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“You’ll see.” He lifted his strong hands to her shoulders and cupped them. “Ready?”
She nodded, unconsciously holding her breath. Carter loosened the blindfold and slipped it off her head, running his hands over her long mane of silky curls.
Jane’s expression was confused, as she took in the picturesque view.
The house was stone, and large. It had the feel of an old, gentrified country mansion, with wisteria rambling over one wall, and Ivy over another. Enormous dormer windows punctuated the third floor, where the lower two levels had very old glass panes that rippled in the frigid midday light.
The path leading to the house was formed from pale gravel, and in the middle of it was a fountain. A sculptured horse stood elegantly in the middle, captured in a state of rearing on its hind legs. Water spurted from its parted lips.
“What is this, Carter?”
He wrapped his arms around her, putting both hands on her still-flat stomach. “I thought a family home was in order.”
She spun in the circle of his arms, her eyes wide. “How did you find out?”
He shook his head. “You don’t think I know my wife well enough to guess when she’s hiding such a secret? I’ve come a long way since we first met.”
Her dark eyes scanned his face, looking for a hint of how he felt. “I know we said we’d wait. It was an accident…”
“Obviously. That’s not to say we didn’t give it every opportunity to happen.”
“You don’t mind?”
“My darling wife, the last two years, married to you, have been the best in my life. To add to what we share with another little Jane is beyond my wildest hopes.”
She frowned. “It could be another Carter, you know.”
“Don’t even joke about that!”
“That would be perfect.”
He lifted a finger and traced her lips. “Why didn’t you tell me, Jane?”
“I… I didn’t know how.” Her voice was just a whisper.
His heart clenched, as it always did, when he felt something was wrong in his wife’s world. He never wanted her to feel pain again. He scanned her face with an earnest expression of concentration. “What’s the problem?”
He knew her too well. There was no point attempting to obfuscate her feelings. “I feel like… it’s already too much. Anita’s happy. I’ve found you. My life is perfect. How can I be more fortunate than this? How can I deserve a baby as well?”
His expression was sombre. “Beautiful Jane. A person as purely good as you deserves only the best. In your whole life, I doubt I’ll be able to give you what you deserve – which is everything good and wonderful.”
She shook her head, and tears pricked her eyes. “You are the best.”
He shrugged. “I hope you always feel that way.”
“I will.” She had no doubts. Not a single one. The love she’d felt for him, the day she’d accepted his proposal, had been unquantifiable. And yet, in the intervening years, it had doubled, trebled, and continued to grow with every day. The more she knew him, the more she needed him.
“Do you like the house?” He asked, nodding up at the enormous home.
“You’ve bought it already, haven’t you?”
He laughed. “Guilty as charged.”
She shook her head and tried to school her features into an expression of frustration, but she was simply too excited. “Okay, yes. I love it. And I love you!”
“Care for a tour, Mrs Mann-Hughes?”
She nodded. “Perhaps we could start with the bedroom?”
