Chapter 23
Freya
Merry Christmas is curled by the fire, sleeping cozily on her favorite fuzzy purple bed. Happy Halloween is on the settee next to her, close enough to be friendly but high enough to swat Merry if she gets too rambunctious.
I hear Morven passing by in the hall, singing quietly to herself as she dusts.
I rock back and forth on my glider, staring at the silver-framed photos that line the mantle. There’s one from our wedding, Fredrick and me, smiling wide. The latest photo of wee Miss Ophelia Pearl settled and safe in her mother’s arms, with the lovely English countryside of her grandparents’ cottage in the background. The one I took of Fredrick in his sweater when he first gave me the camera.
The last frost will come soon. Callum and Fiona will visit to welcome spring. Fiona will show me how to plant jasmine vines, blooming shrubs, peonies, and other flowers in the Healing Garden.
Callum and Fredrick will visit with one another, no longer planning on waging wars. Instead, they will battle one another on the golf course; Fredrick will wear his pink-and-green plaid sweater from our collection for the game.
Not interested in traveling to Glasgow, and neither of us drinking whisky any longer, Fredrick has sold the distillery and his other businesses to the Kings, the considerable profits going straight into the bank.
My life is now in Inverness, and my whole world fits inside this cozy, well-decorated living room. I am no longer anyone’s captive or target. No longer a part of the Kings. Not a practicing solicitor. I’m just a wife, loved and cherished. I feel free. I feel complete. The girls from the firm will be here for my baby shower in a few weeks. Soon, I’ll be a mother, and the precious baby in my belly will join our happy family.
After my husband’s trauma and my feeling the pain of having a child torn away from us, for now, we’ve made a career compromise.
We’ll both be stay-at-home parents.
We’re fortunate enough to afford the time together. Neither of us wants to miss a moment of this baby’s life. And I don’t want to miss a single day with my husband.
Merry and Happy lift their heads, seeing who’s entering the room. Happy gives a lazy yawn. Merry, too tired, drops her head back down on her paws .
I smile at my husband as he walks in, holding a cup of tea. “Hello there, handsome.” The scent of peppermint reaches me. Morven sent it to settle my stomach. I take the cup he hands me. “Thank you.”
“Of course, my love.” He kisses my head before dropping to a knee beside me. His hand goes to my belly, gently rubbing circles. “And how is this little one today?”
I smile. “Sleeping soundly. Hasn’t moved in an hour or so. Only two more months before she joins us in person. I can’t wait.”
“I’m dying to meet our little girl, but I must admit…If I could keep her safe in your belly forever, would I?”
“I know you would!” I laugh. “Wait till you hold her the first time. You’ll change your mind.”
“You know I’m a worrier, though. That I’ll be overprotective.” Standing, he runs his hand through his hair. “I’m going to drive her crazy.”
“No,” I correct. “She will be head over heels for you just as Pearl and I are.” I take his hand, bringing it back to my belly. “This baby will love you with her whole heart.”
His eyes find mine. “Just as I adore you both with my whole heart.”
“Exactly,” I say, my breath catching in my throat.
He’s so close…will he finally be able to say the words I long to hear?
“Ma chérie.” He leans in, kissing me sweetly before pulling back so our eyes can meet. That energy between us from the beginning pulses as we stare at one another. With warmth, he says, “My lovely lass of Inverness. I love you. I love you so very much. And I love our baby.”
I knew he was capable of love, and I knew he would say the words one day. I’m so filled with joy I could burst. “I love you, too.”
Our baby chooses this moment to wake up, giving a sharp movement against my belly where Fredrick’s hand still rests.
“I felt her move!” he laughs. His eyes glitter with happiness as he asks, “Do you think she was giving me a fist bump for finally saying the words or kicking me for taking too long?”
“Neither.” I put my hand over his. “That was your wee Freida saying, I love you, too.”
The only tears in the eyes of this Inverness lass are tears of joy when he kisses me softly and says, “I love you,” one more time.
“I love the sound of those words coming from you,” I say, wiping away a tear. “Say them again.”
And my dear Fredrick, so strong, so caring, so void of love before he and I became we and us … repeats the precious words.
“I love you,” he says. “Forever and ever.”
The End… but the story isn’t over!
(join my newsletter to meet My Joyeux, my wee Happy Halloween. www.shannahandelromance.com/newsletter )
BONUS EPILOGUE 16 years later…
Ophelia
I stare into the stranger’s dark eyes. “You want me to pay my mother’ s debts?”
“I have more money than god.” He man gives me a wicked grin. “The debt she owes me is one the head of a two-sided coin.”
“And tails?”
He grabs me, pulling me close. His breath is hot against my ear. His voice is heat and danger. “I’ll take you to make her suffer.”
“That’s cruel.” My voice is a weak whisper. His scent, muscular frame, and size overwhelm my senses as he becomes a dangerous cocoon around me.
His heated words continue. “It’s a cold, cruel world, little girl. The sooner you figure that out, the easier it will be to join my world.”
He has yet to learn how early I was introduced to the concept. I shake my head. “You know nothing about me.”
“I know you’re a beautiful virgin, and your mother owes me a hell of a lot of money. And, she must pay back the greatest debt of all.”
“Being?”
“Respect,” he growls. “She disrespected me. She needs to learn; if you disrespect a man of the Bachman Brotherhood, you pay very dear consequences.”
KEEP READING…
brAND NEW SERIES featuring Ophelia and her family. Here’s a tease for you, lovely reader. Just a taste to wet your appetite.