Chapter Twenty #3
Marietta dropped her hands to his chest, patting over his heart. She thought about Imogene’s face when she’d called out, Gin! The obvious defeat, and something more . . . a complete and utter sense of loss.
“I’m so fortunate to have you in my life.
I’d be terribly lonely without you,” Marietta told him.
“Poor Imogene. Despite her British stiff upper lip, she is suffering. It’s been very hard for her to put Jeffrey into the Memory Center.
After fifty years of marriage, it feels to her like a divorce.
Or even a death. Only she can’t mourn him, which leaves her with no closure whatsoever.
It’s no wonder she wants to be near Harper now. She’s her only family.”
“Doesn’t she have a daughter in New York?”
“Georgiana?” Mamaw sniffed. “She’s a cold one.
Imogene would find little comfort there.
No, it’s Harper she needs. And now with the baby coming, it’s a lifeline.
” Mamaw turned to look again out the window toward Sea Breeze.
“Imogene is desperate to be in the cottage. It’s become a fixation in her mind.
She can afford to move anywhere in the world, but all she can see is that small, insignificant cottage. ”
“Not so insignificant in her mind.”
“No, you’re right about that. And there I am, roosting in it like a fat hen when it was Imogene who was the goose that laid the golden egg in the first place.
Without her, we’d all be living somewhere else.
Seems rather heartless of me not to let her move into the cottage.
I could take the guest room in the main house.
I should. After all, I spend most nights here anyway. ”
“I have another idea.”
Mamaw looked up quickly.
“Why not move in here with me?”
“Move in? With you!” Mamaw held up one hand to her chest, genuinely aghast at Girard’s suggestion.
“Why not? We both know you don’t want to stay in the guest room at Sea Breeze. You said yourself you’d feel like a third wheel, always in the way. And I’m rattling around in this big old house by myself. Moving in together makes sense.”
“I suppose, when you put it in that light, it does.” But she was still caught off-balance.
Sensing her hesitation, Girard pressed on.
“You do like it here, don’t you? It’s a rather nice house,” he said modestly of his impressive home, larger than Sea Breeze.
“I know Sea Breeze will always have a special place in your heart. That this house won’t be the same.
But you won’t be far. You can look out the window and there it is.
You’ll still be close to Harper, Dora, and Carson. ”
She reached up to place her palm against his cheek. “You are the dearest man.”
“But I don’t want you to do this if it makes you at all uncomfortable, Marietta. I wouldn’t want you to be embarrassed in front of your friends.”
Mamaw laughed and shook her head. “Hardly. They’d be terribly jealous.”
His lips twitched with amusement. Then his face grew still.
“I have another idea. A proposal, if you will. I’m only ever truly happy when you’re here with me.
And I want you here with me every day. Every night.
Isn’t that love? Isn’t that the basis of a good marriage?
” Girard took her hands. “Marietta, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Marriage?” Mamaw was utterly floored.
“Of course. Unless you’d rather live in sin,” he added wryly.
Marietta laughed. Her heart felt infused with the moonlight, as though it could soar right from her body directly into the heavens. She smiled at this old friend who had reappeared as a gift to her in the later years of her life.
“Oh, Girard, my friend, lover, neighbor. I love you. With all my heart. But marriage? I don’t want some fool snickering about a triple wedding. At our age. As if . . .”
“Why not?” Girard said with a twinkle in his eye. “Apparently, you can wear white.”
She slapped his chest, blushing. “Oh, don’t remind me of what I said. I’m so ashamed.”
“Wear red, if you have a mind to. Just marry me, Marietta. I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you all those years ago. You know that.”
Marietta nodded as a wry smile eased across her face. “I suspected. And I daresay Edward did, too. He loathed you. Kept a gun by the door in case he saw you sneaking around.”
“You’re kidding,” Girard said unsurely.
“Of course I’m kidding.” She paused. “Or am I?” Marietta laughed again, then looked up and cupped his face in her hand. “Dearest Girard, I don’t want to get married again,” she said gently. “It’s all so complicated at our age. Your children will be up in arms, claiming I’m after your money.”
“What money? I’ve given them just about everything already. The only thing they still have their greedy eyes on is the property in the Adirondacks.”
“What? You still have that gorgeous, virginal property up North?”
“Yes.”
“Girard, that land is priceless! Invaluable to the wildlife in that overdeveloped area. You know what you have to do. Tell me you do.”
“If you’re suggesting I put it into conservation, lock, stock, and barrel, like I did with my property in South Carolina, my children will disinherit me. They’ve been after me for years to sell it to developers. They’ll make a fortune. Though I have to wonder how much money do they need.”
“The little vultures.” She saw his brows furrow and was instantly contrite. “Did I say that out loud? Sorry.”
“Don’t change the subject. I believe I just asked you to marry me.”
“Must we get married? I’m inclined to go with your other suggestion. To live in sin.”
Girard barked out a laugh. “You’d do that?”
“Of course I would! I’m a modern woman, haven’t you heard? No more Emily Post for me.”
“I’m fine with that. If that’s what you really want.”
“It is.”
“You drive a hard bargain. You press me to offer a second proposal.”
“What proposal is that?”
“Oh, just something that might appeal to your pirate’s blood.” He tugged her closer against him and smiled leeringly. “A bounty.”
Marietta was intrigued. “I’m listening.”
“What would you say to a swap? My land in the Adirondacks for your consent to marriage.”
“What?” Marietta was stunned and confused. “What do you mean?”
“I will put the virginal land, as you so appropriately called it, into conservation if you say you will marry me. Call it my bride’s price.”
Marietta couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’d do that? The land has to be worth countless millions.”
“You’re worth that and more to me. And”—he grinned wryly—“I’m no fool. It’s a good tax break.” He drew his face closer, so close she could feel his breath upon her ear. “Besides, don’t you know when I put all that land in South Carolina into conservation, I did it for you?”
Marietta gasped and looked into his eyes, as pale a blue as the wispy clouds crossing the light of the moon.
He smiled. “All for you.”
“Girard, you take my breath away. And all my objections. Yes, I will marry you. But,” she said with a gentle kiss on his lips, “not a word about this to anyone until after the girls’ weddings. Do you promise?”
His eyes kindled and he said with import, “I do.”