Chapter Nineteen #2
He looked for her trunk. ‘Oh, you’ve left your trunk by the stagecoach—I’ll go look—’
‘No, I didn’t bring one,’ said Ditty hastily, grabbing hold of his arm as he moved away from her.
To Henry’s disappointment, she released him the moment he halted. ‘You didn’t bring one?’
She shook her head. ‘Just this bag.’
She held out a carpet-bag and his heart sank. It was a short visit, then. She’d be gone tomorrow, perhaps even the day after. She must have forgotten to do something, or left something here, wasn’t that what she’d said?
Ditty Oliver wasn’t here for him. He was just fooling himself, hoping she had come all this way for him.
He should have known. Well, he’d just have to harden his heart, that was all.
‘Right. Well, I’m sure you’ve got someone meeting you, so—’
‘Henry,’ she said urgently.
His heart softened at once. There was such tenderness in her voice, tenderness he could only have dreamed of, and she was looking at him like she never wanted to look at anyone else ever again.
Or was that just his imagination?
‘Ditty,’ Henry said quietly.
He reached out and took her hand in his and the movement felt so natural, so obvious, he wondered why he had never done it before.
This hand, her hand, it belonged in his own. It was his responsibility to hold it, keep it safe and warm.
Ditty looked at his hand, then back to him, and when she spoke, it was in a whisper. ‘I… I don’t know what I’m doing here.’
His heart skipped a beat. ‘I think I know.’
A gentle breeze rustled past them, but he didn’t notice. He wasn’t even aware of who else was around them. What did it matter? In this moment, in this place, there was only himself and Ditty.
‘You do?’ Her eyes were wide, her lips parted.
Henry nodded. ‘I do.’
And the magnitude of the moment suddenly hit him. Perhaps it was the particular words they had just spoken, the echo of marriage vows spoken between them.
You do?
I do.
Perhaps it was the fact he was still holding her hand in his.
Perhaps it was the way she looked at him, open and trusting.
Perhaps it was her beauty, beauty Henry was sure he would never tire of.
Perhaps it was a reminder of when they had given themselves to each other, unrestrained and unexpectant of any promises.
Perhaps it was just a special moment, created by the town of Brexley on this Valentine’s Day Festival.
Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to question it. He was just going to embrace it.
‘Ditty,’ he said, and he was surprised to find that a lump in his throat was making his voice thick. He cleared his throat. ‘Ditty, I— This is hard for me to…’
He hesitated as tension crept along his shoulders.
Why was this so difficult? Why was it so hard to speak his feelings, to say what he felt to this beautiful, kind, bold, contradictory woman before him?
And then Ditty squeezed his hand.
That was it. Just a squeeze. But it was enough.
‘Ditty, I don’t want to do life without you,’ said Henry simply.
He heard her breath catch in her throat, felt the change of her pulse in her hand, and knew he could keep going—he had to.
‘Life without you—Brexley without you, it just isn’t something that’s even worth thinking about,’ he said quietly. ‘I was foolish not to say it before, but I wanted to, many times. But whenever I thought about it… I’m not a brave man, Ditty—’
‘I think you’re one of the bravest men I have ever met.’ She did not take her eyes from his. ‘You carried that burden of the Lodge for months without asking anyone for help.’
‘And I shouldn’t have done,’ Henry said firmly. ‘You’ve taught me that. Asking for help isn’t weak. Look how many people you’ve helped, and you were only here a month!’
She smiled. ‘I suppose I did.’
‘This town needs you, but more than that, I want you,’ he said softly. ‘I never thought I was enough for anyone to choose to stay in Brexley—’
‘Enough?’ Ditty looked astonished. ‘Henry, you—you are everything.’
Joy soared in his chest but he could not lose himself to it now. ‘And I know you have a responsibility to your sisters—’
He was interrupted by her laughter. ‘Oh, don’t you worry about that. I have already engaged Thalia and Calliope to assist with the Lodge. Painting and poetry for your residents. What do you think?’
Henry grinned. ‘I knew I would like them.’
He needed to keep going, needed to find the courage to say what was truly in his heart.
If he could.
‘I have thought this through,’ he said firmly. ‘No, really, I have thought it through far more than you would imagine, Ditty, and I’m set on it. I have a plan for us both to be here, and be happy.’
The words had almost tumbled from his mouth and he wasn’t surprised when Ditty just stared in wonder.
He was a little surprised when she then started to laugh.
Embarrassment, hot and scalding, roared through his veins. ‘What are you laughing at?’
He hadn’t intended to sound so defensive, but it was difficult not to be. Here he was, unburdening his heart to her—
‘You have a plan?’ she said with a giggle.
Heat scalded his cheeks. ‘Yes, why?’
‘Because,’ she said with a beaming grin, ‘I don’t!’
Henry’s jaw dropped. ‘You don’t? You don’t?’
Ditty shook her head, a curl descending from its pins and bouncing off her shoulders as she continued to laugh.
‘I have absolutely no plan. I just knew I had to be with you. I grabbed my reticule and stuffed a few essentials into a carpet-bag, and jumped on the first stagecoach to Brexley with nothing in my mind except…except being with you.’
And that was just what Henry needed to hear. Relief, joy, giddiness roared through his body, his mind hardly able to take in what was happening.
But his heart knew. All the cracks, all the pain that had been caused before, they were gone now. In a way, he thought they’d never really been there.
Georgiana had been lovely, but she wasn’t Ditty. He hadn’t known real love until this wedding planner had stepped into his life, and now he could not imagine life without her.
‘I love you, Ditty,’ he said, the words coming so naturally, it was a wonder he hadn’t said them before. ‘I want you to be my wife—my duchess.’
She beamed. ‘And I love you, Henry. I love you. I came back for you.’
‘You never will have to again.’
He pulled her into his arms and she came willingly. As he placed a loving, passionate kiss on her lips, lips that parted to welcome him in, Henry knew it wasn’t just Ditty who had finally come home.