by Leslie North
As he was walking out the door, he turned and winked at her.
“Clem, I’m so sorry,” Edward said and rushed to her bedside. “I feel completely responsible.”
“Why?” Clem asked. “It wasn’t your job to secure the floor on the altar of the church. I got what was coming to me, sneaking around a demolition sight in the dark.”
Edward shook his head and gazed at her with apologies etched into the lines of his face. “But you’d never have gone there by yourself if it weren’t for me,” he said. “You should have been at the gala last night, celebrating. Instead, I left you upset at the shop and you went out and broke your leg.”
“Edward, really, I’m fine.”
His eyes grew wide. “Fine?” he asked. “You’re not fine. Look at you.” He waved a hand at her leg in the sling. “I feel awful. Can I please do something to help you?”
Clem could feel her face getting redder by the second. Not only had he shown up just as she and her father were talking about him, but now he had to see her like this—a hot mess with her leg in a cast, no bra, her hair in a greasy bun atop her head. This was torture. She dug deep for what dignity she had left and eyed him seriously.
“I don’t need your help, Edward,” she said. She watched his face fall and felt a pang of regret. Her nostrils flared as she tried to keep a stiff upper lip. “Thank you for the flowers. It was kind of you to visit and to bring them.”
He nodded and murmured something she didn’t catch.
“I think you should go,” she told him gently.
She waited until he was gone to allow herself to cry.
Edward opened the passenger door and heaved himself into the backseat of the Mercedes. His limbs were heavy with guilt. His fists were clenched. Seeing Clem in the hospital bed destroyed him. How could he move forward, knowing that it was his fault she got hurt? Life was already difficult for Clem with her family’s struggling business. She didn’t need a broken leg and a possible charge of trespassing to make things harder. His mind swam, in search of some way to fix things, but he came up empty.
“You’re mighty quiet this afternoon, sir.” Lance had been with him for a long time. He usually didn’t say much, but Edward knew Lance could read him well.
“Tough morning, Lance,” he admitted.
“I heard about the accident at the Selway Church of God,” Lance said. As Edward suspected, his driver knew just about everything. “The Wicke woman was hurt?”
Edward sighed. “She was, Lance. She’s propped up with a broken leg.”
“I was under the impression that the two of you were getting quite close.” Edward saw Lance’s bemused expression in the rearview mirror. “I’m surprised you didn’t stay for a longer visit.”
“We’re not that close.” Edward cleared his throat. He could choose to say nothing. He didn’t owe it to Lance to tell him what had happened, but something in him wanted to talk to someone. The story flew out of him, and he felt a smidge lighter for having set it free. “I wrecked it. There’s no going back.”
“I’m sincerely sorry, sir,” Lance said and tipped his hat. “Quite a shame to let a girl like that slip away.”
Edward raised his eyebrows. Was Lance trying to make him feel like even more of a total shit? Maybe he should have kept his thoughts to himself.
“You know, sir, my father used to have a saying about love.” Lance paused.
“What was it?” Edward asked.
“I’m trying to recall the exact words,” Lance said, as they drove down the long gravel driveway to the old farmhouse where Edward was scheduled to meet his father and brother for a walk-through of the property. Lance tapped on his chin for a second then delivered the quote. “In life, physical things can shatter and become lost forever, but not love. Love may be broken but with one breath and a single choice, there is always a chance to restore it to its original beauty.”
Restore it to its original beauty…
The phrase sounded like something Clem would say.
His gaze turned to the farmhouse, where his father was standing with the realtor on the wraparound porch. A spotlight of sun shone through the clouds, landing directly on the house. Shadows played between the garden stakes, moving at the whim of the clouds. A centuries old willow wept beside the house.
“Thanks, Lance,” Edward said as he exited the car, steeling himself against his despair as he headed into the sunshine.
“Edward,” King Hansen called to him. “You’re late.”
“Sorry,” he replied. “I wanted to see Clem at the hospital before I came here.”
His father eyed him sternly. “That girl caused quite a bit of trouble in Selway last night, falling through the church floor. She could have been killed. Is she okay?”
“Her leg is badly broken, but she’ll recover,” Edward said, his voice devoid of emotion. His father tilted his head and studied him.
“Are you okay, son? You’re not yourself this morning.”
Edward cleared his throat. He may have spilled his guts to Lance, but he was not about to talk about Clem to his father. “I just have a lot on my mind,” he said then turned to the realtor, a twenty-something woman dressed to the nines in a burgundy suit and shiny high heels. She beamed at him with a blindingly white smile. “Shall we get on with the walk-through?”
She sidled up to him and placed one manicured hand on his arm, which seemed a bit forward to him. “I’m Jolene Rigley,” she said, her voice syrupy. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Prince Edward.” She held her other hand out for him to shake then held on to him a beat too long.
Was this woman flirting with him?
“Charmed,” he said, deciding to omit his usual request to be called just by his name. He didn’t want to encourage this woman to be more informal with him.
Finally, she released his hand. “Follow me, and I’ll show you around the place. She started down the porch steps then turned around and winked at him.
Ugh.
He was in no mood for this woman at the moment. The fact that she was the antithesis of Clem seemed to be screaming at him from every angle. From the coiffed hair that didn’t budge as she moved to the formal business attire that was so unlike Clem’s casual chic flair, Jolene Rigley seemed to be placed in front of him in order to amplify all the things he missed about Clem.
“This property is absolutely stunning,” King Hansen said, as they followed Jolene to the back of the farmhouse.
“I agree.” She beamed at his father then flashed her eyes coquettishly at Edward, which he pretended not to notice.
“The expanse of woods back here provide the perfect sense of privacy,” she said. “The pastoral setting will be a nice contrast to the contemporary feel you have in mind for your development. Peace of the country amidst modern design. Quite the allure.”
“What do you think, Edward?” his father asked.
Edward took a moment to survey the land surrounding them. The yellow fields of wildflowers swaying in the breeze, bunches of tall sunflowers dotting the landscape here and there. The woods directly in front of them, so thick with looming oak and pine trees, he felt he could possibly disappear within their expanse. At the moment, he wouldn’t mind doing just that. He could easily fold himself into the serenity of this place.
“I think this property is just about perfect,” he said.
“My thoughts exactly,” his father replied.
Jolene let out a squeal of excitement and clapped her hands together before she and King Hansen headed back to the house to sign the necessary documents.
Edward was in a fog as he watched them walk up the steps of the front porch. He found himself imagining Clem sitting up there, her legs kicked out in front of her on the porch swing, a book in her lap. Her hair pulled back in a messy braid, as usual, and golden fly-away strands dancing around her luminous face. She was smiling.
In that moment, he knew what he had to do. It was too easy to see why Clem loved this farmhouse and impossible to not imagine her here with a
ll of her treasures from her secret storage locker—the ones she’d been saving up for years so that they could find a home in this very house.
Pulling out his phone, he opened his group chat with his brothers, needing to check in with them and get their thoughts. It was time to open up to his family about his feelings for Clementine and his thoughts on the farmhouse property. He knew Aldon would sympathize with him. His middle brother was a romantic who believed in true love and saw meaning in everything. He was a sucker for collecting memories and storing them to remind him of special times. Marcus, the youngest, was a playboy, who entertained a different lady friend every night. He saw everything through a lens of pleasure and conquest and how much fun he could pack into each moment of life, but he was deeply loyal to family and was always there for Edward and Aldon. Despite their personal opinions, he knew he could trust his brothers with his plan. They were a close-knit trio, and Marcus and Aldon would support him in this.
I’ve let Dad push me into this. I’ve always wanted to please him, but this time I feel strongly that developing this land is the wrong move.
Aldon was the first to reply.
Marcus and I have been watching you do this for years, Edward. If you’re going to lead the kingdom, you’re going to have to lead your way, not follow whatever Dad’s plans are all the time.
Marcus replied with some words of caution.
You know Dad is not going to back down on this one. I don’t know how you’ll sway him to change his mind. But you’ve got my support—always.
Edward, if you truly love this woman, Aldon sent next, you have to try.
Edward knew what to do.
He thought about Lance’s words from earlier in the car.
Right now was his chance to restore things with Clem. He could use this one choice to make their love as beautiful as it had been on the day he’d made love to her on the banks of a gurgling stream.
The time to act was now.
Jolene and his father exited the farmhouse, still chatting. As they approached, Edward said nothing of his plans but simply smiled at his father, whom he truly loved and respected. It wouldn’t be easy to pull this off without hurting him, but he had to follow his heart for once, instead of his father’s. He hoped he could get his father to see his side of things in the end.
Edward handed the realtor a card. “Jolene, please give me a call at your earliest convenience. I’d like to discuss a separate issue with you when you have time later today.”
Jolene looked like she’d won the lottery. “I’ll call you later, Prince Edward.” Her voice was sultry.
Means to an end, he told himself.
And, he hoped, the end would be more than worth it.
15
Clem was poring over bills behind the counter at Wicke Salvage, back to work after three days spent in the hospital. Her leg was in a heavy cast that made it uncomfortable to stand, so she had her left foot propped on a chair. Bells jangled as the door to the shop swung open, and a man in his mid-thirties dressed in brown corduroys pants and an argyle sweater vest swept inside. He looked hungry to buy as he surveyed items in the aisles, picking up random things here and there and studying them.
Clem chastised herself for the disorganization. Wicke Salvage was usually in tip-top shape, but Uncle Stoddard and her father had let things go a bit in her absence. She hoped the shoddy placement didn’t discourage the man from making a buy.
“Can I help you?” she asked and used the crutches the doctor had given her to emerge from behind the counter.
On spotting her, the man’s face broke into a sympathetic smile. “You look like you could use some help, yourself,” he said. “What happened?”
Clem rolled her eyes and answered him. “Dangerous job, salvaging,” she said, and he laughed. “Are you looking for something specific?”
“Well, I stopped in to inquire about some barn wood, actually,” he said. “My wife and I are building a brand-new house, but we want to give it a rustic feel.” His eyes lit up. “One of the ideas we had was to install barn doors throughout the home, rather than traditional knobbed doors.
Clem nodded wistfully. “That sounds like an amazing plan,” she said, imagining what it would have been like if she’d accepted Edward’s offer of building her a dream home. They could have designed it together, as this man was doing with his wife. “We have quite a stack of barn wood out back, and we even work with a guy who builds and installs barn doors if you’d like his number.”
“Thanks, but my wife is a real do-it-yourself kind of gal,” he said and laughed. Clem could tell this man adored his partner and was proud of her. “Me, I have no patience or talent for it, but my wife loves using creative materials to make something that’s unique. She’s going to build the barn doors herself. Sent me here to pick out a specific type of wood. I have pictures.”
Clem couldn’t hide how impressed she was. “That sounds like a big job. Good for her!” She led the man to the storage yard out back and showed him their display of barn wood. He thanked her and took his phone from his pocket.
“Got to take pics for the wife, so she can choose!” he said, and Clem told him to make himself at home. She left him to it and started back inside, feeling deflated and filled with regret.
She hadn’t expected to miss Edward this much. It didn’t matter how many times she told herself that they were too different, that it never would have worked. The problems just kept getting smaller in her memory while the reasons to be with him got bigger. She had pushed love away because she was too afraid it would take too much work to make it right. Wasn’t that completely against her philosophy in life? Beautiful things, like the relationship she and Edward had begun to build, were worth the time and effort it took to make them work. Sure, they didn’t see eye-to-eye on everything, but that didn’t mean they weren’t a good team. Just look at what they’d accomplished at the Kawell Castle and the old mill. They’d found compromises and had figured out how to make things work for both of them. That was something. Maybe opposites could make a go of it.
It wasn’t his fault his father had purchased the farm without telling him. He’d felt awful about it and tried to apologize. She saw his sincerity now, but was it too late?
She knew she had to go to him.
She waited until the man out back was finished inspecting the barn wood then hurried as best she could with her crutches to the front door. Placing the Be Right Back sign in the window, she pulled the door closed, but before it latched, a hand was on the outside, pulling it back open. She looked up and there he was.
Edward. As if he’d heard the call of her heart.
“Is it too late? Do you need to close the shop?” he asked, and she stood staring at him, eyes wide, mouth open. “If you’re going to lunch or something, I’ll wait.”
She gathered herself then shook her head. “No, no, come on in,” she said and motioned for him to follow her into the shop. She turned to him, and his eyes grabbed her. His lips made her hungry to kiss them, and she wondered how it was she’d ever strayed from this beautiful man.
“Edward,” she began. “There’s something I need to tell you—”
“Wait,” he interrupted. “Let me go first, Clem.” His chest rose and fell with one deep breath. His eyes never left hers.
“I’ve come to tell you that I realize you were right. I do need to find a better balance between my father’s vision for the kingdom and my own ideas. I’m working on that.”
Clem smiled at him. “That’s… that’s great Edward. I also wanted to talk to you about—”
“I’ve cancelled the demolition of the farmhouse, Clem.”
He what? She heard a soft gasp before she realized it was her.
“To make a long story short, I secretly bought it back from my father. He doesn’t yet know that the buyer who outbid him was his own son,” Edward said. “I’ll tell him when I’m ready.”
Clementine could hardly imagine the amount of money it must have cost Edward to b
uy the farm from the kingdom, removing it from the control of his father, who’d been so intent on developing it into condos.
“But why would you do that?” Clem wondered aloud. “What do you want with the farmhouse?”
Edward looked at his feet then back at Clem. He took three steps closer to her and dared to reach out and touch her hand.
“I want you to have it,” he said, his voice thick like there were tears in his throat. “A few days ago, I was there with my father. It was a property walk-through,” he explained. “Anyway, everywhere I looked I saw you. You belong there, Clem. That place won’t be complete without you and all of your treasures to fill it up and make it a home.”
Clem had no words. She was stunned. Her heart had been right to urge her to go to him. He did care for her, deeply enough to risk upsetting his father to make her happy. Deeply enough to re-evaluate his perspective and way of doing things.
She closed the space between them and folded herself into him. He wrapped his arms gently around her until every fear she had about building a relationship with him fell away. Angling her neck up so she could stare into his eyes, she spoke.
“I’ll accept the land on one condition.”
Edward laughed. “You are one tough cookie, woman.”
“I am,” she admitted and grinned at him.
“But, you’re worth it, Clem.” His voice was husky, brimming with desire and hope. “What’s your condition?”
She bit her lip. Did she have the nerve to say that words?
“That you live there with me in the farmhouse.” She’d done it. “At least part of the time. We can go back and forth from the farmhouse, the castle and even your swanky penthouse,” she told him.
Edward’s face broke into a smile that was pure sunshine.
“Deal,” he said and planted his lips over hers.
For a moment, Clem forgot all about castles and penthouses and even farms. In the front room of Wicke Salvage, among relics and bits of dust floating golden in the stream of afternoon sunlight, Clem thought only of Edward and the taste of his lips.