For a good long while, Amy just looked at him.Then to their two older children and back to him.
“Very well,” she said at last.“But only for Christmas.”
Which gave him a few days’ reprieve to figure out how to fix this.“Thank you,” he said and kissed her on the forehead.
Her soft smile tamed his vexation a bit.It wasn’t the first time they’d disagreed in all their years together, and he was certain it wouldn’t be the last.But somehow, some way, for both their sakes and for Aidan, he would find a way to make this right.
Seven
Kendra
Lakefield House
THANKS TOtheir much-delayed breakfast, Kendra’s family was the last to arrive at Lakefield House.
While her children spilled out of the carriage and ran inside, she lingered a moment to look around.A smile spread on her face as she took in the garlands of ivy draping the stone walls.A large red bow hung over the main door and each window, the swagged ends wound with holly and laurel.
“Violet did a wonderful job,” she said as Trick stepped out beside her.“I love Christmas.”
“I loveyou,” he whispered in her ear, “and I cannot wait to find out which bedroom we’re assigned.”
She laughed as they followed the girls and the twins inside.
Indoors, the honey-toned paneled entry hall was also asplash with red and green.At its end, where it opened up to the drawing room, Kendra paused to enjoy the splendor.
Once called the great hall, the soft-turquoise-hued chamber was vast enough to hold a harpsichord and several groupings of comfortable furniture.Winter foliage twined with red ribbon lined the mantel of the massive fireplace.Beeswax candles sat on the windowsills, waiting to be lit when darkness fell.Cloth of gold was swagged lavishly up the staircase, held in place at intervals with big red bows.
Her brothers were all gathered there with their wives.“The duchess arrives at last,” Colin called out drolly.“What took you so long?”
Thinking about what took her so long, Kendra felt herself turning red.Trick laughed and seized the opportunity to kiss her, reaching overhead to pull a berry off the kissing bush that hung over the room’s entrance.Made of two wooden hoops arranged to make a sphere, it was decked with evergreen, ribbons, and rosy little apples, all surrounding a spring of mistletoe that dangled in its center.
“How long have you been married, dear twin?”her brother Ford teased.“So long that your husband needs mistletoe as an excuse to kiss you?”
“Twenty years,” she shot back.“And we don’t need mistletoe—”
Her words were cut off when she sneezed.
And sneezed again.
“What on earth is going on here?”she asked, pulling a handkerchief from her sleeve and holding it to her nose.Pressing hard on her upper lip, she barely managed to stop a third sneeze.“You don’t have acatin here, do you?”She looked to Violet.“Tell me you haven’t welcomed a cat into your family.”Despite her best efforts, another sneeze exploded out of her.“Please.”
“What’s wrong with cats?”Violet wondered.
“Have I never told you that cats make my sister sneeze?”Ford asked.
“No!”Behind her spectacles, Violet’s brown eyes looked horrified.“Why didn’t you?”
“They used to affect me just a little bit.”Kendra’s eyes were beginning to itch.“But lately—”
“How could we let this happen?”Violet exclaimed over Kendra’s fourth sneeze.“I’m so sorry!I fear Rebecca has begun collecting stray cats.Her Aunt Lily heartily approves, but—”
“Rebecca!”Ford interrupted, rising from the couch where he sat beside Violet.He shouted their daughter’s name again up the stairs, then climbed the wooden treads two at a time to fetch her.
“Dear heavens,” Kendra said and sneezed yet again.
“I’m sorry!”Violet repeated.
Kendra sneezed three more times before Ford returned with eleven-year-old Rebecca in tow.With her dark hair and bright blue eyes, she was most definitely her father’s daughter.But the two of them were in clear disagreement.
