“Yeah,” Ben said sadly. “I know. I’ll tell you, Lucas, I don’t really think I was cut out for all this.” He swept his arm out, including the entire room and estate. “I think I’d rather work for a living and just make ends meet. None of this money or luxury makes me happy. I’m miserable.”
“That’s just because you don’t know how it is to have to ‘just make ends meet.’ I understand the sentiment, though.”
Ben smiled at his friend. “Okay, so I need to plan this thing out. You’re going to help me, right?”
“You bet. I am your manservant, after all.” Lucas grimaced when he said it. He had always hated that particular title. “Besides, I’m your friend, so I won’t even charge you overtime for it.” He winked.
“Great,” Ben said, clapping him on the back. “Let’s get started.”
Arianna Cox silently moved away from the door to Master Mason’s recreation room and down the hall. She had heard enough, she thought. Enough to get that new girl, Abigail, in trouble. She deserved it for calling her and Sadie down that day.
It was unfortunate that Master Mason would get in trouble, too. He was a kind man, and so nice to look at. He had always been polite to her. Still, if she could get the new girl fired, it would be worth it.
She had to time it perfectly to get the best price for her information. Too soon or too late and she would miss out on a reward. It was enough to get this Abigail fired, but why not get something for herself in the bargain? Yes, she would hold her tongue for now, watch and wait until the time was right. With a wicked smile, she continued her work, dusting the picture frames and sculptures in the hall.
Chapter 23
Ben thought he was doing a good job maintaining his sanity even though he knew Abigail was in the house somewhere. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but she had fled from him at the waterfall, so he was determined to let her come to him when she wanted to talk about it. Whenever he thought about it, pain engulfed him and threatened to steal his breath. He kept as busy as he could and did his best to stay away from the areas he thought she would be in at the times he used to find her there. He could survive this if he never saw or heard her.
He thought about the pure ridiculousness of it. He was essentially a prisoner in his own house, afraid to move about freely. The last thing he wanted to do was to make things weird for her, and she had made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. So he skulked around in his own house and trod carefully lest he run into her.
It worked for four days.
He came around the corner in a hallway and almost ran into her. They both stopped in their tracks and looked at each other. They were silent for a moment. Ben wasn’t sure about her, but he didn’t know what to say.
“Um, hi,” he finally got out and stepped to the left to go around her.
She stepped to the right so they were still face-to-face. Color bloomed on her cheeks as she stepped to her left.
Ben stepped to his right at the same time. He felt his face burning, too.
They both laughed, and he stepped back, sweeping his arm out and bowing to let her pass. She touched his arm, and he thought he would lose his mind.
“Thank you, Ben,” she said, her voice as sweet and perfect as he remembered it. “Do you think we can talk?”
“Definitely,” he said.
“I…miss talking to you. I wasn’t thinking straight before, and I think I was rude to you, but while you were gone, I missed our little chats. And since…the waterfall, I miss them more.” She forced a chuckle. “Silly, huh?”
“Oh, Abbie, it’s not silly at all. It’s been driving me crazy that I haven’t been able to talk to you. I thought you didn’t like me or decided you didn’t want to talk to me, so I tried to leave you alone. It was very hard.”
“For me, too,” she said. “Maybe we can forget all that stuff and just go with whatever seems to work. How about that?”
“That sounds fantastic to me. Thank you.”
She flashed him her gorgeous smile, stepped around him, and continued down the hall. He watched her until she was out of sight. Looking around to make sure no one else was there, he let the smile that was trying to get out leap onto his face. The world wasn’t such a bad place, after all.
Over the next several weeks, things between Ben and Abbie eased back to how they were before the kiss. The furtive glances, the chance meetings, the conversations that seemed forced at first but then became more comfortable, all of that became a regular routine.
Ben also found himself doing little things for her. One time, he made a little origami flower he learned how to make on the internet and put it on her cart as she was inside one of the rooms cleaning. He wanted to stay to watch her face when she found it, but he was afraid it would ruin the surprise.
He did other things, too. Little notes, some with only a smiley face, some with sly turns of phrase he made up to make her smile. He thought of sending her flowers but didn’t want to call attention to her, and, to be honest, he didn’t want her to think he was just like every other guy. Sending a dozen red roses may show that he was in love with her, but how original was that? No, she deserved creativity. She inspired it in him.
So, he continued his little romantic overtures, chatting with her and smiling at her when the chance arose, and generally tried to keep things light. He never told her, in notes or in person, that he loved her. He was afraid it would scare her away, especially because he knew it was true.
Ben was still thinking about how to bring up his idea to Abbie. She seemed to have forgotten about fleeing from him, and he had not brought it up for fear of a relapse. The time for him to act finally came four and a half weeks after they watched the sunrise together at the waterfall. Abbie was dusting the artwork in the main hall on the second floor—there was always someone dusting something—and Ben came up the stairs.
He looked around to make sure no one else was around, even opening the door to a guest room to make sure there wasn’t anyone close enough to hear. Abbie looked at him quizzically.
“Abbie,” he said, a little breathless from his anxiety, “I wanted to ask you something.”
Abbie swiveled her head back and forth to check for eavesdroppers. “Okay?” It came out sounding more like a question than a statement.
Ben took a deep breath, looked around again, hastily dropped to one knee and launched into what he had rehearsed. “Abbie, would you marry me?” He held out a ring to her.
The look on her face was difficult to read. It was shock, happiness, suspicion, and even a bit of anger mixed in. He wasn’t sure what it meant. She bit her lower lip and looked around again.
“Ben, get up off the floor,” she hissed. “If someone sees you, we’re both in trouble.”
He did as she asked, standing there gazing at her in expectation.
“Is this some kind of joke?” she asked, looking at the ring he still held in his hand and narrowing her eyes.
“No, no,” he said. “It’s no joke. I’m serious. I want you to marry me.” He paused, then continued. “If you want to, that is.”
Her eyes softened a little. “Are you crazy?” It was said gently.
“I am,” he said. “I’m crazy about you. I have been from the first. That kiss clinched it. I want to be with you.”
“You know that’s not really how these things work, right?” she said. “Typically, people spend a lot of time together, date, get engaged, and then get married. Over a period of time.”
“I know,” he said, eyes dropping to the floor. “The thing is, Mother has engaged me to Penelope, and there isn’t really much time. I can’t…don’t want to wait. It’s you I want, not her.” He proffered the ring again. “Marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?”
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, but she exerted her will and smoothed her face into a neutral expression. “You are crazy.” A soft chuckle escaped her lips and her eyes widened.
He continued to hold out the ring.
“Oh, give me that,” she said, snatching it from him and closing her fist around it. “Someone seeing you holding that out to me will be as bad as you being on your knee.” She opened her fist slowly and peered at what was in her palm. It was ornately fashioned in white gold with a large diamond solitaire and intricate swirls around the band. It was somehow fancy and yet still simple. “Oh, Ben, it’s beautiful.”
“It pales in comparison to the one who is holding it,” he said, and she rolled her eyes at him.
“Too much?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, just enough. But don’t go saying things like that all the time, or I’ll think you’re trying to sway me with pretty language.”
“Okay,” he said.
Abbie looked at the ring again. “It looks like an antique, an heirloom.”
Ben hoped that didn’t mean she felt insulted that he had offered her an old ring. “Not quite so old as that. It was my grandmother’s, on my father’s side. My father carried it around in his pocket after she died. He had it with him when he passed away. It means the world to me, a tie to him, and to my nana, who died when I was ten years old. He said that it was too simple for my mother to wear. When he proposed to her, he didn’t even bother to offer it to her, instead buying a very expensive and gaudy ring.”
“Oh, Ben.” She closed her fingers over the ring again. “Can I think about it for a day or two?” she asked, worrying that bottom lip in her teeth again. “Is that okay?”
Ben felt something in his middle wriggle as if he had swallowed a live eel. “Um, yeah, that’s fine.”
“It’s not that I don’t like you or anything,” she said. “It’s just that it’s so sudden, so unexpected. I need to sort things out.” She shook her head. “I’m not making any sense. Just please give me a day or two, okay?”
Ben looked around yet again and then took Abbie’s hands in his. “I understand. Take as long as you want. You know where to find me. After all, you know where I live.” He winked at her, brought her hands up and kissed them and then turned and went downstairs.
Chapter 24
For two days, Abigail thought of nothing else but what her answer would be. The ring, a fine necklace looped through it so that it hung between her breasts, was a constant reminder. As if she needed one.
As she went about her work, she ticked off pros and cons of each of her two options. A simple yes or no answer didn’t seem very simple at all. Abbie was grateful that Ben wasn’t there every time she turned around. He was obviously making an effort to stay clear of her to allow her to make a decision without his influence. That went into the “yes” column as a pro.
Her mother and father had always taught her to be mindful of her feelings, and it had always been implied that if she decided to marry, it would be for love, not for expediency or because she felt she had to because she had simply been with someone for a period of time. They also believed, she knew, that real love was worth sacrifice. But was it worth all sacrifice? Were some things more important even than true love? Was it even love that she felt? She wasn’t sure.
Her mission was the most important thing in her life. A chance to help to bring her mother’s killer to justice was not something she took lightly, even if she took her responsibilities to her coven lightly, which she didn’t. If she said yes to Ben, her mission would be over. The chance of sneaking in another operative was slim. The water witches might lose any chance of getting inside information about Margaret Huntsman. Others might lose their lives.
Then again, her mission had not yielded anything worthwhile in months of her being in the household. She knew that she had to be patient when gathering intel undercover, and even more so, it seemed, to find evidence of Margaret’s magic use that would not be missed, but she wasn’t sure she would ever find out anything that would bring the woman down. She could spend two years being a maid and not have anything to show for it. If she was married to Margaret’s son, she might actually have a better chance of uncovering something.
But all these things were not what she should be considering. When it came down to it, the success or failure of her mission might be a wash when comparing the two scenarios. What she really needed to think about was if she wanted to marry Ben.
She had only known him for a few months, but she did care for him. She cared a great deal for him. But was it love? She’d never really been in love, at least not that she knew. She’d been infatuated when she was younger, but she was an adult now.
All Abbie knew was that when she looked into Ben’s eyes, nothing else mattered. It was unnerving how he took over her thoughts when he wasn’t around and how she felt that anything was possible when he was. He was an only, just a normal human, but for some reason that didn’t matter to her. Did it?
Most witches, no matter which element or coven, saw normal humans as being not quite as good, not quite as elevated, as magic users. It was a prejudice like any other, she thought, and she tried not to dwell on it, but in the back of her mind, way down deep, she thought that maybe she did believe it. At least a little. Could she reconcile her bias with marrying a man without magic? She didn’t know.
Children. Would they have the gift of magic? Did Ben even want them? She didn’t want any right now, but she could see in the future wanting to have one or two. Or maybe three. She enjoyed interacting with young people, and she adored babies, as did most sane people, she thought.
She shook her head, muttering to herself as she walked down the hall on the second floor, right past the spot where Ben had gotten to his knee and proposed. She could picture him there. What was she going to do?
She stopped cold in her tracks. What if he was in on what his mother was doing? What if she got married to one who was complicit in her mother’s murder? But no. Ben was an honest, honorable man. He wouldn’t be part of his mother’s schemes. Would he? Was he a fire warlock? Not all children of witches and warlocks had the gift. He might be a skip. It was too bad she didn’t know more about his family; the covens tended to be secretive about their powers and their personal lives.
It was interesting to her, too, that she normally thought of him as an only, not a skip. She was almost positive he was not a warlock, or she would have sensed his power, but if he was powerless and from a fire family, he would be a skip. Strange.
When two days had passed, Abbie found Ben, who had made himself easy to find. He seemed to be doing slow laps of the mansion. He didn’t approach Abbie, but he was available if she wanted to talk to him.
“I have thought about your…question,” she said. She made her expression unreadable. His eyes were tense, his mouth a tight line. He obviously had no idea if she was going to say yes or no. He waited for her to finish.
She just stood there looking at him.
“And…?” he finally said.
“Are you sure this is what you want? I—”
He put his finger on her lips, stopping her. He looked into her eyes, and she couldn’t have averted her glance if she had wanted to. She didn’t want to.
“Abbie. It’s you I want. It’s you I have to be with. There is nothing on this Earth as perfect as you are for me. Yes, this is what I want. More than anything. The question is, is it what you want?”
He removed his finger and goose bumps raced up her back. Ben looked around, eyes darting to find anyone who might have seen them. There was no one.
That’s right, there was no one. No one else. She had made her decision, but it had not been as firm as she would have liked. It was now. What he said was exactly how she herself felt.
“And I have decided,” she said, stepping closer to him to put her mouth next to his ear, “that I would love to marry you.” She gave his earlobe a quick kiss and then stepped back, looking around herself to make sure no one had seen. It would be so wonderful not to have to worry about others seeing them interact after they were married.
Ben relaxed immediately, his shoulders dropping a little and a sigh escaping his lips. She wished he could take he
r in his arms, but he couldn’t, not here. He smiled at her, nodded, and looked deep into her eyes. “This weekend, let’s meet away from the estate and we can talk about it, figure things out.”
“Yes,” she said, matching his smile. “That sounds nice.”
She walked away, but she could feel his smile follow her as she went. She tried to temper her smile so people wouldn’t ask her about it, but quickly realized there was no way she could keep it off her face. She would have to try to avoid others until the smile lessened on its own. She thought a year or two might do it.
That weekend, Abigail met Ben at the brink of the Lower Yellowstone Falls, the same place they had their first—and only—kiss. They remedied that little detail immediately. This time, Ben arrived earlier, waiting on the same bench they’d shared before.
She ran the last few steps as he got up from the bench. He enfolded her in his arms and squeezed. She felt his warmth through the jacket she was wearing, or maybe it was just her own flush. As she leaned her head back so she could look at him, he moved his head closer and kissed her.
She let herself be swept away this time, not fighting and not thinking, just enjoying their closeness, the softness of his lips on hers, the way they connected. Their tongues danced and the world spun.
When the kiss finally ended, Abbie put her head on his chest and breathed deeply. She was out of breath as if she had run for miles.
“Whoa,” he said, as if he had taken the word directly from her mind.
“Ditto,” she said.
They sat on the bench until the sun rose, his arm encircling her. He nuzzled her hair, kissed her ear, and pulled her tight to his side. She could have spent the rest of her life in that moment and been perfectly happy.
After the sun was up and other people started to show up at the falls, they walked back up the trail together, heads close, talking about what they would do.
Water & Flame (Witches of the Elements Series Book 1) Page 14
