Page 37 of Snowdrops and Winterberry
Adam turned to Lord Jonquil, eagerness in his expression. “If we wassail your new tree, it will bring you good luck with your new garden. And you and Lady Jonquil can sit in it and be happy. And when your baby is here at Brier Hill, all of you can visit the garden.”
“I think that is an excellent idea,” Lord Jonquil said. “With one change.”
A portion of the boy’s walls immediately began reenforcing themselves.
“You have to promise you will come visit this garden too,” Lord Jonquil said, resting a hand on Adam’s shoulder.
The boy’s gaze dropped to the dirt at his feet. “This isn’t my house. I’m not part of your family.”
Lord Jonquil knelt in front of him, setting his hands on the boy’s arms. “Family is who you choose, Adam Boyce. Julia andI, we have chosen you. That makes you family to us. When you are away at school, we will be family. When we travel to Nottinghamshire to see our parents, you and Lady Jonquil and I will be family. Every time you visit us, be it here or anywhere else, we will be family.”
“I would like that,” he said with a little break in his voice.
“And your dear Nurse Robbie, she is your family, no matter where she is and no matter where you are. You are family because you choose to be.”
Howard heard the little boy take a deep, trembling breath, the sort one took when trying not to cry.
“Family doesn’t stop being family just because they aren’t together,” Adam said.
Lord Jonquil gently touched his sweet, scarred face. “That is exactly right.”
Adam smiled, the expression shaky but content.
“If Mr. Simpkin finds the bean on Twelfth Night,” Adam said, “do you think he’ll make everyone dig holes?”
Lord Jonquil didn’t appear to know what to make of that at first. Howard himself wasn’t certain what had inspired the question. Then the most amazing thing happened. Adam’s mouth, only moments earlier pulled down in sorrow and grief, slowly tugged upward into the most mischievous smile he had just about ever seen.
A laugh burst from Howard. Lord Jonquil joined him an instant later. While Adam didn’t actually laugh, he grinned. Lord Jonquil stood once more and ruffled the boy’s hair, sending his black waves into utter chaos. Adam didn’t seem to care; he simply took up his shovel once more and set back to work.
“The most important thing to sort for our Twelfth Night celebration,” Howard said, “is what our womenfolk would most enjoy. If we can bring them cheer, they’ll be quite pleased with the lot of us.”
“There is a life lesson in that for the two of us, Adam,” Lord Jonquil said, assuming a demeanor so serious, no one could possibly take it seriously. “Anytime you can make the women you care about happy, that’s a fine thing.”
“Lady Jonquil likes ginger biscuits,” Adam said.
“She does indeed.”
“What does your Nurse Robbie like most to eat, do you suppose?” Howard asked Adam, suspecting he enjoyed talking about the woman who’d been his sure foundation for so long.
“She likes plum pudding.”
Howard tucked that bit of information away.
“I suspect we can convince Cook to make more ginger biscuits and some plum pudding,” Lord Jonquil said. “And I believe we can manage to have a Twelfth Night cake.”
“Will it have a bean in it?” Adam asked.
“Of course.”
Adam was digging in earnest now. He’d managed to find his rhythm with the work. Perhaps the boy would come over from the house and help every day. Howard could make some headway in earning the boy’s good opinion. Perhaps that would also grant him even more time with Robbie. Dear, darling Robbie.
“There is but one more thing to decide,” Lord Jonquil said.
“What’s that?” Howard asked.
“What we ought to sort is a means of making a very impressive showing for ourselves just now. You see, we are being watched.”
Howard glanced around, as did Adam. There was no one about.
