Only a Viscount Will Do by Tamara Gill
Epilogue
Callum looked up from his desk as his library door swung open and the two women he loved beyond distraction waltzed into the room, holding hands, with smiles that were wont to melt anyone’s heart.
They had been married a month and Callum had to admit, it had been the best month of his life. To find another woman to love and trust him, be his best friend and confidant, was more than he ever could’ve hoped for. And that Alice knew his faults and loved him still, made his affection for her tenfold.
He adored her.
“Come, Amelia and I have a surprise for you.”
He stood, coming about the desk and picking up Amelia, swinging her about as she liked. “What is it?”
Amelia giggled, wagging her finger before his nose. “We cannot tell you, Papa. You have to see it for yourself.”
“Hmm,” he said, taking Alice’s hand and letting her lead him toward the front of the house.
“Now, close your eyes,” she said, taking his daughter. The front door opened and the cooling breeze of outside passed across his skin. Taking his arm, she guided him toward the entrance and stopped him at what he assumed to be the threshold.
“Now you can look.”
The first thing he spotted was Amelia running down the front steps, before movement brought his attention up to see Bandit, his prized stallion, who stared at him with something akin to boredom. Behind Bandit were all the horses he’d sold at Tattersalls.
Callum wasn’t a man who succumbed to emotions, but even his eyes smarted at the sight. “You purchased them all. How? When?” He stepped outside and strode toward Bandit, checking him over as Alice followed close on his heels.
“It was easy. I had my brother’s friend, Lord Thetford purchase them for me. I threatened to shoot him should he not buy the horses at Tattersalls. He agreed, of course.”
Callum laughed, pulling her into an embrace. “Tell me you did no such thing.”
Alice smiled up at him and his heart burst with affection for the woman in his arms. How he loved her. “Of course not.” She smiled. “I merely sweetened the deal by telling him I would put in a good word for a lady he’s interested in, and he agreed.”
He laughed again. “I cannot believe you’ve done either of those things.”
She wrapped her arms about his waist smiling. “I did all those things, because your happiness is mine. We have known Lord Thetford many years, and he’s a good man. And now,” she said, looking back at Bandit, which Callum did also. “Your horses are home again.”
Callum nodded. Home. Two years ago he never would have thought Kester House would be ever termed so, but now, now it was their home—a place to raise Amelia and, God willing, more children when the time came. A place to make memories and to live their life to the fullest.
His daughter ran up to him, giggling, and he swung her up into his arms, pulling both his favorite ladies into his embrace. “Thank you for my present. It is the best of gifts,” he said.
Amelia kissed his cheek. “Happy marriage day, Papa.”
He met Alice’s gaze, hoping she read all that she’d come to mean to him in his eyes and always would. “Indeed it is, poppet. Indeed it is.”
