by Dawn Brower
A tear fell down Samantha’s cheek. As far as grand declarations went, that one was the biggest Jason could make. Surely her brother would realize that he did love her. They belonged together, and if Gregory continued to stand in her way… She moved toward her brother and smacked him in the face. “I’m marrying Jason. We love each other and you are not going to prevent it. Stop being such a damn arse.”
Kaitlin wrapped her arm around Gregory’s. “Listen to Samantha. Let them be together and quit punishing them.”
Gregory was quiet for several minutes and then finally nodded.
“I should have listened to my sister a long time ago.” He hugged Samantha. “I’ll cheerfully stand beside you at your wedding. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.” He stepped back. “You understand I had to be sure.” Gregory smiled softly. “And now you’ll always know his love is true. He’d have given up everything for you. There should be no doubts between you.”
Gregory was right. There might have been doubts somewhere down the road. Her brother was still an arse, but in his own way he’d always done his best to protect her. At least now there would not be a cloud over their heads. They had Gregory’s consent, and that was more than she thought she’d have. At best, she’d thought he’d begrudgingly accept their marriage. He might still be an arse from time to time, but now Gregory would fully support it. Considering who her brother was—that was the best possible outcome.
They walked over to the vicar. It didn’t take long for them to say their vows. Tears flowed freely down Samantha’s face. She couldn’t recall ever being so happy. Jason loved her. Everything else would work itself out. She refused to believe anything else…
Epilogue
Five years later…
Jason strolled into his home and smiled. He never believed he could be this happy. Marrying Samantha had been the best thing that had ever happened to him. This life… It was everything he never thought he wanted or thought he could have.
Laughter echoed through the house and floated toward him, drawing him in like sweet music. Jason followed the sounds until he located its source. He pushed open the door and found his greatest joy. His four-year-old daughter, Camille, sat in the middle of the floor playing. She had dark hair and brilliant blue eyes like her mother.
Camille picked up a toy horse with a knight on its back and bounced it across the floor. “He’s off to save the princess.” Her voice was high-pitched and filled with excitement. Jason sat on the floor beside her.
“Is he heading to the castle then?” he asked her softly.
She glanced up at him and smiled. “Daddy.” Camille leapt into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Missed you.”
This child, the one he thought he didn’t want, made his heart burst with joy. Jason couldn’t imagine never having her, and he was grateful Samantha had helped him see the error of his ways. “I missed you too, poppet.”
Samantha strolled into the room and smiled. “You’re home.”
He met her gaze and smiled. “That I am.”
“Mommy,” Camille squealed. She let go of Jason’s neck and ran to her.
Samantha picked her up and hugged her tightly. “Hello, sweet one. Are you playing with your castle?”
“I am,” she said. “The prince is going to save the princess.”
“Is he?” Samantha said. “Well then, your daddy and I will leave you to play. We wouldn’t want the princess to wait too long.” She set Camille down and held out her hand to Jason. “Come, dear, we have much to speak about.”
Jason kissed Camille on the cheek and then rose to his feet. He followed Samantha out of the room. They walked to the salon. Samantha pushed open the door and stepped inside. Jason followed her and closed the door behind them, then pulled her into his arms. He leaned down and kissed her.
Samantha leaned back. “Now that’s a greeting a lady can become accustomed to.” She grinned. “I do love you.”
He didn’t think he’d ever become used to hearing her saying those words. Jason definitely would never tire of them. “I love you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Was your trip successful?”
He nodded and pulled her closer. “The restorations are almost complete and the farm is finally turning a profit. If you fancy country life, we can retire to my estate whenever you please.”
“I rather enjoy London,” she answered. “Though it will be nice to have a home for the summer if we choose to reside there. It will be wonderful for our children as well.”
“Children?” He lifted a brow. “Is this your way of telling me we’re going to add to our family?”
Samantha’s lips tilted upward. “You are indeed correct. In about six months time we will have another child. Do you think you’ll survive it?” Her tone held a hint of amusement. “Considering, at one time, you didn’t want any children at all.”
“My dear,” Jason began, “there’s nothing I want more than to add to our growing family. This life, with you, with Camille, and whatever children we’re blessed with… You’ve made me a better man, and I must confess I cannot imagine never loving you. Thank you for being mine.”
“Oh, my darling,” she said softly. “The pleasure of loving you has entirely been mine. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Jason leaned down and kissed her. Loving her was the best gift he could ever have received. He sent up a small thanks to his meddling grandfather. Without his presumptuous edict he might never have eloped with Samantha and have his growing family. Sometimes the best things came from the unexpected. His life had definitely taken a path he never would have foreseen, and for that he’d be eternally grateful.
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Excerpt: Secrets of My Beloved
Linked Across Time 12
Dawn Brower
Chapter 1
Sunlight streamed through the window and filled the library in its golden rays. It was a beautiful day, and utterly dreary. A conundrum Lord Nicholas Kendall couldn’t shake. He should be happy. His life was an endless loop of revelry. At least that is what everyone seemed to imagine. He didn’t actually partake in all things roguish as his family was warranted to believe. Nicholas made a good show of it and went through the motions, but he hated every second of it. Nothing filled him with joy. Nothing gave him even a moment of peace. Nothing and no one inspired him. He needed…something. He didn’t know what, but he prayed, one day, it would present itself to him.
Nicholas rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. He had to quit being so damned melancholy. This darkness inside of him…it wasn’t pretty. He walked away from the window and went over to the bar. Once there, he poured a glass of brandy and drained the contents, then refilled his glass. He was about to drink it when his older twin brother, Christian, the Marquess of Blackthorn, strolled into the library.
“What has you drinking so early, brother,” Christian asked. He joined Nicholas at the bar and poured himself some of the brandy. “I suppose I’ll join you then.”
Nicholas’s lips twitched upward. “Is this your way of making me seem a little less…scandalous?”
“Not at all,” Christian said lightly. “It’s been a rather tedious day. I’ve had my head buried in books for most of the morning. I have numbers blurring before my eyes, torturing me. I cannot take any more. This business of running a dukedom is more than one man can handle.”
Christian was identical in almost every way to Nicholas. His mirror twin…he had the same light brown hair and blue eyes, the same roguish smile, and a dimple in one cheek. Though their dimples were in the opposite cheek most people didn’t remember that. They had been able to pretend to be each other frequently over the years. Having a twin had its benefits.
Nicholas tipped his glass tow
ard Christian. “That’s the benefits of being the heir.” He lifted the glass upward and took a sip. “I’ve never been more glad you inherited that mantle. It’s a responsibility that would drive me mad.” That didn’t mean being the spare didn’t come with certain responsibilities either… His family still had expectations of him. All Nicholas wanted was to escape. The problem was he had nowhere to go.
He walked over to one of the shelves and stopped. One of the tomes caught his attention, and he pulled it out. He flipped it open and scanned the pages. It was written in his mother’s handwriting. “Have you ever seen this?” He held it up so Christian could see it.
“Mother’s little project?” He lifted a brow. “I admit I haven’t read any of it, but I know what it is. She writes things down she thinks will be important to future generations. Most of it is medical knowledge she learned from her time.”
It was no secret to the family that their mother, the current Duchess of Weston, was from the future. She had studied to be a doctor in the twenty-first century. Through some quirk of fate that Nicholas didn’t quite understand she had fallen through time to be saved by their father. It was a little nauseating and stupidly romantic. And he envied it. What must that have been like? To travel two hundred years into the past to find love… Nicholas often had trouble comprehending it. “You’ve never been curious? It’s sitting here for anyone to read. Why have we always ignored it?” He flipped open to the center of the book. There was an entry in it his mother hadn’t made. This one was from his sister, Elizabeth. Something about the library mirror. He whipped around and glanced at the floor length mirror and considered what he’d read. “When will Elizabeth and her wayward husband arrive?” He had a few questions for his dear sister.
Christian walked over and plucked the book from Nicholas’s hands. “What do you find so interesting in there?”
“All of it,” he admitted. “Though I haven’t exactly read more than a paragraph or two. I think I’ll give it more attention.” It might be the answer to his ennui. It might be time to discern the workings of time travel. Maybe, if he could unravel the details, he could do a little bit of traveling of his own. He had the urge to discover the unknown. “Now, about our sister…”
“Mother said she’d arrive today. She might already be here.” Christian finished his brandy and set his glass on a nearby table. “I didn’t realize you were so interested in speaking to her. What, pray tell, do you have to discuss with her?” He lifted a questioning brow. “I doubt Elizabeth has anything titillating to entertain you with. She’s living a dullard life with her ex-pirate husband.”
Nicholas laughed. “I doubt Jack considers himself in quite those terms. Not the pirate part, of course. He is quite the rapscallion, but the dullard part he’ll definitely object to.”
Christian waved his hand flippantly. “Jack won’t bother either way. He’s too in love with Elizabeth to maim any of her family.”
It didn’t matter to Nicholas if Jack hated all of them. As long as he loved Elizabeth, he’d respect him. Some things were more important, and his sister’s happiness was one of the biggest. “I’m sure you’re correct in your assessment.” He snatched the book back from Christian. “If you’ll pardon me, I’m going to see if they have arrived. It’s nice of you to keep me company, but I have other things to occupy my time with.” He walked out of the room, leaving Christian alone before his brother started asking questions he didn’t wish to answer. He’d already side stepped his inquisitive nature regarding why he’d wanted to speak with Elizabeth. If Christian realized why he wanted to, he wouldn’t like it. He would probably do his best to convince him to alter his plans, but Nicholas wouldn’t. He’d rather avoid that particular argument. It was far better to ask for forgiveness than permission…
Nicholas roamed down the hallway until he entered the foyer. So far, there was no sign of his sister. He was growing restless. Besides his parents, his sister was the only other person he could ask about time travel. Her entry in mother’s journal suggested she had experienced it on some level.
Surely Elizabeth would arrive soon... Perhaps he should go for a ride or walk down the cliff path to stroll along the beach. He didn’t think either of those would help though. Still, he went out the door to do one of them. He had to do something to pass the time until Elizabeth arrived.
Nicholas sauntered out and let out a sigh of relief. A carriage was coming down the long drive. His sister would be at the front entrance soon, and he could finally ask her all of his questions. He could sit on the steps and wait for the curricle, or he could go inside and wait for her. He wasn’t certain what the best option would be. Instead of doing either, he walked down the stairs and headed toward the cliffs. Elizabeth would want to greet the whole family, and she probably wouldn’t be able to sit still long enough for him to interrogate her.
He fairly itched with frustration. Nicholas’s pace quickened as he closed the distance between the house and the cliffs. He stopped when he reached the edge and stared at the waves as they crashed to the shore. It was a beautiful and majestic view. He’d never tire of it. This was his home and always would be, but did it matter if he observed it in the nineteenth century or the twenty-first? Did he dare leave his family?
“What are you doing out here?” a woman asked.
He’d been so lost in his own thoughts he hadn’t heard anyone approach. Nicholas glanced over his shoulder and met his mother’s gaze. “Do you ever regret it?”
“Regret what?” Alys, The Duchess of Weston, tilted her head to the side. Sunlight made her blonde hair even more golden.
“Leaving your family and never seeing them again. To come here…to be with father.”
“My darling boy,” she said softly and stepped toward him. She placed her hand on his cheek. “No. I don’t regret a thing. This is where I belong. Besides, if I never met your father, I wouldn’t have you or your brother and sister. How could I possibly regret that?”
He nodded. “I suppose that is one way of looking at it all.”
“Where is this coming from?”
Nicholas shrugged. “Nowhere, everywhere…I’m a little lost and uncertain where I’m going or what I want out of life.”
“I believe that’s normal. If one doesn’t question their choices at least once in their lifetime, they’re not really living.” She brushed her fingers through his hair. “Do not worry. After a while, you will find your own path. We all do when the time is right.”
Nicholas smiled. His mother could be profound from every now and then. He wasn’t certain if that was because of who she was or where she came from. It didn’t really matter. To him, she’d always be wise. Still, he didn’t tell her why he really asked her those questions. If he told her that he was considering his own time travel jaunt, she’d get overly emotional. He’d never be able to leave then. Nicholas had always hated disappointing his mother. She meant too much to him. His mother was one of the reasons he wasn’t sure he could go through with it. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” his mother said. “Now, come with me. I noticed your sister’s carriage arriving a little while ago. I was heading back to the house when I saw you over here. Stroll with me so we can greet her and Jack.”
He looped his arm with his mother’s and they started toward the house. Elizabeth and Jack would already be in the house. Hopefully, Elizabeth would be amiable to a little chat. He wanted to know more about the mirror and how it could be used to time travel. Perhaps it was reckless, but he was tired of being the good son.
They reached the house and entered through the garden. The sounds of laughter greeted them as they strode into the main salon. Elizabeth sat on the settee next to her husband. His father, James, the Duke of Weston was standing in the far back of the room. Christian sat on the chair near the settee.
“There you are,” Elizabeth said and stood. She hugged their mother first, and then him. “What took you so long?”
“I needed to walk,” Nic
holas said. “Mother must have too since she found me along the path around the cliff.” He stepped out of her embrace. “You took forever yourself. I thought you be here much sooner than this.”
“We made a few extra stops along the way. Why, did you miss me?” Her lips tilted upward into an errant smile. “You could always have visited me, you know.”
“I did miss you,” he admitted. “And you’re correct. I could visit you. Perhaps I’ll do that next time.”
Nicholas doubted he should ask to ask his sister any pertinent questions right then. He would have to wait until they were alone. In the meantime, he’d read more of his mother’s journal. He’d stopped by his room and left it on his bed. Hopefully, his mother wouldn’t go looking for it to add another entry. He wanted to peruse it uninterrupted. For now, he’d enjoy some quality time with his family. There would be ample opportunities to worry about his future later.
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Excerpt: A Treasured Lily
A Marsden Romance
Dawn Brower
Chapter 1
"I just don't think it's a good idea."
"Nonsense." Lilliana Marsden looked up at her best friend, Lady Gemma Kemsley, and frowned. "It's a brilliant idea. My father is being unreasonable about allowing me to travel to America. The plantation in South Carolina is my inheritance. It's about time I claimed it."
"It's not going to work for you to just show up and claim it though. I don't get why you are in such a hurry. You know full well you won't inherit it until you marry." Gemma reached up and smoothed over her sanguine curls, tucking a loose strand behind her ear.