Unbreak My Heart (Childhood Sweethearts Reunited) (21 page)

She raised her eyes to the minstrels' gallery, concentrated on the carved oak spindles, the small candle-shaped wall lights, and made herself breathe. She listened to the easy cadence of Andre's voice, marveled at how natural and comfortable he was in front of the crowd. In comparison, she was certain she'd sound wooden and horribly nervous.

Then Andre looked her way and she couldn't remember a thing. A terrifying silence descended. Andre's hand pressed warm and reassuring against her back and the tension eased from her body. She glanced down at her notes and started talking. As she settled in to her presentation, she relaxed. Andre chipped in with a few points, reminding her of things she'd wanted to say. She would never be a natural at public speaking, but ten minutes later she had covered everything and was still alive to tell the tale.

Andre opened the floor for questions and answered most of them, but a few times, he looked at Kate, a gentle, encouraging smile on his lips, and she responded. Then suddenly the presentation was over. Edmund Delacroix came forward and shook their hands, a slightly pouty Elizabeth at his side. The reporters milled around and members of Andre's staff were on hand to offer guided tours to anyone interested. When most of the crowd had vacated the Great Hall, Andre took Kate's elbow and led her through a side door into the service corridor.

As the door shut behind her, Kate leaned back against the wall her breath whooshing out. "I can't believe I did that."

Andre stepped closer and kissed her. "You did brilliantly."

"You had confidence in me?"

"I did."

Kate laughed, feeling drunk on her success. "They really liked my ideas, didn't they?"

"Of course they did. I told you people would be impressed."

Andre embraced her and she melted against him, overwhelmed with a sense of relief. They stood together, cradled in each other's arms for long minutes, until her heartbeat returned to normal. "Ready to go home?" Andre whispered.

"Don't you need me to do anything else?"

"We've done our part for today. I want you to myself for a little while. There's something I have to show you."

They wandered back to Andre's cottage arm in arm. A sense of peace and happiness she'd never known filled her. Being with Andre was so right. He led her to his front door but didn't go inside. Instead he crouched and pushed aside the prickly stems of the climbing rose that clung to the wall. "Come here beside me. You need to crouch down to see."

This was surreal. Careful not to drag her hem on the ground, Kate bent her knees to take her down to his level. Andre dusted away a layer of green algae on the wall and Kate stared, disbelieving. It was the marriage stone the two of them had carved with their initials when they were children.

Clutching Andre's arm to steady herself, Kate peered at the granite aghast. Three years ago, when Andre renovated the cottage and must have installed the stone, she'd been living with Dan.

"We spent so long carving that hunk of granite I couldn't leave it out. It belonged here," Andre said. "I guess deep down I hoped one day you'd come home and make the promise on the marriage stone a reality."

"Andre…" Tears filled her eyes, clogged her throat. Back then, in their childish innocence, they were certain they belonged together, and they'd been right.

Andre pulled her to her feet. "I'm going to do this properly this time." He kneeled on the grass and fished the engagement ring out of his pocket. "Kate Frost, will you marry me?"

Kate stared at the ring through a window of tears. "For real this time?"

"Of course." Andre slipped the ring on her finger and stroked his thumb across her knuckles.

"I haven't said yes yet."

Andre grinned as he got up. "I'm not giving you a chance to say no, Ms. Frost. You're mine now; my ring is on your finger."

Her lips quivered. "Yes," she whispered.

Andre cupped the back of her head in his hands and kissed her possessively. "There's one last thing I want to do." He withdrew an envelope from his pocket and handed it to her.

She looked at him questioningly as she pulled out the sheet of paper. It was a real estate valuation for both of Andre's hotels. "You're not selling the Caspian, are you?" Had she driven him to this?

"I'd like to keep the Caspian, but I don't mind selling the Court Royal. If I do, we'll have plenty of money to move anywhere we like. I'll put a manager in the Caspian and we can live quietly and raise our kids. You could spend your life painting and being a mum if that's what you want."

"But you love it here, and what about the promise you made to your grandfather? I don't expect you to give that up, Andre."

He lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her fingers. "I would like to fulfill my grandfather's dream of taking the Caspian to the top. But once I achieve that, I have my own dreams waiting in the wings. We've plenty of time to do everything we want to."

Kate linked her arms around Andre's neck. "There's only one thing I want, and that's to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Then, my darling, your wish will come true." And he kissed her.

Thank you for reading
Unbreak
My Heart

If you enjoyed this book, I would appreciate it if you'd help other readers enjoy it too.

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About the Author

Helen Scott Taylor won the American Title IV contest in 2008. Her winning book, The Magic Knot, was published in 2009 to critical acclaim, received a starred review from
Booklist
, and was a
Booklist
top ten romance for 2009. Since then, she has published other novels, novellas, and short stories in both the UK and USA.

Helen lives in South West England near Plymouth in Devon between the windswept expanse of
Dartmoor
and the rocky Atlantic coast. As well as her wonderful long-suffering husband, she shares her home with two Shih
Tzus
and an aristocratic chocolate-shaded-silver-
burmilla
cat who rules the household with a velvet paw. She believes that deep within everyone, there’s a little magic.

Find Helen at:

http://www.HelenScottTaylor.com

http://twitter.com/helenscotttaylo

http://facebook.com/helenscotttaylor

***

Also by Helen Scott Taylor

Paranormal/Fantasy Romance

The Magic Knot

The Phoenix Charm

The Ruby Kiss

The Crystal Crib
(novella) in
A Midwinter Fantasy
anthology

The Feast of Beauty

Warriors of Ra

A Clockwork Fairytale

***

Contemporary Romance

Safe In His Arms
(Coming May 2012)