Smiling as if he knew what she was thinking, he said, “I just left Sylvie the papers for the property she’s buying from me. Everything is signed and sealed. She can begin building whenever she’s ready.”
Eddy’s heart swelled. Her dreams were one step closer to reality. She was also gaining an incredibly generous, incorrigible, and scandalous husband, too. She considered herself the happiest woman on earth.
“When do you want to get married?” he asked.
“Can we make it as soon as possible?”
“Now?”
She chuckled. “No.”
“Tomorrow?”
“How about we wait until after the ball so all that turmoil will be behind us.” The ball was only a few days away. “Are you worried?” she asked.
“I suppose, but I’m more looking forward to starting life with my sassy little wife, who I’d really like to kiss right now, but I passed Whitman Brown coming in, and I don’t want him to see us.”
“No, we don’t want that.” But she was dying for a kiss.
He turned serious. “I plan to be a good husband to you, Eddy. I don’t want you to ever regret saying yes.”
“And I don’t ever want you to regret stepping away from who you once were, so I’m going to be the best wife I can be to you.”
The look they shared silently sealed their pledges.
“Sylvie doesn’t have a storeroom, does she?”
Eddy laughed. “No.”
“Pity. I’ll have figure out a way for us to be together without prying ears or eyes soon.”
“I’d like that.”
“Any further word on Sylvie and Doc getting married?”
“No,” she replied. “And I’m afraid to ask.”
He chuckled. “Understood.”
She shared the news about Father Nash’s apprehension.
“Good. Hope he gets sent to the penitentiary for a very long time.”
“I do, too.”
For a moment there was silence, and Eddy saw a longing in his eyes that matched hers.
“I should probably go,” he said. “Otherwise I might drag you into my arms and give the gossips something to talk about.”
She figured after the ball the gossips were going to have a field day anyway, but she and Rhine would be able to go on. “Glad you’re back.”
“So am I. I’ll see you soon.” He mimed a kiss and walked out, leaving her alone.
Looking forward to the time when they could be together permanently, Eddy sighed and resumed peeling potatoes.
The next afternoon, although she was truly looking forward to her life with Rhine, she wasn’t looking forward to the meeting she and Sylvie would be having with Zeke Randolph about the architectural plans.
When he arrived, his demeanor was so cold and detached he may as well have been made of ice. He laid out the drawings on the kitchen table and went over the layout of the building, the size of the rooms, and their orientation. Eddy thought the drawings were excellent and told him so.