He looked at Elizabeth, noting the exhaustion and pure joy in her eyes as she looked down at their boys. She looked so damn beautiful, and he couldn’t help losing his heart to her all over again.

              “Twins, minx,” he said, gently pulling his hand away from his son so that he could push a damp strand of hair behind Elizabeth’s ear.

              “Twins,” she repeated with a pleased smile.

              He leaned in, careful of the baby now trying to grab onto his shirt, and brushed a kiss against his beautiful wife’s lips. “I love you, Beth,” he said, using the name that she hated to tease another smile out of her.

              “And I love you, Robert Lemonade.”

Chapter 35

Four and a half years later…..

              “Did you bring it?” Robert demanded as soon as the coach door opened.

              James chuckled as he stepped out, his eyes dancing with amusement as he held up a dark grey rock. “You mean this rock that you so kindly asked for? The one that I had to travel to London for in the middle of the night and search the park for six hours in the freezing rain, because it was a matter of life and death?” he asked dryly as he tossed the rock to Robert.

              “Thank God,” Robert sighed, catching the rock and barely sparing his brother a glance as he headed for his shop.

              “What? No, thank you, James? I missed you, James?” James asked, veering off to go greet Elizabeth and the children, who were playing by the garden.

              “Keep Elizabeth busy for an hour or two,” was all he said as he pulled his shop door closed behind him, praying that he didn’t accidentally break this one as well.

* * *

              Elizabeth released a sigh as she leaned against the tree and watched as James played with her babies. He was such a wonderful uncle and from what she’d heard from the rest of the family, a wonderful father as well.

              He was so kind and sweet, she thought, laughing when the twins tackled him to the ground so that they could show him how to give a proper bear hug. Her lips twitched with amusement when James pretended to turn into a bear and chased the twins all while cradling her youngest giggling son carefully in his arms. Her smile turned watery as she looked down at the folded parchment in her hands.

              James had turned her dreams into a reality.

              About a year ago he’d been looking through the estates old ledgers and had come across her plans. Not sure what to make of them at first, he’d questioned Mary and Anthony who were only too happy to finally tell him what they thought about Heather burning through the fortune that was meant to help the poor.

              Shocked, he’d taken another look at her plans. Then he took a look at his wife’s outrageous spending and what he saw had him finally putting his foot down and limiting her spending to a modest monthly allowance. As a result, Heather was no longer speaking to him, but he didn’t seem to care. Elizabeth suspected that when Heather discovered that James had taken half of her inheritance and created a charity with it, that Heather would probably never speak to him again. Then again, that would probably make James the happiest man alive.

              She wished that he’d reconsider and move to America. She knew that he would love it here. He probably would have made the move years ago if it hadn’t been for Heather. Her sister refused to even consider it, never mind visit, which meant that James visited once a year just to get a break from her. Next year James was bringing his girls along with their parents for a visit whether Heather liked it or not. Elizabeth suspected that she probably wouldn’t like it.

              “It’s good to see him,” the deep voice that she adored said as a strong arm was carefully wrapped around her waist and she was pulled back against the man that she loved more than anything.

              “It is,” she murmured her agreement as she turned herself in his arms so that she could wrap her arms around his shoulders, “but it’s even better to see you.”

              “Missed me?” he teased as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.

              “Terribly,” she said, smiling against his lips. “When I came back from feeding the baby, you were already gone.”

              “I’m sorry, minx. I had some work that I needed to finish so that I could spend tonight focusing on you,” he said, kissing her again.

              “I have you for the whole night?”

              “The whole night,” he promised as he leaned in to kiss her.

              “What about James?” she asked, feeling bad that he’d traveled all the way from England to visit and they were abandoning him on his first night.

              “Can entertain himself for one night,” he said, brushing his lips against hers one last time before he stepped away.

              “This is for you,” Robert said as he held out a small beautifully carved box.

              She didn’t have to ask him to know that he’d made the box himself. It was absolutely beautiful and something that he would no doubt be able to get some of the merchants in town to buy. He could probably have a very lucrative business if he focused on making furniture and trinkets, but that would mean spending long hours away from her and the children and she knew that he didn’t want that. Instead, he settled for making the things that he loved in his spare time and focused on supporting them by building and fixing homes. He was very good at what he did and was in high demand.

              They would never be rich, but as long as they were able to keep their children safe and happy both of them were more than happy about that.

              “Happy anniversary, minx,” he said as she opened the box and saw…

              A necklace made out of stones?

              Whatever it was, it was beautiful and she loved it because he made it for her. With a smile she leaned up to kiss him, but he stepped back and focused his attention on the necklace.

              “This white bead is from the old barn where you covered me in honey and feathers,” he said, drawing her attention back to the necklace. “This bead,” he said, pointing out a grey stone bead next, “is from the tree where I cut your hair off. This bead is from…”

              He went on explaining where every stone had come from, pausing every now and then to smile, laugh or to reminisce about tales from their childhood. She listened as he went through each bead, growing more amazed by the minute. When he pointed out the bead from the orangery, she felt her bottom lip tremble. As he finished with the stone that he’d picked up outside their bedroom window on the night that she’d given birth to Jonathan, she found herself falling in love with her husband all over again.

              “I love it,” she said, an understatement. It was the most beautiful, thoughtful gift that anyone had ever given her. It also made her realize just how much she meant to him.

              “I’m glad,” he said, leaning in to kiss her, only this time she didn’t let him go.

              “It’s my turn to give you your anniversary gift, Mr. Bradford.”

* * *

              He was dying. There was no other explanation for it. His limbs weakly trembled as he dragged himself across the room. He couldn’t think of a time when he’d been so thirsty or hungry in his life. Several times over the last twenty-four hours he considered yelling for help, but he was beyond help. He knew that.

              The cause of his destruction stirred behind him. He picked up the pitcher of water and chugged the lukewarm liquid. It did nothing to quench his thirst or ease his empty stomach.

              “I think I’m dying,” he mumbled.

              A weak laugh came from the bed. “I know I am,” Elizabeth said. “We have to stop…we have to…I need food…and water…..the baby, Robert,….think of the baby,” she implored weakly.

              He took a deep breath. The baby needed food. His baby. He couldn’t help grinning. His minx was making him a father again, hopefully giving him a little girl to spoil this time. He hugged the pitcher to his chest and brought it over to her.

              “Here. Drink this and I’ll get dressed and have Mrs. Brown send some food up.” He frowned as he looked at the door. “I wonder why they haven't checked on us by now.”

              “Probably because we scared them away,” she said as she took the pitcher from him. She almost dropped it. Her arms were so weak, but she couldn’t drink lying back this way. She got up on her knees with great difficulty. The only thing that mattered was the water. She didn’t care about being ladylike or anything else. She drank greedily, not caring about the water that spilled down her chin and down her chest and stomach. She was so thirsty. When she had her fill, she placed the now empty pitcher on the bed. Her eyes met Robert’s intense gaze and she knew that things were about to take a turn for the worse.

              “Oh no,” she whimpered.

              Robert stared at the water dripping down his wife’s breasts. He licked his lips. Every part of him save one was protesting the sight. He followed her frightened eyes downward. He was more than ready to go again. It felt like he hadn’t had her in years instead of minutes.

              Elizabeth threw a pillow at him so she could scramble off the bed, desperate to make an escape. It was like that piece of his anatomy was in charge. He crawled after her. She didn’t bother with a nightgown or a wrap as she ran to the door and started pounding on it.