“I’ll go happily but I’m shocked. Didn’t Killian do a lot of that reorganization in his will?”
“He did. But the corporation has grown exponentially since the end of the war. Plus now that Liam has charge of American steel companies and Dylan has done so well growing his Columbia Airlines, Pierce thinks we need to redraw our financial ties and refine our responsibilities.”
“Days in Brighton,” she sighed, eager to go and spend days with family and long luscious nights in Nate’s arms. “That sounds wonderful. Even if it is for business, I’m thrilled to go. Can you?”
“I can. I made arrangements,” he said and ran his fingers down her cheek. “Do I detect you are exhausted? You overworked yourself, didn’t you?”
“Not too much, no.” She bit her lip. “I have been very tired lately and I would like days lying in the sunshine.”
“So it shall be. The children will like it, too.”
“Missing school to frolic with their cousins? Why not?” She rolled her eyes, then turned to him and gave him a serious stare. “But I want to sit in the sun and do nothing for another reason.”
“Really? Why? You—” He opened his mouth but never uttered the word he had in mind. Studying her closely, he put two fingers to her chin, lifted her face and turned her this way and that. “You are not serious?” he said at last with a hint of knowledge in his tone.
“Mmm-hmm.” She nodded, then grinned. “I am.”
“But I…you thought you might be in early menopause and now—”
“I’ve been tired and very nauseous. I’m pregnant, Nate. I am.” She beamed at him.
“Ha-ha!” He wrapped her in a crushing hug. “Dear God, you saved me from a life of dreadful choices and dismal days.”
“You saved me from a life obsessed with work and filled my days with the joy of a huge family and many, many, many children. But most of all, with the delight of loving you.”
He kissed her then with the tender promises of their future and the joys she might never have had if she hadn’t ventured onto a terrace one starlit night and spoken a forbidden and frightful truth to a charming stranger. “I never thought I’d find a man who could love me for all I was and for all I wanted to become,” she whispered.
“I never thought I’d find a woman I’d adore with every breath I take,” he said with a smile as big as his heart.
“So it was serendipity that we wandered onto a terrace one evening and found the only person we could ever love.”
“Come to bed, my darling,” he urged her up and stood, then bent to gather her up in his arms. “The only girl in the world for me was always only you.”
She wound her arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. “Sounds like that song.”
“And the melody lights our days,” he said and he carried her through to the big broad bed, where they’d celebrate once more their pleasure and their gratitude for a life filled with love.
THE END
