Lessons In Loving (24 page)

‘Try me.'

‘The day you taught me to ride Esmeralda.'

‘Yes.'

‘And we rode up the hill to the monument. Horatio Fortescue's monument.'

‘Yes.'

‘And I read the plaque.'

‘Yes.'

‘Then I had the strangest fantasy. Right there, as I stood taking in the view that stretched forever.'

‘Yes.'

‘Suddenly a little boy popped up beside me. And I asked him to read the plaque.'

‘A little boy?'

‘Ours, Tom.'

‘Ours. Good.'

‘Then he read it, slowly, one word at a time. And I knew that it would be right to have children with you. To live together at Kenilworth till we're old. Till we die, even. And for our children, and their children, to grow up loving the spread of those beautiful blue hills. As you do. As I do.'

‘A lovely dream, Kate.' Tom sighed drowsily.

There was nothing more to be said. Kate lay quiet in Tom's warmth. Now it would be safe to recall the first moment the seeds of that fantasy had popped into her head.

It was late afternoon on the verandah at Kenilworth. The sun eased behind the fabled New England ranges. Shadows began to fill the valleys like dark water filling a lake. The prim just-qualified teacher and the dusty drover sat together on the verandah of the Big House. Shy but curious, she chanced a sideways look at him as he gazed towards the hills …

Thanks for reading
Lessons in Loving
. I hope you enjoyed it.

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ISBN: 9781760370039

Title: Lessons in Loving

Copyright © 2016 by Peter McAra

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