Chapter 18

Kate hadn't been thinking about where she was going when she hurried out of the living room, but she ended up heading outside toward the backyard. The Sharma's yard wasn't very large – certainly not as large as the Bridgertons' spacious backyard – but it was sizable enough with half an acre of open land and evergreen trees lining the edges of their property.

Their yard had a large deck with a patio table where they were able to host get-togethers, and beside the deck was a small path leading out to a garden that Mary liked to tend in the summer months. On the far end of the garden was a decorative stone bench overlooking the treeline, and Kate had often enjoyed sitting out here and reading on warm summer days. Right now, she was grateful for her solitude out here in the garden as she went to sit down on the stone bench, trying to gather her thoughts after what had just happened inside.

She could hardly believe that Anthony had given her the deed to Aubrey Farm. And as a birthday gift, no less! How on earth was she supposed to react to that? She loved working at Aubrey Farm, don't get her wrong, and she could honestly see herself working there for many years down the line, but she had never aspired to run the place. How would she even go about doing that?

Did Anthony really have that much faith in her to run his property for him? As much as Kate loved her boyfriend and knew that he wanted what was best for her, she wasn't sure what to make of all this – it felt like too much.

As Kate was running all these thoughts through her mind, she heard the back door open and someone come outside. She didn't look over at who it was, but she heard them walking over to her, and she somehow knew who it was before they revealed themselves.

"Kate," Anthony said, approaching the stone bench, and Kate looked up at him. "There you are."

He looked nervous, clearly unsure of how Kate was going to react to him being here. Kate would have preferred him to not be here, but wasn't about to ask him to leave. She gave him a small smile. "Hey."

"I'm sorry for interrupting," he said apologetically, as if he could read her thoughts. "I know you said you needed a minute – your mum and Edwina both thought I shouldn't come out here to look for you. But I didn't want to sit around waiting for you to come back when I knew we needed to talk about this."

Kate wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so she said nothing.

"Kate, I'm so sorry for overwhelming you like that," Anthony went on sincerely, sitting down beside her on the stone bench. "That wasn't my intention at all with giving you Aubrey Farm – I thought it would be a good surprise. I realize now I should have approached you with it in a more reasonable way and probably not sprung it on you as a birthday gift."

Kate couldn't help but give him a weak smile. "Yeah, that probably would have been better."

"If you don't want Aubrey Farm after all of this, I completely understand," Anthony went on. "I know that running a business is a huge responsibility. That's why I thought it would be a good thing to wait until Mrs. Danbury retired in a few years' time – she could properly teach you how to manage the finances and everything before she left."

"I understand that it would be some time before I would take over her responsibilities," Kate said. "That's not what freaked me out. It's just that… owning a whole farm?" she shook her head dubiously. "I've never owned property before, Anthony, let alone a whole business. I don't even own a flat, I still live at home, as you're well aware."

"Living at home isn't so bad," Anthony said with an amused smirk. "I own multiple commercial properties at the moment and I'm living at home right now too. There's no shame in it."

Kate couldn't help but giggle. "I know, but still… running a business isn't something I ever aspired to do. I have no idea if I would even be good at it."

"You would be incredible at it, Kate," Anthony insisted. "You know more about horses than anyone I've ever met before. Your passion for them is exactly what we love to see in the people who run places like Aubrey Farm. Mrs. Danbury thinks so too."

Kate felt pleasure bloom in her chest at his words. "I appreciate that Anthony, really. My love for those horses is exactly why I work at Aubrey Farm, but running the entire business is something else entirely. I would have to make all purchasing decisions, manage the employees, maintain the finances, and do a whole bunch of other things that I don't know the first thing about."

"Mrs. Danbury and I can fill you in on all those details in the coming months," Anthony assured her. "And do you really think that I'm just going to throw you to the wolves without being there to help you out? I've been running my family's commercial properties since my father passed away, and I'll be here to teach you everything I know."

Kate didn't answer, unsure of how to say what was on her mind. Anthony being there to help her with this meant more to her than she could express, but his dedication to her was contingent upon the two of them still being together years down the line. Was Anthony truly ready to make that type of commitment to her?

Was she ready?

"Anthony, I…" Kate hesitated, unsure of what she wanted to say, or how she could express herself properly. "I appreciate everything you've done for me – truly I do. And I really would be open to the idea of running Aubrey Farm someday. I feel like I have so many ideas to help improve the place, if I just had the freedom to implement them."

"Now you would have that freedom," Anthony said, smiling at her. "You should feel free to make whatever improvements you see fit, Kate. What would be the problem?"

Kate took a deep breath. "Well, I guess I'm just wondering what this would mean… for us?"

Anthony blinked, looking a bit surprised. "Us?"

"Our relationship," Kate clarified. Her heart was pounding a furious tattoo in her chest, but she knew that this was important, so she forced herself to keep going. "I mean, giving me one of your properties is a huge commitment. One you couldn't really take back if we were to one day… you know…" She blushed. "End things."

Anthony blinked again, his expression shuttering slightly as he looked at her. "Are you looking to… end things between us?"

"No!" Kate said quickly. "Of course not. The last thing I want to do is break up with you, Anthony. All I'm saying is that this is a pretty huge commitment to make for your girlfriend who you've only been seeing for a few weeks. Are you really sure about this?"

Anthony grimaced slightly as he regarded her, as if weighing his answer. His silence was agonizing to Kate, and she seemed to hold her breath as she waited for his response.

"Honestly?" he finally said, and he took Kate's hand in his own. "Yes. I am sure about us. I was sure the moment I asked you out that there was no one else for me. I'm sorry if I've overwhelmed you with all of this, but I truly do love you Kate. Aubrey Farm is nothing compared to everything I want to give to you – I want to give the world to you."

Kate could only stare at him in disbelief. Did he truly just say that? If Kate were honest with herself, she felt the exact same way about him: as if on instinct, she moved forward, taking his face in her hands and pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss.

Anthony was clearly surprised by her kiss, but a moment later he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back, smiling against her lips. Kate wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, wanting to express to him how much she loved him.

She really did love him. And he loved her too. In this moment, she knew in her heart of hearts that the two of them were going to spend the rest of their lives together, and she could hardly wait.

"Kate," Anthony muttered against her lips after they had made out for several blissful moments. When Kate made no move to pull away, Anthony placed his hands against her shoulders and lightly pushed her away, smiling in amusement. "Kate, I can't tell you how happy I am that you're not scared off by what I said, but I don't want one of our mothers to come out here to see me ravishing you."

"I'm pretty sure I'm the one doing the ravishing here," Kate giggled, her face flushed with pleasure as she smiled at him. "I love you, Anthony. I don't know what I did to deserve someone as amazing as you."

Anthony smiled back at her, his expression almost shy. "Trust me, I'm the lucky one here. I love you too, Kate."

"And I'd be happy to accept Aubrey Farm as my birthday present," Kate went on. "But I still want assurance that you and Mrs. Danbury will tutor me on how to best run the place. The last thing I want is to cause the farm to fail and inadvertently harm the horses."

"Of course," Anthony assured her. "In fact, you, me, and Mrs. Danbury can get together tomorrow to create a plan on what we should do in the coming months. We'll make sure we do this right."

"Good," Kate nodded, and she smiled, feeling suddenly excited. "Wow, I can't believe I'm going to be running Aubrey Farm! I have so many ideas for the place, it's strange to think I'll actually have the decision-making power now."

"I know you'll do a great job, Kate," Anthony said sincerely. "Like I said before, there's nobody else I'd rather give Aubrey Fam to."

Kate smiled, her love for Anthony making her heart feel so full it felt like it was going to burst. She leaned forward and kissed him once again, and he happily kissed her back.

Both of them knew they were in this together for real, and nothing in the world could make them happier.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that chapter! The epilogue is coming next :)

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!