Page 89 of To Treasure an Heiress
He grinned down at her. “She’s right about you too. They both are.”
“Clever ladies, those. I quite like them.”
“Good.” Though he still felt a bit like the wind had been knocked from his sails. He fingered the useless list. “It was quite thorough, you know. All your virtues and charms. Took me forever to list them all out.”
Telford dropped into one of the vacated chairs, Lancelot jumping happily into his lap the moment said lap presented itself. He leveled a hard glare on Sheridan. “Everything.”
“Yes, I know. Theydotake over absolutely everything. But...”
“But they’re wonderful,” Beth said, glaring right back at Telford. For a moment anyway, then she turned a smile on Sheridan. “And really, I think you’re overlooking the most important thing.”
That they’d given him their blessing? Well, yes, that was definitely worth celebrating. And he would, once he got over the windblown feeling.
Beth grinned. “Ainsley waswrong.”
The rest of his cheer came surging back. And was it any wonderhe loved her? He laughed and dropped a kiss onto her forehead. “You’re right—how could I have overlooked that? Ainsley!” He charged toward the back door, knowing Ainsley would likely be in the kitchen. “Hey, Harry! You couldn’t havebeenmore wrong!”
And he’d rub it in while he could. Heaven knew it didn’t happen very often.
25
There had been a day not all that long ago when Beth had bemoaned how empty their house felt—how empty the whole isle of Tresco was, with Mabena on the mainland serving Libby, her parents and Morgan gone, so many of her childhood friends having moved away, and Emily living in London.
Now their house and the island felt altogether bursting. Mabena and Libby both here, Emily on St. Mary’s, Senara home, and Telford and Sheridan staying with them. Toss in the Howe sisters, and she really began to wonder if little Tresco could hold so much personality. It was with a self-indulgent laugh that she sneaked back into the library while everyone else was still outside, enjoying the cake Mrs. Dawe had served with tea.
She’d liberate a piece from the kitchen later, if there was any left. But first she’d see what the two cyclones Sheridan called sisters had done with all her books and letters and maps and reams of notes.
She really did like them quite a lot—but Telford was right too. They were a force to be reckoned with, and they didn’t appear to know how to see a situation without trying to bring their own version of order to it.
She strode first to her usual place at the table, where the parish record books and Mother’s stories were still right where she’d leftthem. Well, more or less. They were a bit neater, with the edges all perfectly aligned, but nothing was out of order.
“Didn’t ruin anything, did they?”
Beth looked up with a smile. Sheridan lounged in the doorway, hands behind his back. “Not that I’ve spotted yet. Just tidied things up a bit—they must not have been able to argue much with Senara’s order. Although even if they’d rearranged it all, I’d forgive it. Given how much they love me.”
He grinned and pushed off the frame, advancing a few steps. “I suppose I should have given them more credit. How could they not see in a glance how perfect you are?”
“Perfect! Hardly.” A perfect person wouldn’t have let adventure put her family in danger. Wouldn’t have treated him so ill at the start. Wouldn’t have let herself be trapped by Scofield.
“For me, that is.” He paused on the other side of the table, his hands still behind him. Which was rather strange. “I know Telly thought me mad for inviting them, but I really did need them to come. To bring me something.”
She told herself to breathe normally. Not to flush. Not to let her imagination run ahead of her. Because really, it’s not like he would have asked them to bring any family jewels or anything, right? He might joke about proposing, but they’d only known each other a month and a half. And while it hadn’t even taken that long for Oliver to propose to Libby, such lightning wouldn’t strike their family twice in the span of a summer, would it? Sheridan wouldn’t ask her to marry him already—and especially, he wouldn’t have planned to do it before knowing if they’d have his sisters’ blessing. He clearly loved and respected them too much for that.
Still. She felt a bit detached from her body as she rounded the table, as if her feet were more on a cloud than the library floor. “Oh?”
“Mm.” Gaze locked on hers, he advanced another step, too, until they were only an arm’s length apart. Then he dropped to one knee, making her breath tangle up in her chest. “My lady fair, would you ... forgive me?”
He pulled his arm forward, revealing not a piece of jewelry or a small box that would house one ... but a box still. Larger, and a treasure in itself. She sucked in a quick breath. Her trinket box was resting on his upturned palm.
“Oh!” Better by far than a family jewel. Tears stinging her eyes, she cupped the precious wood between her own palms. “Sheridan. This is what you wanted them to bring?”
“Of course I did. It means far more to you than it ever could to me. Well, aside from the fact that it means so much to you. That obviously makes it important to me too. And—well, I ought to have returned it sooner. But it was at the castle, and they were in London, and I didn’t trust just any courier to bring it, and ... well, there at the start I may have been a bit stubborn about it. Because you were so set on being Beth the Belligerent, that is. But it was wrong of me, and—”
She leaned down and pressed her lips to his, making no objection when he tugged her onto his knee for a better angle. Though he’d probably collapse if they stayed like that for more than a minute. So, she pulled her mouth away at the first wobble of his leg, standing and pulling him up with her. “Thank you. And of course I forgive you. And pray you’ll forgive me, too, for being so ... belligerent.”
Oh how she loved the way one corner of his mouth tugged up. “Well. Perhaps I will. If you beg enough. On your knees, hands clasped before you, I want the whole show—and it must go on for at least a month. I’m a hard one to win over, you know.”
He brushed a stray wisp of hair from her face as she laughed. “Oh yes. You have certainly proven yourself to be ever so stingy with your affections and forgiveness.”
