“Wish somebody would do that for me,” she said with a grin.
Mae beamed and patted Chuffy on the arm like a cherished child. “I am watching over him now. He and I broke the code.”
“One of the codes,” Chuffy clarified.
Pip chuckled. “Of course, you did.”
Which was when it finally sank in that Mairead, notorious for her glorious head of waist-length gold-red hair was suddenly a cropped brunette. “Mae? Where is your hair?”
Pip actually saw tears well where she had never seen them before, even when their school had separated her from her beloved twin. Even more astonishing, Chuffy immediately whipped out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes for her.
Pip offered her own wry smile. “Anotherlong story?”
Mairead’s smile was small. “We were back on the streets.”
Well, that was certainly a story she wanted to hear. But Mae didn’t look as if she could share yet. Besides, Pip had a mission.
“Where is Drake?” she asked. “Isn’t this his party?”
“We all rather descended on him, I’m afraid,” her mother said. “Which means we should be returning home soon, I think. And Mairead, I think your hair looks lovely, such as it is. Should we go look for Alex?”
Papa patted her hand. “I think not, my dear. He’ll catch up with us.”
Pip shook her head. “I can’t wait to see them.”
“Sarah’s here, too,” Mae said of another of their classmates. “She is engaged toourbrother Ian.”
Pip shook her head. “I go to one house party and miss everything.”
“But you’re the only one who got married,” Mae accused. “You shouldn’t have. Could have gotten married with all of us.”
“I can always do it again. It would certainly be more fun than the last time.”
“Part of the long story?” her mother asked in dust dry tones.
Pip just shrugged. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about it at home.”
“You will not,” she heard from the doorway. “You are going back to Delamere.”
Pip’s stomach plummeted.
“I think we found your husband,” Pip’s mother murmured.
“Lord Drummond,” Wilkins intoned in a very patient voice before backing out of the way. Pip would bet Macha he didn’t go far.
“Doesn’t look very happy for a newlywed,” Mae piped up. “You’d think he would.”
Chuffy patted her hand. “I imagine that is a long story as well.”
“There are a lot of stories I’m not hearing,” she pouted.
“I believe we need to talk, wife,” Beau said in one of his forbidding voices.
Pip straightened. “I believe we are, husband. And the first thing I suggest you do is greet your new family.”
It took all Pip’s nerve to face him standing in the doorway in his best government mien. He might be wearing his official camouflage, but just one look at him and Pip could see him naked again. She could feel the astonishing sensation of him filling her, of him gasping her name as he spent himself, the indescribable joy that suffused her lying beside him.
Her thoughts must have been obvious, because for just a moment his eyes darkened, and he took in a breath. It didn’t last long. Pip knew it wouldn’t. But at least for that moment he had been hers again.
