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“Thank ye for comin’,” he said. “I…I’ve a lot goin’ through me mind now. I just be glad to see ye. I—”

“August,” she interrupted, and he stopped at once. “I feel I must be frank with ye, right from the start.”

He swallowed, nodding for her to continue, though an inkling within him told him to stop her, prevent her from saying what he knew she was about to say.

“I came ’ere tonight as I wished to speak with ye, too.”

Again, he nodded for her to continue.

She drew a deep breath. “I first must apologize to ye for me father’s behavior. I ’ad no notion that ’e…that ’e be extortin’ ye, forcin’ ye to do ’is biddin’. ’Ad I known, I ne’er would’ve been so upset with ye. Any man would’ve done the same as ye did under the same circumstances, so I want ye to know, I don’t fault ye for that.”

August couldn’t help but stare. Who was this angelic woman? And how did he deserve to even stand in her presence? Was she in earnest? Had she truly forgiven him for what he’d done?

“Furthermore,” she continued, “I wanted to ensure that me father did ask for ye to work at the gardens again. As I fear I cannot trust ’is word any longer, but I…I believe I can still trust yours—in this regard.”

In this regard. He hadn’t missed the addition to her statement. That meant she couldn’t trust him in any other way.

“So…” she pressed. “Did ’e offer ye the position again?”

August hesitated, knowing her disappointment would be great if he told her the truth. But if he did not, would she not see straight through him? “’E did,” he replied earnestly. “But I told ’im I could not accept any position where I’d be workin’ with ’im again.”

He could see the disappointment across her features, and tears flooded her eyes. “I be afeared o’ that. But please, please work there again.”

“I can’t, Livvy. Surely ye can see why.”

She lowered her gaze. “It be all me fault. If I could just be different, then Father’d not be so disappointed in me. Then ’e ne’er would’ve ’ad to press ye to do what ye wanted. Ye could still ’ave your job. Your family would be ’appy. Your friends would be secure. None of it be fair. ’Tain’t fair, August. It be me own fault, and ye be sufferin’ ’cause of it.”

August’s heart overflowed with love and sorrow simultaneously. Each time he’d seen her, she’d fought back tears, always blinking them away, always being strong. But she was breaking now, and he couldn’t bear it a moment longer.

Swiftly, he reached for her, wrapping his arms around her as she crumpled into him. “I be so sorry, August. It be all me fault.”

He shook his head as her slight frame trembled against his body. “No, Livvy,” he whispered, placing a kiss to the top of her head, wet from the moisture in the air. “No, ’tain’t your fault. Don’t think for one moment it be your fault. This ’as ’appened ’cause o’ the choices o’ others, not ’cause of ye.”

“If I wouldn’t ’ave been such a disappointment to ’im…”

Again, he shook his head. “No,” he said softly but firmly, unwilling to let her take any of the blame. “Ye ain’t a disappointment. Your father be tormented. ’E’s let ’is own fears and struggles color ’ow ’e feels ’bout ye and sees ye. ’Tain’t your doin’, any more than the tides be your doin’.”

Her shoulders shuddered as she continued to cry, and he held her all the tighter, blinking away his own tears as he leaned into her.

He longed to take back his own decisions that contributed to her sorrow in that moment, but he could not. So he would do what he could to make up for it.

In silence, they stood, August’s arms wrapped around her as comfortingly as he could manage until her cries softened, though still, she remained resting against his chest, her arms slipping beneath his open jacket and encircling his waist.

He closed his eyes, drawing on the warmth, the comfort he felt with her so near to his heart.

“Thank ye,” she whispered into the darkness.

August held her tighter.

“’Ow I wish ye’d reconsider workin’ at the gardens,” she continued. “It be your dream, after all.”

He breathed in the scent of her hair, allowing it to feel every crevice of his heart. “It was me dream. Now, I ’ave another.”

She didn’t respond, though he knew she’d caught his meaning. Another moment passed by, but Livvy did not make to move. Did that mean…Was she feeling the same comfort in his embrace as he felt in hers?

Taking courage from the thought, August drew a deep breath. “I know ye cannot believe anythin’ I say. I know ye can’t trust me. But I…”

He paused. She pulled away but just far enough to peer up at him, her arms still wrapped around him. “I do trust ye, August. More than I e’er trusted anyone.”