Page 29 of Forbidden Dark Vows

I step inside and the nerves seem to drain away as he closes the door behind me. “She doesn’t know. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“Sometimes, it’s the only way to go about things. Don’t give yourself a chance to change your mind.”

He leads the way along the corridor to the kitchen that’s painted in bold shades of ochre and sunflower yellow. The room is bright, vibrant, and warm, and I imagine that, in the summer,it’s on fire with the sunlight streaming through the windows. I notice a gold-tasseled cushion on one of the windowsills and immediately picture Ruby sitting there reading a book in the winter when the oven is on and the room is cozy.

Ruby’s dad fills the kettle and switches it on to boil. “I’m Graham,” he says, and his smile is Ruby’s. “How do you take your coffee?”

I tell him I take it with a dash of cream and three spoons of sugar, and he gestures for me to take a seat at the worn pine table in the middle of the room.

I already like Graham. He hasn’t asked why I’m here. He isn’t probing for my intentions regarding his daughter, and he didn’t slam the door in my face. The anger must belong solely to his wife.

He carries our coffees to the table, one at a time, and sits facing me, propping his walking stick up against the edge. The house is cozy, comfortable, a home that has soaked up the personalities of the inhabitants.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he says, finally. “Maybe now, Ruby will start smiling again.” He doesn’t seem to expect a response, so I keep quiet. “She likes you; you know.”

I can’t contain my own smile. A wave of emotions battles with the tiredness crashing through my head, and I choke back tears. I didn’t know what to think when I didn’t hear from Ruby again. My thoughts scrambled between thinking that I’d pushed her too far and fearing that her mom had convinced her to stay away from me.

Standing outside the house, I’d fought the overwhelming urge to turn around and head straight back to the airport, but Iunderstand now that this was my only option. This is me trying to win the girl I love. And now that I’m here…

“I’m going to marry Ruby.”

Graham doesn’t even seem surprised. “I’d have been more concerned if you’d said youwantedto marry her. Wanting to marry her would’ve implied that there’s a chance it might not happen.”

“I’ve already proposed to her. Twice. She thinks it was the pain meds talking.”

Again, no shock registers on Graham’s face. “Are you sure about that?”

My brain takes a couple of beats to process his question. “I scared her off, didn’t I? It was too much, too soon. I should’ve given her time to?—”

Graham makes a wave motion with his hands for me to stop panicking. “You did what felt right at the time—it’s all any of us can do. Have you ever heard the saying,what’s for you won’t go by you?” I shake my head. “I think you have to trust that fate knows what it’s doing.”

Ruby talked about her dad a lot when we were snowed in at the hospital, but nothing she said could ever have done this man justice. Life served him a bum deal, but it hasn’t kept him down. It hasn’t destroyed his spirit, the same fighting spirit that I see in his daughter.

We’re sitting in the cozy den with the huge window overlooking the backyard where the trees are still wearing their Christmas-card-worthy snow hats when Ruby comes home.

She freezes when she sees me sitting in the armchair with a mug of coffee in my hands. “Harry? How did you…? What are you doing here?”

Her eyes widen with surprise and then narrow like she has been pranked, and I know that she saw the kiss on national TV.

“I wanted to explain… In person.” I stand up, set the cup down on the coffee table, and try to take her hands, but she pulls away and turns an accusatory glare on her dad.

“Did you organize this?”

Graham raises both hands, palms facing outwards, in a gesture of surrender. “Nothing to do with me. I’m just the doorman.”

Ruby swallows. “I think you should leave.”

“Not until I’ve had a chance to explain.”

“Hear the man out, Ruby,” Graham says.

She goes to leave the room, a sigh of exasperation escaping her lips, and this time I don’t let her snatch her hands away.

“What you saw on TV—that isn’t what happened. I’ve known Alicia since she was at school. The crowd was loud. She wanted to ask me if I was okay, but I couldn’t hear her. I know how it looked, Ruby, but I promise you that there isn’t, and never has been, anything between me and Alessandro’s little sister.” I pause. “That’s why I’m here. I caught the first flight out of New York this morning.”

I’m running out of steam, a night spent in an airport catching up on me. But at least I’ve said what I came to say. If it isn’t enough…

She turns around to face me. “That’s what you came to tell me?” I can’t read her tone, but I’m certain that I can see amusement in her eyes, and my pulse picks up speed.

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