Wine & Roses (16 page)
“She called me your fiancé,” he said, nodding toward Nancy, seated nearby. “Does that mean you’ve said yes, you’ll marry me?”
Abby’s free hand drifted up to stroke his cheek, leaving pale tracks in the dark soot. Choked with emotion, she didn’t think she could manage to form words even without the mask over her mouth. Instead, she answered with a brisk nod of her head.
Jason’s broad smile told her he understood. As he bent to kiss her temple, Abby gripped his fingers tightly, intent on never letting him go. Though she’d nearly lost everything, she now had all she’d ever wanted, and within her heavy chest her heart soared, the promise between them complete and secure.
Epilogue
After straightening the portrait of King George III that she’d just hung above the stone fireplace, Abby stepped down off her stool and studied the painting a moment, sighing in satisfaction. It was still the perfect finishing touch.
Burned beyond recognition a year ago, the pub now looked much as it had before the fire. The antique tables and chairs had been replaced, the aged oak floors and wainscoting reinstalled, and copies of her cherished paintings acquired. Though the original structure was gone, Abby thought with a smile that Rebecca Norris would approve of its reconstruction. She only hoped the customers would return when the inn reopened next week.
Hearing the door creak open, Abby glanced up to see the figure of a man in the doorway. The daylight flooding in behind his head made it difficult to see his face, but she recognized her husband’s sturdy frame, and the smaller silhouette in his arms. Affection spread through her chest at the sight of them both.
“I can’t believe it. The place looks fantastic.” Jason’s dark eyes glowed as he took a step into the warm light of a wall lantern. “As though the fire never happened.”
The baby girl nestled in his arms peered around, her wide blue eyes curious. As her gaze settled on her mother, her rosebud mouth opened into a toothless grin, while her arms began to churn in excitement.
“Glad you both approve.” Abby reached out to take the baby from Jason. Holding the little girl close, she delighted in the warm weight of her daughter’s tiny, wriggling form against her shoulder. All the years she’d longed for a child, Abby had never foreseen the overwhelming depth of love she’d experience once she held her own baby in her arms.
“The two of you look so beautiful together,” Jason remarked, his gaze tender on his wife and daughter. “I could look at you all day.”
“Not for too long. There’s still work to do,” Abby said, though her heart tripped with pleasure at his words, reflecting her exact thoughts whenever she saw him holding their baby. “Do you suppose Rebecca Norris has stayed on through the construction?” she wondered, the corner of her mouth lifting playfully.
Jason’s brows inched upward, equally lighthearted. “You haven’t heard her roaming the halls?”
“Not a peep. But then I haven’t been here at night. You know, I think I’d miss her if she decided to move on.”
“I thought you were still skeptical.”
Abby shrugged. “I’m still not sure what to believe. But if her spirit really is here, I owe her my life, don’t I?” she said, thinking of the figure Jason had described encountering on the staircase the night of the fire.
“I’m not sure if any of it was real, myself,” he said, shaking his head, “but I’m half convinced the dream that brought me here that night was her design. Not just to warn me that you were in danger, but to show me through her experiences, and what she lost, how precious you and our daughter are in my life.”
“We think you’re pretty special, too.” Shifting the baby to her side, Abby rose onto her toes to press her mouth to her husband’s. His hand slid around her nape, gently holding her in what became a deep, languid kiss, just long enough to incite a flutter of excitement in her belly. His ability to stir her feminine senses hadn’t diminished a bit in the year since they’d married.
The baby squawking in her arms jolted them apart.
“Shh, it’s all right,” Abby crooned, nuzzling the child’s downy head against her cheek.
Jason patted the baby’s back. “Think she’s hungry?”
Abby nodded. “So am I.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead, smiling down into the sweet face that so resembled Jason’s. “Come on, Becca. Let’s go get some lunch.”
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Other books by Susan R. Hughes:
Divided Hearts
Healing Anna’s Heart
Secret Vow
Where the Heart Lies
