A Kiss to Remember (38 page)
Read A Kiss to Remember Online
Authors: Teresa Medeiros
When she pulled away from him, it was all Sterling could do not to groan aloud. He gazed at her unyielding back, balling his hands into fists to keep from reaching
for her again. “If you can’t find it in your heart to forgive me, I won’t blame you. I know I don’t deserve it.”
She turned to face him. “You once told me there was one thing you’d never forgive.” Before he realized what she was going to do, she opened her arms to him just as his mother had done so long ago.
Without so much as a heartbeat of hesitation, Sterling went into them, gathering her tightly against him and burying his face in the softness of her hair. “Oh, God, Laura, I don’t think I could have waited another moment to see you, to touch you. When I saw you standing there, it was like a miracle.” He shook his head. “If you hadn’t come here to leave the flowers …”
“Flowers?” Laura echoed, plainly puzzled. She leaned away from him, still clinging to his arms. “I didn’t bring any flowers. I came to wait for you. I thought
you
brought the flowers.”
They stared at each other for a stunned moment, then slowly turned as one to look at the bouquet lying on his mother’s grave. A warm wind suddenly whipped through the churchyard, sending the delicate blossoms dancing through the air.
Sterling laughed aloud as he swept Laura up in his arms and spun her around in a dizzying circle. “She kept her promise, didn’t she? She swore that I would never walk alone.”
Laura smiled down at him through her joyful tears. “And you never will, my darling. Because I’ll always be here to love you.”
As the heavenly fragrance of the orange blossoms wafted all around them, their lips met in a kiss neither one of them would ever forget.
At four years of age,
Nicholas Harlow, the future duke of Devonbrooke, could be quite the little devil. Especially when his will was being thwarted by his five-year-old sister. The two of them stood glaring at each other in the yard of the manor, his freckled nose nearly touching her snub one.
“You have to do whatever I say,” he proclaimed, raking his dark mane out of his eyes, “ ’cause I’m Papa’s hair and I’m going to be the duke someday.”
Ellie planted her hands on her hips, tossing her golden curls. “Papa’s already the duke and Mama doesn’t do everything he says. Besides, you might be Papa’s hair, but I’m the Incomparable Beauty of the family. Aunt Lottie says so!”
As she stuck her little pink tongue out at him, he stomped his foot and let loose with a blistering stream of profanity. Fortunately, no one could understand him because he’d picked up Dower’s Cockney accent along with the naughty words.
“Eleanor! Nicky!”
At the sound of their mama’s voice, they both whirled around to find their parents sitting on the back stoop, having witnessed the entire exchange.
Their papa blinked at them, looking as innocent as the plump yellow cat drowsing on the flagstones at his feet. “Cookie just made a fresh batch of crumpets.”
The children exchanged an alarmed look, then went sprinting in the opposite direction of the house.
“That was cruel!” Laura said, swatting Sterling on the arm. “Now
you’ll
have to eat them.”
His wicked grin faded. “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Laura sighed with delight as she watched their children romp across the sunlit meadow, two roly-poly mastiff puppies nipping at their heels. “They’re just what you always wanted, aren’t they? A boy and a girl.”
“That’s what Nicholas Radcliffe wanted. I wanted half a dozen babes myself.” He leered at her. “To begin with.”
She gave his hair a teasing tug. “If that’s so, my lord, then you’d best be more diligent in your duties.”
He drew her into his lap, tenderly nuzzling her throat. “If I were any more diligent, we’d have a dozen babes by now.”
Laura twined her arms around his neck. “That would be quite a feat since we’ve only been married for six years.” She shook her head. “It’s hard to believe George will be starting his first year at Cambridge in the fall. And now that Lottie has reached the exalted age of sixteen, she’s counting the days until that London season you promised her.”
Sterling shuddered. “I dread the thought of unleashing her on those poor helpless cubs. It wouldn’t be such a terrifying proposition if the mischievous little hoyden hadn’t turned out to be an Incomparable Beauty after all.”
“You’ll simply have to find her a husband to keep her out of trouble.”
“Don’t worry,” he assured her solemnly. “You’ll be the first to know if I find any unsuspecting prospects lying unconscious in the old oak wood.”
Laughing, Laura made a halfhearted effort to squirm out of his grip. “You are such a devil!”
“That’s what they tell me.” Sterling caressed her cheek, the teasing look in his eyes softening to one of helpless wonder. “But that still doesn’t explain why God chose to bless me with my very own angel and my own little corner of heaven right here in Hertfordshire.”
As he touched his lips to hers in a fierce, yet tender, kiss, the yellow cat butted her head against their entwined ankles, purring madly.
Laura rested her head against Sterling’s shoulder. “Your mother once told me that all of Lottie’s kittens were descended from a single mama cat. Did you know that?”
“Yes,” Sterling said softly, his throat tightening as he reached down to bury his fingers in the cat’s plush fur. “I think perhaps I did.”
USA Today
and
Publishers Weekly
bestselling author Teresa Medeiros was recently chosen one of the Top Ten Favorite Romance Authors by
Affaire de Coeur
magazine and won the
Romantic Times
Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Historical Love and Laughter. A former Army brat and a registered nurse, she wrote her first novel at the age of twenty-one and has since gone on to win the hearts of critics and readers alike. The author of thirteen novels, Teresa makes her home in Kentucky with her husband and two cats. Readers can visit her website at
www.teresamedeiros.com
.
NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.
A KISS TO REMEMBER
A Bantam Book
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2001 by Teresa Medeiros
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001025818 No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Bantam Books.
eISBN: 978-0-307-48677-6
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.
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