Chapter Eight
After a morning of sending wires to family in Charleston, paying a call on Julianna LeVeq-Vincent, and alerting Etta that Raven would be stopping by, Hazel and Harrison returned home and shared lunch on the study’s verandah.
“You think you’re ready for Charleston now?” Harrison asked, setting aside his now empty plate.
“As ready as I can be,” Hazel said. “Welch will probably be here in the morning. I just wish we knew more about the targets. Usually we gather our own information before going in. This time, we’re having to rely on someone who’s proven she can’t be trusted, and that’s worrisome.”
He nodded understandingly.
“But thankfully, Raven’s resourceful and can think on her feet, so I’m certain she’ll manage any surprises that might crop up. My main concern is the knife Welch will put in her back. I know it’s coming, sooner or later. The mother inme wants to protect her from it, or come up with a way to prevent it.”
Hazel set that aside for a moment and studied the man she’d wanted to marry all those years ago. Age had grayed his hair, and time had added weight to his once slender frame, just as it had to hers. She’d enjoyed his company as she handled the day’s errands. They’d talked, laughed, reminisced. After the death of Josiah, the father of her girls, she hadn’t taken any lovers because she didn’t want stray men around them, and she was also focused on keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table. In those days, Fanny’s Plan had been in its infancy and there wasn’t a spare dime to be had. Being with Harrison now made her realize how much she’d missed companionship. “Even though Welch makes me see red, I’m glad she brought you back into my life.”
He seemed surprised by her admission. “Really?”
She nodded. “I cursed you for years, and when you showed up yesterday, I cursed even more, but now... “
“Now what?” he asked softly.
“I can look back and see why you did what you did that day at the church.”
“A purely selfish man moment. Purely selfish. If I couldn’t have you, neither would he. I’m sorry for wrecking the dreams you had for your life.”
“And I’m sorry for breaking your heart, andwhat we might have had, had I chosen you. Chosen us.”
“You weren’t going to go against your mother.”
“No, I wasn’t,” she admitted. She reached across the table and gently covered his hand with hers. “I want a second chance, Harrison.”
Seemingly moved by what he read in her eyes, he laced his fingers with hers. “I didn’t think I had the standing to ask that of you after all this time, but I want that chance, too.”
“Then let’s.”
“You wouldn’t tease an old man, would you?”
“No. Not about this. I’d like to spend however many years I have left with you.”
“Okay then. Do you want marriage, or shall we do without the formalities?”
“What would you prefer?”
“A wedding. In front of a preacher, with you all dressed up, me in my best suit, and the world watching. And afterwards, a reception with cognac, music, dancing, and cake.”
She laughed. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
He tugged gently on her hand and guided her over to his side of the table and onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around him, and he held her against his heart. For a moment they sat in afternoon silence, content. He gently raised her chin. Looking down at her, he ran a loving finger over her lips before kissing her with a passion that had lingered for decades.
“And after the reception,” he whispered, “a lively wedding night.”
Eyes sparkling, she replied, “Averylively wedding night.”
That evening after dinner, Raven was glad to see her cousins arriving for the meeting. Their presence would give her something to focus on besides Braxton Steele. Since returning home, everywhere she’d turned the memory of his potent words followed, whispering, seducing, reminding her of what she’d felt and how much more she wanted. He was standing on the far side of the room, arms crossed, watching her with veiled amusement, as if he knew the effect he’d had on her. That knowing gaze made her want to stuff him in a barrel and ship him back to Boston, Detective Welch’s mission be damned, but only after more of his kisses.
Once everyone was seated, she took in the attendees. Renay and Lacie. Emile and Alma. Bethany. Her mother, Hazel, and Harrison. Eden and Vana. They’d all come together to let Eden and Vana know what games they were running and where they’d be because the aunts would be in charge of the family until Hazel returned from Charleston.
Emile spoke first. “Lacie and I are heading to Titusville, Pennsylvania, to sell stocks in a soon-to-be-built oil refinery.” Titusville was thenation’s oil boomtown. Much money was being made both legally and fraudulently.
Lacie said, “We’re sure the town will have its share of con artists, but I doubt there will be an Italian count with an English duchess mistress looking for investors.”