She went still as a statue, sitting in the soft glow of the setting sun. Her eyes, wide and luminous, her rosebud lips slightly parted as if expectant, hopeful even. He’d remember that image of her for the rest of his life. He knew it as well as he knew his own name.

‘I’ve told them to cancel the sale. To give my sincere apologies to Mr Jameson, but to explain that I’m no longer in a position to leave.’

‘Henry—’

‘Lily,’ he warned, not in the least bit done with what he needed to say yet. She twisted her lips in the most adorable way and pressed the back of her hand against them as if literally stifling the words – the questions – he was sure was on them.

He ran his hand through his hair again, noticing how her eyes flicked to the top of his head, the lips behind her hand curved up slightly, and realized he’d probably made a complete mess of the wayward thick waves, but couldn’t care less.

‘I have spent far too many years running from Hawke’s Cove and yet it was always here,’ he said, shaking his head, struggling to find the right words. ‘What I mean is that … I don’t want you to think that …’ He clenched his jaw, to stop himself from growling in frustration. What was it about this that had him so tongue-tied?

He felt Lily’s hand slip into his just before he could run it through his hair again.

‘Take a breath. Start at the beginning,’ she said gently and with the patience of a goddess. Even he was driving himself half mad at this point.

‘I love you,’ he said finally.

‘That’s the beginning?’

‘That’s your reaction?’ he demanded, even though the smile that lit her face was something that stole the breath from his lungs and the beat from his heart. This time he bit his own lip to stop himself from laughing before sternly telling himself off. This wasn’t a laughing matter. This was serious. This felt, or at least had felt before he’d laid eyes on her, like life and death. Bloody hell. How had he got into this mess?

‘I’m not not selling the estate because I love you.’

‘Double negative much?’

‘Why aren’t you taking this seriously, Lily?’ he groaned. ‘I’m trying to tell you that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and that I don’t want to pressure you into thinking you have to say yes, because I know how much the estate means to you, and I want you to know that me not selling the estate isn’t dependent on you saying yes, and that if you say yes, then I want to know it’s because you love me as much as I love you, only that’s not possible because—’

‘Yes to what?’