She looked at me. “Explain.”
I didn’t know what to think. “Well, it’s the certificate and a covering letter confirming that you now own half the company. The shares have been transferred to you.” I smiled at her. “You’re the co-owner of a big app company, and a very rich woman in your own right.” I took her hand. “I wanted you to have security and freedom to make choices without ever having to worry about money again.” I kissed the back of her hand. “I want you to be beside me forever, but I want you to choose that because you want to, not for money.”
She turned her hand in mine and took mine to her mouth and kissed it. “Thank you,” she said and smiled up at me. “I’m not going to accept it, but I really appreciate the thought.”
I shook my head. “You can’t reject it. The transfer’s all gone ahead. It’s a done deal.”
She made a face at me. “Well, I might just be rich enough for a lawyer to undo it then!”
I put my arm around her, and lifted her onto my lap. “Let’s talk about the other stuff first, though. Then you’ll know everything you need to.”
She leaned against me trustingly and she fitted so snugly I felt my throat tighten. I stared out to the horizon. It was perfect. Nothing marred it.
“Just say it. It doesn’t have to come out perfect.” I was amazed at her perception, and I hugged her.
“Okay. Let’s do the business stuff first. As of now, you’re co-owner of the company. Now your app is nearly ready to start the pre-release hype, I can see two ways to go. You form a new company. You’re the sole owner and you release the app. I’ll transfer the rights of all the work done by Paul. So it’s yours.
“The advantages of that - you make all the profits. The big disadvantage - the media and reviewers don’t believe you can finance the back-end, and are cynical about it, so you have to do significant giveaways to keep everyone sweet. It’s very hard to start a new big business in this field now, unless the new apps have no back-end to manage.” I gave her a few moments to digest that.
“The other way would be to license it within our company. The company does all the work and pays you the full royalties - in fact, I’ll make sure you get a really good deal. Then, as co-owner, you’ll also get the profit share.” I hugged her close. “I also want you working in this business with me. Your creative flair would really help us with new ideas and directions.”
Then I let her sit silently, and we remained there motionless for a long time. But the silence was companionable. I didn’t feel that she was in any way upset. She was just thinking.
Then I sighed. I had to tell her the rest. “You see,” I started, then I stopped. I knew a better way to do this, although I hadn’t planned it quite this way, and hadn’t got the ring with me. But this felt right.
“You might be wondering why I gave you the shares in the company. It’s because I never want to wonder whether a girl might be marrying me for my money. So I thought if I ask someone who’s rich in her own right, then I’d know if she was …” I had to stop, as she squealed and locked her arms around my neck.
“Don’t say another word!” Then she leaned back. “Now, mister. You need to be very careful here. I have form for misunderstanding what you say. So be clear.”
I smiled and touched her forehead with my lips. “I wasn’t planning things this way, Toni, so it’s a bit garbled, I know. But I love you to bits. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I want to ask you in a couple of minutes if you will marry me, but the other thing I need to tell you might make you want to think about it.”
Her eyes wide as she stared up at me, she gave a tiny nod. I kissed the tip of her nose.
“I’m sorry if it’s not as romantic as I wanted. But you have to know, if you marry me, you’re marrying the younger son of an Earl. That would mean we’d have a normal life here, apart from having to prop up the family with money, which luckily, I can afford.” She nodded.
“Yes, I know that James, I didn’t ever want to be a Countess, unless …” And she stopped.
I bit my lip. “That might be the problem. You see, my brother, Edward.” I stopped to think. “Well, we don’t know for sure, but it seems fairly certain that he was on that plane that crashed last month. He was flying on a fake passport, so nothing can be proved yet. But if it is true, then you might become the Countess if you married me.”
She reached up and drew my head down to hers. “I’m so sorry. Losing your brother must be really hard, especially when nothing is certain.” She kissed me. “How long have you known?”