The Earl's Entanglement (Border Series Book 5)(54)

“There’s nothing to tell.” Of course, it was a lie. And her brother knew it.

“If Davenhill insulted you before I arrived—”

“It is not that pompous old goat.”

“Old? The man is nearly the same age as I am. Ahh, is that a smile?”

She straightened her lips lest she allow her brother to be right about anything.

“Just as I said.”

“Emma Waryn, you are bold.”

She ignored that since he made it sound like a compliment. “Look at that view.”

Her brother watched the gentle ebb and flow of the waves with her in silence.

“You’ll catch a chill.” Geoffrey moved to close the tall wooden shutters, but Emma stopped him.

“Just a moment longer.”

Geoffrey shook his head. “Your blood must be warmer than most, sister.”

Emma couldn’t resist.

“Are you cold? Perhaps I could fetch you a cloak?” she teased.

He didn’t appear amused.

“Emma, what is it?” he said, looking into her eyes.

She met his gaze without flinching. Emma trusted her brother with her life. Loved him fiercely.

But she could not tell him the truth. This was also the man who’d prevented her from seeing any of the horse races. Who chided her for wandering too far from the castle. Who thought she was still very much a child. Perhaps to him she always would be that little girl who wore ribbons in her hair. Emma couldn’t dream of allowing little Hayden to be placed in harm’s way, so maybe part of her understood.

“’Tis nothing, Geoffrey.”

He frowned.

Emma didn’t want to upset him, so she tried her best to smile. “I’m grateful to have come with you. Clave is beautiful.”

When Geoffrey moved to close the shutters this time, she did not stop him.

“It is an impressive holding,” he agreed. “And I believe the earl will prove a worthy ally.”

At the mention of Garrick, Emma’s heart skipped a beat.

“He is quite honorable.”

Too much so.

“If only he were not already betrothed . . .” Though her brother attempted to sound casual, Emma knew him too well to be fooled.

He suspected the truth.

“His future wife is very lucky,” she conceded.

Geoffrey continued to watch her. But she would not give him more than that. “Perhaps we should discuss—”

“Nay, I think we should not,” she said.

He frowned, but she’d not be intimidated by his stare.

After a long, tense moment, he finally conceded. “We should be going.”

“May I speak to Lady Emma first?”

They both turned at the sound. Garrick stood in the doorway, filling it as only he could. Emma stole a glance at her brother.

Aye, her brother knew the truth, or at least some approximation of it. Was it the way Garrick looked at her, or she at him? Or perhaps it was something else altogether?

Geoffrey inclined his head to her. Striding from the room, he stopped just before reaching their host. Emma was sure Geoffrey would say something to him, but instead he turned back to her.

“The others will be waiting.”

With that, he was gone.

He’d left the doors open, of course.

Garrick took a step toward her, and then another. Emma wanted to weep. To scream. To laugh with the joy of being with him just once more.

“You took a chance,” she said, referring to his request to speak with her alone. Though he’d not said as much aloud, the implication had been obvious to all of them.

“I will take another. And another. Anything to be with you.”

She could tell he meant it.

“I would wrap my arms around you,” she said.

Garrick shook his head. “If you did, I’d be forced to kiss you. I would make you mine this instant, Emma, if I could.”

“I will wait,” she said. “But how can I put off Sowlis’s visit?”

“Find a way,” he said. “I will come to you, I promise.”

She believed him. And she knew in her heart she would wait for him. She’d wait an entire lifetime if necessary. Her love for him had caught her unawares, but there was no denying the force of it.

“I love you, Garrick,” she whispered, the words coming as easily as if she’d said them many times before.

“And I love you, Emma,” he said. “I will come to you,” he repeated.

She didn’t ask when. Garrick’s task was a difficult one. But he had promised, and she believed him.

“I must go.” With a final backward glance at the earl who had captured her heart, Emma walked from the room.

He’d asked her to wait.

And she would.





20





Nearly a week had passed since the council. Since he’d seen her.

Clave ran as smoothly as ever. Garrick’s men benefited from the tactics they’d learned overseas and trained hard despite the cold, making him proud to be their leader. And his allies had all communicated their praise and ready acceptance of him after the meeting of the council.

Better yet, news had arrived just this morn indicating one of the men who’d been captured following the attack on Garrick’s men had been turned over to the English warden, per Garrick’s agreement with Graeme. The man had finally started talking. He’d admitted to being sent to waylay Garrick specifically, though he claimed not to know who’d hired him. The warden intended to hold the man prisoner until the next Day of Truce, at which point he’d be brought to trial for his crimes.