Epilogue
Six months later
The winter winds were cold and blustery, but Meridith didn’t mind, the sight before her was simply too heartwarming for her to feel chilled.
She watched as Hugo lifted one of his big feet, then pressed it down on a squash, breaking it into pieces.
He then used his snout to push half of the pieces towards Lily—short for Little One.
That’s what she’d been called in Africa, before Drake had bought her and they’d brought her back to London.
It had been over a month now since Lily had arrived, and she was quickly becoming as popular to zoo visitors as her housemate.
The first thing Hugo had done was wrap his trunk around Lily’s head and pull her beneath his head.
Meridith had held her breath for a moment, fearful Hugo would hurt Lily, but that hadn’t been the case.
He’d simply been giving her an elephant hug.
The two had instantly become fast friends. Family. Meridith loved the idea of them having each other.
Warm arms encircled her from behind, and she leaned back against the solidness of her husband. ‘Hello, my love.’
‘Hello,’ he replied. ‘I see Hugo is still breaking the squash for Lily.’
‘I don’t think it’s because she can’t,’ Meridith replied. ‘I think it’s because she doesn’t want to.’
His arms tightened around her. ‘Lily likes being waited on, does she?’
Meridith smiled. ‘I think she lets Hugo smash them for her because she loves him and knows that he likes doing things for her.’
‘That could be.’ He kissed the side of her neck. ‘I like doing things for you.’
She twisted about. ‘I know. And I like doing things for you.’
He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. ‘Your nose is cold.’
‘So is yours,’ she said, having felt that along with his warm lips on her neck a moment ago. ‘What are you doing here in the middle of the day?’
‘Looking for you.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I need a kiss.’
She laughed and pushed at his chest, making him walk backwards into the storage room. ‘I’m not getting sprayed with water in the middle of February.’
‘Good point.’ He closed both the bottom and top of the split door before he gave her a long, stimulating kiss.
As his lips left hers, she searched his face.
In the months since they’d been married, she’d become quite astute in reading him.
Right now, a kiss hadn’t been the only thing on his mind.
The sparkle in his eyes was too bright, as was the mischievous grin on his face. ‘Why are you really here?’ she asked.
His lips quirked into a brighter smile. ‘Because I have news to share with you.’
‘Oh?’ She had news for him, too. A couple of things, but she would wait for the perfect time for one of them.
He nodded.
She waited for him to say more. When he didn’t, she asked, ‘Are you going to tell me or make me guess?’
‘I’m going to show you.’
‘All right.’ That was one more thing she’d come to love more and more about him. Every day was an adventure. She never knew what it was going to be, or where or when, but something extraordinary happened every day.
Holding his arm, she walked with him out of the enclosure and through the elephant pen. ‘Oh, do you know what I learned from Mr Andrews today?’
‘Not yet, but I will in a minute when you tell me.’
She used her elbow to jab him in the ribs, which he didn’t feel because he was wearing a wool coat as thick as the one she wore. ‘Fine, I won’t tell you.’
‘Yes, you will. It’ll drive you mad not to.’
‘No, it won’t.’
‘Yes, it will.’
She laughed, because he knew her as well as she knew him.
‘Fine. It will. Mr Andrews told me that the younger of the two older Montgomery boys, Doolittle—Thad is the oldest, then Doolittle, and then Adam—Anyway, Doolittle loved working here so much and did such a wonderful job, he’s been hired to work at the zoo during every school holiday. ’
‘Congratulations. Your plan for restitution had lasting effects.’
‘It did.’ She felt a sense of pride in how well everything had worked out. ‘So, where are we going, so I can see what you want me to see?’
‘It’s a surprise.’
He was much better at keeping secrets than she was. Unfortunately.
As they arrived at the parking area, she noticed a larger travelling coach, and that the smaller one that George had brought her to the zoo in was gone. ‘Is that our coach?’
‘It is,’ Drake replied.
‘Where are we going?’
‘To the country. I had Agnes pack a trunk for you. We’ll only be gone a few of days.’
‘Are we going to see the Duke and Duchess of Turnbill? I promised Rosemary that we would as soon as possible.’
‘We can stop and see them on the way home.’
They arrived at the coach, and she thanked the footman for holding the door open as she climbed inside.
There were heavy throws and hot bricks on the floor to warm their feet.
She waited until Drake was settled on the seat beside her, then covered both of their legs with a blanket and snuggled up against him.
‘You’re going to tell me now, aren’t you? You really aren’t going to make me wait.’
‘Have you ever seen a gold mine?’
Shocked and thrilled, she lifted her head. ‘No! Really?’
He nodded.
‘Archibald’s gold mine is real? They found gold?’
‘They did. We are going to Rayburn to see it.’
She was so happy for him, and Archibald, and she was extremely proud of both of them for how they had forgiven each other for the animosity they’d held towards each other as children. They were now cousins who were as close as brothers.
‘What about Blanche and Archibald? Have they seen it?’
‘They are on their way there, too.’
‘Wonderful! It will be fun to spend time with them, and I’m so happy that they found gold.’
‘So am I,’ he said. ‘Archibald needed that. He’d believed it was there for so long, and I’m extremely glad he found it.’
She twisted, looked at him. Just when she thought she couldn’t love him more, he proved her wrong. Made her love him more, or maybe she just kept falling deeper and deeper in love with him. ‘You wanted him to succeed.’
‘Of course I did. We’re partners.’
‘That’s not the only reason you wanted him to succeed. You wanted him to succeed for himself. You wanted him to accomplish his goal. You financially supported him so he could. You hired the new surveyors so it would happen.’
‘I like to see people happy.’ He smiled at her. Kissed her forehead. ‘Especially you.’
She slid her arm under the blanket and began unfastening the buttons on his coat. ‘You make me happy every moment of every day.’ Kissing the side of his chin, she knew she couldn’t keep her secret any longer and whispered, ‘I think he’ll be tall. Like you.’
‘Who?’
Touching the tiny dimple in his chin, she said, ‘Your son.’
He twisted and stared at her with questioning eyes, then as if it was an afterthought, his hand touched her stomach.
With happiness overflowing, she laid a hand atop his and nodded. ‘The doctor confirmed it this morning. Come fall, you’ll be a father.’
He let out a whoop, then shook his head at her. ‘You would tell me that while we’re in a coach, so I can’t jump up and down or twirl you around or—’
‘You can kiss me,’ she said.
He wrapped her in his arms. ‘Oh, yes, I can do that. I can always do that.’
And he did.
He kissed her forever.
Keep reading for an excerpt from RUINED BY THE WRONG EARL by Tina Gabrielle.