Much Ado About You

by Samantha Young

  Although slow to comply, everyone followed his orders, slapping coins and notes on the bar before ambling out of the pub with dazed expressions.

  First a proposal.

  Then Alnster’s own Beatrice and Benedick.

  “Let’s go.” Roane held his hand out to me and nodded to Caro and Shadow. She grabbed her laptop as I took Roane’s hand, his thumbs sweeping over the engagement ring sitting on my fourth finger.

  “Thanks,” Milly murmured as we passed. “Sorry we ruined your proposal.”

  “Nothing got ruined, Milly,” Roane assured her. “Call if you need me.”

  I gave her a small smile, my eyes shooting over to Lucas, Vi, and Dex, who were standing in pained silence together.

  All three of us let out an exhalation as we stepped outside and Shadow trotted ahead of us.

  “You must be feeling pretty pleased with yourself.” Roane shot me a wicked smile.

  “Because I just bagged myself a hot farmer or because I was right all along about Vi and Lucas?”

  Caro giggled at my side as Roane pulled me closer. “Both I suppose,” he said.

  “Well, of course I’m ecstatic about the former.” I studied my engagement ring and felt another wild flutter of excitement in my belly. Dropping my hand, I sighed. “As for Vi and Lucas, I wish it hadn’t gone down like that. Not just because they kind of stole our moment,” I teased, “but because I think they should have been up-front about what was going on. They were obviously sneaking around. Lying about their relationship only makes it look like they have something to be ashamed of, and it’ll make it harder for Milly and Dex to trust them when they say it’s love. I know that’s how I’d feel.”

  Hopefully, however, Milly and Dex would come around. I loved Viola. I loved them all and just wanted them to be as happy as I was.

  After Caro had gotten in her car and driven home to Beadnell, Roane and I disappeared into my apartment, where I murmured my plans for the future between each of his kisses. “I’ll need to call Greer and then book flights to Chicago to clear out my apartment. And I’ll need to drive to Indianapolis to talk to my mom and Phil.” I kissed Roane harder, crushing my breasts against his chest to let him know I was ready to shut up and have celebration sex. However, as we stumbled toward the bedroom, discarding clothes as we went, I remembered something. “Hey,” I reluctantly avoided his searching mouth to say, “you wanted to tell me something.”

  Roane hesitated for a second and then whispered, “I love you. I wanted to tell you that I love you so much . . .” He let out a shaky breath, something desperate in his gaze. “So much, Evie, I’m terrified you’ll disappear. I didn’t know this much happiness went hand in hand with fear.”

  Clasping his face in my hands, I looked him straight in the eye and announced, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay, mister. For you, for me, for us.” My grin was shaky with excitement and hope. “And I’m going to see if I can buy the bookstore.”

  Twenty-Four

  It was fair to say that Lucas and Viola’s love story eclipsed Roane’s proposal and our consequent engagement. Of course people congratulated us when they saw us, and we’d gotten a few free drinks during the past week, but the whole village was abuzz with the young couple who defied a thirty-year-old feud.

  West Elliot found out after the scene at the pub. Viola told me tearfully a few nights ago that West had forced Lucas to choose between family and her. He’d chosen Viola, and to no one’s surprise, the Taits had taken him in.

  “His room is on the other side of the flat to Vi,” Milly had told me. “Otherwise Dex would kill him. Funny thing is, I can tell Dex likes the boy. Would probably learn to love him if he wasn’t trying to defile his only child.”

  Unfortunately, I imagined it was difficult for Dex to wipe the imagery of walking in on his daughter having sex.

  Viola was mortified and claimed she would never get over it, but then, as I told her, they probably shouldn’t have tried to get away with having sex in her bedroom!

  “I thought everyone was downstairs working,” she’d whined.

  Still, I thought it was pretty big of Dex to let Lucas stay with them because he had nowhere else to go, and it confirmed to me that West Elliot was an immature asshole, even though I’d yet to meet the man. I had seen him from afar. He was very much like his son, and it surprised me that age hadn’t dulled his handsomeness, considering how bitter he obviously was.

  I’d gone out to run errands and found myself standing in the small cookie aisle in the convenience store, trying to decide if I should succumb to the temptation of the rich tea biscuits I liked to dunk into my cup of tea while I watched the store.

  My belly could really do without those biscuits, and I had fitting into a wedding dress to think about sometime in the near future.

  I was getting married.

  It was so surreal.

  “Well, the young Elliot and Viola Tait situation has taken attention away from Roane Robson, and it baffles me,” I heard a voice say in the aisle behind me and felt my heart pound at overhearing gossip pertaining to Roane.

  “Oh, I know,” a second woman said, “you would think one of his closest friends would talk to the lad. Obviously, he’s let that American overcome his good sense with her talents in the bedroom. I’ve heard Americans are very loose in that respect.”

  My jaw dropped.

  Say what?

  Glaring through the shelves of products, I crossed my arms over my chest and waited to hear if they said more. Their voices began to travel as they moved.

  “Clearly she’s muddled his good sense. Never mind the ridiculous notion of marrying someone you’ve only known for three months—”

  “Oh yes, we’re not the only ones who think he’s being reckless.”

  “He should be settling down with a girl from good English stock. Even a Scot would be better than an American.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with Scottish blood,” the other woman sniffed. “I’m Scottish on my mother’s side.”

  “Oh, I meant no offense, Harriet.” A gray-haired lady came into view at the top of my aisle. In a light sweater and a long skirt, her back hunched slightly, the woman was named Lilith something or other. I knew who her companion was before the blue-haired lady in the pantsuit appeared at her side. Lilith and Harriet were two of the oldest villagers, but the bracing coastal life had made them hardy. If it weren’t for their severely wrinkled faces, it would be hard to tell they were in their eighties by the sturdiness of their bodies and youthful gait.

  I’d admired them from afar.

  Not so much now.

  They turned toward my aisle and both froze in shock to see me there.

  Pressing their lips together tightly, they blanched as I walked slowly toward them, eyeballing them in disapproval.

  The truth was I’d known there would be talk about how quickly Roane and I had fallen in love and decided to marry. We’d discussed it lying in bed and decided we wouldn’t care what other people thought. We knew that this, us together, was what we’d been waiting for our whole lives.

  Peering down my nose at Harriet and Lilith, I murmured, “Ladies,” as I passed them without confrontation. I saw their expressions slacken with surprise, but I wasn’t going to waste energy on two old gossips who had nothing better to do. People would always talk, but as long as the people I cared about were happy for Roane and me, I couldn’t care less what anyone else thought.

  When I returned to the bookstore, my skin still prickling a little with the encounter despite my inner pep talk, I moved toward the back staircase and stopped when I heard the giggle from upstairs.

  Damn.

  I’d given Lucas and Viola permission to use my apartment for privacy. Of course, I knew what “privacy” meant and trusted Viola to use the guest bedroom and not mine, but I’d expected them to be done by now. Why I�
��d naively assumed that, when they were both twenty-year-olds with unending stamina, I didn’t know.

  Rolling my eyes, I moved back into the store, dumped my stuff behind the counter, and flipped the sign to open.

  I had so much to organize over the next two weeks. Penny was ecstatic that I wanted to buy the bookstore. I was less ecstatic about what it would cost to buy the building. It would eat up the entirety of the life insurance money my dad had left me. That money would have bought me a huge house with land in Indiana. On the other hand, I’d need double that to buy a really nice two-bedroom apartment in the heart of the West Loop in Chicago.

  Since it would take longer than two weeks for all the legal stuff to be finalized and Roane and I didn’t want to rush a wedding, I’d applied for an extension on my work visa. Penny had provided another letter to say I would be continuing on as an employee at the bookstore for three more months.

  We were waiting on approval for that, but worst-case scenario, Roane and I would marry at a registrar’s office so I could stay in the country, and then we’d plan a proper wedding later. For now, I was planning as if the visa extension would come through. Which meant I had my lawyer on the sale, and myself on organizing a trip to the States to tie up loose ends there. And to say goodbye.

  The thought of saying goodbye to Greer, Mom, and Phil choked me up every time. But I knew I was doing the right thing because there was no niggle in my gut that suggested there were hidden doubts somewhere in my conscience. I knew marrying Roane and moving to Alnster was one hundred percent the right thing to do. How many people could really boast such certainty when making a huge decision about their life?

  I was lucky. I knew that.

  That didn’t mean it hadn’t been hard to tell Greer about Roane’s proposal. Staring at the glittering diamond on my finger, I felt an overwhelming amount of happiness, but it was tinged with sadness when I remembered my friend crying.

  I knew she was happy for me, but like me, she was grief-stricken at the idea of having that big ocean between us for the rest of our lives.

  “Maybe I can convince Andre to move to England,” she’d sniffled.

  My smile had been watery as I’d replied with a sad “Maybe.”

  The call with Phil had been a little better. There were no tears. And he was relieved to hear I was coming back to see them. “I didn’t want to call Mom about this. I want to sit down and have a conversation with her face-to-face.”

  “I get it. I’ll let her know. Just keep us updated on when you’re getting into Chicago. We’ll book a hotel in the city.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I’ll come out to you guys.”

  “Whatever you want. Just keep us posted.”

  I sighed as I scrolled through a list of comparison flights on my laptop. With almost every penny I had going to Penny, I needed to book something cheap. Roane had offered to pay, but I wasn’t sure he had an abundance of cash just lying around. Besides, I didn’t want to imagine what kind of money he’d just dropped on my engagement ring.

  Mostly, I felt weird about taking money from him. When I said that, he’d scowled ferociously and told me that as his future wife I’d better get used to the fact that our lives were now there for us to share, and that included money. I knew he was right. But I wasn’t his wife yet.

  Roane’s wife.

  The thought put a goofy smile on my face, and I was still wearing it when a villager walked into the bookstore. I didn’t know the blond woman’s name, only that I’d seen her around enough to know she was a resident here. I saw her driving regularly through the village in her SUV with kids in the back.

  “Morning.” She smiled at me as she approached the counter. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Erin.”

  I shook her hand with a smile. “Nice to meet you. What can I do for you?”

  “I always order my kids’ schoolbooks through Penny. Is that still possible?”

  Erin wasn’t the first to come in and do so over the last few weeks, and I thought it was pretty cool that the locals spent their money at their independent store rather than get cheaper books at an online retailer.

  “Of course.”

  She handed over the list. Most of the titles on it were already on order, as the local schools had sent me their book lists for the fall term.

  “I’ll just take your full name and phone number. It’s payment up front.”

  As Erin pulled her bank card out of her purse, she said, “Did you hear?”

  I raised an eyebrow at the speculation in her tone. “Hear what?”

  Erin leaned across the counter conspiratorially. “I just saw Maggie Foster hugging Annie Foster outside the art gallery. It seems the feud is over.”

  “Really?”

  “Yup.” Erin seemed genuinely excited by the gossip, suggesting she was telling the truth.

  Delight began to slowly trickle through me.

  Annie and Maggie were reconciling? I grinned happily at the thought, and Erin returned the smile.

  “It’s nice to see families coming together. Speaking of, I heard congratulations are in order.” She pointed to my ring finger.

  “Oh, thanks.”

  “What a catch.” She flushed. “I mean, of course, you are too, but he is easy on the eyes, and you’ll never want for anything.” With a cheeky wink, Erin strode out of the store after I promised to call her once the books came in.

  Her last words made me laugh, thinking she meant it as an innuendo. Considering Roane wasn’t exactly a lothario, I wondered how she’d drawn that conclusion. Ach, who was I kidding? You only had to look at Roane to know he was good in bed. It was just something about the way he moved.

  And his hands.

  God, his hands.

  I flushed just thinking about them.

  Where was your fiancé when you needed him?

  Fiancé.

  I had a fiancé.

  What a weird and wonderful turn my life had taken in such a short space of time.

  “I should write a book,” I murmured to myself as I heard footsteps coming down the back staircase.

  Viola and Lucas appeared, his arms wrapped around her as they shuffled into the store, cheeks flushed but clothes and hair fixed. I almost rolled my eyes at how mushy they were, but I knew Roane and I were just as bad.

  “Thanks, Evie,” Vi said, grinning so hard, it was a wonder her cheeks didn’t crack.

  “No problem.” I tried not to laugh. I glanced between them. “Are you doing okay with . . . everything?”

  Viola’s smile fell as she looked up at Lucas.

  He gave her a reassuring squeeze. “It’s not ideal with my parents, but we go back to uni in two weeks and then we graduate so we’re out on our own anyway.”

  “Are you going to get a place together?”

  “Our flats are sorted for this year but when we graduate, yeah.”

  “And at least Vi’s parents are okay with us,” Lucas added.

  “Yeah, no one saw that coming after the shotgun incident,” I joked.

  Lucas smirked but his tone was solemn. “I did. The Taits have always been good people. If it was up to Milly, this feud with my dad wouldn’t have gotten past the three-month mark, never mind thirty bloody years.”

  Viola caressed his arm in a soothing manner and gave me another smile. “Thanks for letting us take some time in the apartment this morning. There’s not much privacy at mine.”

  “It’s no problem. I was young once,” I cracked.

  “Oh, aye.” Lucas chuckled as he and Viola strolled toward the door. “Was that not yesterday when everyone saw Roane feeling you up at the harbor?”

  Viola swatted him on my behalf while I rolled my eyes. “There really is a downside to living in a village.”

  “You’re just learning that now?”

 
I waved them out, watching Lucas throw his arm around Viola’s small shoulders as Roane appeared before them. They exchanged a few words with Shadow bouncing around them for attention, and my heart did that leaping-in-my-chest thing it always did when I saw my fiancé.

  My fiancé.

  Would that wondrous feeling ever leave? Would I one day settle comfortably into my feelings for Roane?

  As he strode inside the store, holding the door open for Shadow to trot through, we shared a loving smile, and then I got down to the business of greeting the dog. Once my hands were sufficiently covered in doggy kisses, I shared a long, lingering kiss with Shadow’s owner.

  “I need to wash my hands,” I murmured against his mouth, noting the brown bag of lunch he clutched.

  “Let’s go upstairs.”

  Even though I’d already closed the shop when I shouldn’t, I found myself turning over the sign and locking the door. Upstairs, after I’d washed away Shadow’s sweet kisses from my hands, I joined Roane in the kitchen.

  “From the bakery in Alnwick,” he said, pushing a plate with a massive sandwich on it toward me.

  “Thank you. Had a good morning?”

  “Well, I heard good news. Maggie and Annie Foster have reconciled.”

  I grinned. “I heard from a customer, but it’s nice to have it confirmed by a reliable source.”

  Roane’s gazed washed over my face, bright with tenderness. “Milly says Maggie told her you had something to do with it.”

  My cheeks felt a little hot under his obvious admiration. He was looking at me the same way he had when I’d pulled Shadow out of the way of that car. “We just talked. The rest was Maggie.”

  He gave a slight shake of his head. “You have no idea of your effect.” He leaned in and brushed a soft kiss to my lips. “I love you, Evie Starling soon-to-be Robson.”

  A little blissed out on his praise, I reached for another kiss. Deeper, longer. When we broke apart, Roane’s eyes were dark with want. “Do you think we have time for a quickie after lunch?”

  I chuckled. “I think we can make that happen.”