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That is until they left the office and Ashley looked up at her husband. The love streaming from his eyes reminded her that it was time to dote on him for a change. This remarkable man who had never given up on her or their marriage.
Suddenly Ashley realized the moment had come to concentrate on this man, to renew her vows to love and adore him. Cabe had had a surfeit of attention. Now it was Cord’s turn.
EPILOGUE
“Umm… I smell prime rib roast and potatoes au gratin cooking. What’s the occasion, my love?”
Cord was home?
He’d come in much sooner than she’d expected. Because of the children, she still hadn’t had a chance to bring out the candles with their best china and crystal yet.
Their three-year-old son, Cabe, and their adopted two-year-old, Ross, seated in their high chairs, cried out in delight as their daddy entered the kitchen.
He gave each of them a loving greeting, then made a beeline for her standing at the kitchen sink of the ranger’s cabin and kissed the side of her neck.
She squealed. “Brr… It must be freezing out and it’s only mid-September!”
“You know winter always comes early to the Park. We’re going to get our first major snowfall tonight, so I headed back early. What do you say we put the children to bed as soon as possible and have a long night under the covers all to ourselves.”
My thoughts exactly.
Out of breath with excitement, Ashley put down the hand mixer she’d been using to whip the cream for their fruit salad and turned in his arms, eager to feel his mouth on hers. She could never get enough of her husband.
After a day’s deprivation, their mouths and bodies fused in mutual need, but their noisy little boys insisted on some attention, too. She felt Cord’s chuckle before he reluctantly let her go and said he’d feed them while she finished dinner.
“No, no—” she blurted. “I’ve given them their food and they’ll be ready for bed by the time I have everything done for our dinner. Tonight I want you to enjoy a hot bath and relax. I’ll call you when it’s time to eat.”
His keen gaze played over her features. “Why do I get the feeling something’s going on?”
She averted her eyes. “Can’t a wife do something special for her husband once in a while?”
Cord reached out to her once more, enfolding her in his arms. “You do special things to me and for me every day and night of the week. I’m the luckiest husband in the world. But tonight I sense something different about you.”
“Well, you’re just going to have to wait.”
“You know I hate waiting for anything,” he confessed without an ounce of shame before devouring her mouth.
“Did we win the lottery?” he prodded.
“We don’t need to win the lottery.” She chuckled, trying to get away from him. The children were becoming more raucous but Cord didn’t seem to notice.
“Have your birth parents been trying to find you?”
“No, darling, nothing like that, and you know that’s never mattered to me…”
“Did the adoption people ring? Are we getting the other baby we’ve been waiting for? Is that what this is all about?”
By now he was smothering her with kisses. “Not exactly.”
Suddenly all his playfulness vanished. He stared down at her, his eyes intent, watchful.
She could never keep anything from him. Her breath caught in her throat as she whispered, “You think you can handle another miracle which should be arriving about eight months from now?”
Like a charge of energy, the green in those hazel depths ignited. His hands tightened in her hair. “I’ve already been given three miracles. The day you came back to me pregnant, and the day we adopted Ross. Is it possible a man could be so blessed as to have any more?”
She smiled. “This new baby I’m carrying is living proof.”
He looked like a man with a marvelous secret before he turned to the boys. “Hey, guys? Did you hear that?” Now that their father had spoken, they suddenly stopped making noises and stared at him.
