“Please, Annabelle,” he finally said. “I’ll buy you a ticket for the next train. This is what you’ve always wanted, and I—”
“You have no idea what I’ve always wanted.” She stamped her foot in such an insolent way that he wanted to kiss her. But that was beside the point.
“Yes, I admit that when we first met, I wanted nothing more than to leave this place and stay with my aunt, and discover the world outside. But I’ve grown since then. I’ve changed. And I can’t believe that you’d think that the woman standing before you is still that silly girl who thought of nothing more than wearing the latest fashions.”
Her words shamed him. Mostly because he’d tried so hard not to fall in love with that silly girl, but as he watched her grow into the woman standing before him, he’d realized that there was nothing about her, including her silliness, that he didn’t love. He hadn’t given her the courtesy of an explanation, and now it was time to make good on changing his earlier regrets.
“All right, Annabelle.” Joseph took a deep breath. “What do you want?”
The triumphant grin she gave him nearly slayed him. Did she have any idea what that grin did to a man? Of course she did.
Joseph shook his head, trying to rid himself of all inappropriate thoughts, especially the urge to kiss her senseless.
“I want to stay here and see to it that Nugget is properly settled in with the rest of her family. I want to go back to the camp and spend more time with Gertie, and maybe get Polly to start talking to me again. I want you to talk to me like you used to, and for us to be friends again.”
Friends. Joseph wanted to kiss Annabelle senseless, and she wanted to talk about their friendship.
“I’m sorry, Annabelle. That’s not possible. I can’t be friends with you.”
“Oh.” Her face fell, and those pretty little dimples that punctuated every point she made disappeared. “I don’t know what I did to offend you, but maybe I could—”
“You misunderstand.”
He hated the thought of baring his heart like this, of putting himself out for Miss Annabelle Lassiter to reject, but he also couldn’t bear the thought of her feeling guilty over ruining yet another relationship.
“I can’t settle for friendship with you. Not anymore. I see you differently. Not as a friend, not as a sister, but in such a way that is entirely inappropriate for...”
Were her cheeks turning pink? And, in the difficulty of him explaining a rather embarrassing and untenable position, a saucy grin twitched at the edges of her lips.
Annabelle was actually enjoying this.
Worse, when he looked over at Nugget, the little imp had started giggling.
But perhaps worst of all, others had stopped what they were doing and were completely, without any shame, eavesdropping on the conversation.
Joseph straightened. “Well...I think that about covers it.” He held out his hand. “Nugget, come on. We need to...”
Escape was the first thought that came to mind. But Nugget stood there, shaking her head.
“You are never going to get her to marry you like that. You have to get romantical and tell Annabelle that you love her, then take her in your arms, and—”
“Nugget!” Both he and Annabelle said it in unison.
And when Annabelle knelt to the little girl, her face still red, Joseph understood.
“I told you why I sent you away,” he said quietly. “You thought it was because my regard had changed. The truth of the matter is that I wanted you to stay, desperately. Not for Nugget’s sake, though that’s a bonus, but for mine.”
Annabelle finally looked up at him, murmured softly to Nugget, then stood.
“I thought that the noble thing to do when you love someone is to give up what you want for what they want,” Joseph continued. “But I didn’t find out what you wanted, only made assumptions based on what you’d told me. I love you, Annabelle. And I wanted your dreams for you more than I wanted mine. I’m sorry that it caused you pain.”
“Of course it caused me pain. Because I love you, too, and I didn’t know that you loved me back. So it’s all forgiven. I’m here now, and here is where I will stay.”
They stood there in silence for a brief moment, interrupted by a tiny voice that asked, “Are you going to kiss her now?”
So he did.
Epilogue
One year later
Annabelle stood on the porch, watching for the children to arrive home. At half past three, they should have been there nearly a quarter of an hour ago. She smoothed the apron over her rounded belly and debated about taking it off. There was still so much baking to be done for tonight’s church supper. Maddie was having a tougher time keeping up with the miners’ needs, so Annabelle had agreed to do some of the cooking at her home.
The men were due at any time to help carry everything to the church. Now that Annabelle’s condition was more advanced, both Joseph and her father said she shouldn’t be lifting heavy things. Which meant relying on others helping her for a change. But as she glanced back down the street, worries about whether or not the children had met with foul play took over.
There were, Annabelle told herself, five of them. Surely together, they were safe enough walking home from school. At least that’s what Joseph always argued. Evelyn, Helen, Daniel, Bess and Nugget could take care of themselves. A handful, but most of the time, Mary and Rose were such a big help that Annabelle hardly noticed.
However, on days like today, when Annabelle scurried down the
