“It’s much more than a thousand.”
“You presume it would be horrid, but what if you’re wrong? What if we wound up blissfully content?”
“You don’t want to wed me!” She practically wailed the comment. “When your sister pointed out how ridiculous a notion it was, you instantly split with me. It kills me to admit she was correct, but she was!”
“My sister married my stable manager so she can be happy, so she can have the life she chooses for a change. Why can’t I have the life I choose?”
“You think that life should be with me?”
“Yes. I absolutely think that.”
Her trembling increased. “Well, it’s a deranged decision. I simply can’t fathom what is spurring you on.”
“I haven’t been clear, but then, I’m not very eloquent. I want you to be my wife—so I can take care of you. I want you to fill my home with your quiet joy and your soothing presence. I want you to fill my days with wonder, excitement, and delight. I want you to constantly surprise me and teach me how to be a better man.”
She was quaking so hard that she could barely remain on her feet. “Would you get up? Please?”
“No. Not until you stop being so stubborn.”
She tried to lift him, but he wouldn’t budge.
“Marry me, Joanna. Say yes. Tell me you will.”
“If I ever considered marrying,” she tentatively ventured, “I would only do it for love. It’s the only way I could convince myself to proceed.”
He raised a brow. “Aren’t you in love with me? Don’t you dare deny it.”
She debated her reply because—once she voiced it aloud—they would be careening down a new road. “Yes, I love you. I love you more than life itself.”
He nodded quite smugly, as if it was the precise response he’d been expecting. “Guess what? I love you even more than that—if it’s possible.”
Finally, he stood, and he dipped in and kissed her. She’d never been able to resist him, and she couldn’t now. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight, feeling as if—should she release him—she might simply float off into the sky.
As their lips parted, he said, “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“If I agree, you’d have to let me continue with my healing.” Gad, was she contemplating it? “You’d have to let me birth babies, brew potions, and tend people who are ill. You couldn’t prevent me or wish I was a different type of person. You will never change me, so you’d have to swear you’re prepared for that type of wife—and you’d have to mean it.”
“Why would I seek to change you? You are fascinating, annoying, and remarkable. I’d like you to always be exactly who you are.”
“Clara and Mutt would have to stay with us.”
“That’s not even an issue. In fact, I’d like to adopt Clara. Would you like that?”
“You would? Really?” Who could reject such a dear man? “And . . . you have to reflect on whether you should retire from the navy. I couldn’t wed you, then have you vanish for years at a time. I couldn’t live like that.”
“I’ve come to the same conclusion. I won’t be like my father. I won’t sire children who never see me, who never know me. I should be at home.”
“At Ralston Place? Are you sure? You never liked it in the past.”
“No, not in the past. But I can be content there in the future—because you’ll be there with me.”
“Oh, Jacob . . .”
It was the sweetest thing he could have said. The comment seemed to yank down the walls she’d erected to keep him at bay.
“I never thought I’d marry,” she said.
“I understand that about you.”
“I never thought I’d find someone to wed. I never thought there would be a man who was perfect for me, but it’s you, Jacob. Will you have me?”
“Are you certain? Don’t promise unless you are.”
She gazed at him, her affection wafting out. He would be faithful, loyal, and kind, and he would be hers. He would protect her from the slings and arrows the world would inflict, but—with him by her side—those arrows would bounce off.
“I’m certain,” she vowed. “I can’t bear to be Joanna James another second. I’m ready to be Joanna Ralston.”
“Mrs. Jacob Ralston . . .” he mused. “I like the sound of that.”
He drew her into his arms again, then he was kissing her like a fiend, the two of them laughing, twirling in circles, growing so wild that they knocked over a table.
The door was flung open, and Clara and Mutt rushed in.
“Are you all right?” Clara asked. “We heard a crash.”
“It was just us being happy,” Joanna said.
“Why are you happy? Is it good news?”
“It’s very good news.”
Jacob told her, “Joanna and I have decided to marry.”
“She said yes?” Clara asked.
“She said yes,” Jacob replied.
Joanna extended her hand, and Clara hurried over. They pulled her close, the three of them huddled together in a hug that went on and on. Mutt trotted over, his tail wagging, and he barked his approval. They pulled him close too, and Joanna smiled, thinking that it was a splendid start to her very own family.
She shut her eyes and glanced toward the heavens, and she sent a message to Jacob’s father.
Thank you for giving him to me.
A clear response popped into her mind: You’re welcome.
She sighed with gladness and hugged everyone a bit tighter.
“Is everyone ready?”
Lady Penny, Libby’s half-sister, asked the question to no one in particular. The church’s vestibule was packed, and Joanna glanced around, trying to count how many were squeezed into the small area, but it was impossible to tabulate them all.
Libby and Luke probably should have wed at the cathedral in London, but they’d decided on the local church at Barrett instead. It held a few dozen people, so invitations had been as valuable as gold nuggets. The individuals who’d received them felt as if they’d won a grand lottery.
The organist was
