Page 105 of To Bed the Bride
“Miss Eleanor, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor?” The last visitor she’d had at Logan’s house had been an unwelcome one. Had one of her relatives followed her to Scotland?
Bruce stood, ran to the door and disappeared.
Suddenly, she knew exactly who it was. A moment later she heard his voice as he greeted Bruce. Logan was here. Logan was here. Why was Logan here?
“It’s the man who brought Bruce,” her housekeeper said. “I recognized him.”
Eleanor stood and thanked Mrs. Willett, not informing the woman that she knew Logan quite well indeed. The other woman nodded, then melted away in that fashion of hers. It wasn’t fair to wish that Mrs. Willett was more like Mrs. Campbell, but she missed Logan’s housekeeper.
Should she remain here? She hadn’t told Mrs. Willett to bring Logan to the library. All she’d done was stare at the woman. No, she should go and meet him and greet him with a smile. Offer him the hospitality for which Hearthmere was famous.
Only her feet wouldn’t move.
Logan was here. Oh, dear. Logan was here. Why was he here? Had he come to lecture her about leaving London before he’d returned? Had he come simply to see how she was faring? That sounded more like him. Logan was here.
What was she going to do? How was she going to react? What could she possibly say?
I’ve missed you terribly, much more than I should have, perhaps. The days have been endless without you.
What would it be like when years had passed before she saw him again?
Suddenly he was at the door, Bruce beside him. The dog looked like he was grinning because his two favorite people were together again.
“Hello,” she said, feeling like a fool. It was the only word that passed her lips easily.
“Hello,” he answered.
She should ask what he was doing here. She should say something, anything.
I’ve been missing you.
Thank you for everything.
I love you.
No, she couldn’t say that, could she?
“You look tired,” she said.
“I am. I’ve traveled between Scotland and England a bit much lately. Why did you leave?”
He had always been direct, hadn’t he?
“It was better.”
“For whom? You?”
No, she’d been miserable.
“For you.”
She had to point out some not so pleasant facts to Logan.
“I’m sure that word has gotten out that Michael ended our engagement because of that afternoon in your house. I’m equally certain that your name has been bandied about. I won’t harm your career, Logan. I won’t allow that to happen.”
“You can’t,” he said, closing the library door and walking toward her. “Any gossip about me will only add to my allure. No doubt I’ll have whispers following me wherever I go, but that isn’t altogether a bad thing.”
