Chapter Twenty-Six
Tristan sipped his coffee, and Flick shook out the newly hung curtains she’d sewn herself.
In the past three months, Lark Hall had taken on a whimsical transformation.
Fresh flowers in the front room. Neatly ironed curtains framed every window.
Pillows on the sofa and chairs. More pillows than he thought necessary, but who was he to argue?
She loved to make things. She loved colors and music and joy, and she’d woken up Lark Hall after a long period of darkness. His brother tore into the room, something wet in his fist.
“What is that?” Tristan asked warily.
“It’s a frog I found! Can I keep it?”
Felicity turned from the window. “But frogs don’t live in houses. They live in creeks where they can stay damp and eat bugs.”
Dougal’s bottom lip popped out. “But I like him.”
“I’m sure he likes you too. You can be friends who live near each other. Why don’t you make him a house by the creek and see if he wants to live there?”
His face brightened. “Brilliant!” He turned and darted away, Gwen swerved out of his path, shaking her head as she came and sat.
Tristan had worried Gwen would be angry after his abandonment and then returning with a bride.
A stranger. She’d been timid at first, but for a long time she’d been the only girl and now she had someone on her side.
At thirteen, she was growing into a young woman and Tristan thanked his stars every night that he’d married Flick just in time.
“What time will they arrive?” Gwen asked. She held a stuffed rabbit to her chest. Another creation of Flick’s. Nervous as Gwen was, she was eager to have a friend the same age. Flick had talked about her sisters so much, Tristan felt like he already knew them.
Flick straightened and arched her back. “Oh, hopefully before dark. I’d hate to have them traveling at night.”
“Soon, Gwen,” he said.
She rolled her eyes at him. “I wasn’t asking you.”
Tristan sighed, thanking the heavens once again for Flick’s presence in his life.
Nothing he did or said was right in Gwen’s eyes, because he was a boy, and boys were useless at her age.
She looked up to Flick, not as a mother, but as a sister.
An older, wiser, understanding, and experienced sister.
“Well before dark, I think, if anyone cares what I think,” Tristan said.
Another eyeroll from Gwen. “I’m going to wait outside.”
Flick approached him, now that both children were occupied elsewhere. He stretched out. Folding his hands behind his head and crossing his ankles. She slid onto his lap and lay on his chest, kissing his chin.
“I think she’s excited,” she said.
“I don’t think Lark Hall has ever held this many girls at once.”
“We’ll finally outnumber you boys.” She grinned. “Sam and Daisy should arrive right about the same time as Amelia and Graham. I’ll have to thank them for bringing my sisters up with them.”
“Hmm.” He wrapped his arms around her. “This house will be crawling with people. We’ll never be alone.”
“We will at night in our room.”
“As long as Dougal doesn’t have any nightmares.”
“He’s getting better. They both are. I don’t know them as well as you, but they seem happy.”
“They’ve been through so much, so young. But aye, they do look happy. This is exactly what I wanted.”
“What. A house full of people?”
“This life. You, me, our siblings, our friends. All of us together. A happy ending.”
“Ending? I like to think of it as a beginning.”
“I like that, too.”
“We’ll never have this peace again, you know. Enjoy it while it lasts.”
He frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Babies are pure chaos.”
“Who’s bringing a baby to the house?”
She straightened in his lap. “No one is bringing a baby, Tristan. We’re going to have a baby.”
His mind blanked. He wasn’t sure he heard her correctly. “We are?”
She smiled. “More people than you bargained for?”
He touched her stomach, her body still slim but growing stronger since they’d been here laboring to put the house to rights and make it a home again.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded, her eyes sparkling with tears.
Frantic squealing came from outside, followed by barking.
“When, when will the bairn arrive?”
“Early winter.”
The front door burst open. “They’re here!” Gwen cried excitedly. In her arms was a squirming creature.
“Oh, bollocks. I forgot,” Tristan said.
Flick hopped off his lap. “Where did you get that puppy?”
“Uncle Sam brought him!”
Tristan stood. “They’re here already?”
Gwen nodded. “He’s so handsome. You didn’t tell me he was so handsome.”
Tristan rolled his eyes. Apparently not all boys were useless to Gwen. He took Flick’s hand as she giggled with Gwen, and they headed outside to where two carriages were in the process of unloading.
“I can’t house all these people,” he muttered.
“We’ll be fine,” Flick said as she waved. The puppy, a black springer spaniel, ran about the children.
“I forgot about the dog,” Tristan muttered. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”
Flick turned to him. “A surprise? Well, you seem to be the only one surprised.”
Sam approached with Dougal on his back. “I found this lad wandering about. Can I keep him?”
“You can,” Tristan said.
Flick swatted at his chest. “Dougal, get off him. Your hands are filthy.”
Daisy followed, Gwen at her side. Gwen’s eyes wide with amazement as she took in Daisy’s gown.
Tristan smiled uncomfortably. She’d never seen such finery. He didn’t realize it would be such a stark contrast between their lifestyle and that of an earl and countess.
Daisy caught his eye. “Don’t worry. I brought a trunk full of my gowns to be tailored to fit the girls. Felicity said I could.” She put an arm around Gwen. “I grew up with just a brother. We’re going to have so much fun!”
Tristan’s heart lightened as Gwen looked fit to expire with joy. The second carriage opened. Blakewood got out and then handed down first one, then a second copy of Flick. They rushed at her and the three sisters began to weep and hug. Lady Amelia got out next, smiling and a little teary eyed.
“They talked about this moment the whole way,” she said.
“I hope the trip was tolerable?” Tristan asked. They’d come a long way for this visit.
Sam undid his neck cloth. “Can’t say I enjoyed the last leg in the carriage.”
“We had good weather both on land and sea,” Graham said. “Though the girls did get sick that first day.”
Lady Amelia nodded. “Then they adjusted. They’re shy, but I think I made an impression. Now that they’re out of that dreadful village, we’ll make them proper heathens.”
Tristan chuckled. “I’m surprised her father let you.”
“I didn’t give him much of a choice,” Lady Amelia said. “Felicity said they knew we were coming and her mother practically tossed them into the carriage. She knows this will be good for them.” She looked around the stone facade of Lark Hall. “This is splendid, Chase.”
“You don’t have to call me that anymore. Tristan or Cameron will do.”
She shook her head. “No, Chase is still a fitting name for you. Where did it come from?”
“My great-grandfather. Chase Dougal Cameron.”
Felicity brought her sisters to him.
“Belinda, Georgiana, this is my husband, Tristan.”
They curtsied shyly.
“And these are his sister and brother, Gwen and Dougal.”
The children inspected each other cautiously, Gwen more interested than Dougal. Flick’s sisters were dressed modestly in homemade gowns. All the girls would enjoy a new wardrobe.
Flick waved to everyone. “Let’s go inside and get settled with tea and sandwiches.”
Amelia hugged Felicity as she passed, and Daisy did the same.
“I’m so glad you invited all of us,” Daisy said.
“Me too,” Flick returned with a warm smile.
Tristan grabbed her hand before she followed everyone inside. The hired carriages rumbled off.
She turned to face him and raised a brow. Tristan tucked his hand under her hair, cupping the back of her neck. He dipped his head, her eyes softening, growing liquid and warm.
“Are we going to tell them?” he asked.
“Not yet. I’d like to wait a little longer.”
“There won’t be a single quiet moment once we enter that house,” he said with a smile.
They both looked back. They could see through the new glass windowpane. Dougal bounced around. Graham sat on the arm of the sofa and Gwen was pouring tea just like Flick had taught her.
“This is everything I never knew I wanted,” she said. She looked back at him. “Thank you.”
“You’re thanking me?”
“I wouldn’t have any of this without you. You showed me how to love, how to live, how to fight.”
“You could have had more if you had married Hugstead.”
“No. He couldn’t give me this. Only you can. Only you, Tristan.”
He took her mouth in a sweet kiss with just a hint of the heat and passion they’d share later.
Because now that they had left the Den behind and their debts cleared with the Black Widow of Whitehall, Mrs. Bessie Dove-Lyon, Tristan knew there would be so much more for them to celebrate together.
The farm had new equipment, and they would have better yields come autumn.
That night he’d bet all he had for this life.
He’d taken a huge risk. But it was worth it.
Flick, their love, their family, would always be worth it.
He’d do it all again if he had to, because he knew, when everything he loved was at stake, he couldn’t lose.