Her heart started beating faster. Her pulse raced. Here, at last, was everything she was dreaming of . . . but of course, he was merely being kind.
She swallowed. “Also, uh, Reid, you’ve helped me in so many ways. You’ve given me your time. You’ve listened to my troubles. And no matter how outlandish everything sounded, you believed me.” She looked down, then peeked at him from under her lashes. “At least, it felt that way to me.”
“I did believe you. Your story was fantastical. But it was also something that could happen.”
“In addition, you helped me with Douglass, and you even gave me shelter when I had nowhere to go. I owe you so much, Reid. I doubt I’ll ever be able to repay you.”
Now that her little speech was over, she smiled. If nothing else, she’d be able to leave knowing that she’d done her best to be honest with him. Almost.
Still looking at their joined hands, Reid slid his palm so their fingers linked. “Is that what you thought I wanted? You thought I wanted to be repaid?”
His tone sounded faintly accusing. It stung, though she wasn’t sure why. “I didn’t know what you wanted.”
“It wasn’t repayment. I never thought of you as a job or an assignment, Rosalind.” Releasing her hand, he leaned his head back against the velvet cushion, then chuckled softly. “You know, if you are going to be completely honest, then I suppose I had better be too.”
She couldn’t reply. All she seemed capable of doing was sitting next to him and breathing.
Yes, that was good. Inhale. Exhale.
“Rosalind, haven’t you figured it out yet? I did feel sorry for you, and I did want to help you. I did. But that was never why I wanted to spend so much time with you. I never stayed away, because I liked you, Rosalind.” At her wide-eyed stare, he laughed. “Come now. You had to know.”
“I knew that I cared for you. I know that I do care for you.”
“So we care about each other. And you know that I like you.” He smiled softly. “I feel as awkward as a foolish teen. But perhaps that’s not a bad thing. I need some brashness, all the sudden.”
But the tables had turned. Now he was leading the conversation and she was the listener. “What are we going to do, Rosalind?”
“I think that is something for you to decide.”
He grinned. “What if I told you that I want you to stay here? In Chicago. What if I told you that I want to have you here with me always?”
“I . . . I . . .”
He cut her off. “What if I told you that I don’t just ‘care’ for you, Rosalind? That I don’t just ‘like’ you? What if I told you that my feelings are deeper, more intense?”
“Um . . . intense?”
“I love you, Rosalind. It was all I could do not to tell you that a couple of weeks ago, to take you in my arms and kiss you. I love you and I want to marry you.”
“Love? Marry?” She felt like a puppet on a string, echoing his words in wonder.
He grinned. “I am speaking of love and marriage, Rosalind. And of you and me. What do you say about that?”
If she wasn’t surrounded by horns and animals and skyscrapers and dust, she would have been sure she was dreaming. “Reid, your mother—”
“My mother loves you. It’s been killing her these past two weeks that I haven’t made my intentions known.”
“Why haven’t you? Why did you wait until now?” she blurted, then ached to take it back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
“I didn’t want to overstep myself. I didn’t want to rush you, not after you just found out the awful truth about your sister. And truthfully? I was afraid you wouldn’t want to take the chance.”
“Chance?”
“Take a chance on love, Rosalind. Take a chance on doing something new. On being something new.”
She shook her head. “Is that even possible?”
“Of course it is. Haven’t you learned by now that only good things come from taking chances?”
He did have a point about that. Only by stepping out of her comfort zone, only by reaching for something better than she imagined, had she been able to turn her dreams into realities.
Reaching out, he clasped her hand in between the two of his. “Say you’ll think about this. Say you’ll consider everything I’m saying.”
She certainly didn’t need him to explain. Almost everything of worth had happened ever since she’d started taking chances. She’d discovered what had happened to her sister and had even helped some other women by stopping Douglass’s scheming and dangerous ways.