Page 137 of A Wicked Kind of Husband

“Yes.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “But the good things will happen too. And we will have each other, to share our joys and look after each other when our hearts break.”

“That’s what hearts do,” she said. “They break. Hearts love and hearts break and then they heal. Every hour, every day, we love and hurt and heal.” She pressed her hand over his heart. “Our hearts are broken now.”

“Perhaps we can do something for the little one we lost today.” She looked up at him questioningly. “In your garden,” he continued. “A little statue, perhaps.”

Love rushed through her, and through the ache of her grief, it brought the promise of a new, different kind of peace.

“Yes,” she said. “With some new flowers. A reminder of the love we gave.”

“And that there is always, always, more love to give.”

* * *

Joshua insistedshe had to rest, and Cassandra found she had to agree. He lifted her into his arms and once more carried her upstairs and helped her into bed.

“Were these flowers from you?” she asked, leaning back against the pillows, watching him strip.

“Do you like them?”

She smiled at the haphazard posy, bursting with life and energy. “Very much. How is it that they are tied with Emily’s ribbon?”

“Ah. That’sEmily’sribbon.”

Oh dear. “Was that ribbon, perchance, attached to a bonnet?”

He grinned. He stood naked, and she enjoyed the sight.

“I’ll buy her a new one,” he said. “And you. I will shower you with gifts.”

“I don’t need gifts, I only need…” A thought struck her. She had forgotten. “What about Birmingham? Your home is there.”

“My home is with you.”

He slipped into the bed beside her and pulled the covers up over them.

“But your work,” she said.

“Das and I have it all sorted. He is buying into the company as a partner, and he’ll manage it from now on. I’ll stay involved enough to annoy him and keep him on his toes. But now I want to support ideas that are not yet ready, that might not bear fruit for decades, if ever, but are worth the risk for the benefits they might bring. Like electrical power and clean water. And I can do that living with you and getting under your feet.”

“But to leave Birmingham? Birmingham was where you made yourself. It’s who you are.”

“It’s who I was. You made me who I truly am. You showed me a world where it was safe for me to love and be loved. ”

She flipped over to face him. “You showed me a world where it was safe for me to express myself and fight. Which, apparently, means that I yell now.”

“I adore it when you yell. And when you start throwing champagne and chairs? Oh.” He shuddered with melodramatic delight. “All that passion and emotion…”

She trailed her finger over his chest. “I want you near but I can’t…Mrs. King says I must heal. I can’t…do my wifely duty.”

“But my husbandly duty is to let you heal, both heart and body. I can wait.” He stroked her hair gently. “I am a man of infinite patience.”

“You are nothing of the sort.”

“But I am an inventive problem-solver. While you are healing, I shall list all the things I want us to do to each other, and you will make a list too, and when you are ready, we will work through our lists. In fact, I already have some ideas.”

“So do I.”

She turned back over, her back to his chest, and when his arm came around her waist, she covered it with her own.

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