Chapter 36
When they got back outside, the snow had stopped, and the moon shone brightly overhead.
Emma flung her arms out to either side and spun in circles. “Can we stay for a while?” she asked. “I love the snow so much.”
“There will be snow at home,” Reeves told her, his voice firm but kind. “Get in the carriage, Emma. We aren’t going to stay out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“Perhaps we should take rooms at the inn, Reeves,” Bridget suggested. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for us to be on the road so late at night. We don’t want any more trouble, and I’d feel much better traveling by daylight.”
“If that’s what you want,” Reeves agreed mildly.
He’d intended to get them back on the road because he had assumed everyone would want to be home as soon as possible.
But Emma didn’t seem in any hurry to leave, and now that Gareth was gone, there was no reason not to stay at the inn. “I’ll see how many rooms they have.”
“Will the three of us share a room again?” Emma wanted to know.
Reeves laughed. “You’ll have to ask Bridget.”
“You’ll say yes, won’t you, Bridget?”
Bridget’s cheeks were pink, but she was smiling, and it was a smile that reached her eyes. “I think we know one another well enough now for that to be all right,” she said.
“And then we can get a second room for Norman and Jasper,” Reeves said. “That ought to do.”
“Or, if you want, you can share my room, Lady Bridget,” Jasper said, giving her a little bow and a smirk. “I wouldn’t mind a bit. Having such a lovely companion by my side…”
“That’s enough,” Reeves barked. “Don’t insult the lady, Jasper. She has only just met you. She doesn’t know anything about your character.”
“I know his character is good enough to come to Emma’s rescue,” Bridget said. “Even if he does seem to be a bit of a scoundrel.”
“Jasper Fitzroy, professional scoundrel, at your service,” Jasper agreed, giving her a little bow.
“And it’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Bridget.
I could tell my old friend here was very fond of the lady he kept talking about, of course, but I didn’t know you would be so fair.
If you want my opinion, you could do a bit better than him! ”
“She didn’t ask you for your opinion,” Reeves growled. “Keep it up, Jasper, and you’ll be paying for your own lodgings tonight.”
“This is the thanks I get?” Jasper laughed. “Forgive me, Lady Bridget. It’s just that I’ve heard so many complimentary things about you, and truly, you do not disappoint.”
“Jasper, why don’t you take Emma into the inn with Norman and speak to the innkeeper about how many rooms might be available for the night?” Reeves suggested, eager to be rid of his friend. “If there are two, please let him know we’ll be wanting both of them.”
Jasper gave Reeves a knowing look. “Whatever I can do to help you, of course, Reeves,” he said.
Norman gave a short huff. “Come on, then,” he told Jasper. “You won’t catch me standing out here in the cold any longer than I have to, that’s for certain!”
He took Jasper by the back of the neck and steered him away.
Bridget watched the two of them go, then turned back to face Reeves. “He’s something else,” she said. “Is he always that way?”
“Often,” Reeves chuckled. “He was pleasant to have around during wartime, believe it or not. The man is incapable of taking anything seriously, and sometimes things were so serious that it was good to have someone around who forced you to laugh. I do wish he’d show a bit more respect, of course.
” He frowned. “He shouldn’t have been speaking to you the way he did. ”
“Oh, I think it was the same thing you’re referring to,” Bridget said lightly. “Tonight has been so awful. There have been so many dark and dismal things that none of us will ever really forget. Maybe he just wanted to lighten things up and make us all laugh before we turn in for the evening.”
“You’re not offended by the things he said, then?” Reeves asked.
“I would be offended if I thought he had really meant them, I think,” she said. “But it didn’t seem that way to me. I think he was teasing, and that’s all right. I’m just glad it’s all over now.”
“So am I,” Reeves murmured, and he drew her into an embrace and held her.
It wasn’t like every other embrace the two of them had shared in the past. It didn’t hold the same strange thrill. Reeves’ heart didn’t beat faster at the excitement of having her so close to him, and it didn’t feel full of intoxicating danger.
Instead, it was steadying. Comforting. Having her in his arms today was like having a warm cup of tea.
It settled his nerves and made him feel more at ease than he had since all this had started.
Bridget was warm in his arms, solid and sure, and he was able to reassure himself that nothing had happened to her. And nothing would.
Everything is going to be all right now. The danger is finally over.
“It’s so lovely to hear Emma talking again,” she murmured. “I’ve never heard her sound as confident as she did today.”
“Well, it was knowing that you were in danger that seemed to bring it out in her at last,” Reeves said. “I wouldn’t have let her find out what was going on if it had been my choice, but the child does like to eavesdrop. She came upon me reading the note that Gareth sent back to us.”
“I don’t know about any note,” Bridget admitted. “Gareth said he was sure you would be coming to get me, but he never told me how he knew that.”
“He sent the carriage driver back with a note to let me know what had happened,” Reeves explained. “And a demand that I come and bring Emma to exchange for your safety.”
“Oh!” Bridget gasped. “In all the worry about everything else, I’d forgotten. Is the driver all right?”
“He will be,” Reeves said. “He made it home safely, and he’s being tended to now. He’ll recover.”
“Thank goodness.” Bridget sighed. “I was so terrified when I saw him fall. I can’t believe all this has happened. I don’t know what I would have done if not for him. If he hadn’t made it back home to tell you…” she shook her head. “But on the other hand, I really didn’t want you to come.”
“Do you still wish I hadn’t?”
“No,” Bridget admitted. “I’m glad you came, and that you had a plan. But I couldn’t see how you would get me away from Gareth without putting Emma in danger, and helping me wasn’t worth that.”
“I understand,” Reeves said quietly. “I know that’s how you feel about it, and it means the world to me that you do. I know I can trust you with my daughter.” He sighed. “You were willing to lay your life down for her. That’s more than anyone other than me has ever been willing to do.”
“I care for her very much,” Bridget said softly.
“Just as I do for all the children I’ve looked after…
but there’s something special about her, too.
There always has been. She’s touched my heart in a very unique way.
” She sighed. “I should have stayed with you at Greystone,” she murmured.
“That’s where my heart always wanted to be.
I should have admitted it to myself. I should have stayed when you asked me to.
If I had, none of this would have happened. ”
“You couldn’t have known.” Reeves cupped her cheek gently, and she closed her eyes.
“Neither of us could have known what was going to happen. And if we had known, you wouldn’t have had any choice in the matter.
I’d have locked you in your room rather than allow you to walk into this danger.
No matter how angry it made you, I wouldn’t have let you leave if I’d known what lay ahead. ”
“If we’d known, you wouldn’t have had to lock me anywhere,” Bridget assured him. “There’s no way I would have gone under those circumstances.”
“We have to forgive ourselves, that’s all,” Reeves said. “What happened here tonight wasn’t my fault, and it wasn’t yours. And what matters most is that we were able to get ourselves out of the situation.”
“You got us out of it,” Bridget said. “You saved me. You saved Emma. You must never again tell yourself that you’re powerless to protect the people you love, Reeves. Tonight you saved my life, and you did it while keeping Emma out of danger. We owe you everything in the world.”
“I couldn’t do anything else,” Reeves said softly.
“Gareth knew that he was putting me in an impossible choice by taking you the way he did. My one mistake in all of this was allowing him to see how much I cared for you. He knew he would be able to use that against me, and that knowledge created danger for all of us. If I’d been able to keep my feelings to myself, it would have been better. ”
“You kept them to yourself better than you think you did,” Bridget told him. “I had no idea.”
“How could you not have known? When I was begging you to stay at Greystone? When I kissed you? Was it not obvious that I felt something?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “You didn’t want me to know, Reeves,” she said. “You were hiding it from me as best you could. You know you were. If you had really wanted me to realize that I meant something to you, you would have said the words.”
“And what about you?” he asked her. “You never said anything either.”
“I couldn’t.” She shook her head, smiling. “You’re right, Reeves. You’re right—and so am I. We should have confided in one another from the very start. We should have been honest with each other.”
“Well, we’ll do that from now on,” Reeves pledged. “From now on, I’ll tell you exactly what I’m thinking. And you’ll do the same, I hope.”
She nodded. “I will. I promise, I will.”
“Then I’ll tell you the truth right now,” he said. “I love you, Bridget. You’ve shown me the meaning of love. What I feel for you, I’ve never felt for another person in all my life. I know love is real because I know you. And I can’t imagine not asking you to be my wife.”
She gasped. “Are you… Are you asking me?”
“I’m imploring you. Marry me. Stay with me. Raise Emma with me—she longs to have you as a mother. We can be a family, the three of us, if you’ll agree. Will you?”
She stared up at him, her eyes searching his as if she might find the answer to his question there.
“I love you,” he murmured. “Tell me that you love me too.”
“You know I do, Reeves.”
He did know. After all the doubt and uncertainty, facing her now, he couldn’t remember how he had ever managed to feel uncertain of her feelings for him. They were written all over her face. Nothing could possibly be clearer.
“Then be my wife,” he whispered, caressing her cheek.
And Bridget nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, Reeves. Of course I will. I would love nothing more.”