He squeezed her. “I love you, too. Now, go.”
Lily put out a hand toward Robert. “Are you ready?”
He laced their fingers and held them up. “Yes. By God, yes.”
Joy bloomed inside of her. “To our new adventure.”
They walked out of the shadows, holding hands, and into the sun.
Epilogue
Lily took in a deep breath of salty air and leaned farther over the railing. The tip of land was on the horizon, over the crashing waves, and the sight sent a spurt of joy through her.
They were almost there.
“Not so far over the edge, if you don’t mind.”
Robert’s arms surrounded her, tugged her back from the railing until she pressed against him. She snuggled into his arms.
“I, for one, have no desire to jump in to save you,” he teased in her ear. His hands came to settle on her stomach. “How are you feeling?”
Lily gave a soft sigh. “So happy to see land.”
Robert chuckled. “I imagine. The sickness hasn’t been easy on you.”
Lily swiveled around in his arms and peered up at him. The misty spray of the ocean waves had teased the curls from his dark locks and she reached up to tuck one off his forehead. “Yes, but I don’t think that will go away because we’re off the ship.”
“The babe is all right?”
Contentment filled her with such solid footing, Lily could have purred. “Right as rain, as far as I know.”
She’d only been certain of the pregnancy a month prior, halfway into their trip toward America, toward a new life. It had brought her such joy, such fear and such reminders of grief at first.
His fingers caressed her belly. They had spent hours talking about the babe they’d lost and the one they’d been blessed with now.
“We’ll never forget.” Robert’s words were a nudge, one that told her he knew what she was thinking about.
She shook her head, with a smile. “Never.”
“It’s all right to be happy now.”
She curled into him. “Yes, it is. My mother will be beside herself.”
“Even with me for a father?”
“Even with.”
The teasing light faded from Robert’s eyes, and he looked down at her, lips drawn, brows pressed inward. “Lily, are you certain?”
Lily reached up, smoothed the frown from his brow. “Yes. We’re building a new life together, Robert. Away from our past.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts. This is our story, Robert. We choose how it ends. This is all I’ve ever wanted.” It warmed her heart to be the one reassuring him, to know that his love had filled her so completely there was no room for doubt, no room for uncertainty. She believed. She knew.
She trusted.
He leaned down and pressed a light kiss to her lips. “You had your chance to get rid of me.”
“It’s a good thing I’m smart enough to know better then, isn’t it?”
He laughed. “Yes. Yes, it is.”
Acknowledgments
Every book starts in a writer’s head but it never stays there for long. Creating this book has involved a number of people whom I’m incredibly grateful for. My editor, Caroline Tolley, for helping this to become the book it always needed to be. Marie Force’s Formatting Fairies for providing excellent copy proofing. To my amazing beta readers, Naomi Herberg and Elida Martinez – THANK YOU!
To my amazing husband, David, my butt-kicker when I need it, my editor, my brainstorming partner and so much more. And thanks to my son Connor, for thinking it’s really cool that Mama has books with his last name on them.
Other Willoughby Family books
Something About Her
“A wonderful debut!” ~ NY Times Bestselling author Gaelen Foley
Michael Ashton, the Duke of Ravensdale, is caught in two scandals, neither of which is his own doing. The first involves a woman (don’t they always), and the second…well, it also involves a woman and a large sum of stolen money. In order to save the reputation Michael has spent his life rebuilding, he must track down the widow of his presumed-dead cousin in order to charm…or seduce her missing husband’s whereabouts from her.
After being abandoned a mere hour after her wedding, Blythe Willoughby Ashton wonders how she could have been fooled by such a cad and still feels humiliated and betrayed a year later. Her husband wooed her, married her, took her money and left. When she learns of his death, she decides unceremoniously to go on with her life—without a man. So when Thomas’s cousin—a Duke, no less—shows up uninvited on her doorstep, looking more handsome and irresistible than any man should, Blythe instinctively doesn’t trust him nor does she want to like him. But her traitorous heart doesn’t seem to care. At the same time, Michael’s clear agenda gets quite blurry when the woman he believes an accomplice to his cousin’s schemes turns out to be the woman he can give his heart to…and the only one he can’t have.
Cloaked in Danger
” Cloaked in Danger has all the elements readers crave— larger-than-life characters, a vivid and believable setting, heart-pounding romance and just the right amount of mystery. Don’t miss it! It kept me reading deep into the night.”
— New York Times Bestselling Author Brenda Novak Aria Whitney has little in common with the delicate ladies of London society. Her famous father made his fortune hunting archaeological treasures, and her rustic upbringing has left her ill-prepared for a life of parties and frippery. But when Gideon Whitney goes missing in Egypt, Aria must embrace the unknown—armed with only the short list of highborn men who’d backed her father’s venture, she poses as a woman looking for a husband. She doesn’t intend to find one.
Adam Willoughby, Earl of Merewood, finds London’s strangest new debutante fascinating, but when he catches her investigating his family’s secrets, he threatens to ruin her reputation. He doesn’t intend to enjoy it so much.
When their lustful indiscretion is discovered, Adam finds that he regrets nothing. But now, as her father’s enemy draws near, Adam must convince his betrothed that she can trust him with her own secrets…before it’s too late.
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