Lord Devere's Ward (26 page)

Authors: Sue Swift

BOOK: Lord Devere's Ward

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Devere Manor, Surrey

Eight years later

Kate sat on the lawn, an open picnic basket nearby. A sumptuous repast, half-eaten, was spread out on the blanket bedside her.

The delights of potted ham and strawberry tarts had given way to the more interesting pastime of badminton as her son and daughter strove to best their father. Quinn, his cravat untied and face red with exertion, dashed after the shuttlecock hit by Margaret, their seven-year-old. He whacked it firmly with his racquet. Kate watched it sail into the branches of a large oak.

“I’ll get it!” she called. Standing, she brushed crumbs off her skirt.

“You will not.” Quinn strode over.

“Please, don’t tell me to keep my dignity here in the country.”

“Where we are has nothing to do with it. You are a good eight months pregnant.”

She covered his mouth. “Darling, the children,” she murmured. “And really, it’s more like seven months.”

“You are not climbing into that tree.”

“Mama! Papa!” Bennett shouted.

Turning, both parents gasped as their four-year-old swung from his knees upside down from one of the old oak’s limbs.

“Bennett! You will get out of that tree this instant!” Quinn shouted, leaping over to its trunk.

Bennett grinned and threw the shuttlecock down to his father. “Catch me, Papa!” He dropped, hitting Quinn in the chest and knocking his father to the ground.

Quinn untangled his limbs from his son’s.

“Pestilential imp.” He glanced at his wife. “But I must say that he comes by his climbing skills honestly.” She smiled. “To be sure, they may come in useful in the future. Who knows when he may have to climb out of a tower prison?”

Quinn frowned as Bennett squirmed put of his grasp. The children ran off to continue their game.

“My sweet Kate. I had hoped that after all these years, you had forgotten that terrible episode in your life. You have not had nightmares for a quite a long time.”

“No, no more bad dreams, but I haven’t forgotten. How could I?” Kate scooted over to nestle her head into the hollow of his shoulder. “And why?

After all, it brought me to you.”

~ End ~

~ About the Author ~

Best-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift has written over fifteen novels, plus several short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica, which she publishes using a pseudonym.

Her books have been favorably reviewed in Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and reached the top ten on a bestseller list.

A former trial attorney, her hobbies are yoga and world travel. She resides in northern California, where she’s writing her next manuscript, working as a freelance editor and planning her tenth and eleventh overseas journeys.

Her travel blogs are Susan Overseas

(http://www.susanoverseas.weebly.com) a
nd Travel as Metaphor
(http://www.thetravelho.blogspot.com).

Find out more about Sue Swift here:

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http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/150274.Sue_

Swift