Page 30 of The Spinster's Secret Scoundrel
EPILOGUE
ADA: REJUVENATION
Six months later
Ada surveyed the disaster that had been her kitchen a week ago. Days before Christmas, with guests arriving, she was left to manage with only the stove and sideboard.
“There is no way you can fix this before your cousin gets here,” she declared, pressing a fist to the small of her back and wincing. “We’ll be lucky if you can put it all back together before the baby arrives.”
Thierry caught her by the waist and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“Have a little faith, kitten.”
“I do. My confidence in your ability to make a spectacular mess remains unshaken.”
When her husband moved into the cottage last summer, he promptly decided the cooking facilities were in desperate need of an upgrade. Their wedding in July brought so many gifts of household items that Ada still hadn’t unpacked them all. They were piled in the spare chamber upstairs where her uncle used to sleep when he visited.
Her workshop was going to be converted into a nursery, once Thierry finished his renovation of their kitchen. He spent most of August planning and purchasing supplies, which were stacked in the outbuilding where she’d once stored grain to lure geese. The laying season was over now. A thick blanket of snow lay over the entire village, creating a beautiful, glittering vista all the way down to the seaside.
Thierry spent September and October digging trenches to improve drainage away from the cottage’s foundations. In November he began fabricating new cabinets. This coincided with Ada’s discovery that their vigorous lovemaking had borne the predictable result. She was with child. All the sawing and banging frequently gave her a headache, forcing Thierry to slow down.
At the beginning of December, he ripped out the ancient stone sink, sanded the floors, and replaced the stove. Now, he was in the process of installing the new, more spacious sink, but his attempts to connect it with the exterior drain pipe were stymied by the cold weather.
“By this time tomorrow, you’ll be able to unpack your new dishes and crockery, Mrs. Davies.”
“Promises, promises,” she said to his rear end, which was sticking out of a wooden frame as he secured the shelving inside.
“I keep my word.”
That he did. Thierry hadn’t lied when he said he fibbed about unimportant things, but never the important things in life.
Family. Fidelity. Kitchen refurbishment. Those were promises he would never break.
Ada spent the next few hours unwrapping her new china, decorated with a pattern of geese. She’d chosen it specifically to needle her fowl-hating husband. Each plate, cup, and bowl made her smile to see it.
True to his word, Thierry had the last cupboard in place by evening.
Ada set her new dishes with pride.
“Evil of you to choose that pattern,” he complained, bussing a kiss to her cheek.
She giggled.
“I love geese! They make an excellent alarm system for catching handsome smugglers. Just don’t make me eat the eggs ever again.” She shuddered.
“Sausages and stews for you forevermore, my love.” He squeezed her hip affectionately. “After all, you’ve a growing baby to feed.”
Steam billowed into the air. “That’s for your bath, darling. You’ve worked hard. Go and wash up before dinner.”
Thierry carried the heavy pot into the elegantly modern washroom he’d built out of a closet, complete with a tiled floor and exterior drain. Ada had never imagined such luxury. When he told her there were such things as water closets and that he wanted to build one, she’d been skeptical. Yet she couldn’t deny that the washroom, as rudimentary as he claimed it was, offered a welcome degree of privacy in their small house.
Ada happily went about cooking their supper while her husband bathed. When he returned, with his hair damp and curling, she couldn’t resist sliding her hands up his bare chest, reveling in the sensation of his bare skin on hers. Thierry drew her in for a lingering kiss.
They were startled apart by someone pounding at the front door.
“This will have to wait,” he said. Ada tasted disappointment on his lips. “Would you mind? I need to get a fresh shirt.”
She nodded.
