Governess's Dilemma (9781460320600)
Page 17
“Did she?” He carried his little sister-in-law to where Myrna sat in the shade of the summer’s afternoon.
“Uh-huh. She must be happy to be here.”
“Did you doubt it?” he teased.
“No, this is the best place ever!”
Myrna’s heart gave a little jump as it always did to see him, then another when their eyes met and held in that intimate manner that made her breathless. Life with Dalton had indeed exceeded her fondest dreams and trounced all her old qualms.
“And how are my other two girls?” He set Sisi on the ground and bent to kiss Myrna’s temple then brushed his finger along the baby’s cheek.
Before she could assure him they were well, they heard the sound of a foot being stomped.
“What about me?” Rebecca insisted with a pout. “Am I no longer one of your girls?”
Dalton chuckled, he and Myrna sharing an amused glance at Rebecca’s customary dramatics, before he whirled and scooped up their niece causing her to squeal and giggle a protest when he tickled her ribs.
“You most certainly are, young miss! Don’t you forget it.”
Reassured, Rebecca smiled and took Sisi’s hand once he set her down. The two ran toward the pond.
“Don’t stay away long,” Myrna called out. “Dinner is in less than an hour.”
“We won’t,” Rebecca called back. “We just want to see the baby ducks!”
Dalton retraced his steps to Myrna’s side. “Which means I shall likely have to fetch them within the hour.”
Myrna smiled in agreement. “How did things go in town?”
“Tonight, during our stroll, we can talk about the day’s affairs,” he said, lowering his body so that their eyes were level. He slipped his hand against her head, cradling it and turning her face toward him. “To find ourselves alone after having missed your presence all day and eagerly counting the minutes when I may again return to you, I cannot help but take advantage of this moment.”
With that he kissed her, gentle and slow but no less passionate, and she returned his affection with as much fervor that a woman holding a sleeping infant could possess.
“I am fortunate to have taken the train that night two years ago, instead of the one earlier in the day as I intended,” he said once he pulled back to look into her eyes.
“What prevented you?” she asked at this previously unknown morsel of information.
“I overslept,” he admitted with a sheepish grin.
She giggled at that. Dalton was no cheerful greeter of the dawn. She discovered that juicy tidbit the morning after they were wed and often enjoyed devising methods to rouse him, some loving, some mischievous, even tickling his ribs as he’d done with Rebecca—her every attempt always ending with success and with her in his arms.
“Please don’t tell me I owe this moment and every one we have shared to your slothfulness to greet the sunrise?” she mused in mock chastisement but knew she owed their meeting to a far worthier source.
He laughed, his eyes sparkling with mirth. “It behooves me to say it, but alas, it is so.”
“There are far worse traits, I suppose.” She grinned. “No matter. I love you for all that you are, Dalton Freed.”
She could never express such words enough.
“As I shall always love you, my dearest Myrna.”
And she would never tire of hearing such words.
Each day she thanked God for bringing them together, that in the loss of tragedy she found the miracle of happiness. In all storms they since faced, they had done so together. They struggled, they learned, and always they loved, and Myrna truly felt as if she soared with the eagles at Eagle’s Landing.
Or perhaps it was her unwavering faith that made her so lighthearted?
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781460320600
THE GOVERNESS’S DILEMMA
Copyright © 2013 by Pamela Griffin
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