His jaw tightened.
And his worst had been pretty appalling.
But they had stayed calm and firm, somehow sensing—although he’d never done more than hint at his past—that he needed proof they would stay the course. And they had given him that proof.
They had shown him love—shown him how to love, and why love mattered. Passion mattered too, but mostly they wanted him to have the kind of love they shared.
And theoretically he wanted that too.
Only that kind of love required a trust that wasn’t in him to give.
Thanks to the woman sitting opposite him.
He let his eyes rest on her face until finally she looked up at him.
‘You know the type,’ he went on. ‘Beautiful, beguiling and believable. But then a poor farm boy like me shouldn’t expect anything else. Wouldn’t you agree, Lady Antonia?’
‘Oh, take no notice of him, Nia,’ Diane said, shaking her head. ‘He’s not poor, and he wouldn’t know a tractor if one ran him over. And you—’ She turned to Farlan. ‘If you really are serious about finding the love of a good woman, my boy, you need to think seriously about what you want.’
For a moment his reply stalled in his throat. That was the point. He had been very serious—once. His feelings for Nia had been sacred almost. For him, she was the mythical ‘one.’
There had been others over the years, but in truth he’d only ever wanted one woman. Nobody else had come even close to matching Nia.
‘You’re right, Dee. I have thought about it, and the one thing I really want in a woman is that she has to know her own mind.’
He glanced over at Nia. The edges of her face seemed blurred, almost like the brushstrokes of the watercolour behind her head.
‘That’s what matters to me,’ he reiterated.
‘Well, we’ll have to see what we can do. I’m sure they’ll be no shortage of takers.’ Tom grinned at him. ‘Now, how about another drop of whisky? And then I might see if I can have a little try of those pipes. Nia, another glass?’
‘Oh, no, thank you, I really should be going. I have such a lot on tomorrow. But thank you so much for a wonderful evening—’
Something in her voice pinched him inside.
He knew he had been cruel, and purposely so, but then he remembered how she had made him feel.
Getting to his feet, he watched as Diane and then Tom hugged her, steeling himself for the inevitable moment when he would have to embrace her.
‘Now, Farlan will see you home. Farlan?’
His pulse jerked as Diane turned to him expectantly.
‘Yes, of course,’ he said finally, filling the small, awkward pause. ‘Let me get your coat.’
It seemed to take for ever to get out of the house, and for Nia, every second was agonising.
Now her pulse beat in time to the crunch of Farlan’s footsteps as he strode down the drive.
She could easily have walked home alone, so why hadn’t she said so? Why did she always choose the path of least resistance?
Her gaze lifted irresistibly to Farlan’s face.
She might have lost his love, but she still had her pride.
As soon as she was certain they were out of sight of the house, she stopped and turned to him.
‘I’ll be fine from here. It’s not even a half a mile.’