Page 72 of The Duke's Second Bride
Before long, the three of them were having a full-on soil fight. By the end of the afternoon, more of the dirt had ended up on them than in the garden. But they had just enough left over to cover the seedlings they had intended to plant.
Before dinner, Luke’s maid took him to bathe. Ava began walking to her chambers when Christian took hold of her hand. She turned to face him. Even with dirt across her face, she was breathtakingly beautiful.
“What?” she asked. “I am merely going to bathe.” She looked him up and down and giggled. “I would strongly recommend you do the same, dear husband.”
“I perfectly intend to, dear wife,” he countered, then pulled her in close by the waist. “But I believe you are going to need some help getting fully clean. After all, you don’t want to miss any spots while you are bathing yourself, do you?”
Ava finally caught his meaning, a slow, sweet smile spreading across her muddy face.
“Yes,” she cooed, her hands running up his arms. “Yes, I do believe you are right.”
He picked her up in a bridal carry and carried her to the bath.
By the time he was done with her, he swore, their hands would both have begun to prune from the water.
CHAPTER 26
“Iwant to know about Luke’s mother,” Ava said.
Once they had both been properly scrubbed of dirt, the two of them relaxed for a moment in the water, still warm and scented with lavender oil and rose soap.
She was lying with her back against Christian’s chest.
Feeling him tense up beneath her, she hurried to clarify, “I am not jealous. I just wish to know. For his sake. And to know more about you. I want to know all of you, Christian.”
Christian was silent for a moment, considering. Then he said, “It was a very different marriage, you understand,” he started.
Ava fought the urge to deflate. For all that she could protest that she ever felt any feelings of envy, she couldn’t deny that already she had begun to feel more than a little possessiveness over hernew husband, particularly now that they were truly living as husband and wife.
“Of course,” she said, forcing a calm tone. “She was the mother of your child. And your first wife.”
“Yes, but…” Christian sighed. “It began as an arranged marriage, you understand. Pleasant, but nothing more. We were both committed to fulfilling our duties to each other, and to the estate.”
“Of course,” Ava said, curious.
“Once Luke was born, Isabel took to him immediately. She loved motherhood.” Ava fought back another pang of jealousy as he continued, “She was a natural at it. And Luke adored her, of course.”
“Of course.”
“With the birth of Luke,” he continued, “it gave us something to bond over. Suddenly, we had more in common than just our vows to each other, which had felt like making vows to a stranger. And so, our arrangement gradually grew to a mutual respect, and then a comfortable affection.”
“That makes sense,” Ava said.
“And then she was with child again,” he said. Ava tensed now.
Luke had no other siblings, which must have meant …
“Oh,” she said, realizing. “Oh.”
“The child did not survive the birth,” he said, so quiet she could barely hear, even pressed up against him the way she was, “and neither did Isabel. Luke was barely two years old. It is no wonder he has no memories of her.”
“Oh, Christian,” she said. She felt such a wave of sympathy break over her that she thought she would cry. Turning to face him, she saw the pain in Christian’s face, and it broke her heart. She reached up to caress the side of his face. “I am so sorry.”
He shook his head. “It was a difficult time,” he said. “I loved Luke, as I always have, but I was not a natural at parenting the way Isabel was. The way you are,” he added.
“He adores you,” Ava replied. “And it is clear you adore him.”
“Of course,” Christian said in response, “but I was so adrift at the prospect of raising him with no wife. He was so young, as was I, and suddenly I was faced with the task of raising this child on my own. And every time I saw him, it was a reminder of what I had done to her. If I hadn’t suggested we try for another child …”
