The Engineered Engagement
Page 16
For a moment his heart stopped cold. . .then took up banging like pots in a ship’s galley in a gale.
In the light of the electric lamps Grandfather had turned on to supplement the gaslight, her skin took on a porcelain delicacy. Her eyes looked enormous and sad. She stood a little apart, her attention decidedly away from where Eli stood. She twisted the middle fingers of her left hand with her right. And he saw the bare left ring finger.
Guilt stabbed him again. He thrust his punch cup into Jonathan’s hand. “Hold this, I’ll be right back.” He took the stairs two at a time and jogged down the hallway to his room. The box sat right where he’d left it. He snatched it up and hurried back to the gallery on the first floor.
His heart beat fast when he spotted her again. He started toward her, but Grandfather’s voice stopped him.
“Eli, come here. Speech!” The old man’s voice rang out strong and imperious.
Heart trouble, my eye. He tried to ignore the call, skirting well-wishers, but the guests took up the chant. “Speech! Speech!”
Josie edged toward the door.
He needed to get to her before she left. Then he knew what he had to do.
❧
Josie again declined punch from the servant circulating. She couldn’t eat or drink anything, not with the steel hawsers clamping around her middle.
Eli had ducked out of the party, after standing beside his brother and sipping punch like he hadn’t a care in the world. She told herself she didn’t care where he’d gone. He skidded into the room and looked from face to face as if searching for someone.
A sob surprised her, hiccupping out before she could squelch it. The room closed in, people and noise pressing against her until she couldn’t stand it anymore. Solace and quiet were only a few steps away. She could slip out and no one would notice.
A hand closed over her arm. “Where are you going, young lady?”
Grandma Bess. “I. . .I need some air.” Josie stumbled over her words.
“You’ve got too much grit to turn tail and run now. Straighten up and show some backbone.” Grandma Bess folded her arms, her ever-present valise banging against her waist.
How easy for Grandma to say, but just being in the same room with Eli and knowing he was lost to her forever was more than Josie could bear. What if they had met under other circumstances? What if she had told him the truth from the very beginning? What if he had believed her about Fox? What if, what if, what if?
The words pounded through her, leaving her aching and empty. When Eli responded to the calls for a speech, the lump in her throat grew so large she couldn’t draw breath. Lord, I can’t do this. I know You’ve forgiven me, but having Eli doubt me. . . I just can’t do this. Help me get out of here.
Grandma Bess blocked the door.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Eli’s voice cut through her like a hot knife, “no doubt you’re expecting me to make some sort of eloquent speech praising myself and Kennebrae Shipping. But I’m not going to do that. Instead, I want to tell you about the person truly responsible for our victory.” Eli stepped up on the hearth and scanned the crowd.
Josie couldn’t help but stare at his handsome face, so earnest and alive.
“As you’ve no doubt heard, the Keystone Vulpine went down today in rough seas due to a design flaw. Though we at Kennebrae Shipping regret the loss of the ship and her cargo, we are grateful that no lives were lost. If I had had my own way, the Bethany, too, would’ve been built with these same design flaws, and the crews of two ships might have died today. Tragedy was averted due solely to the efforts of a brave young woman. Because she refused to bow to convention, refused to let stubborn men stand in her way, she corrected the flaw in my design and was brave enough to point it out when she noticed it on the Vulpine. If she hadn’t exhibited such courage, the Bethany wouldn’t have been in place to rescue her adversary’s crew when they were in distress. Many lives would’ve been lost.”
Josie blinked, her mouth going dry.
The guests looked at one another, puzzlement clear on their features.
“But that isn’t what I most wanted to say about this remarkable young woman.”
His eyes bored into hers across the room, compelling her to listen. She twisted her fingers harder, her knees quivering.
“This woman, beyond being the most capable engineer I’ve ever known, is beautiful, gentle, and caring. She has integrity and honor, and her loyalty knows no bounds. She’s generous and forgiving.” His gaze became warm, a smile playing about his mouth. “At least, I hope she’s forgiving. You see”—he spread his hands in a gesture of appeal—“I’ve been an idiot where she’s concerned. I didn’t realize what a treasure I had until it slipped from my grasp. I treated her badly, and yet she didn’t return hurt for hurt. She did the right thing when she broke our engagement.”
Mama gasped, and Father pivoted to gape at her.
Josie wanted to sink through the floor. Did he have to announce their broken engagement before all of Duluth society?
But Eli wasn’t finished yet. “I only hope she can forgive me yet again and accept the gift of my love. I’ll never love another, for there’s only one Josie.” He stepped off the hearth and started toward her.
The crowd parted before him.
“When I asked you to marry me before, it was for all the wrong reasons. Now I’m asking you for the only right one. Forget about families, forget about contracts and ships and obligations. Put aside meddling grandfathers and blueprints and secret identities and all the things that have come between us, and know this. . .I love you, Josie Zahn. Will you marry me?”
Every head in the room swiveled to stare at her, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Eli. Shock and disbelief welded her feet to the ground. Finally, Grandma Bess gave her a little push to get her started. Her legs shook with every step.
Eli met her halfway.
She stopped before him, staring up into his face, afraid to let go of the guard around her heart and believe his declaration. She didn’t realize she was gripping her fingers tight until he eased them apart. The warmth of his touch penetrated her chill, and she looked down. The opal ring she’d so loved, that she’d dreamed of him putting on her hand, slipped onto her finger.
He cupped her face, his eyes imploring, full of love and remorse. “This ring comes with a couple of strings attached, you know.”
“Strings?” The word came out a whisper, all she could muster under the circumstances.
He nodded. “Yeah. It comes with my heart. I’m useless without you. I love you, Josie. And I need to hear that you love me, too, and that you forgive me for being such an imbecile.”
She blinked back tears that thickened her voice. “You’re forgiven, Eli. I love you, too.”
“Marry me?”
“Yes.”
He folded her into his embrace, crushing her to him and bringing his lips down to hers.
All the hurt and misunderstanding, the uncertainty and guilt, washed away in the wonder of his love. She returned his embrace, giving and accepting love and forgiveness with her whole heart.
He raised his head but didn’t release her as applause broke out around them.
Josie could barely breathe for the happiness welling up inside her.
Guests pressed forward to wish them well.
Eli kept his arm around her waist and, in a lull, pressed a kiss against her temple and whispered, “We’ll sort everything out later, love.”
A shiver raced up her spine, and she wondered if he would always affect her this way. “As long as you love me, there’s nothing more that needs sorting out.”
He squeezed her waist and kissed her again. His eyes took on a twinkle, and he inclined his head toward the fireplace.
Grandma Bess had taken a chair next to Mr. Kennebrae. Their white heads bent close together. “What do you suppose he’s up to now?”
She giggled, happiness breaking over her again. “Plotting baby Matthew’s engagement?”
&nb
sp; Eli laughed. “We should turn the tables on him. I think your grandmother and my grandfather would make a nice couple, don’t you?”
“Another Kennebrae-Zahn wedding? I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
About the Author
ERICA VETSCH is married to Peter and keeps the company books for the family lumber business. A homeschool mom to Heather and James, Erica loves history, romance, and storytelling. Her ideal vacation is taking her family to out-of-the-way history museums and chatting with curators about local history. She has a bachelor’s degree from Calvary Bible College in secondary education: social studies. You can find her on the Web at www.onthewritepath.blogspot.com.
Dedication
For Georgiana Daniels.
Thank you.
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Erica Vetsch
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