Belmary House Book Three (23 page)

He hugged her closer, a good sign? Or him thinking he didn’t have much longer to hold onto her? She pulled away to be able to look at him and he smiled fondly at her, his eyes tired.

“We’ll have plenty of time to discuss our plans when we get back to your time.”

She gaped at him. “You’re going to stay?”

“For a while. Take advantage of the running water and all that.” His tone was mildly sarcastic, and she swatted him. “I want to make sure Wodge is well and truly gone, and you can show me around.”

She wrinkled up her brow, glad to be able to spend more time with him, but still confused as to his reasoning. As far as she knew he loathed her time, the noise, the crowds, the pollution, the flashing lights everywhere.

But if he was concerned about Wodge’s reemergence, he’d need to keep her close, so he could use his powers if need be. She knew there was no way she could have properly shot without his steadying hand, without the soothing calm that had flowed into her at his touch. For the first time, she felt a true relief that Kostya’s grandmother was dead and burned to ash. Magic alone hadn’t been enough to kill her, but it was definitely magic that had helped Tilly aim. The woman had been inhumanly, grotesquely powerful. But she’d been human after all, unable to withstand a bullet to the skull. Tilly didn’t know if she wanted to throw up or sigh happily. She pushed the conflicting feelings aside and leveled her gaze on Ashford.

“Do you want to be with me? Or do you need to?” she asked, crossing her arms in front of her, preparing herself for whatever came. He looked confused, then mildly hurt.

“I don’t understand,” he said.

She groaned. Anyone else and she would have thought they were evading, but it was clear in his silver grey eyes that he didn’t understand what she was asking.

“I want to be with you, but not as a catalyst. Now that you’re mister magic, do you want to keep me around so you can keep using your powers?”

His jaw dropped and his eyes rolled so hard she thought they would pop out. “Is that what you’re concerned about?” He took a moment to look offended. “What a wee fool. I want and need and love you, all of it. And I never want to do magic again, and pray there will never be a need to, so you needn’t worry about that.” Before she could digest his words, he added, “Except for the time travel spell. That’s quite convenient. We can find a way to shut down the portal and finally live a safe, peaceful life.”

She scooted away so she wouldn’t be distracted by his comforting embrace. “Is that what this is about? You hate my time, but want to stay there because you think it’s safer? It’s not. And you’re not responsible for my safety anyway. I need you to get over that. I hate to say this, but you’re not even really responsible for my happiness. I just want us to be together, make decisions, enjoy ourselves, work together, all of it. As equal partners, not you being afraid for me all the time.”

He smiled ruefully at her and took her hand. She realized she was clenching her fists and let him ease her fingers loose of her tight grip.

“That’s going to be hard, because I do fear losing you. Wodge said we couldn’t kill him without risking the lives of everyone who came through Belmary House. I’m relieved Miss Saito’s fine, and you as well, but it was all too easy. I don’t for a minute think he’s truly dead. Gone somewhere it might take him a while to find his way back from, but when and if he does, will he be angrier than ever? Have you thought of that, Matilda?”

She absorbed his grim assumptions and had to admit she’d readily let herself believe it had been that easy. She didn’t like the idea of Solomon Wodge returning to their lives, it was so much nicer to be free of him, but looking at Ashford, seeing his concern in his furrowed brow, she knew she didn’t care. Life, in whatever time, was unpredictable, and she’d rather dance around the unknown with him by her side.

“I understand,” she said. “But I think you’ve seen I can handle myself in a bad situation.” The look he gave her told her he thought the opposite of that. “Maybe I’m just lucky.” She shrugged. “That’s not a bad thing, either. I love that you want to protect me, but I don’t like that it comes at the expense of our happiness.”

“I’ll endeavor to curb my worries. And I don’t hate your time. Not much. It will give me time to think of a good story for you when we return.” He got a twinkle in his eye as he conjured up the details. “Perhaps you can be an American heiress and I can set you up with some land. It’s not perfect, but we certainly can’t tell people the truth. We’ll have to at least abide by some of their rules, but I’m sick and tired of cowing to society’s demands on my time because of my damn title. I want to marry who I want to marry, and that’s that.”

All of her righteous indignation fizzled when she heard those words and her continuing argument died on her lips. She could swear she’d been mad at him a moment before for plotting to leave her behind, but had he just mentioned marriage? She felt a swoon coming on.

“What did you just say?” she asked.

He dropped to one knee before her, making a squeak pop out of her at the suddenness of it.

“I don’t have a ring, but I promise I’ll get you any one you like. There are boxes of jewels you can go through when we get back. But, Matilda, will you do me the honor of being my wife?” His stern, handsome face turned red and she wanted to fling her arms around him, but was too stunned to move.

“I don’t care about the ring,” was all she managed to say, a tear welling up in her eye.

“Well, I certainly won’t make you wear one,” he assured her, beginning to look nervous.

“No, no, I definitely want one,” she said hurriedly, laughing at the absurdity of it. “Are you seriously asking me to marry you right now? You were planning to dump me in my time and trap me there a few days ago.”

He shifted uncomfortably on his knee and she almost took pity on him, but wanted to hear what he had to say for himself.

“I think I made that daft plan so I could live with myself for keeping you so long as I did. I don’t think I could have gone through with it, even if I couldn’t do the traveling spell, or if we can’t get the portal closed for good. But now I won’t have to feel so guilty for not being able to give you up. I didn’t want to make you leave your family— it’s clear to me after meeting Dexter and your grandmother how close you are to them.” He leaned back on his heels and furrowed his brow. “I’m not convinced that spell we used is as safe as Liam makes it out to be, but I don’t think it would hurt to use it on occasion. This way you can still see your family, perhaps once or twice a year? And that way I can go on being the damned second earl of Ashford and Happenham, make sure all my bloody descendants make their way into the world.”

She hauled him back onto the settee next to her, her heart soaring and her mind swirling with possibilities. She was not only going to be able to stay with Ashford, but she wouldn’t have to completely lose her loved ones in her own time, either. One of the tears she’d been blinking back rolled down her cheek and he wiped it away.

“Why are you crying?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Happy,” she said. “We can get married in California? So my mom can go? She’d be so sad if she didn’t get to make my dress.”

“Certainly. Do you think your mother will like me? Should we bring some gowns from this time so she can see them? Didn’t you say she would enjoy something like that?”

“Oh my gosh, she’d eat it up with a spoon. She just got signed to design costumes for a historical drama, so she’d be in heaven— you don’t think she could visit us in your, I mean, our time, do you?”

He grumbled for a moment, probably working through all the things that could go wrong, but finally softened. “I suppose we could see if the spell works on her. I do believe it’s passed down in families, and you must get the ability from somewhere.” He paused and pulled her close for a kiss. “You said ‘our time’. Is that how you feel?”

She smacked him in the bicep, then kissed him back. “Haven’t I been trying to tell you that since before we went to France? I love your time, I mean our time. I can’t wait to try all the society stuff, and you know how much I love the Scottish estate.”

“I do hope you won’t be disappointed with the society stuff, as you call it. It can be a frightful bore.”

“That’s only because you’re so grumpy all the time. I bet you’ll have fun if we’re together.”

“I do believe I’d be willing to take that wager,” he said. “You’ll marry me then?”

“Yes! Didn’t I already say that?” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, never wanting to let go, knowing now she didn’t have to. “I was confused before, can you get down on your knee again? I promise I won’t mess it up this time.”

He raised a brow at her and she laughed, loving everything about him. After only a moment’s pause, he got back down on the floor and took her hand.

“Here’s to the future,” he said, kissing her knuckles.

“And the past, and everything else,” she agreed.

The end.

Ten years later.

Emma Saito sat in her office, having to pinch herself for the tenth time that day to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Her computer, the nameplate on her desk, even the papers in her outbox were the same as when she’d left them more than a year and a half ago. But to those around her, she’d only been gone two days. Her mother had been in a tizzy, her assistant kept looking at her reproachfully for having to worry and be interviewed by the police, and her daughter Dahlia was still mad at her for the runner she’d pulled.

Liam Wodge had managed to get her back as close as he possibly could to the day she left, but he’d explained how dangerous it was to return even an hour too soon, making the cost of having to make up a cover story to account for the missing two days one she was willing to pay.

She’d thought about telling her mother the truth, but decided to settle on the embarrassing story of having got a last minute meeting with a reclusive investor in Scotland, then getting trapped at the castle in the Highlands when the bridge got washed out in a storm. She blamed the same storm for the lack of phone reception at the castle, which Piper assured her was a real problem. If Piper herself hadn’t spoken to her mother and the London police who were frantically looking for her, she was certain her story would have been dismissed as the obvious lie that it was. But still, more believable than being ripped backwards in time.

 She stretched, her first full week back on the job almost at an end. It had been a rough first week back, trying to appear as if nothing had happened, jumping at every odd sound and avoiding the second floor as if it was cursed. Which it was, she constantly reminded herself when she started to feel foolish about her fears. She’d been assured the portal would be closed for good, it was the only way she could come back to work at Belmary House, but she couldn’t make herself completely relax yet.

She called Dahlia to try and bribe her with a trip to her favorite restaurant, sighing with joy when her daughter answered the phone. Even though she sounded a bit pouty still from possibly being abandoned, she readily agreed, and Emma was sure she could almost hear the hint of a smile before they hung up. Her first night back, she’d sat in the old rocking chair in Dahlia’s room, watching her sleep until almost dawn, recalling all the cold, painful nights that she’d spent huddled outside the window of her mother’s house, hoping for a glimpse of her as a baby.

She pinched herself again. Those days were over, and as far as anyone she knew was concerned, they’d never happened. A pang of longing pierced her happiness as she thought of Dexter. He had happened, he was real, and she missed him. It had only been a week since she saw him but it felt as if the entire ten years had passed. She realized she hadn’t been to the ballroom since she got back and wanted to see the gruesome Baroque mural on the ceiling that he’d discovered and managed to keep secret from her while it was being restored.

She snuck past her assistant and made her way down, easily avoiding anyone since it was late on a Friday afternoon and most everyone had already slipped away for the weekend. She was sure her assistant would be long gone if she’d had the chance, but Emma had been glued to her office all day, feeling like she needed to make up for all the time she hadn’t really lost at all.

In the ballroom, she snapped on the lights, marveling at the gorgeously restored antiques that furnished it, so different from when she’d last been there with Dexter. She ran her hand over the smooth wood of a harp and looked up at the ceiling. Her heart sank to see it was still thick white plaster and she felt a stab of fear that the only good thing from her nightmare trip to the past hadn’t been real. Since Liam had been able to get her back so soon after she left, perhaps things had changed in the past. Perhaps she’d never been there after all.

The frighteningly familiar confusion threatened to overtake her and she pushed it away, deciding to concentrate on the moment before her. She had to close up her office and take Dahlia out for gourmet pizza, get back into the rhythm of her real life.

“Don’t forget you’ve still got that interview,” her assistant said a half hour later, just as she was about to power down her computer. “He’s just arrived.”

Emma rustled the papers on her desk, trying not to look as lost as she felt. “I have an interview? This late?”

Her assistant came over to the desk and frowned down at the small pile of papers. “I put his CV with … oh, no. I must have grabbed it when I took the report for Dr. Sandoval. I’ll print you out another before I send him in.”