After helping her into the buggy, he hurried to the other side and climbed in on shaky legs. He planned to propose marriage, and he was a nervous wreck.
Chapter 17
A few blocks before his house, Eli halted the horses, and setting the brake, turned toward Sylvia.
“Why are we stopping?” Sylvia glanced at him, eyebrows raised.
Despite the definite chill in the air, Eli wiped sweat from his forehead, and swallowed a few times.
“Is something wrong?”
He took her hands in his, and cleared his throat. “Sylvia, you know I admire you a great deal.”
She smiled. “And I admire you, Eli.”
He pulled her a little closer. “I’ve been alone for many years. My wife died right after my daughter’s birth. I got busy building my businesses and making money, not realizing how much I missed in life. Until recently.”
Sylvia continued to regard him with a slight smile of inquiry.
“What I’m trying to say in the worse possible way . . .” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Stiff fingers fumbled with the lid. The gold ring, with its rubies and emerald stones, sparkled in the moonlight streaming through the buggy window. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Sylvia sat like a statute, staring at the ring, her mouth slightly open, eyes wide.
“Please, Sylvia.” Eli’s voice shook. “Say something.”
Sylvia ran her tongue around her lips. “This is a surprise.”
He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his racing heart. “A good surprise, or a bad one?”
Sylvia raised her eyes and met his. “For the first time in my life, I’m earning my own way. Oh, I know I live in my stepdaughter’s house, but I have a position. I get paid a salary every week, my own money, something I’d never had before.”
“Sweetheart, say yes and I’ll give you all the money you want.”
She straightened her shoulders. “No, you don’t understand. I don’t want someone to give me money. I’ve had that all my life. I like working, and knowing I earned the money that sits in the bank in my name.”
“You can keep your job,” he said quickly.
“But will you still pay me my own money?”
“Yes, in fact I’ll give you a raise.”
Sylvia sighed. “I don’t want a raise. I merely want to continue to work at the restaurant, and receive my regular pay.”
Her features grew serious, and she took Eli’s hand. “I don’t think you can possibly know how much employment means to me. I feel like a grown-up person for the first time in my life. I’ve always had someone hand me money. I never minded it, or even thought about it, until I made my home with Angel and Nate. My stepdaughter has all those children, but she still earns money that she can use for herself. When you handed me my first pay envelope, I almost cried.”
“Let me see if I understand this. If I guarantee your job and your pay—without a raise—will you marry me?” He held his breath.
She smiled as women must have done since the beginning of time, when faced with that question. “Yes, I will marry you, Eli Benson.”
With shaking hands, he removed the ring from the box, and slid it on her finger. Then, ever so gently, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
It took all of his control not to shout, “yippee,” as he released the brake, and slapped the reins. As the buggy started forward, and made its way to the livery, Sylvia raised her hand to the scant moonlight and tilted her head to admire the ring on her finger.
Lucy stood, tapping her foot, arms crossed over her chest as she waited for her father to return with that woman. Almost time for the guests to arrive, and he still hadn’t arrived. What in heaven’s name took so long?
The front door opened, and Papa guided a small woman with blonde hair into the large entrance hall. He helped her out of her coat, and handed it to the servant stationed at the door for the evening.
He turned to her, a beaming smile on his face. “I have wonderful news for you, Lucy.”