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The sight of the big, powerful man holding the little girl in her puffy jacket, white dress with the lace trimming, doll-sized shoes, and wool tights melts my heart. I’m so blessed and happy I have to pinch myself to be sure that this is my life and not just a dream.
Balancing Tess on his hip, he wraps an arm around my waist and draws me against him. We stand close together, admiring the view. It’s not as cliffy as his property. The rocky terrain runs down to a wide stretch of beach. Trees and bushes grow wild around the sand. The ruins of an old lighthouse stand on the highest point of the outcrop.
“This is beautiful,” I say, snuggling closer to him as a cold wind picks up from the sea.
“I thought you’d like it. It has direct beach access. We’ll just have to put up a fence and install a childproof gate as long as Tess hasn’t learned to swim.”
I look at him quickly.
Brushing a thumb over my jaw, he asks, “What do you think?”
“You want to buy it?” I ask with a start.
“There’s only a primary school in the village. With Johan entering college in September and the other kids following soon, it makes more sense to move closer. Plus, if you decide to get involved in the research center, you’ll work in Bastia too.”
“What about the old house?”
“I found an oenologist who’s interested in turning the vinegar we used to produce into a boutique wine production. We can organize wine tours at the cellar and rent out the house for events. We can still go there for weekends, but I reckon we deserve a place that’s just ours.” Tracing the seam of my lips, he adds, “A place that’s yours to design and decorate the way you like.”
The gift he offers me is enormous. He grew up in the old house. It holds a special place in his heart, but he’s right to want to give us a clean slate and a home that’s our own. The villa in Cape Town came furnished. Fabien decorated the new house. He inherited the old house and its furniture. I’ve never decorated a place of my own.
“What do you say?” he asks, caressing my cheek. “It’ll need at least nine bedrooms—one for us, Doris, each kid, and at least two for visitors because your mother will never let me book her into a hotel now that there’s a grandchild.”
I place a hand over my belly, over the secret I’ve been carrying for three months. I didn’t want to say anything until after the first trimester. Like when we expected Tess, the doctor told me there’s no reason why I shouldn’t have a healthy pregnancy, but the fear that something may go wrong is ingrained in me. I wanted to be sure.
“Sabella?” he asks, searching my eyes. “What’s the matter?” He goes from tender to protective in a second flat. “Are you feeling sick?”
“A little,” I admit.
He lets me go to fish his phone from his pocket. “I’m calling the doctor. I’ll take you on the way home. It could’ve been the shrimp pie you had for breakfast.”
“It’s not the shrimps,” I say, placing a hand on his arm.
The muscles of his forearm are hard. Tense. “Then what is it,cara?”
I stare up at his beautiful face, biting my lip before saying, “Ten bedrooms.”
He blinks. “What?”
“We’ll need ten bedrooms.” I add in soft voice, “A blue one, this time.”
His look is bewildered. “What?” Dropping his gaze to my stomach, he says, “Are you…?”
“Yes.” I cup his cheek. “We’re expecting another baby.”
“Sabella.” His voice is hoarse, his gaze filled with reverence as he looks at my stomach again. “How many weeks?”
“Thirteen.”
Wrapping his free arm around my waist, he crushes me against him. “Cara. You’re pregnant. We’re going to have another baby.”
I lean my head on his chest. “Yes.”
“A baby,” he says with wonder, rubbing a palm over my back. “You have no idea how happy and terrified I am.”
I pull back to look at him. “Terrified?”
His jaw bunches. “I nearly killed an ob-gyn the last time you gave birth. I don’t know if I can watch you go through that again.”
