by Cora Lee
She laughed, pushing his hand away and wrapping her arms around him. “If you keep bringing that stuff every week, there won’t be any left for Christmas,” she laughed.
“Maybe I’ll learn to cultivate it,” he returned with a wink.
“You don’t need it.” She went up on her tiptoes and murmured in his ear, “If you want to kiss me all you have to do is ask.”
“May I kiss you, Maddie, my love?” he whispered softly.
“Yes,” she breathed.
They had only enough time for a brief brushing of lips before Gran’s voice called out, “Did you two get lost on the way to the parlour?”
Thomas chuckled, running a finger down Maddie’s cheek, and planting a kiss on her temple before holding out his hand. “Her timing is impeccable.”
“I suppose we should go in,” Maddie replied reluctantly, taking his hand, and starting toward the parlour.
“Wait.” Thomas pulled her back to him and wrapped her in his arms once more. “There is something I want to ask you first.”
She sighed contentedly, breathing in the faint scent of the leather-bound books and ink he’d been using earlier in the day. “Ask me whatever you want. The answer is likely going to be yes.”
“Will you marry me?” he returned softly.
Maddie’s heart kicked into a gallop. Whatever she’d been expecting, it wasn’t that. Not yet. “Are you sure?”
She knew his answer, of course — if there hadn’t been a question of money, they’d probably already be wed. But there was a question of money, and she knew tutoring didn’t bring in a large sum even when it was combined with her wages from Gran.
“Kit has offered us the old cottage on his property for as long as we want it,” Thomas explained. “With that, our savings, and your dowry, we should be comfortable. Not wealthy, but comfortable.”
“The old cottage?” She reached back into her memory but couldn’t recall anything.
“Downstream from where we used to fish. The structure is sound, and there’s room for a small kitchen garden outside. Kit said he’d have the inside cleaned for us, and you can put your new sewing skills to work making curtains and things.”
Maddie tried but failed to suppress a giggle. Gran had been trying to teach her how to run a household, and had included lessons in cooking and sewing in her curriculum. The cooking had gone well thus far — their dinner that evening was to be her final exam, so to speak — but she’d not taken to sewing quite as well.
“I’m sure I could manage... eventually,” she murmured with a half-smile. “But what about Gran? You know I want to marry you, Thomas, but I can’t leave her all alone.”
“I’ve thought of that,” he grinned, rubbing slow tracks up and down her back. “You could continue to be your grandmother’s companion by day, and come home to me and our cottage in the evenings. Or, if you’d prefer to remain living here, perhaps your Gran will allow me to live here as well. I can give lessons from here as easily as I can from Kit’s home.”
Maddie tried to picture waking up beside Thomas every morning in the chamber she’d been given here in her grandmother’s house and ended up giggling again.
“We don’t have to decide now,” he continued.
“Thank you,” she said softly, smoothing back an auburn curl that had escaped his attempts to tame it.
“For what?”
“For giving me — us — options.”
He smiled. “It really is more enjoyable when we decide on things together.”
She gave a low laugh. The day they’d worked out their current arrangements had included a spirited discussion... and was followed by another late night in front of the fireplace. That had certainly been enjoyable.
But the decision making had been pleasurable, too, if in a different way. They’d been able to really talk to one another, to share hopes and make plans for a small part of the future.
“Yes,” she replied softly.
“Wait— ‘yes’ it was enjoyable, or...”
She went up on her toes and whispered in his ear, “Yes, I will marry you.”
He sucked in a breath, then lifted her off her feet and swung her around in a full circle. “Sweeter words I’ll never hear,” he grinned, setting her down. His lips found hers, his mouth opening over hers as he deepened the kiss.
Someone cleared their throat nearby, about a second before Maddie lost all her inhibitions right there in Gran’s entryway. With great reluctance, she disentangled herself from Thomas and turned to see who it was.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Kit said in a half-whisper, gesturing toward the parlour. “It was either me or her.”
Thomas laughed. “Thank God for small favours, then.”
“I take it we’re going to have a new addition to the family,” Kit grinned.
“There are still some things to be decided,” Maddie said, trying, and failing, to keep herself from clasping her hands together in utter happiness. “But yes.”
“Wonderful!” Kit practically bellowed. Then, in a quieter voice he continued, “You’ve been my sister in all but name since we were children. Now it will be official.”
Thomas reached for Maddie. “Could you go make our excuses for just another moment, brother? There is one more thing I would like to say to my betrothed.” He waited until Kit had disappeared down the hallway before encircling Maddie in his arms.
“What is it that can’t wait?” she asked, hearing the trepidation in her own voice.
“I love you,” he said, his voice low and full of emotion.
She slipped her arms around his neck and bowed her head against his chest, hoping to hide the tears that sprang unexpectedly to her eyes. When she could trust herself again, she turned her head and whispered, “I love you, too.”
For that moment, it was just the two of them in each other’s arms and all was right with the world.
Then Maddie sighed. “We should probably go in.”
“How do you think your Gran will take the news?” Thomas asked, releasing his hold on her body in exchange for holding her hand.
“She’ll be happy because we’re happy,” Maddie replied with a smile.
“Will she be disappointed that I’m not Kit?”
Maddie clasped his hand to her heart. “There’s no way she could have watched me with you these past months and think that I would want to be with anyone else.”
Thomas palmed her cheek and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Then your plan worked,” he smiled. “We’ve finally convinced someone that you don’t want to marry Kit.”
“Ah, but the most important people knew it all along.” She looked deep into his blue eyes, then kissed him one more time. “Now let’s go tell everyone else.”
The End
Other Books by Cora Lee
No Rest for the Wicked (The Heart of a Hero Book 1)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077DMZ5WG
The Good, The Bad, And The Scandalous (The Heart of a Hero Book 7)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0714NPS18
Save the Last Dance for Me (Maitland Maidens Book 1)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015YOYLOW
Back In My Arms Again (Maitland Maidens Book 2)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077N1CC31
About the Author
A graduate of the University of Michigan with a major in history, Cora is the 2014 winner of the Royal Ascot contest for best unpublished Regency romance. She went on a twelve-year expedition through the blackboard jungle as a high school math teacher before publishing Save the Last Dance for Me, the first book in the Maitland Maidens series.
When she’s not walking Rotten Row at the fashionable hour or attending the entertainments of the Season, you might find her participating in Romance Writers of America events, wading through her towering TBR pile, or eagerly awaiting the next Marvel movie release. If you’d like to find out more about Cora or her books you can sign up for her newsletter (at https://mailchi.mp/7ef71e406a29/cora-lees-newslette
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