Chapter Thirty-Four – Rose
ROSE
Wotten Bastard
“ W hat are you—let me go!” I wriggled in his hold, but he swiftly clasped my wrists together behind my back, completely immobilising me. “What are you doing? My own good? Can’t you see I’m escaping?”
“You’re not allowed.”
“Shaun, you traitor!”
He nodded. “Yes, yes, you can punish me later.”
“Oh, I will. Slowly. Painfully. Aggressively. You will never know peace again,” I hissed.
“Mhmm, I can’t wait.”
“You little—” I stepped on his foot with all my might, but while he winced, he didn’t let me go.
Stupid police officer.
Stupid police training.
Stupid Shaun.
“My dad is gonna beat you up,” I muttered. “I knew I should have let him come with me today.”
Shaun laughed and leant back, looking down at me. “Sorry, Ro. But it’s a punch I’ll gladly take. My work here is done.”
“What do you—ahh!” I fell backwards as he released me, and I was quickly wrapped in another pair of arms.
A pair I knew too well.
I stiffened. “Let me go.”
“You’re a flight risk,” Oliver said quietly, almost a hint of laughter in his voice. “So, sorry, but no can do.”
What was so funny about this?
Oh, now I wasn’t just mad.
I was mad mad.
“Let. Me. Go.”
“I didn’t sell the allotments.”
“Don’t you try and—wait, what did you just say?”
He tightened his hold on me, pressing his face into my hair. “I didn’t sell the allotments,” he repeated, his voice still quiet.
“But you—you and Luke were talking about the contract yesterday. I heard you. You signed it, and I—”
“Should have done your usual and stormed into my office to give me a piece of your mind.” A small laugh escaped him. “Then I could have told you. I never expected you to come into the main house.”
“Why didn’t you sell them? What did you sign? Wait. I’m confused.” I tried to wriggle in his arms to turn around, but he was holding onto me like I’d disappear if he didn’t.
A fair assumption.
I had just leapfrogged a fence and thrown a dildo in his direction to get away from him, after all.
“These.” Isa poked her head around us, holding out theenvelope he’d shown me earlier. She tucked it into my hand before stepping back with a, “Don’t mind me, you carry on,” and scooting away somewhere.
“What is this?” I said quietly.
“Open it and find out.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t move my arms, idiot.”
“Oh.” He loosened his hold on me, slipping his arms under mine and wrapping them around my waist. He rested his head on my shoulder and turned his face into mine. “Go on, open it.”
His breath flared across my cheek with his words, and with shaky hands, I opened the envelope and pulled out its contents. I scanned the little black words and froze.
I’m pretty sure my brain short-circuited.
“What is this?” I whispered, my voice cracking.
“The Hanbury Allotment Committee has been granted full stewardship of the land and an adjoining two acres for expansion,” Oliver said softly. “Turn the page.”
I flipped to the next page.
“Nobody can touch this land for the next one-hundred-and-fifty years. The only way this contract can be terminated is with a majority vote from the tenants, not just the committee. There is no break clause for the estate of the Duke of Hanbury.”
“What does that…” The lump in my throat returned. “What does this mean?”
He brushed his nose against my cheek, holding me tighter against him.
“It means this land is safeguarded for as long as I could make it so. Nobody will be able to take it away from you again. There are maintenance clauses, of course, and you do have to upkeep the land and not use it for anything other than its intended purpose, but this was the best way.”
We had never had stewardship of it before. It’d always just been a rental agreement, and the estate had always been responsible for maintenance. That’d always been the big difference, even though the previous duke had never actually had to do anything other than replace a few fences after a storm.
“You… You signed this?”
“Mhmm.” Oliver nodded, his cheek pressed against mine. “It just needs the signature of the chairman of the committee—or chairwoman, as it is.”
“A pen, sir.” Isa reappeared with a pen in her hand.
Where the fuck was she coming from?
Oliver took the pen from her and set it into mine, wrapping our fingers around it together. “I wanted to give you the land, but this was safer.”
“What?” I jumped out of his arms, sending the contract fluttering to the ground. He still had hold of my hand even as I turned around, and I stared at him. “You wanted to do what? Are you fucking insane?”
His lips pulled to one side. “What can I say? You’ve been rubbing off on me, princess.”
“You can’t just gift someone land! My Christ, you have got too much money.”
The spark came back to his eyes, and he pulled my hand up to his mouth, brushing his lips over my fingers.
“That’s what my lawyer said. He also said that if you owned it, there was a chance we could end up back at square one one day, so this was a bit safer to guarantee the longevity of it.
I figured it was fine, because I’ll just give you a chunk of the gardens at Hanbury House. ”
“What are you—” My words caught in my throat at the softness in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Rose. I’m sorry I ever tried to tear this place away from you.
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when I changed my mind.
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I wanted to do.
I’m sorry I created a situation where you could misunderstand my intentions.
I’m sorry I didn’t get there last night until you’d already gone.
I’m sorry that I hurt you. I’m sorry if I made you cry. ”
I turned my face away from him as tears filled my eyes. “I don’t cry.”
“Yeah?” He ran his thumb under my eye. “What’s this, then?”
“Hay fever. It’s back.” I swiped at my cheek, but he stepped into me. His warm hands cupped my face, and he leant down, kissing each spot where a tear was falling.
One, two, three, four, five tiny kisses were dotted over my cheeks, wiping away any trace of my sadness.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his lips hovering over mine, asking for permission.
“You should be,” I said back. “You should have told me.”
“I know. I should have. I thought you might have guessed. How could I sell this place when it means so much to you?”
“It means so much to all of us.”
“Yeah, but Rose, I didn’t change my mind because of everyone else.
” He pulled back slightly, meeting my gaze.
A hint of a smile crossed his handsome face.
“I didn’t change all my plans for these people, as lovely as they are.
I didn’t do all of this for them. I did it for you , princess.
You wanted to save this place, to make me change my mind, and you did.
But not because of a newspaper article or a protest or a craft fair. You made me fall in love with you.”
Oh .
My heart thundered against my chest.
He said it.
He really said it.
“Oli—”
“I love you, Rose. The thought of hurting you for even a second kills me. How could I take this place away from you, knowing what it means to you? Knowing how much you love it here? This is where you’re happiest. It’s where your heart is.
If I take that away from you…” He shook his head, lowering his forehead to touch mine.
“I can’t do that. I once told you that the feelings of everyone here are none of my business, and that still stands true, but not for you.
Your feelings are the most important thing in the world to me.
And I’m not saying this because I want you to say the same thing.
I understand if you truly do never want to have anything else to do with me again, so know that this agreement isn’t contingent on that.
I just want to be honest with you. I love you, and I want you to be happy. ”
He released me and bent down to pick up the contract and pen. He held both out to me without another word, smiling ruefully.
I looked at the papers, then at him, then back down. Goosebumps prickled all over my skin.
I love you.
They were words I heard a lot.
But never had I heard them said to me so softly, so carefully, so goddamn honestly.
With a swallow, I took the contract from him. “Well, I, um, have to have a lawyer look it over first. It’s not that I don’t trust you. I mean, I probably don’t, but never sign anything without someone else checking it and all that.”
His lips tugged to one side. “Of course. Take as long as you need.”
“Um. Thank you.” I sniffed and tried to open the envelope to put the contract in, but the paper kept getting caught.
“Here.” Oliver took it from me smoothly, as if he hadn’t just professed his love and not gotten a response. He slid the paper into the envelope, but I caught it just as he tucked the flap in.
The tremor.
That one, little, barely perceptible shake of his hand that said so much.
“I’m sorry I ran away.” I looked at our feet. “And called you a potato. And threw a dildo at you.”
“It wasn’t exactly the first time.” Laughter tinged his tone, and when I looked up, I drew in a deep breath.
There was such warmth, such genuine affection in his eyes, that it made my heart skip.
“Can I throw something else at you?”
He paused, tilting his head to one side. “Is that a question you should be asking?”
“Okay, fine. How are you with catching?”
“Uh… It’s been a while since I’ve caught anything but a cold, but all right, I guess?”
“Okay, good.”
“Why? What are you—oomph!”
I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, burying my face in his shoulder.
“Ooft,” he laughed out, grabbing my thighs and hauling me up his body before he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. “I didn’t think you meant yourself.”
“What else could I throw at you?” I asked, turning my face into his neck and burying it there. “I’m empty-handed.”
“You can throw yourself at me whenever you like. I promise I’ll catch you every time.”