She paused, but then held out her hand to stop Jenny from interrupting. The gesture was imperious. Gloria might be sincerely sorry, but the noble blood in her family background had bred a haughtiness she probably wasn’t even aware of herself.
“I would very much like to keep in contact with you all,” she said firmly. “Not just with my grandson, but with you and with your husband, too, and with any children who might follow. With that in mind, I’d like to write. I’ll write once a week, and there’s no need for you to write back. Photographs will suffice. I’ll pay for any postage and processing. I’d also like very much to be present at Gary’s christening, but if that’s not acceptable, then I’ll understand.” She paused, and she finally took her eyes from the baby and looked at Jenny. The haughtiness faded.
“Your husband says he’ll pay for an extended holiday in Britain each year, but I’ll fight him on that one. I’ll do the paying.” She almost sounded humble. “It would be my honor-my absolute privilege-to have you all stay in my home. As you know, the estate is huge. It’s my sorrow and shame you were never invited there while you were married to Peter, but we have guest apartments to spare. Come, and bring as many friends as you want. Make it your home. Your…your home away from home.”
“And at the end of our stay?” Jenny asked, her voice hushed in shock at what she was hearing. “You’d let us go again?”
“If I can’t bear to let go, then I’ll lose you completely,” Gloria whispered, and it was as much as Jenny could do to hear her. “I don’t think I could bear that. I’ve been so stupid. I’ve lost so much already.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MICHAEL didn’t come near her after that. He must have waited outside, taken Gloria to her hotel and then returned to Maitland Maternity. For the next couple of hours Jenny lay in baffled bewilderment, going over the events of the last few hours in her mind.
Michael had gone to see Gloria. Michael had taken Gary to see her.
Why?
And she knew. She knew!
Where was he? Why didn’t he come? As the afternoon wore on, so did Jenny’s patience. Finally at five o’clock, Shelby bounced in to see her, having given Socks his daily constitutional. Socks led the way, towing Shelby, and both dog and woman stopped in astonishment at the sight of Jenny dressed-in her gorgeous golden dress-and packing her bags. “Where,” Shelby said carefully. “are you thinking of going?”
“Home,” Jenny told her. “It’s time.”
“Does Megan know?”
“Megan’s right behind her.” Megan came into the bedroom carrying a pile of clean diapers. “Of course I know. Like Jenny says, it’s time.”
An hour later, Michael came home from work to dump the paperwork he had to do that evening, before heading around to Megan’s to see Jenny. When he arrived he found his wife and his son and his dog sitting before the living room fire, waiting for him.
“JEN?”
“Michael.” To any onlooker it would appear to be a normal evening after work. Gary was fast asleep in his infant seat by the fire. Jenny looked placidly at her husband as Socks bounded over to greet him. “Welcome home.”
But Michael didn’t feel normal. He put Socks aside with a halfhearted pat and focused on his wife. “Why are you here?”
“Waiting for my husband to return.” She smiled at him. “Like a good and dutiful wife. Socks, go fetch your master’s slippers.”
Socks gave a goofy grin and just sat there. Jenny sighed. “Rats. Some things will never change. Sorry, Michael, you don’t seem to have a docile dog. Will a docile wife do?”
Michael had stopped at the door. Now he felt as if he’d stopped breathing. The world seemed to stand still, waiting.
“I don’t think I’d know what a docile wife was,” he said carefully, and she smiled that gorgeous, blindingly brilliant smile of hers, and rose and came over to him. She was wearing her wonderful dress, he thought, dazed. She was looking just…
Just too desirable for words.
“Michael, thank you,” she said softly, and she caught his hands. The faint scent of her perfume drifted into his orbit.
“Thank you?”
“For seeing Gloria,” she said simply. And then she took a deep breath. “And by doing so…making it possible for me to move forward. To bury Peter.”
“It means you can go home,” he said, and his voice sounded harsh even to him. “The way Gloria is, given some cast-iron guarantees, I’d imagine you could go back to England. She won’t threaten you now.”
“Why would I go back to England?”
“It’s your home.”
“Home is where the heart is,” she said softly, and her hands held his. They were smooth against the roughness of his male skin, and it was all he could do not to pull her forward and gather her into his arms. It was more than a body could stand.
But he must. Still he held himself rigid. Waiting.
“You’ve grown attached,” he said, trying to keep the sudden burgeoning of hope from surging into something he couldn’t control. “I guess.”
She tilted her chin and met his look with the clear-eyed gaze he loved so much. “You guess right. I have.”
“To Socks. To Lana and Shelby and Megan.”
“Yep.”
“And to this place, maybe.” He looked at the fire. “It’s a good place to live.”
“The white furniture has to go.”
“The white furniture can go.” Hell, he sounded like a zombie. “You just say the word.”
“Michael?”
“Mmm.”
“We’re talking around the point here.” She hesitated. All the courage she had deserted her.
But he needed to know. She had to say it. “And the point is?”
There was a long, long silence. He didn’t take his eyes from hers, and their gazes linked and held.
Then, suddenly, Jenny had all the courage she needed right there in her heart. All the courage she needed was written plain on his face. She only had to reach out and take it from him. Use it herself. He’d done so much for her. He’d committed himself so far. It wouldn’t hurt her to take this one last step of trust.
“I couldn’t bear to go back to England, Michael Lord,” she whispered, “and you want to know why not?”
“I… Yes.” It came out a gravelly croak and brought a smile to her lovely eyes. She stood on tiptoes, and she kissed him ever so lightly on the mouth. And still he stood motionless.
“Because I love you, you great ninny,” she scolded. “I think I have for months but I couldn’t admit it, even to myself. But now… Now you’ve unlocked the chains, and you are my own darling husband and I have fallen so in love with you that I can’t bear to think of leaving your side for a moment. Ever. And I’m sorry if you can’t bear to be hemmed in and domesticated, but you did say you were in love with me and that’s what you get when you-
The last word was a squeak as she was swept off the floor and spun around the room with a great shout of joyous laughter. “Michael!”
“What?” She stared into his laughing, triumphant eyes as he spun her still. “What, my love?”
“Put me down this instant,” she demanded. “I have more to say.”
“I’m not putting you down.”
“I’ll sic the dog onto you.”
