Page 14 of However Long the Wait (Sweet Treat Novellas #4)

" W hat is this nonsense, Carina?" Father must have been truly upset to have foregone every single expected nicety when arriving as a guest in someone's home.

"Welcome to Chadwick House," Aunt Chadwick said dryly.

"I will have a conversation with my daughter without your commentary, thank you very much."

Father's expression was more livid than Carina ever remembered it being, and yet she wasn't upended by it. He had sent her to her aunt's home to be broken and humbled. Instead, she had grown into a woman who was not afraid of him and who valued herself too much to be browbeaten.

"What could you possibly mean in sending this letter?" Father held up a folded bit of parchment. "It was horrifying enough that you declared your intention to not return home at the end of the summer as agreed upon, but to compound that by telling us you are to be married."

"Would you have rather I lied to you?" Carina asked calmly.

For a moment, he didn't seem to know how to respond. But he quickly found his voice once more. "Married to that upstart, Grant Ambrose? The same mushroom who humiliated our family by tossing you over so carelessly five years ago?"

"I have always been fond of mushrooms."

Again, Father was startled into confused silence.

"Have you come for the wedding, then?" Carina asked. "Did Mother come as well?"

"You are not getting married," Father said. "You must have permission from your father to marry. The law and the church requires it. And I have no intention of giving it."

"What utter toss." Aunt Chadwick was quickly losing patience; Carina had come to know her well enough to recognize as much.

"You sent your daughter here to prevent her from descending into spinsterhood.

You have arrived here to find she is engaged.

Why not declare that a personal victory and basque in the glow of it rather than pout like a child. "

Father actually sputtered as he attempted to respond.

In the midst of that undignified display, Grant arrived. The butler announced him with unmistakable fondness. Grant crossed directly to Carina.

He took her hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed it. "My darling." He then tucked her arm through his and turned to face her father. "Mr. Herrick. Have you come to congratulate your daughter?"

"Congratulate? This notion she has—"

"Give over, David," Aunt Chadwick said with an impatient sigh. "I sent spies to Rafton to learn what I could of the person you wished your daughter to marry."

Carina didn't know that. A glance at Grant told her he hadn't been aware of it either.

"All his staff suspect he is responsible for the deaths of his first three wives," Aunt Carina said. Her eyes then narrowed on Father. "There is no surprise in your expression. Guilt, yes. Discomfort, yes. But not surprise. You believe him capable of such a dastardly thing."

"There has been no proof," Father insisted. "If I knew for certain that he—"

"The fact that you consider it even possible and still tried to force your daughter to connect herself to such a man is horrifying." Aunt Chadwick's nostrils flared in disgust and disapproval. "She has chosen better for herself than you did for her."

"The Ambroses are comfortably situated," Father acknowledged, "but he abandoned her. How can she possibly believe him reliable?"

"Because I have spent the summer sorting through those misunderstandings," Carina said. "And I have spent the summer coming to know the gentleman he is now." She looked at Grant, feeling herself smile all the way to her heart. "I could not imagine my life without him now."

Grand raised her hand to his lips once more. It was likely all he meant to allow himself while her father was watching. "And I consider myself the most fortunate of men and intend to spend the rest of my life making certain I am worthy of her."

"The two of you go for a walk in the gardens," Aunt Chadwick said. It was not a suggestion. "I mean to have a discussion with my nephew."

They eagerly accepted the escape she offered. Mere moments later, they were standing in their favorite corner of the gardens. Grant had his arms around her. She leaned against him.

"Do you suppose your aunt will manage to talk your father around to approving this match?

" Grant asked. "I'll marry you either way, even if we have to elope to Scotland to get around the need for his blessing.

But I would far rather marry you here, with our friends and your aunt to celebrate with us. "

"I believe there is nothing that my aunt Chadwick cannot accomplish when she puts her mind to it."

"She managed to cut through my stubbornness and foolishness," Grant said. "I will always be grateful to her for that."

Carina stretched up on her toes and brushed a kiss to his lips. "As will I, my darling Grant."

He pulled her closer and kissed her just as softly. "Though I cannot change the sorrows of the last five years, knowing that we will have a lifetime together brings me more joy than I can even express."

"We endured a long wait reaching this point," she said, "but now we have forever."

There, in a spot now as special to them as the one they had claimed in Rafton, they clung to each other and to the glorious promise of a lifetime together, a promise they sealed with a kiss.