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“I’ve made my wishes clear, and I won’t change my mind. Oh, would you let Oliver know that I will visit him this afternoon?” She had made a small stained-glass charm to hang in a window. Roman’s window, it turned out. Oh, well. He could take it home to England if he wanted. Where there was no sun to show its true beauty.
Drat! She should have thought of something more appropriate to thank him for being so faithful to Papa, even to the point of death. To express her joy that he was alive. To just see him, Roman’s brother whom she knew nearly as well as she knew Roman. The Forresters were her second family in more ways than one.
“I will tell him. He will be very happy to see you.”
She walked around him. “Please don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be.”
“We are married. We have a son together. And I love you. That is surely as complex as things can be.”
There was no reasoning with him, no way to win an argument.
“If you are taking a carriage to the hilltop, perhaps I can ride along?” he asked.
She hesitated. “I must see to Antonio first.”
* * * * *
Roman took the reins from Shelene and tapped the horse’s haunch with the lightweight whip. The horse started and the carriage jerked. The road wound along a small brook that still trickled with late spring waters. “The valley is such a beautiful place this time of year. I’ve missed it.”
“You’ve missed it? But not enough to return except once every two or three years?”
“I told you that I would come back to stay.”
“That was when I was sixteen. And I foolishly believed your desire was for me, not because you were in love with our green valleys.”
“There is love. Then there islove,” he said. “I think you know. It’s the difference betweente quieroandme encanto esso.”
“Are you trying to tell me how to speak Spanish now?”
“I’ve become much more proficient. Which is going to be very beneficial once my son starts speaking.”
“He will be taught English too.”
“Is our son really safe with your uncle nearby?”
“You invited yourself on my carriage ride. You can at least leave the topics of conversation to me.”
“He hasn’t changed. I want to make sure you know that.”
“As Tono’s mother, I will do everything in my power to protect him, from any threat, real or imagined.”
“Tono? He has a nickname already? Tono. I like it.” The horse started a hard pull up the hill. Roman clucked his tongue again to encourage the beast. “I told your uncle he has thirty days to leave Las Colinas.”
“And you will deal with the consequences of that proclamation?”
“Do you expect him to do something other than pack his bags and depart?”
“Someday I hope—somedayyou will overcome this obsession.”
He laughed. “You mean the obsession to see that evil people are punished? In your uncle’s case, I could not care less what happens to him, I just don’t want my family to be in the crossfire when he decides he is owed something, and he tries to take it from us.”
“How do you sleep at night, carrying the weight of the English world upon your shoulders?”
“I keep afacain my boot and a flintlock in my valise. As soon as Antonio can keep a grip, I will teach him how to protect himself too.”
“That is absurd. He will be a child for many more years to come.”
“Only a mother would think her son should be so coddled.”
