Page 84 of New Storm Rising
“If you call me that again,” he informed me, “Thegarçonshall serve you a whole onion straight down your throat.”
I considered this for a moment—then bowed politely. “Oh brave and gracious bodyguard, thank you for offering me my food.”
I could always call himgarçonagain next time we were in France. Ha! He wouldn’t be able to complain then, would he?
It didn’t take long for the stew to be distributed. Soon, we were all happily sitting around a makeshift table, chatting and eating. Well…eating, anyway. Not all of us were looking happy, or seemed to be inclined to chat. But then again…
Leaning over towards Mr Rikkard Ambrose, I clutched his arm and cuddled into his side. Nobody ever said being chatty was necessary for a spiffing husband, right?
I smirked.
Maybe I’d grab his wallet later and buy enough onion stew for the whole town. That ought to motivate my dear hubby to become more…vocal.
Later that night, when the mine workers had long left the table and were snoring in their sheds, my husband and I were still sitting on the bench, watching the romantic sunset through the scattered trees. I felt especially lucky that the sunset tonight was brilliant, bright and beautifully golden. It was probably only due to the sun’s current uncanny resemblance to a big, shiny, golden coin that Mr Ambrose was still sitting beside me, watching avidly.
“So…” I whispered, hugging my precious block of stone close to me. “We’ve been waiting for a while now, haven’t we?”
“Indeed.”
“Those two Spaniards and their lackeys don’t seem to want to get a move on. What should we do if they simply continue to sit on their butts without doing anything?”
For a moment, there was nothing but silence as Mr Ambrose gazed into the distance, thinking deeply.
“Well…”
“Yes?”
“I think what we should do next is…”
“Yes?”
“…is go back into the house, enter the bedroom and—”
I elbowed him in the ribs. “Not that! I meant what should we do about those bloody Spaniards!”
“Indeed?” he said as if it came as an actual surprise to him.
“Don’t look so innocent! I know you! I know you aren’t just going to sit back and stay on the defensive.”
“Indeed?”
“Oh yes, indeed, Sir! Now spill!”
“Do I really have to?” Eyes narrowing infinitesimally, he gazed down at me. If I didn’t know the man, I would have thought there was a sparkle of humour flashing in his eyes. Of course, the sparkle was as cold as an iceberg, but still! “Why don’t you figure it out? You’re my wife. The woman smart enough to marry me.”
I felt warmth surge up inside of me. Darn! Did he actually just manage to make me feel proud for being intelligent enough to get hitched to him?
Apparently he did. And it was still working! Blast him!
And I couldn’t even really be angry with him, because I was too busy trying to figure out the answer!
“Hmm…” I thought about it. Really, truly thought about it. What would the Spaniards do next? How should we react? “They gathered thugs…”
“Indeed they did.”
“But…they didn’tjustgather thugs. They bought the sheriff.”
“Indeed.”
