She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air and stretching her back and he watched her, hunger making him reach out to touch her waist. “I spent the day with your father.”
She looked over at him, smiling. “Really? How was it?”
“Wonderful,” he answered honestly. “He’s a man of the highest quality.”
She turned to look at him, squinting as she assessed him, her head cocking. “Do you love me or are you marrying me for my father?” Then she gave a tinkling laugh and he joined her.
“I am most definitely marrying you, but I have to confess that your family is the type I’ve waited my whole life to belong in. The fact that I
get to be part of it…” He stopped, emotion overwhelming him.
She slipped her arms about him. “I’m glad too.”
He held her close. “Your father is going to have me travel back and forth to London. I can supervise the docks there, learn the business.”
She bit her lip, looking up at him with worried eyes. “You’ll be gone regularly?”
She swiped his thumb along her lip, and she released the flesh. This was what he’d been waiting to tell her. “And so will you.”
Her brow scrunched. “What?”
“We’ll travel together. You can sell your pieces, perform if you like.” He paused. “I’ll have to finish paying my father’s debts but with the salary your father is offering, by next year we can start building our forever home. And your father says one day he’ll retire, and I’ll take over.”
She smiled, then, the grin lighting the night or perhaps that was just his heart. “That is wonderful!” Then she squeezed him as her arms wrapped about his neck. “We’re going to build a beautiful future.”
“The best,” he answered, emotion clogging his throat as he held her tight to his chest. He swallowed. He’d managed to burn away his past after all this time. And what was left was a bright new future.
Epilogue
Two weeks later…
Cordelia stood on the veranda, her arm linked with her father’s.
“Are you ready?” he asked, giving her fingers a soft squeeze.
“I’m ready,” she said, bouncing on her heels. “I didn’t think I would ever marry, did you know that?”
“I had my suspicions,” he answered, patting again. “But I’m glad you changed your mind.”
“Me too,” she answered. “But you tell me why first.”
He chuckled. “I like all your sisters’ choices, but Lord Dashlane...” Her father stilled, looking out over the garden. “Ash feels like the son I never had. Together, we could build the business even stronger and,” he stopped, looking down at the ground, “your turn.”
She removed her arm to give her father a hug. “You deserve a man who feels like a son. Raising five daughters and all.” Then she let him go again, slipping her hand back into his arm. “He loves me for me and I for him. It’s not the typical marriage, but I have a feeling it’s going to suit us perfectly.”
He gave a single jerk of his chin. “I understand completely, and I am so happy for you.”
Ophelia appeared on the path to the secret little garden that Cordelia would now consider their spot for the rest of her life. She and Ash had decided it was the perfect place to hold their little ceremony.
Her sister clasped her hands. “Are you ready?”
Cordelia shook a bit, but she straightened her spine. “Ready.”
Her father led her down the path to where Ash waited. She barely glanced at the other guests as her eyes locked with Ash’s. Taking his hands, she barely heard the words of the priest as the melody of their song hummed in her head.
When he leaned down to take her lips, she blinked, realizing the ceremony was over. “We did it,” he whispered softly. “You are now Lady Dashlane.”
She laughed softly, giving his hands a shake. “I am. I’d never thought of it that way.”