Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I move to her, put a hand to one hip and give her a light kiss. “What are you doing here?”
“Thought I’d come see if my two favorite people wanted to get lunch. Just so happens… I brought a picnic and thought we’d eat down by the stream.”
My eyes cut to Sylvie whose face lights up with joy. That was a thing with her mom and now it’s going to be a thing with us. “Awesome. What did you bring to eat?”
Kat shakes her head. “Nope. Not another word until you tell me why both of you looked sad and pensive when I walked in.”
Sylvie and I exchange a glance before I take Kat’s hand and lead her to the table. Sylvie moves to the side and I point at it. “Your niece found a journal written by a Mardraggon cousin back in 1852. He is the one who started the rumors about Elizabeth because he apparently wanted her all to himself. He intended to break up the wedding with Henry and was going to swoop in to claim her.”
“Really?” Kat says, eyebrows shooting high with interest.
“Right here,” Sylvie says, pointing to the entry.
Kat bends over the book and runs her finger above each line as she reads it. When she’s finished, she straightens and shrugs. “He sounds like a total idiot. Okay, so I brought fried chicken and potato salad, hot from Miranda’s miraculous hands.”
“Yum,” Sylvie exclaims. She has acclimated very well to southern food.
“Wait a minute.” I’m so perplexed, I find myself actually scratching my head. “That’s it? He sounds like an idiot?”
Kat frowns at me. “What did you want me to say? He’s an asshole?” Her gaze cuts to Sylvie. “Sorry for the language.” Then back to me. “Because yeah… sounds like an asshole.”
I shake my head, befuddled. “Kat, you get that this places the blame for all of it solely on a Mardraggon. Before, it’s just been a lot of finger-pointing but this is proof that Elizabeth and Henry would most likely have married. None of this feud would’ve ever occurred if not for my family.”
She shrugs again. “I guess… but what does it matter? It’s stupid. That happened so long ago, Elizabeth’s and Henry’s bones are probably dust by now. The idiotic thing was for subsequent generations to carry that bitterness forward. I mean… look at us. We were taught to hate each other and we both did, without there even being a good reason for it. It’s ridiculous if you ask me.”
“You might feel that way, but others won’t,” I point out. “Once this becomes common knowledge—”
Kat takes the book, closes it and hands it to me. “My suggestion is you put this back where you found it and forget about it.” She turns to Sylvie. “What do you think?”
Sylvie also shrugs. “Think about what? No idea what you’re talking about.”
Kat laughs and pulls Sylvie in for a one-armed hug. “That’s my girl. Now let’s go eat. I’m starved and I have to get back to the barn soon.”
Giving her niece a push toward the vault door, Kat says, “Grab the basket sitting out there and we’ll meet you at the stream.”
“Okay,” Sylvie chirps, waving as she leaves.
I’m still reeling from the discovery and from Kat’s blasé attitude, but I really am dizzy when she steps into my arms and presses her mouth against mine.
Not just her mouth but her entire body, which causes mine to react. I savor her kiss for a moment, her soft curves, before I break away. Christ, she turns me on with the simplest of touches. “Need to save that for tonight,” I chastise.
Kat grins at me, eyes sparkling. “Only because Sylvie’s expecting us. But if she weren’t here, you best believe we’d be closing that vault door and handling business.”
Laughing, I take her by the hand and we head out to join Sylvie. “I love that about you. And you’re sure we should keep this new knowledge from the rest of your family?”
Kat loops her arm through mine as we walk along the rows of aging barrels. “I don’t think it’s relevant. It certainly won’t do anything to pave a smoother road between you and the rest of my family.”
“No, it won’t,” I muse before turning toward her, stopping us just before we reach the door that leads out. A few workers mill about, but no one’s paying us attention. “You’re being very protective of me and what we’re building.”
“Of course I am,” she replies. “I want this to work.”
“It is going to work,” I growl, leaning in to steal a kiss. “I’m not letting anything stand in our way.”
“I love that about you. Your commitment.”
“Took a while to get there,” I mutter, touching my forehead to hers. “But I’m here… with you… all the way.”
Kat tilts her head, our lips in contact again, but it’s only a soft brush of our mouths against each other. “All the way,” she whispers her agreement. “All the damn way.”