Read Perfect in My Sight Online
Authors: Tanya Anne Crosby
Perfect in My Sight (32 page)
He threw his head back and laughed out loud, his heart bursting with joy. He rose
from his chair at once and came around his desk.
“I don’t see what is so blessed funny!” Sarah exclaimed, quite in a huff at his reaction.
“You don’t?” he asked her, and pulled her into his arms.
“No, I bloody well don’t!” she exclaimed, and struggled against his embrace as he
tried to hold her.
“I do,” he replied, laughing still. “You’re an arrogant, demanding woman, and I love
you madly! Ask me again,” he demanded, “so there is no mistake.”
“Why are you laughing?” she asked quite indignantly, ignoring his request, but his
joy must have been infectious because he felt her laughter as he tightened his embrace,
wanting to draw her into his very soul.
He buried his face in the hair that spilled against her throat. “Ask me again,” he
demanded of her once more.
“I will not!” she swore, and he drew back to watch the flush rise into her cheeks.
God, but she was beautiful.
He kissed her on the bridge of her nose, a gentle
peck. “Just once more, Sarah ... I love you.”
He gave her a nudge and she threw her arms about him, hugging his neck, smiling up
at him. “Very well,” she relented, and dared to repeat, “Will you marry me, Peter
Holland?”
“Only if you’ll return the favor,” he answered with a wink, and drew her into a more
intimate embrace. She laughed and he kissed her lips and whispered, “I love you, Sarah
Woodard... I love you with every beat of my heart.”
“And I love you, Peter Holland,” she whispered back, “And I’m going to love you the
rest of my life!”
“Are you now?” he asked her, and deepened the kiss, teasing her with his tongue and
his lips.
“Shall I prove it?” she returned softly, and moaned against his mouth.
The sound of it hardened him instantly and heated his blood; she never ceased to arouse
him. “Certainly,” he replied. “Every day for the rest of our lives. Beginning now,”
he murmured, and sealed the proposal with a kiss.
Epilogue
A glance inside the parlor window at University Place and Twelfth Street revealed
a festive and familial air. An eleven-foot Christmas tree dominated one
corner
, its tip barely clearing the ceiling. The angel at its helm was bent forward, as
though peering down at the scene below.
Christopher Holland sat with his two sisters, Melissa and Laura, at the foot of the
newly decorated tree, Christopher with a Braille-embossed book in his lap. Laura lay
on her belly listening to her brother read to them from The Christmas Story while
she drew on paper. Three-year-old Melissa was much too engrossed with her brother
’
s tale to draw, though she had her own sheet laid out on the floor beside her.
“
And while they were there, the days of her confinement were complete,
”
he read aloud, though he
’
d long ago memorized the tale,
“
and she gave birth to her firstborn son.
”
He paused in his reading and waited, listening to his father and Sarah. The two of
them spoke in low tones, thinking probably that no one could hear them, but Christopher
could.
“
I think that was a hint,
”
his father said with a trace of laughter in his voice.
“
Too coincidental that he should stop there.
”
Sarah laughed, and whispered,
“
He wants a baby brother something terrible, Peter.
”
“
I know, and it
’
s going to be a boy this time,
”
his father whispered in return, determined that it was to be so.
“
You shouldn
’
t make promises we cannot keep,
”
Sarah chided him.
“
You said that very thing the last two times, and look!
”
“
I see a very happy boy who loves his two little sisters,
”
Peter countered.
“
He
’
ll love this child no matter what
...
just like his father will.
”
Christopher could feel his mother
’
s smile where he sat. His father had been wrong all those year
s ago. Sarah had not been black
... but yellow. She was that light Peter had spoken of. She had changed their lives
forever the day she had come into their lives. His father no longer sat alone with
his untouched glass of port in his office—a scent Christopher would always associate
with unhappiness.
It was their sixth Christmas together, and he had never been happier in all his life.
Merriment sang throughout the Holland house like joyful carolers.
“
She wrapped him in swaddling clothes,
”
Christopher continued,
“
and laid him in a manger...
”
“
What is swaddling clothes?
”
Laura asked her brother.
“
Baby blankets,
”
Christopher told her.
“
Whassa manger?
”
Melissa asked, scooting closer to him. She craned her neck to look into his face.
Though Christopher couldn
’
t see her, he sensed her scrutiny nonetheless.
But it wasn
’
t his face she was preoccupied with...
“
A manger is a trough where they put feed for animals to eat,
”
Christopher explained. Melissa snuck a cane from the tree beside his head, but Christopher
smelled it and seized it from her.
Melissa giggled.
“
Whassa trough?
”
she asked, unfazed.
Christopher hung the cane once more upon the tree.
“
You
’
ll spoil your supper,
”
he chided her.
“
A trough is like a dinner plate,
”
Peter interjected, grinning as he watched his children. He put his arms around his
wife and drew her against him, rubbing her belly.
She was carrying his child, yet another—three children in six years, but they couldn
’
t seem to help it. He wanted her just as much today as he had that first night. He
craved her more in fact, than ever, and if she weren
’
t so pregnant with his fourth child, he would carry her back to their room and make
love to her once again. As it was, he was afraid she might not make it through the
unwrapping of the gifts. She placed her hand over his on her belly, and he smiled
and sighed contentedly.
“
I love you, Sarah Holland,
”
he whispered, and kissed the back of her neck, relishing the feel of her in his arms.
He hugged her gently.
She tilted her head just a little, enjoying his kisses.
“
And I love you,
”
she said in return.
And both of them settled back upon the divan to watch their children together ...
Don’t Miss These
Other
E-
books by
Tanya Anne Crosby
THE MACKINNON’S BRIDE
LYON’S GIFT
ON BENDED KNEE
LION HEART
HAPPILY EVER AFTER
ONCE UPON A KISS
Tanya has written seventeen novels, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists
including the
New York Times
and
USA Today
. Best known for stories charged with emotion and humor, and filled with flawed characters,
her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews.
S
he lives with her husband, two dogs
and two moody cats in North Michigan.
For more information:
Join Tanya on
Facebook