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The affectionate display warined seeing Oliver happy, never iain And now they were a family

Other than the clink of cutlery on china plates, the house was quiet — at peace And yet Rose glanced at the door, waiting for a roar of disapproval to ring through the corridor, for her father to coined misdemeanour She could picture his face, all red and puffy, his eyes bulging from their sockets

“What tih say he’d call?” Oliver’s voice broke her reverie

“I think he said two o’clock” The distraction helped to calh with the coarden, I may have misheard Either way, I have no plans to leave the house today”

“What does he want?” Oliver held her gaze while he sipped his coffee

Nicole gave a bemused chuckle “You’re a man, Oliver, what do you think he wants?”

The cup rattled on the saucer as Oliver placed it down “A man doesn’t coiven hi to tell h? And I don’t mean you played with the children and ate cake”

It crossed her mind to lie, or to evade the question But after her experiences at Everleigh, she’d made a pact with herself to tell the truth “Do you really want to know?”

Oliver sat up straight “I do”

“I fell in love at Everleigh” The truth of her words filled her chest, the sensation all warm and fuzzy “I fell in love with the house, with the children,” a chuckle left her lips, “even with Mrs Hibbet” How she wished she was back there, running around the laearing her blindfold, holding secret s with Christian in the study

“And what of Lord Farleigh?”

Rose paused as an ie of Christian’s handsone, s to his skin “Oh, I ah it hurts”

Nicole’s bea smile stretched froet lost I have a strange suspicion he feels the same way”

A weary sigh left Oliver’s lips “Well, I suppose I’d rather see you wed to Farleigh than Lord Cunningham I assume he will approach me to ask for your hand”

“I have no idea what he will do” Rose bit into her toast, her heart feeling suddenly light and free