All her doubts vanishing, Imogen nodded. ‘I will,’ she said. Then she tenderly wound her arms round her husband. ‘And I want you to know that everything’s going to be wonderful. Let the bad memories of the past go, Seth. You have nothing left to prove to anyone. This is going to be a new life for both of us...a fresh start at something important that’s been denied us up until now. Let’s leave all the sad old memories behind and live in the present. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hope for a bright future, too. You mentioned children? Well, that features in my hopes for the future, too.’
Seth’s beautiful sculpted mouth curved in the most melting smile she’d ever seen.
‘Then, there’s no time like the present to start creating them—is there, Mrs Broden?’ he suggested.
And taking her by the hand, he lovingly led her into the bedroom...
EPILOGUE
IMOGEN STEPPED EXTRA carefully down the grand old staircase that had been faithfully restored to display its gracious beauty in all its splendour.
One of the best things about moving into the manor was the opportunity it had given her to indulge in her secret longing to practise interior design. As avant-garde as she could be sometimes, she’d always loved homemaking. And as much as she had genuinely loved her job at the legal practice, designing and choosing interiors for her new home beat it hands down...no question.
Everywhere she rested her eyes, both inside the house and in its extensive gardens, incandescent beauty and love were reflected back at her. Between them, she and Seth had created the most wonderful home. Long gone were the sad old memories that had clung there before.
They had renovated the house up to the rafters. Where before the interior had epitomised the faded grandeur of a bygone age, it now displayed a pleasing mix of modernity along with the more traditional. Restful colour merged with the vibrant furniture and fittings they’d chosen, and every now and then some beautifully classic antiques made themselves evident.
As she neared the end of the staircase Imogen reflected smilingly that these days Evergreen was truly a joy to come home to.
‘Stop right there,’ instructed the familiar deep bass voice of her husband.
Seth came into the hall from the drawing room, where he’d been looking through the latest designs Imogen had created. She’d left her drawings strewn over one of the larger mahogany tables when he’d firmly told her to go and lie down.
‘I thought I told you to take a rest?’ He frowned.
‘I’m too excited. How am I supposed to rest when my mind’s teeming with ideas for new designs and the baby’s due any day now?’
Dropping his hands to his hips, in the slim-fitting jeans he wore with a polo shirt, her husband lifted his eyebrows. ‘And that’s precisely why you should be resting—because the baby’s due, not because you’re thinking about new designs.’
Shaking his head, Seth approached the staircase and Imogen stood stock-still. Yes, she was eager to get back to her designing, but she never got tired of any excuse to gaze lovingly at her handsome husband. Having his baby was the most wonderful, fulfilling thing that had ever happened to her...next to his declaration that he loved her, of course.
‘Are you cross with me?’ she teased.
‘As if...’
Resting his hands against her waist, he lifted a hand to smooth back a straying chestnut curl from her forehead. It gave her a delightful whiff of his sexy cologne and her hormones went crazy...
‘You’re far too important for me to stay angry with you for long,’ he breathed. ‘But seriously, you need to be sensible, sweetheart. You’re carrying something very precious to me in there.’
His hands were suddenly on her rounded belly, and the heat from them added to the heat from the baby in her womb and made her heart suddenly race.
‘You’re very precious to me, too, Seth.’ She smiled and dropped a soft kiss on his lips. ‘And I promise I’ll go and rest if you agree to come with me.’
‘Decisions, decisions...’ he mocked gently. ‘What’s a guy to do when the woman in his life makes a command and he wants to stay in her good books?’
Dimpling, Imogen answered, ‘That’s easy. Just do as she says and do it smartly—especially when she’s pregnant!’
‘There’s no arguing with that, my love.’
Seemingly with no effort at all, Seth scooped her up in his arms and purposefully carried her up the stairs. And as he went the warmest glow of satisfaction and pleasure filled his heart—because now, after all the years he had felt alone, he truly knew himself to be the luckiest man in the world. At last he had found the love he had always longed for...