposed to remain in one place. I heard Smith follow me across the hall, but I wasn’t sure he had gotten into the library and I nearly lost my head when I saw you in that doorway.”
Smith tried to play down the value of his contribution, but Brent and Summer would hear none of that. “No more arguing. You and the men will be paid as I promised. And I’m going to give you the island as well. You can sell it and divide the money amongst you.”
“We’ve already talked about it, and we refuse to accept the island or your money,” Smith stated categorically. “But tell me this. Do you plan to go to sea anymore?” Brent looked at Summer and shook his head.
“I have too much to keep me here.”
“Then make me captain of the Windswept and the men equal partners.”
“I will, and I’ll do the same with the plantation.”
“The ship’s plenty. We’ve done little enough for you compared to what you’ve done for us.”
“Good Lord, what did I do besides help you risk your hides?”
“You gave us wealth, success, and work we can do with pride.”
“But we don’t need the plantations,” Summer declared.
“Maybe not now, but someday you may want to return to them, if only for a little while. Remember, both of you have more roots there than in Scotland.”
“Thank you, old friend. You have shown your selflessness once again,” Brent said.
“I have done nothing of the kind.” Smith smiled nervously. “I now have the best ship and crew on the Atlantic under my command. I intend to be as rich as you someday.”
“And you will. Nothing has ever stood in your way.”
“God bless you.” Summer stood on tiptoe to kiss Smith as he prepared to leave. “I’ll always remember your kindness and understanding. I hope you find someone who can make you as happy as you deserve to be. She’ll be a lucky woman.”
For once in his life Smith was left with nothing to say.
“You’d better go before she maps out the rest of your life,” Brent warned. “Things she says have an uncanny way of coming true.”
They said their goodbyes cheerfully, but Summer felt a sense of loss when the door closed behind Smith.
“He’s the finest friend a man could have. I’m going to miss him,” Brent stated.
“Then I’ll have to see what I can do to distract you.” Summer smiled and wiped her eyes. “When you get tired of thinking about improving farms and reducing rents, we might consider a sister for Robert.”
“I don’t intend to wait for that,” Brent retorted, putting an arm around her waist and caressing her cheek.
Summer leaned her face against his hand, enjoying the contact that always made her pulse race. “I was wondering if you’d have enough energy for both,” she said, giving him a challenging glance.
“You’ll soon see how much energy I have,” Brent declared as he swept her into his arms and headed toward the bedroom.
“Will you be as interested in me now that I’m a married woman who nurses her child and worries about whether the meat will be properly prepared for dinner?”
“Even as such a one.” Brent kicked the bedroom door open with his booted foot. His voice had become husky and that peculiar greenish tint only Summer had the power to evoke was in his eyes.
“There is one more thing I want,” he said, depositing her on the bed and settling down beside her.
“You always want that,” Summer teased. Brent was responding as always to her nearness, but the soberness of his expression made her pause. “What is it?” she asked more solemnly.
“I would like us to be married.”
“But we’re already married,” Summer pointed out, half sitting up in surprise. “We are, aren’t we?”
“As far as everybody else is concerned, but we’ve never exchanged our vows. It was all done without your knowledge, even without your consent. I want to hear you say you want to be my wife.”
“You just want a lot of people to hear me swear to obey you,” Summer teased, but she was trying very hard not to cry with happiness. “I never could trust you when you started acting nice.” Instead of matching her mood, Brent took Summer’s face in his hands and looked directly into her eyes. There was no evasion, no teasing, only naked emotional hunger in his gaze.
“I don’t care whether you disagree with everything I do or argue with me for the rest of our lives, I want to hear you swear that you love me, that you’ll go on loving me forever, no matter what.”
Summer’s heart was so full she could hardly speak, but after a moment she responded. “I’ll be proud to marry you, on any day you wish. I want every woman in the world to know you’re mine, and that I don’t ever intend to give you up.”
Brent then kissed her with such passionate intensity that she felt dizzy.
“Now there’s one thing I want,” she said as soon as she recovered her breath.
“Anything.”
“Don’t tempt me like that.” Summer smiled. “Promise that you’ll always save a little corner of your life just for me, that we will never become so tied down with estates and children that we won’t have time for each other. I’d die if I were to lose you, even if it wasn’t to another woman.”
“At least once every five years we’ll run away, leave everything, children and estates, behind us. And we won’t come back until we’re so tired of each other we can’t stand to spend another night together.”
“We can’t let our children grow up as orphans,” Summer said her eyes twinkling. “As much as I admire Wigmore and Bridgit, I don’t think they would make suitable parents.”
Brent silenced her in the only way he knew.
About the Author
Leigh Greenwood is the award-winning author of over fifty books, many of which have appeared on the USA Today bestseller list. Leigh lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Please visit his website at http://www.leigh-greenwood.com/.
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