“You think she’ll come, then?” Broc sounded less than certain, which was no surprise to Derek.

“I do,” he said, belting his tunic before tying the laces at his chest. “And I’m certain Phillip, and the rest will be glad to have her, in the event that your next question was about that very thing.”

“It wasn’t, though I won’t deny it’s another concern.”

“You know as well as I that there’s more than enough room at the manor house, and I’ve known Phillip and Jake since we were boys together. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that they’ll welcome her.”

“What then? And what of McInnis Shipping?”

“We may in time have to sail back to Kincarny in order to settle affairs there, or I could send for the other ships and have them meet us along the western coast. So long as I have the three of them in the same place, I’ll feel safer.”

“And then?” Broc pressed.

“And then, I’m unsure. You know I am. I can’t ask Margery or any woman to marry me when the life I lived was so impossible to predict. More stable than that of your everyday sailor, but far less so than a merchant or farmer.”

“A farmer’s life is stable?” Broc chuckled. “I was of the belief that they were just as beholden to the elements as we always were.”

“You know what I’m getting at,” Derek argued. “In one place. At home every evening for supper. In front of the fire. That sort of life.”

“Aye,” Broc grumbled, jamming his feet into his leather shoes.

This would not be the end of their conversation, Derek knew, but he wished his first mate would stop pressing so hard. They weren’t partners. While Broc’s livelihood depended upon Derek’s decision, he had no real say in the matter. Derek felt this point was forgotten—and didn’t want to voice it for fear of further distress between them.

“I’ll go to the tavern now,” Derek announced. “I know they’re hard at work before dawn.”

“It won’t give you much time to convince her before it’s time for us to go,” Broc pointed out.

“I won’t need much time—but if I can’t, I’ll find you and Hugh outside the village and let you know.” He left the room before another question could be voiced, needed to hear himself think for a minute.

The fact that he had slept at all was incredible, so many concerns at war in his head from the moment he’d stretched out on his bed through the moment he’d opened his eyes again.

Only one thing continued to make sense, no matter how many other questions remained unanswered, Margery, and the fact that he loved her. He wouldn’t leave without her, wouldn’t live without her. She was enough to drive even the sanest man to lunacy, but she was the only woman who’d ever come close to stirring his heart.

He was quick in his walk to the tavern, determined to bring her with him and be well on their way that very morning. Would Hugh be surprised! Well, he wasn’t the only McInnis capable of wooing a woman.

Hamish looked up in surprise when Derek burst through the door. Derek’s first thought was to question why the fleshy, older man was on his knees, scrubbing the floor.

“Where is Margery?” he asked, suddenly filled with dread. Had something else happened during the night?

Hamish nearly jumped to his feet. “She’s running off to Edinburgh, taking the ship which leaves at dawn.”

“What?” He imagined what it would feel like to be run over by a charging horse and couldn’t imagine it being worse than what he felt at that moment. It hit him all at once, the thought that she would be gone forever. How would he ever manage to find her again?

He looked out the door to where it was clear the sun was nearly over the horizon, golden rays stretching their fingers over the sky and water. There was no time to ask further questions, not if he wanted to catch the ship.

Villagers—women, children, even a few men—cried out in alarm and anger when he shoved his way past them, dodging and weaving through the early-morning traffic of the town.

A team of horses stopped dead in the center of the street, forcing Derek to cut around them and lose precious seconds. He couldn’t afford to lose more time.

If only he had walked past the harbor on his way to the tavern! But he hadn’t wished to run into MacBride, and that was the long way to the tavern from the rooming house. If he lost her for such a stupid reason, he’d never forgive himself.

Run! Run!

He could make out the masts of the tall, proud ship as she rose and sank with the gentle waves. So long as he kept his sights on it and it wasn’t moving away, there was still hope.

So he was desperate to believe.

The docks were empty of women when he reached them—even women dressed as lads, which she undoubtedly would be. He looked around wildly, turning in a circle, scanning everything around him for any sign of her.

There. The boat being rowed away from the dock, in the direction of the ship. And the flash of gold hair visible between the hat and tunic.

“Margery!” He ran full-out, his feet slapping against the weathered boards as he flew down the length of the dock. “Margery, stop!”

She looked behind her, surprise and dismay battling for control of her features. “Derek? What are you doing?”

“I’m stopping you, you daft thing! Get out of that boat and come up here, now!”

The old man sitting at the boat’s bow chuckled. “Well, lass? What will it be? The ship or the man hollerin’ at ye from the dock?”

Margery held onto the side of the boat as it rose and fell on the somewhat choppy water. “I don’t understand this,” she said, shaking her head.

“You do, which is why you were running away from me without saying goodbye. Don’t pretend you don’t know why I’d come for you.”

Her face seemed to crumble with emotion, but it did little to weaken her resolve. “But… I have to go. I have no choice, Derek. Don’t you see that?”

“No. I see no such thing. I only see that I need to speak to you, but I won’t yell across the water at you. All I ask is that you take a minute to listen to what I have to say before you do this.”

The old sailor leaned forward, closer to Margery. “The ship’s leaving in a short while, lass. They won’t leave without me, but they have a timetable to keep, and I won’t be the reason they’re late.”

She nodded without looking at him, eyes trained on Derek at all times. What was she going to decide? She couldn’t ask the old man to continue on to the ship—but if she did, he was ready to dive into the choppy sea and swim after her, if that was what it took.

He wouldn’t simply allow her to leave him.

Her eyes cut to the side, toward the sailor. “I understand. Please, row me back. I won’t take long.”

He waited with his heart in his throat as the boat returned to the dock and held a hand out to haul her up the ladder, unable to wait for her to climb it herself. There was no time to waste.

“What is this, then? What are you trying to do by following me here?” she asked, smoothing down her tunic, clearly incensed.

“Why do you have to ask? Don’t you know?”

“You want to know what I know?” Her eyes narrowed. “I know that I still have a responsibility to my sister. I know she’s waiting for me. If I can’t build something for myself here, I’ll find someplace else.”

“Edinburgh?” he spat.

“Why not?” she challenged.

“You think that will be any easier than this place?”

“I’m not asking for easier. I’m asking for anywhere but here. Where I won’t have to see him, ever again. Where I won’t have to be in that room and remember what happened. There’s nothing to keep me here, now that you’re leaving.”

Her eyes went wide, as though she were surprised at her own words. She couldn’t take them back, and he would never forget them. They were like a key he need only turn to open her heart fully.

He took a step closer. She didn’t back away.

He dipped his head lower, just slightly, just so he could lower his voice and say the sort of thing a man didn’t like to shout at a woman, especially not in the middle of a crowded harbor.

“Margery, don’t you know I love you?”

Her mouth fell open, nothing coming out but a sigh. Her eyes glowed, her cheeks pinkened.

“And as far as I’m concerned, the two of us belong together. You’re mine, under my protection, and I would offer you that protection until my dying day. If you’ll allow it, sweet lass, I’ll take you as my wife.” He reached for her, running a hand over her cheek, taking in the softness and smoothness of the woman he loved.

He expected her to accept him—or to at least express surprise at the suddenness of his intentions. What he should’ve expected was for her to argue him, which she did.

“Marry you? What about Beatrice? I can’t desert her.” As she had before, however, she leaned her face against his palm with her eyes half-closed. Her body was betraying her, showing him what she truly wanted.

“Once you’re under my protection, so is she,” he assured her. “I would never desert her, as you put it, when I know how much she means to you. This means she’s important to me, as well.”

“Truly?”

“I wouldn’t speak the words if I didn’t mean them. That’s one thing you can always be assured of, lass. My word means everything to me, and I don’t break it lightly. Which means I don’t take my offer of marriage lightly, either. It hasn’t been made in vain, just to keep you here with me. I intend to make a life for us, if you’ll only accept me.”

She smiled, eyes sparkling with tears. “I do love you,” she whispered. “As for marriage—”

“I understand,” he interrupted, “I have little in the way of security to offer right now, with my affairs still untidy. But I promise to build a life. I mean that. I’ll find a way to give you everything in life you deserve. You’ll never have to debase yourself ever again, nor scramble for your living. And you will never have to spend a sleepless night.”

He’d noticed the deep circles under her eyes and knew she hadn’t gotten a minute’s sleep after he’d left her. Not that he’d expected her to.

“Oh, Derek, it sounds so wonderful…”

His heart took flight at this, and at the wistful tone in her voice. “So, say yes.”

“I only wish I knew for certain, for my sister’s sake…”

Her hands were so small in his, so fragile—but strong, just the same. She had worked so hard, for so long, to ensure the well-being of those around her.

“Will you ever choose to do what sounds wonderful to you? Not for the sake of anyone else, but just for yourself?”

She blinked hard, her eyelids fluttering. “I—I’ve never considered it.”

Naturally. The girl had spent her entire life doing for others, worrying over others, sacrificing, putting the rest of the world first. Perhaps it was simply her nature, or the way she’d been brought up believing that true happiness wasn’t for the living but for the life after this one.

“I believe this is the time for you to begin doing just that.” He pulled her closer, still holding her hands, as though he could will her to take his strength. If it would have helped make her decision easier, he would’ve given it to her.

He would’ve given her anything, so long as he knew it would allow her to accept him with an open heart, with no hesitation.

“Just for myself?”

“Just for yourself,” he repeated, drinking in the sight of her lovely face like it was water to a man dying of thirst. Knowing she loved him as he loved her made her infinitely more precious, every part of her.

“I could do that,” she whispered, as though she were giving herself permission. “Yes. I could do that.”

“Will you, then? Will you stay?”

She swallowed hard, the pulse throbbing in her throat. His heart raced just as swiftly as hers.

“Yes,” she laughed. “Yes, I’ll stay. With you.”

He was certain his chest would explode as he threw his arms around her waist, lifting her from her feet and turning in a circle as she giggled helplessly.

“I love you, you stubborn lass,” he declared, placing her back on her feet before gathering her in his arms for a kiss. It wasn’t the proper thing to do, not with so many eyes possibly watching them, but nothing could’ve stopped him.

“I suppose this means you won’t be coming with us, then?”

Margery gasped, covering her blushing face with her hands for a moment before shaking her head, looking down at the old sailor who still waited in the boat.

“No. I won’t be,” she confirmed, leaning ever so slightly against Derek.

“I didn’t think so,” he grinned, touching his oars to the water. “No, I didn’t think you would.”