Cold Comfort (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 5)

Emmeline blinked. His words hovered between them for a moment or two until the importance of them hit her. She gasped and whirled to face him.

“You what?” she whispered.

“This is something I have never felt before toward anybody I have ever met. I just cannot walk away. I cannot and will not deliver you to your home home and leave you to deal with anything on your own. It is important that I know you are safe, well, and happy. Aside from my lodgings in London, and my house in Norfolk, I have recently purchased another home, in a small village not all that far away from here. While my house is unfamiliar to you, it is near to the home of a good friend of mine. Angus now works for the local branch of the Star Elite. His wife Charity has recently had a baby. I know she would love to introduce you to the locals.”

“Your house?” Emmeline asked weakly.

Oliver nodded. “It needs turning into a house, but I haven’t had the time to do it. Maybe you could consider moving there? I can introduce you to Angus and Charity before I go after Smidgley’s uncle. It still means you would be on your own while I am away, but you can see how you feel about the village and having people nearby you can be friends with. If, while I am gone, you turn the house into a home like you have here, and really do think we can have a future together, then when this investigation is over, we can marry?”

“I can’t live in your house while you are gone,” Emmeline gasped. Secretly, she was overjoyed that he was thinking along the same lines as her. “Where will you stay when you are finished with your investigation? You will want to go home, won’t you?”

“And I will.” Oliver sighed but began to smile. “My house in St Magdaline is big enough for the both of us. It is more of a family home, but I liked it and it came up for sale at the right time, so I bought it.”

“It is a family home?” Emmeline’s brows shot up. She smiled at him. “You bought a family home.”

Oliver grinned. “Well, I didn’t say I was completely averse to marriage. I just don’t want to leave the Star Elite.”

“Good. Don’t,” she replied firmly. “I am sure I can find something to do to keep myself busy.”

Oliver grinned. “I think you need to meet the villagers first. They are a feisty lot. A little eccentric, but they will keep an eye on you and keep you on your toes. By the time you have been interrogated by them, and forced to join their baking club, sewing club, tapestry group, and church group, you aren’t going to have a moment to spare. I am sure Charity will love having someone in the village around her age, so you are not going to be on you own. When I am finished with the investigation, we can spend some time alone together, away from danger.”

Harry took that moment to burst into the kitchen.

Oliver sighed and glared at him. He knew the second he looked at Harry’s face that something had gone horribly wrong.

“What?” he growled.

“The uncle’s fled the house,” Harry growled. “Niall lost him. He is heading to Nottingham, the last time anyone saw him. We are moving out. Now.”

Oliver nodded. He turned back to Emmeline who looked thoughtful rather than upset like she did a moment ago.

“How about I drop you off at my home in St Magdaline?” he whispered. “We can move you in quickly while the men try to find this uncle. I can catch up with them when we have finished.”

“If you are sure,” Emmeline replied.

“Can you spare me, Harry?” Oliver called.

“Yes. You can gather the things up and move them on.” Harry returned to the room with two guns and a few other things, which he shoved roughly into a pouch. “Close up here. We will send word through Angus where we have gone. See you soon.”

After a courteous bow at Emmeline, and a roguish wink, Harry slammed out of the house again. Oliver grinned and sidled closer to Emmeline.

“Do you know something?”

Emmeline, considerably more relaxed and content with her lot in life now that she knew she didn’t have to say goodbye to him, nestled closer. She revelled in just how instinctively he slid his arms around her, as if he didn’t even realise he was doing it.

“God, I love you, Emmeline,” he growled suddenly.

She blinked at him but before she could reply, he continued.

“Forget what we have just discussed. It is a load of rubbish. We cannot ignore this. I have no idea where it came from, but I must have been thinking of finding a wife seeing as I watched Angus get married and then bought a huge family house in the same village that he lives in. I just never acknowledged it because I thought falling in love would mean I had to leave my life with the Star Elite. Now, I know I don’t have to give up all that I know just to be with someone. I can have my work and parts of my life as I know it. The parts I have to get rid of are the parts I really don’t like very much anyway. It has been wonderful to come back here and have a home, and you in it to return to. The house, even a temporary one like this, has been a home to me because it has you in it. I cannot conceive of coming home to a cold and empty house again. Not now. Without you in my life, it will be cold and empty just like my life was before. I don’t want that. What we cannot do right now, purely because we don’t have the time, is marry. However, we can quickly move you to my house so you can settle in. I am not going too far away, I hope. But if I am, I know my friends will look after you. If you get stuck, or worried, they will be there. It is the best I can do I am afraid.”

Emmeline laughed and brushed her tears from the corner of her eyes. “It sounds wonderful. I cannot think of anything I should like more than to meet your friends and the eccentric villagers. I cannot conceive of going back to my old life. It was so cold and empty that I didn’t really live my life. I want this. What we have shared has changed everything I thought I knew about myself, what I thought I wanted from my life, and what I believed I could have. I know now I can have it all. I love you, Oliver.”

“I know I shouldn’t do this so early on in our acquaintance, Emmeline

,” Oliver growled. “But, I love you. Will you marry me?”

Emmeline was too choked to speak, so nodded. Her head jerked up and down more than nod, but Oliver knew and understood. Surprisingly, a wonderful warmth began to spread out from the centre of his chest and brought a joyous relief to him that reassured him he was doing exactly the right thing. There was no doubt. No regret. No second-thoughts, or qualms in any way. This was what he wanted. She was what he wanted: Emmeline.