No. Things were wonderful here in the present. Even more wonderful than Charlie knew.
She grasped the silken pillows and let her dearest companion make her his own. The fingers of his right hand wooed her, driving her mad with longing.
“Come with me, my love,” he murmured.
Those words sent her into the realm of utter bliss. She let herself cry out, a lengthy cry of satisfaction matched only by Charlie’s own.
Seconds later, without releasing her from their carnal bond, Charlie leaned down and kissed her neck.
“Mmmm.” Daisy smiled, her eyes closed. “That was perfect.”
“It’s your day,” Charlie said. “Always.” And gave her the tiniest slap on the bottom.
She rolled over instantly, and pulled him down. “It’s
your
day, too.”
“I’ve never gotten used to that fact, either,” he said, gratitude and love shining in his eyes.
Daisy bit her lip. “I have something very important to tell you, Charlie Thorpe. It’s one reason I wanted us to be together … before everyone descends upon us.”
“Oh?” Concern lit his eyes. “Is everything all right?”
She gave him the sweetest smile in the world. “Yes, it is. Better than all right. We’re going … we’re going to have a baby.”
Charlie laughed and kissed her. “I know that, dear. But I don’t blame you for announcing it. It’s always a miracle, isn’t it? Although he’s not a brand-new baby. He’s a year.”
“And he’s from Cheapside, like Davy.” Daisy wiped away a tear. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
“Nor I.” Charlie chuckled just thinking about it. Every time a new son or daughter entered their family, he was thrilled, so thrilled he teared up upon first gazing at their precious faces.
They were his sons and daughters of the heart.
Of his soul.
As close to him as any child born of his loins could ever be.
Daisy bit her lip. “But Charlie, we’re going to have a baby”—she hesitated—“in say, about seven months from now.”
She looked up at him, and he drowned in the love, hope, and the bit of anxiety he saw there.
“Oh, my dear,” he whispered. “Can that be? After all this time?”
She blinked back tears. “I know. I can’t believe it, either.”
“You’ll be fine, darling. And so will our baby.”
She sighed. “I was positive it would never happen. But”—she smiled—“apparently, it was meant to be, after all.”
He bestowed a tender kiss upon her lips. “Our family was meant to be. Just the way it is.”
“Yes,” Daisy whispered, and laid a palm on his cheek.
He pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair. She clung to him, and they lay together a few silent minutes, relishing their bond and the precious children who were now a part of it and those who soon would be.
“I suppose we should get up now,” Charlie said, “but I can’t regret it. We’re about to meet our new son.”
Daisy sat up, excited. “I can’t wait. And I also can’t wait to see the other Impossible Bachelors and their wives and children.”
“Don’t forget Perdita and her Spanish marquis,” Charlie said.
Daisy still couldn’t believe the Spanish marquis had returned to Glen Dewey, the very next day after Perdita’s assault on Daisy.
Perdita had roared at him to leave, saying she was a no-good, wicked woman who deserved to die for nearly killing her stepsister. But the marquis wouldn’t leave. In fact, he’d said he wanted to take her on a hunt—their own private hunt, with Perdita in her borrowed kilt—to discuss the matter. By the time they’d returned with the eight-point buck Perdita had shot, they were engaged to be married.
They visited every two years. Last time, they’d brought them Duncan, when he’d just turned two. He’d been the son of a former maid at the marquis’s castle, a woman who’d run off and simply left him stranded there.
“Thank God Perdita and the marquis were part of that disastrous first Highland experience,” Daisy said. “If they hadn’t been, we never would have known our son.”
It gave her shivers to think how close they’d come to missing out on that chance!
“Dunk’s getting closer, isn’t he?” Charlie said. “Saying ‘Excused’ after the noon meal. He’s feeling more like one of the boys.”
“Oh, the little dear!” Daisy’s heart warmed at the thought of him. “Although I will never allow him to forget his native tongue. I’m learning it myself”—she leaned down and stroked the hair back from her beloved’s temple—“
querido
.”
Charlie accepted her caresses with the ease of a man who believes he deserves happiness and doesn’t question it … his masculine sense of entitlement still made her laugh.
He opened one eye. “And
querido
means?”
“Dear one. Dear one who longs to take a nap,” she amended, “as he always does after he’s had a particularly passionate round of loving.” She smiled, leaped up, and began to shimmy into her gown. “Just think. I can borrow all the clothes Cassandra wore when she was with child. But I’ll also sew myself a few very special gowns of my own.”
“Excellent,” Charlie said, raising himself up on one elbow. “You deserve those new gowns.”
She slanted a pert gaze at him. “I know. And
you
deserve a late night with your friends in the library and billiards room this evening. Please take it, darling. The ladies and I will have a marvelous time of our own catching up. And I must confess, I’m getting rather tired at night. I’ll not be up late. Of course, the other women will understand when I explain the reason.”
“Who’s going to watch all the children?”
“Perdita’s nanny.”
“Very good.” Charlie stood up, too, and put his hands around Daisy’s waist. “I’m the happiest man on earth,” he said.
She kissed him and allowed him to cherish her by letting him tie her laces.
A loud clamoring came from outside. Yells of delight, the rattle of carriages, and stomping of horses’ hooves.
“They’re here,” Daisy exclaimed, licking a thumb and pushing the hair off her temples while Charlie went even faster with the lacing.
He then hopped into his breeches, tucked in his shirt, and threw on his coat. “Let’s go.”
“Otherwise, they might guess what we’ve been up to.”
One last kiss, and then moments later, they were on the drawbridge with Joe and Hester. They both waved madly as the retinue of carriages drove up.
Daisy’s heart hammered beneath her gown. Their new son was in one of those vehicles.
“Oh, it’s a wonderful moment,” Hester murmured.
“Aye,” said Joe. “Another shinty player for the family team.”
Charlie squeezed Daisy’s hand. “Gather round, children!” he called to their brood.
They all raced to their parents’ sides.
The hired drivers sat stoically in their seats as the travelers stepped out of all the carriages but the first one.
Daisy was fit to be tied.
She loved all these people, but—
Where was that baby?
After what seemed a lifetime, Stephen and Jilly emerged from the first carriage with Jilly carefully carrying a bundle of tartan in her arms. She locked gazes with Daisy, and both of them teared up at the same time.
“Your new son,” Stephen called to Charlie, his voice a bit rough around the edges. “He’s here to have the Highland experience.”
Everyone chuckled nervously.
It was as if time stood still while Stephen and Jilly carried the bundle over to Charlie and Daisy, a trail of visitors following behind quietly, everyone carrying the strain of long-distance travel around their eyes, even the children. Yet every person present wore expectant, happy expressions.
“Your son,” said Jilly with a certain reverence. With great care, she handed the tartan-wrapped bundle to Daisy, who got her first glimpse of her son’s tiny, perfect face. Charlie put his arm around Daisy’s shoulder and took in his son’s remarkable visage, too.
Then he and Daisy looked at each other.
Dear God, he was a miracle!
And in that moment, the magic began its work. Love drew the family together around the new baby son, baby brother, baby cousin—
And baby nephew to all his honorary uncles.
“Welcome, Barnabas,” Daisy whispered to him.
He looked up at her with solemn eyes.
“B-Barney,”
piped up Duncan, and tugged at the tartan plaid blanket.
Charlie’s face split into a grin. Daisy gave a hiccupping laugh. “Oh, my dear ones,” she said to everyone around her. It was all she could think of to say.
But it was enough.
She looked up and saw Cassandra and Ebenezer appear, striding happily around the byre, their oldest child, a girl, tagging alongside them, and their little boy on Cassandra’s hip.
Daisy gave Barney to Charlie. He stared at him a moment, then held him carefully aloft. “Look who’s here,” he called to Cassandra and her family.
Cassandra’s face was bright with joy, even more than usual, and Ebenezer beamed. Their little one, Dirk, had his entire hand in his mouth and appeared to have just woken from a nap.
Nicholas and Harry stepped forward, both accompanied by their respective wives, Poppy and Molly, who smiled broadly at Daisy, even as they wiped their eyes with lovely, bright lace handkerchiefs.
Nicholas laid a folded kilt in Daisy’s arms. “A long time ago, we told Charlie that if he won a bet we’d made, we’d reward him.”
“He didn’t win,” Harry said. “He did his damnedest to lose it, all because he fell in love with you.”
“But we wanted to give him a present anyway,” said Stephen. “We were simply waiting for the right moment.”
“It’s been an honor to bring you baby Barnabas,” Nicholas remarked. “So we commissioned a tartan specialist to design you your very own tartan. The Thorpe tartan.”
“Of the House of Lumley,” Stephen added. “Charlie, we hope you wear this on the grand days. And on hunting days.”
Harry cleared his throat. “And any day you care to remind yourself and the world that you were all brought together for a reason—by love—to create your own very special clan.”
“Know that this tartan design symbolizes our esteem and love for you,” Molly said softly.
Poppy took Molly’s arm. “Indeed, it does.”
Charlie couldn’t speak for a moment.
“You’re part of our clan,” he eventually said, his voice full of gratitude as he looked around him. “Every person here today.”
He looked down at baby Barnabas and kissed his forehead.
“Thank you,” Daisy uttered with feeling as she clung to Charlie’s arm. “We love you all.”
And then she kissed her viscount, the one that had been given to her. Once again she thanked her lucky stars that the man who’d been the emissary for her godmother had become so much more than a guardian of sorts.
They were true partners.
Soul mates.
She handed off the new kilt to Harry, and with loving care, Charlie handed Barney back to his mother. Together, they laughed softly over their new son’s bundled form, then walked over the drawbridge and into Castle Vandemere, the people who were dearest in the world to them following close behind.
and
The Impossible Bachelor
series
“Impressive … engaging … vivid.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“A delectable debut … I simply adored it!”
—Julia Quinn,
New York Times
bestselling author of
What Happens in London
“At once frothy and heartfelt,
When Harry Met Molly
satisfies! This book is better than dessert!”
—Celeste Bradley,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Rogue in My Arms
“Kieran Kramer pens a delightful Regency confection … a wonderfully bright debut.”
—Julia London,
New York Times
bestselling author of
A Courtesan’s Scandal
“A delicious romp that will keep you laughing. A fun heroine and a sexy hero make this a delightful read.”
—Sabrina Jeffries,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Truth About Lord Stoneville
“I couldn’t put it down … a charming delight!”
—Lynsay Sands,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Hellion and the Highlander
“A wickedly witty treat … an exquisite debut!”
—Kathryn Caskie,
USA Today
bestselling author of
The Most Wicked of Sins
“A delightful, page-turning read! New author Kieran Kramer will capture both your imagination and your heart.”
—Cathy Maxwell,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Marriage Ring
“In her exceptionally entertaining literary debut, Kramer deftly sifts deliciously humorous writing, a cast of exceptionally entertaining characters, an outrageously inventive yet convincing plot, and a splendidly sexy love story into a delectable literary confection that will have Regency historical readers begging for seconds.”
—
Booklist
(starred review)
“Clever banter, stellar pacing, and appealing, exceptionally well-drawn characters make this fresh, sexy, and gloriously funny debut a knockout and a perfect start to Kramer’s Regency-set quartet.”
—
Library Journal
(starred review)
“You’ll smile and even laugh out loud reading Kramer’s delectable debut—even the title’s nod to the famous film elicits a grin. With her perfect sense of pacing, comic timing, poignancy, and marvelous characterization, this utterly enchanting new voice will have you eager for more.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews