“Everyone is ready.” Thea rushed in. “I will introduce you.”
He nodded. “I hope you are right and Oliver will enjoy this,” he said to Abby.
“Your brother loves company. It is you he wants to see play, and this will allow that to happen.”
“So you concocted this entire production so he could hear me play?” He leaned down to kiss her, and Henry Ryder made a gagging sound.
“Of course.” Abby gave him a cheeky smile.
“Come, then.” He took Hannah’s hand in his while Abby put an arm around Amanda Levermarch, who was looking a bit pale now. “We will have fun, and they will clap loudly. Then we can eat lots of wonderful food and make ourselves sick.”
As far as a rallying talk went, they were not the finest words spoken, but he got a few titters, and then they were filing through the door and onto the small stage that had been set up.
“There seem a great many people,” he whispered to Abby.
“And all of them you know.” She patted his hand, and he felt instantly calmer.
He passed Hannah to Amanda, then the others took up their positions while he moved to the front of the stage.
His mother and father were in the front row with Oliver and Thea. Children swung their legs in boredom, and behind them he saw the Deville brothers. The Levermarches, the Ryders. Luke and Bella Foster, and the Hetherington twins and their wives were all here. They all brought their children, so the noise was deafening, as they were struggling to stay in their seats, and a few had escaped and were running about the place shrieking.
“Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the first annual performance of the ah… Merry Musicians,” he added, improvising.
“Original name,” Alex called out.
“Today we are celebrating the birthday of my brother Oliver. He is a man I am immensely proud to call family, and one who has shown me in many ways that it is not birthright that dictates if a man is a gentleman, but honor. Happy birthday, brother.”
Oliver was smiling now, and Daniel couldn’t be sure, but thought his eyes looked a bit glassy.
“Now please sit back and relax and keep your deafening applause until we have finished.”
Abby gave him a reassuring smile, and he returned it. Then they began to play.
Surprisingly, apart from a few mishaps—Hannah tore her hem as she attempted to climb off the stage—and a few wrong notes, Daniel thought they had promise.
The applause was deafening, and his father’s smile wide as he stood to clap. All in all, a success.
“I do believe you said annual performance,” Abby said, moving to his side as they went in to supper.
“I think so. As the children in our families grow, there will be more to join our Merry Musicians.”
“What of our children? Will they play too?”
He stopped, letting the others go ahead, and looked at his wife.
“If they wish to, then of course they may play an instrument.”
“Then I think it best we set about making one, as it will be at least five years before it can participate.”
She leaned into him, and the kiss that followed was sweet.
“I think you may be right.”
They walked together to greet their friends and family, and Daniel had to say, he could not remember a time when he’d felt happier.
* * *
I hope you enjoyed The Lady’s Forbidden Love, book #7 in the Langley Sisters series.
Have you read the first book in my Sinclair and Raven series, SENSING DANGER? I introduced you to a few of the Sinclair family in this book.
Book #1 is SENSING DANGER. For an excerpt read on:
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“I enjoyed SENSING DANGER so much I kept reading rather than sleeping!”
-Amazon reviewer
Legend says the Sinclairs heightened senses are a result of a long ago pact between them and the powerful Raven family. To Honor and Protect is their creed, but the current Duke of Raven doesn’t make their task easy.
Arrogant and aloof, James, Duke of Raven, is determined to forge his own path and to hell with folk tales that his ancestors created. But when the breathtaking Eden Sinclair saves his life by risking her own, their past resurfaces, and with it comes the uncomfortable realization that they are linked by more than history.
Eden is forced to see the man behind the cool, haughty façade when she must use her special abilities to keep him safe. His suspicion of her soon turns into something else, something far more dangerous. Eden is torn between duty and self-protection. Does she have the strength to fight fate, in order to protect her own heart?
ONE CLICK FOR SENSING DANGER!
“OMG, this is fantastic. It gripped me right from the start. Wow, I couldn't believe the opening chapter, it was so bloody thrilling.”
-Goodreads reviewer
Turn the page for an excerpt of Sensing Danger!
Sensing Danger
available now
“You're best to just spit it out, James. It can't be healthy to have all that angst roiling around inside a person.” Cam's voice carried to him.
Devon coughed and Eden muffled a giggle. James, however, growled softly and then ground his teeth. Neither action eased his spleen, so he spoke his mind.
“How dare you put your sisters and mine in danger!” James waited for the siblings to reach him. Each had left their position at his first word and now flanked him.
“They were never in any danger, Raven. In fact, my siblings and I did what we had to, to preempt just that,” Devon added.
“You allowed your sister to ride into danger, Sinclair—a woman!”
“And therefore, unable to protect herself, James?”
James turned at Eden's words; her face appeared calm, yet her eyes were not. The laughter had gone to be replaced by an anger that suddenly seemed a match for his.
“I did not say that, Eden—”
“Come, James, we are all interested
