Page 160 of Seduction Under the Southern Stars

“I think my exact words were, ‘About time,’” Fraser adds.

“Almost,” Linc says. “There might have been an F word in the middle of that.”

I giggle, and Dad rolls his eyes and releases me.

I go over to Mum, and we have a huge hug. The guys smile and continue talking, turning away to give us some privacy.

“I’m so pleased for you,” Mum murmurs stroking my hair.

Tears spring into my eyes. “You’re going to be the mother of the bride.”

She swallows hard. “I’m so glad I’ll be there to see you get married, baby.”

“Me too.” We cling together for a while, both overcome with emotion. I came close to losing her, and it means so much to me to know that I’ll have her here to go shopping for wedding dresses, to help plan the wedding, and to be there on the day.

“Go on, sweetheart.” She releases me and smiles, blinking away the tears. “Your fiancé is waiting for you.”

“Fiancé!” I turn to Linc, wiping my face, and he laughs and pulls me into his arms.

“So what happens now?” Fraser asks. “Are you still flying out Monday?”

Linc kisses the top of my head. “We need to talk about that. You want to come for a walk with me, Lora?”

I nod, and so, with a smile at my family, I follow him to the door, where we put on our shoes and go out into the sunlight.

The third dog, a relatively young Spaniel pup called Howard, after Howard Carter who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb, runs out past us, so we take him with us as we walk along the path and into the forest.

Howard snuffles amongst the leaves, looking for rabbits, and Linc squeezes my hand. I tilt my face up to the canopy of leaves, feeling the dappled summer sun on my face.

Linc just asked me to marry him.

OMG!

I didn’t dream it, did I?

“So,” he says. “We need to talk about what happens now.”

“Mmm.” My heart is racing, and my head is spinning, but I try to rein in my galloping thoughts. He’s right—it’s not as easy as just saying ‘I do’ to one another.

“I talked to your dad about this,” he says. “He wanted to know what we were going to do.”

“Your talk obviously went okay. I still can’t believe the two of you didn’t murder each other.”

“He apologized. That made it a whole lot easier.”

I shake my head. That wouldn’t have been easy for my father.

“Basically we’ve got two options,” Linc says. “Both have their advantages and disadvantages. If I were to move back to New Zealand, I’d be able to see more of my new family, as well as Henry and Joel and Fraser and your parents. And you might prefer that, because you could stay at the museum, and I know your family is important to you.”

I reach out a hand and pluck a leaf from a nearby branch. In a few months the leaves will start to turn into their beautiful autumn colors, but this one is the color of Linc’s eyes, a beautiful bright green.

“Alternatively,” he continues, “you could come with me to England.” I must have tensed up, because he flexes his hand around mine. “Bear with me. I’m going to explain why I think that would be a good idea. But in the end, sweetheart, I’m open to discussion either way, okay?”

I nod, glad he’s giving me the option.

“I know you’re ready to move on,” he says. “You’ve told me you want to put the assault behind you, and you’re tired of feeling afraid. The bungee jump showed me that you’re more than able to adjust to new challenges. And I think if you push yourself to step out of your comfort zone, you’d be surprised at what you’re able to achieve.”

He lifts my hand and kisses my fingers. “I’d like you to think about moving to London with me. You don’t have to make your mind up right now. What I thought I might do is contact iDigBritain and request to extend my stay here initially by a few weeks, so I can spend time with you and your family, see Edmund a few times, and give you time to think. But I said to Atticus that I think it would be such an adventure for you. We could make it a limited time thing, so we could say we were going to live there for maybe two years. We’d fly back often to visit your family. But while we were there, I could take you to all the wonderful historical and archaeological sites in England and the rest of Europe. We could visit all the fantastic museums, and maybe go on a few digs together. I’d be by your side, to support you every step of the way, as much as you needed. But I think it would be the making of you, Lora. I think you’d flourish once you realize how liberating it is to live where nobody knows you, and where your life is completely your own, and you can do whatever you want with it.”

---