Roanna stopped him on his way out of the room. “Thanks, Simp. I don’t know what we would do without you.”
She reached up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Simp flushed and wiped his cheek clean. “Diapered your husband when he wasn’t more’n a few days old. Once you know how, ain’t nothin’ to it.” Simp quickly made his escape. Colin’s wife had a way of making him feel mighty good. Come to think of it, life was mighty good lately. ’Specially with the company they had these days.
“Roanna? Where are you?”
“In the bedroom with Brody.”
A moment later Daisy appeared with Peaches—the nickname had stuck—in her arms. “Our husbands are planning a picnic this afternoon. Are you interested?”
“That sounds wonderful,” Roanna replied. Before she could say more, they were joined by Priss, who had Alex in her arms.
“Your father doesn’t think you should be going anywhere in your condition,” Priss said to Roanna.
Roanna looked down and patted her rounding belly. Then she looked up and grinned. “He should know by now I’m determined to decide these things for myself.”
The three women exchanged rueful glances. There had been hell to pay when the Earl of Rotherham learned from the note Roanna left him that his only daughter had taken ship with Mr. Colin Calloway, bound for America. He had wanted to follow after her, but Priss had forced him to wait.
“She’s a woman, Charles,” Priss had said. “She knows what she wants.”
“A bastard!” Charles had ranted.
“He’s a good man. And it won’t matter what he is in America. Things are different there,” Priss had argued.
Charles had simmered with anger for months before they had word from Roanna that she and Colin were married. Apparently, Colin had tried to get her to return to England, but she had perservered. He had finally admitted that he loved her enough to do whatever it took to make her happy. They had been married by the ship’s captain before they made landfall in America.
Thus, the two families that were friends and neighbors in England had been joined by the marriage of their children. When Nicholas suggested it was time to visit Colin, Daisy had immediately suggested to Priss that she and Charles should join them. So they had come together, the two sets of grandparents, to see their children and their grandson, Brody Calloway.
There had been a surprise when they arrived. Roanna was pregnant for the second time.
“I suppose if your father complains too much, we can always use our other ammunition,” Priss said, sending a sly look toward Daisy.
“What ammunition?” Roanna asked.
“Priss and I are each expecting another happy event,” Daisy said with a grin.
“What?”
Daisy turned at the sound of a deep male voice. “Uh-oh. I think our secret is out, Priss.”
Three men, their husbands, were crowded into the bedroom doorway. “What’s going on in here?” Nicholas demanded.
“We were just discussing how much we would enjoy a picnic,” Daisy said.
“Daisy,” Nicholas said in a warning voice.
“All right,” she said. “If you must know, I’m expecting again.”
“Me, too,” Priss said as Charles crossed the room and put an arm around her shoulders.
Colin had already slipped his arms around Roanna from behind, and his hands rested on her burgeoning belly.
“Good grief,” Nicholas said. “We’re going to have babies coming out of our ears.”
“I don’t think that’s where babies come from,” Daisy teased.
Everyone laughed.
“Shall we all go on a picnic?” Roanna asked. “It sounds like so much fun.”
Charles opened his mouth to object, and Priss put a hand over it. “Absolutely,” she said.
“I can’t wait to enjoy some more of that Texas sunshine,” Daisy concurred with a smile.
Daisy and Nicholas were the last to leave the bedroom. Nicholas stopped her and put his arms around both her and Peaches. “I love you, Daisy,” he murmured in her ear.
He said the words often now, and she repeated them back to him. Nicholas Calloway, bounty hunter, was a man who existed only in memory. Nicholas Windermere, beloved barbarian, had finally accepted his rightful place as the eighth Duke of Severn.
LETTER TO READERS
Dear Readers,
I hope you enjoyed my first venture into the English countryside as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’m heading back to the American West for my next book, Lord of the Plains, but I’m taking some English characters with me. You’ve already met Lord and Lady Linden in The Inheritance. Their thrilling story also involves a second set of star-crossed lovers. Sparks fly and cultures clash when a half-breed Sioux captures Lady Winifred Worth, a precocious Englishwoman who prefers to wear trousers and is better known to her friends as Freddy. Secrets and past mistakes ensure that the path of true love is strewn with obstacles, all of which you’ll enjoy seeing the lovers overcome.
I always appreciate hearing your opinions and find inspiration from your questions, comments, and suggestions. It would be fun to know more about you—your age, what you do for a living, and where you usually find my books—whether new or used.
For those of you who may be interested, I also write contemporary westerns. You can look for The Children of Hawk’s Way trilogy from Silhouette Desire, beginning with The Unforgiving Bride in September 1994, followed by The Headstrong Bride in December 1994, and finishing up with The Disobedient Bride, a Man of the Month in April 1995. These books are a spinoff from the original Hawk’s Way trilogy, which was published last year.
Please write to me at P.O. Box 8531, Pembroke Pines, FL 33084 and enclose a self-addressed, read and answer all my mail, though as some of you know, a reply might be delayed if I have a writing deadline.
Take care and keep reading!
Happy trails,
Joan Johnston
January 1995
Joan Johnston is the bestselling, award-winning author of fourteen historical romances and twenty-one contemporary romance novels. She received a master of arts degree in theater from the University of Illinois and was graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law at Austin. She is currently a full-time writer who lives in South Florida.
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