“Sloane…”
“Marry me. Be my love, my wife, my adored companion, the mother of my children, my heart, my own private miracle.”
It was the last word that convinced her. She was too tired to prevent tears. “When did you decide you wanted me?”
“Months ago. Only I couldn’t find you.”
“Clay knew.”
“Clay and I were hardly speaking.”
“Sloane…”
“We’re speaking now. He told me where you were. I told him I’d bring you to Miracle Springs for Christmas. We’ll get married there—unless the thought embarrasses you.”
“Do you really love me?”
He nodded.
“And the baby? You want the baby?”
“Try and keep me away.”
“I could have made it on my own.”
“I couldn’t have.” He brushed her lips with his, then did it again. “I never want to make it on my own again. Only with you, with Clay and with that screaming little bundle over there.” They both listened to their daughter begin a new set of rebellious roars.
“She does have your personality.”
“You’re going to have your hands full with both of us.”
Elise felt peace wash over her. She shut her eyes and grasped Sloane’s hand. “This isn’t a dream, is it?”
“Ask me that after three months of wet diapers and midnight feedings.”
“It isn’t a dream. It’s a miracle,” she said, bringing his hand to her lips. “The maiden couldn’t have done any better.”
“We made this one happen ourselves.”
Elise smiled. ‘“Tis the season.”
“It’s always the season.”
Elise heard a rustle, a roar and then a quiet cooing. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Sloane proudly holding their daughter, who had nestled against him as if she knew just exactly who he was. “You’re going to make a good father,” she said sleepily.
“I am a good father,” he corrected her with a grin. “I’m going to make a good husband.”
“I believe you will.” Elise yawned and closed her eyes again.
“I take it that means you’ll marry me.”
“That’s right.”
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
Sloane watched Elise drift off to sleep. He swayed back and forth with their baby and planned their wedding. It couldn’t be soon enough to suit him.
EPILOGUE
Clay’s journal: It’s Christmas. The second one I’ve spent with my father. For a present this year he gave me a mother and a sister. After a lifetime alone I’m suddenly overwhelmed with family. It’s a funny thing about having all these people who matter to you. At first I wasn’t sure there was room inside me for them. I thought that part of me was just inoperative—like a short circuit on a robot. Now I know that’s not true.
I called Sloane “Dad” yesterday, and his face lit up like the brightest of Christmas trees. The smallest things seem to give him pleasure now. When I see him holding Rhea and smiling at her, I get the strangest feeling. I wonder what it would have been like to have him hold me that way. He seems to be trying to make up for it though. I haven’t had so many hugs in my entire life.
And now Elise is my mother. She says stepmother is an honorable title, that it’s the best step she ever took. We’re staying at the Miracle Springs Inn, and she and I walked down to the river together this morning before Sloane and Rhea woke up. Elise wanted me to know that as much as she loves Rhea, she loved me first. I told her she could quit worrying about sibling rivalry, and she laughed and kissed my cheek.
Rhea is beautiful. I named her. Rhea is Latin for “that which flows from the earth: the river.” Rhea Elise Tyson. Elise says her name is perfect; Sloane says it sounds like something straight out of Destiny Ranch. But he says it with a smile.
Today at two Elise and Sloane are going to say their vows down at the riverbank. They already got married by a justice of the peace in Atlanta so that people here wouldn’t talk, but their real wedding is going to be today. Just Amy and me and Sloane and Elise. And, of course, Aunt Lillian and Rhea.
Amy hasn’t changed at all. She’s still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. We’ve both been going out with other people since I moved away, but it doesn’t seem to matter at all. When we’re together it’s like we’ve never been apart. When I kissed her for the first time in months, it felt like I’d never stopped.
She has more freedom than she used to. Mr. Cargil asked Carol to marry him to keep her away from the man with the male Pekingese. They were married December first. Amy says Carol was smart. Making her father jealous was the only way to get him to pop the question. Now Carol keeps him busy and well fed, and Amy can live her own life. Mr. Cargil has even given Amy permission to spend Easter vacation in Cambridge with us. Amy giggled and said she thinks Carol’s going to make him use that time to work on his textbook.
I’m glad to be back here. Late last night when everyone was sleeping I walked down to the springs. Christmas Eve is like holding your breath, waiting for something to happen. The night was very black and very still. There was part of a moon hanging in the sky and the water was a black satin ribbon. I know the date’s not right, but as I looked at the island, the mists surrounding it parted. I thought I saw the maiden.
Just in case, I thanked her.
Emilie Richards is the bestselling author of more than seventy novels. She writes contemporary women’s fiction, mystery and romance and has won numerous awards including a RITA from Romance Writers of America and starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal. Ten of her classic romances have been translated and made into television movies in Germany and distributed throughout Europe.
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Emilie’s Classic Romances newly available as ebooks are:
The Unmasking,
and the internationally popular Tales of the Pacific series:
From Glowing Embers,
Smoke Screen,
Rainbow Fire,
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Out of the Ashes.
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