“Or you’ll throw me over your shoulder?” he said, cocking an eyebrow in the air.
“It’s about the rumours,” she blurted out.
His brow crinkled in confusion. “My aunt has dispelled the rumours in the papers about Everwell being some haven for thieves and murderers?—”
“Beau—” She stepped back a moment, grabbed his hands, and took a deep breath. “The rumours are not exactly rumours.”
It seemed to take a moment for her words to sink in, and she could see a line forming across his brow and his head tilt ever so slightly.
“Not exactly?”
“Not the murders part—that is, as you have helped prove — those are completely and utterly false,” she said, the words coming out of her in a rush to quell any fears that his life was in actual danger.
“And the thieving?” He asked, a new note of caution in his tone.
Maddy took a deep breath and hoped the other spinsters would forgive her. She told him everything. About forged insurance policies and missing wills, about Chinese vases and stolen jewels that had to be stolen back so that the owner had something to live on, because having a bank account in her own name was impossible. About the missing girls that were about to be carted off to Boston to work until The Everwell Society of Scandalous Spinsters and Wayward Women managed not only to free them but blackmail the ringleader into never returning. And because she was spilling every secret, she may have mentioned where a few of her books were borrowed from… including the one from Government House. And finally, she told him about the priceless poetry book that she’d gone to MacAskill’s to steal back on behalf of the owner, who’d been duped into relinquishing ownership of it.
Maddy wasn’t sure she had spoken so much in her entire life. But when she stopped, she forced herself to be patient while Beau took it all in. Allowed herself to trust that he loved her and would somehow understand.
“Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” he said, after what felt like a painful amount of silence. Maddy wanted to laugh at the irony of it. He put a hand to his chin, idly rubbing it as he seemed to be turning over everything she’d just told him. “After all, it was as plain as day the moment I met you.”
“What do you mean?” she protested. “I know I’m a horrible thief—a fact I tried to impress upon Phillipa, but?— “
He put a finger to her lips.
“You ruthlessly stole my heart right in the middle of a bookstore,” he said, his voice low and warm like honey that seemed to flow right through Maddy’s body. “And as for the price of the book, it was a fair price to pay for the attention of a faerie queen, don’t you think?”
“Entirely fair,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She wanted to melt right into him.
“Now,” he said, clearing his throat, and holding up the deed to The Grove. “Back to the matter at hand. Your happily ever after.”
Maddy looked at the folded sheaf of papers in his hand, her heart squeezing one more time. She thought of Elouise and her wise words, too often ignored by those who only saw the exquisite objective beauty of her face. And Sylvie, who flourished when given the chance to look after the garden and would flourish more if she was given the same opportunity that Lady Em and Tilda had given Maddy. Gemma and Rimple, Phillipa. They had their lives. And then she thought of Annie and Daniel, and Hollis and his berry patch, Teddy, and the magical garden hidden and waiting for her. And her happy ending. And maybe it would mean that she wouldn’t see Beau that often. He had his life in Saint John, and a company to run.
“I want this,” she said. “But I’ve become greedy.”
Beau cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
“I want what I want,” she said, trying to mimic his devil-may-care charm. “And I want to share my cottage with Prince Charming.”
Beau threw his head back and laughed, then pulled Maddy tight. “You’ve got him.”
“Are you certain?”
“I gave Jess the company,” he said. “She’s the only one with the head to run it. I might have to go back to Saint John from time to time, but if you like, you can come with me. And it would never be for long. But I didn’t want it, and she did. It’s her legacy, too. Both her parents are gone. She needs to disentangle herself from Neil. She can do it, and I’ll be there for her if she needs me. Just like you would be here for The Everwell Society when they need you to shake down a crooked politician or whatever it is you do.”
Maddy held her breath. “I don’t know what to do,” she said. “I’m scared and nervous and normally when I feel this way I want to go hit something, but I’m too happy.”
“How about you stand there looking gorgeous while I kiss you?”
And that’s what they did, Maddy leaning into Beau as he took her face in his hands and devoured her in a kiss that she felt down to her toes. Somewhere, in the distance, she heard a chorus of whoops and hollers and… was that clapping? Perhaps clapping.
Clapping not for a happy ending. But for a happy beginning.
* * *
THE END
Epilogue