by Fiona Lowe
“So that’s the part of me that’s my work in progress,” she said.
“Something I’m going to love working on.” “It’s funny, hearing you say that word.” “Love?” he asked. “Love,” she murmured.
“I think it fits pretty well. But I’m going to need practice.”
“I think it fits beautifully, and practice all you want.”
He stood, then took hold of her hand and pulled her up off the floor. As they walked together through the house, to check the door locks and turn off the lights, they stopped for a moment at the entry to the den to look at the portrait of Aunt Grace. As always, her watchful eye was on them, but tonight her portrait had taken on a glow that made it seem as if she was smiling. She was, Rafe knew. She absolutely was.
As they headed, hand in hand, up the stairs, Rafe scooped Edie into his arms. “I know what I’d like to start practicing, if you’re interested.”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
EPILOGUE
“IT IS beautiful,” Edie whispered, gazing out at the eternity of stars sprawled against the blackest sky. “Like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“And full of possibilities,” Molly added.
It was a perfect night up on the bluff, and the view stretched for ever, the way he always remembered it doing. It was the first time he’d been here with his family … his wife, his daughter. But it wouldn’t be the last. “I think she always knew,” Rafe said. “Aunt Grace. I think she always knew this was the way it would turn out for us. You, me, Molly … together as a family.”
“Do you really think she chose me for you?” Edie asked, as she toasted a marshmallow over the fire Rafe had built. Rafe was refusing the marshmallows but munching away on chocolate-chip cookies. The best he’d ever had, he’d claimed. Even better than his aunt’s, he’d told her. But Edie knew, as well as Grace had known, it was just the same old recipe off the back of the chocolate-chip bag. Love had been, and would always be, the ingredient that made them special.
“I’d be surprised if she didn’t. That’s the way she was.”
“And she would have let me ride solo,” Molly tossed in, still trying to get her way on the issue.
“You had your big adventure, young lady,” Edie said. “We know you can ride solo, and you know the deal. You can do it only when one of us is there to supervise you. Your daddy or me. Or your Uncle Jess or Dr. Rick, or Johnny when he has the time. No one else.”
In the years to come they were going to have their hands full with Molly because she was a strong-willed little girl. Full of life, full of adventure, ready to grab life in a big way. She was like Grace in many ways. Aunt Grace’s daughter in every sense of the word. And their daughter too, for which he and Edie said their prayers of thanks every day of their lives.
“Can I have a kitten? And a puppy?”
Rafe slipped his hand into Edie’s, and smiled at her. “How about a new horse? We’re going out tomorrow to pick up a white stallion, and I have an idea he’s going to need lots of attention to make him healthy again. Would that be OK with you? Having a new horse instead?”
“Can I name him Possibility?” Molly asked, looking out into the distance. “Then he’ll remind me of where Aunt Grace is.”
“I think that would be a very good name for him, honey,” Rafe said, sighing the sigh of a contented man.
“A very good name,” Edie agreed, handing her daughter the toasted marshmallow. Then she whispered to Rafe, “But we’re not letting her name her little sister.”
He placed his hand on Edie’s belly. It was still their secret, but not for long. “Mary Grace,” he whispered back. “For your mother and Aunt Grace.”
“Mary Grace,” she repeated.
Tonight Mary Parker and Grace Corbett were very happy. Edie felt it, and he felt it too, because he was where he belonged. Rafe Corbett had finally come home. And he’d never, ever leave again. “Mary Grace,” he whispered, pulling Edie into his arms.
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
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First published in Great Britain 2011
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Fiona Lowe 2011
© Dianne Despain 2011
ISBN: 978-1-408-92491-4
Table of Contents
Title Page
Career Girl in the Country
Praise for Fiona Lowe:
About the Author
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
The Doctor’s Reason to Stay
About the Author
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Epilogue
Copyright