Page 79 of The Burning Passion of a Fiery Lady
Eventually, the laughter subsided. Wiping away tears, he stared at David thoughtfully.
“How would you like to move to the other side of the country?” he asked, grinning.
David’s eyes lit up. “Where exactly?”
Jasper gazed down at Susannah tenderly. “Lincolnshire. My fiancée wants to go home, and I am more than happy to oblige her.” He looked back at David. “We are planning to buy a property there. A large property to breed horses. Do you want to be a part of it?”
David’s face lit up with joy. “Do I? Of course I do!”
“Very well, then.” He smiled, nodding his head. “Your wish has been granted.”
“What about me?” piped up Amy, smiling. “Do I get to come with you all, on this new adventure, on the other side of the country?”
“I wouldn’t leave without you, my dear,” said Susannah, smiling broadly. “Wherever I go, you are always welcome.” Her smile faded a little, and she gazed at the housekeeper tenderly. “My home is yours, for as long as you want it to be. And wherever it is, in the country. Even if I moved to the furthest tip of Scotland …”
“God forbid,” said Jasper, rolling his eyes. “You have had enough trouble on the edge of Wales. I think that Scotland would not be able to handle you at all, my dearest.”
They all laughed. The next minute, David was unrolling the picnic blanket, and they were all settling down to the feast that Amy had brought them from the kitchen.
As they passed around the food – chicken legs, bread rolls, cheese, apples, and a gigantic chocolate cake, carved up into huge slabs – Jasper couldn’t keep the smile off his face. It was so very wide, and so very bright, that he felt as if he might never stop smiling again.
He gazed around the estate. The Willows. Her home, for so long, that she had shared with her late husband. A home that had always been bittersweet for her. A home that she had loved and loathed in almost equal measure.
He had never expected to find so much when he had taken on this extended assignment.
He had never expected to find love in this remote part of the country. It had been the furthest thing from his mind. He had never expected to find intrigue, and mystery, and murder either. He had only been here for such a short time, still, and yet he sometimes felt like he had been here a hundred years or more. That The Willows had somehow twisted roots into his mind and his heart, without him even noticing.
He glanced at Susannah, who was laughing, as she accepted a chicken leg. It was right that they had decided to leave this all behind them. Too muchhadhappened here. It was time to leave The Willows to memory, at long last, and begin again. A new life, that was entirely their own. A new life that they could invent, exactly as they wanted to.
She turned around, gazing back at him as if she had felt him staring at her in that contemplative way. Her grey eyes softened.
I love you, she mouthed, behind her hand.
His heart melted, almost into a puddle, at her feet.
I love you, he mouthed back, his eyes intense.
He simply couldn’t wait now. He was so eager for them to start their new life together. He wanted to drag her away, call a pastor to wed them this very instant. He could barely restrain himself from hoisting her over his shoulder and carrying her to his chambers, throwing her onto the bed, before he leapt on her.
Slow down, he told himself, grinning. There is time, now. More than enough time to do everything that he desired with her.
The threat was gone. And they had both moved on from their past heartache. The ghosts of the past no longer rose up to haunt them, anymore. He had never felt freer or happier. And on the day that he finally made her his wife, it would all come full circle.
Yes, he had always been meant to come to The Willows. And he could only thank his lucky stars that fate had led him down that path towards here, where the woods met the land, and the rolling mountains were a silent witness to everything that unfolded beneath them.
Epilogue
The bells were ringing, almost clanging, as they ran, laughing, towards the wedding carriage.
“Throw it!” called someone, just behind them. “Throw the bouquet!”
Susannah grinned, pulling against Jasper’s hand, who was so eager to get into the carriage that he was practically running.
He glanced back at her, impatiently. “What is it?”
“The bouquet,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I must throw it before we leave! It is tradition, you know!”
He pretended to sigh heavily with frustration, but she knew better. There was that impish glint in his pale blue eyes. With an exaggerated motion, he let go of her hand, stepping back, so that she had a wide berth.
