Page 26 of Marrying the Gardener
I want Crimson to be okay. I want to know, with certainty, that she’s not crying herself to sleep tonight. I want…Crimson.
I very madly, deeply, and utterly want my wife to bemy wife.
I guess it’s good to want.
Planting my arms at my sides, I say, “I’d like to apologizefor my behavior earlier and ask that you don’t take how you feel about me out on Crimson.”
“How dare you.” Ava steps outside, shuts the door behind her, and spears a finger to my chest. “You think I don’t know your type? You think I have no experience withtoxic men? You can’t act one way then expect an apology to fix everything, and you most certainly can’t pin the blame on me. Actions speak louder than words, boy. If you want me to forgive you, you’ll leave Crimson alone and never show your face here again.”
“But—”
Ava’s teeth grit, and she shakes her head. “Heaven knows her father will force her into an abortion regardless of whether you’re here or not. She doesn’t need that on top of you trying to sleaze your way into the Nightingale name.”
The very idea that someone would force Crimson to abort a child constricts a fist around my heart and darkens my mood so forcibly Ava hesitates, removing her finger from my chest.
Firm, I say, “That man will have to walk over my dead body to ever get to Crimson again, Ms. Ava. So long as I live, he will not lay a finger on her and he will be very careful about what he tells her to do. Or, so help me, I will put him in the ground myself, plant flowers on his grave, anddancein them.”
Ava’s eyes narrow, scanning me. Reaching back for the latch of the door, she says, “Anger is hardly a becoming trait, Mr. Charter. Least of all when it gives way to violence. If you are the sort of man who would lift his hand against anyone, it is only a matter of time before you find some reason to lift it against the people you claim to love. That sort of man doesn’t belong anywhere near my girl.”
“I firmly disagree. Sometimes, we must lift our hands to protect those we love.”
“That is a wholly male opinion. If people cannot settle their differences with diplomacy, they should not be in any sort ofpower to begin with.”
“In a perfect world,” I murmur, “perhaps.” I stretch my fingers, loosening my fists. “However, we do not live in a perfect world, and there are countless times I wish I had been large enough to end violence with violence and save the people I love most. Instead, all I was able to do was run. You can rest assured if this world plays a cruel joke of repeating the history I know, I will not be running again. Crimson is hurting right now, Ms. Ava. I am here to extend an olive branch and plead for your assistance and your trust.” I offer Ava my hand. “Can we stand united on the matter of loving Crimson?”
She ignores my hand to grip the door handle tighter. “Love does not judge how many staff one’s lover keeps, Mr. Charter.”
“I agree. But love obeys any command, and I’m afraid I’ve been given some difficult ones in the past few days.”
Caution deepens the wrinkles around her eyes as she lets her fingers slip from the door handle. “Will you elaborate?”
“This is important to Crimson. These are decisions she’s making. I trust you to trust her discretion.” I do not flinch. “Before I tell you anything more, I need your word that you will not let what we discuss here go any further. ”
Her lips prune as she takes me in, again, this time with what seems to be a more open mind. “Fine. I’m listening.”
Picturing Crimson’s tears, I steel myself in front of the woman who raised her to be as dear as she is, and then I explain, “I am little more than a pawn in Crimson’s battle to obtain enough power to separate herself from her family. I am under several contracts, including a non-disclosure agreement, so I am quite literally putting myself at the risk of legal repercussions right now.” A breath pulls from my body. “But I can’t bear to see her hurting like this. I never knew a mother’s love. I can’t imagine what it feels like to betray it. That’s the first reason I’ve come here tonight, to tell you that she is safe with me andI would kill myself first before harming her. The second reason is…I am desperate, Ms. Ava.” My hand shakes as I bring it to my face, swipe it over my mouth. “I have no way to persuade her out of this. I do not know her well enough. Please, if you know how I can stop her from going through with so much suffering…tell me.”
“Her grandfather’s will…” Ava whispers. Thoughts stream in her eyes, and she closes them, shaking her head. “She’s asked you to get in good favor with those men by behaving like them throughout the duration of her grandfather’s final weeks…in order to obtain her due through you.”
“Exactly that.”
The sweet little old woman…swears. “Crimson’s stubborn on a good day. If she’s trying to get written into the will through you and take charge of enough assets to safely remove herself from those people, nothing is going to stop her.”
“Nothing?”
“It’s what she’s been searching for her entire life—a chance like this.” Ava’s arms cross as she looks up at me. “Who are you, Mr. Charter? How did she employ your services and why do you seem to care beyond them?”
Swallowing hard, I say, “I’m an escort. She recognized me as I was leaving a job and discussions began the following day.”
“She recognized you?” Ava asks.
I wet my lips. “Yes. She recognized me as the man who tends to the Bachelors’ gardens. However…I’m not their gardener. I’m also a Bachelor brother, and I happen to work as an escort for various reasons.”
Ava’s eyes widen, catching moonlight before she sneers. “Crimson knows all the Bachelor brothers. I’m not in the mood for jokes tonight.”
“I left home fourteen years ago. I was gone for seven. Once our parents died, Viktor brought me back home. But, before theydied, I was their failure of a son who didn’t amount to anything and who had no marketable skills to speak of. Because of that, I received the brunt of their abuse, and I couldn’t take it. So I left. I left, and they erased me from their lives. Through Viktor, through my family’s influence, I have the power to save Crimson, but…”
“Only at the expense of her pride and independence. Which she wouldn’t accept because it would just place her in a different sort of servitude.” Ava’s muscles droop as her arms go limp. “The eldest Bachelor boy… Viktor himself has offered before to give her the means to stand on equal footing with the other Nightingales, but she’s refused. She does not want to be indebted to anyone who could control her again. She’s both scared and sick of being the idiotic damsel in distress. She wants to claim her own rights, save herself.” Ava’s gaze fixes on me. “Considering this would only go so far if she still doesn’t know who you really are…what is she giving you for your help?”
