Page 43 of Love Thy Enemy (The Vaughns #4)

Leeds, Yorkshire Six Months Later

T he tightness gathered in Tessa’s chest first, cinching her ribs until she could hardly draw breath.

Her fingers twitched, restless with a need to move, to act, while her thoughts knotted themselves into loops she couldn’t untangle.

The air around her felt wrong, pressing in close and thick.

A shiver rolled up her spine, sharp and unwelcome, as if her body were preparing for the worst even as logic and reason tried to calm her nerves.

Her mind conjured a dozen possibilities—none of which provided a happy conclusion—and though she spoke in a clear manner, her words meandered, dancing near the subject at hand without touching it. She was babbling. She knew it. But knowing a thing and stopping a thing were very different.

A hand brushed against her back, and Tessa could finally breathe properly. Gregory stood beside her, hardly touching her, yet his strength leached into her, allowing her to finally speak the words she’d needed to say.

“Mr. Gregory and I are engaged to be married,” she concluded, her gaze darting over the children lounging on the parlor sofas and armchairs. Jackson glanced at the others, his brows pulled low, but the rest stared blankly back at the pair who stood before the fireplace, awaiting their reaction.

“I thought you were already engaged,” said Eva with a frown, and Wesley shrugged as though agreeing.

“No,” said Tessa, drawing out the word as though it were a question, though she knew the answer.

“But you live together,” insisted Eva.

“Good gracious!” Tessa gasped, her hands covering her mouth.

Gregory moved to the child, crouching before her. “Dearest, please say you are not telling people that we live under the same roof.”

Eva shook her head and ended with another confused shrug. Gregory chuckled, though it was more pained than amused, and he straightened and returned to Tessa’s side. His hand rested at her back once more, and that (as much as Eva’s answer) calmed her fraying nerves.

Drawing in a breath, Tessa forged ahead. “I understand it might be confusing, what with you splitting your time between this house and mine—”

“But you are always with him,” interrupted Eva, looking to her siblings for confirmation of the truth she believed. “ Always . Louisa’s parents aren’t together nearly as often as you and Mr. Gregory. And they are married.”

At that, the man at her side stifled a chuckle and added in a dry tone, “I am very fond of spending time with your mother.”

Wesley straightened, looking at the pair. “So you weren’t married or engaged, but now you are?”

“They are engaged, not married,” corrected Daphne.

“Oh,” he murmured.

And with that, the children returned their gazes to Tessa and Gregory, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Of all the reactions she’d imagined, confusion hadn’t been one of them.

“We are engaged,” said Tessa, and Gregory confirmed it with a nod. “We hope to marry as soon as we can secure a license.”

“Will we stay here at Beechcroft?” asked Faith with a furrowed brow, which was echoed by the others with varying degrees of concern.

“Mama’s home is nice, but I do not want to move away from Louisa,” said Eva. “She is the best friend I’ve ever had!”

“And the library is so close,” added Faith, a hint of horror in her tone at the thought of losing that paradise.

At that, the others lent their opinions, expressing far more concern about relocating to the far side of the city than they were about abandoning Thornsby itself. Granted, with as often as they visited the Vaughns and their country home, it wasn’t as though they had lost Eden Place.

Holding up a staying hand, Gregory waited until they quieted to explain. “As Beechcroft is better suited for the family, we will be settling here.”

Silence. A long, heavy moment in which the children simply watched the two of them with no hint of their feelings in their expressions.

Then, at once, the younger set erupted in cheers, hurrying over to embrace the pair, and though the elder were more circumspect in their reaction, they rose to their feet and drew near as well.

Tessa didn’t dare reach for Daphne, so she stood there, waiting to see what the young lady would do.

And before she knew it, her daughter was embracing her.

“I am happy for you,” she whispered into Tessa’s ear whilst holding fast.

Tessa couldn’t speak. She could hardly see through the tears gathering. So many little steps over the past months had led to this moment, and it felt as though all the tribulations she’d suffered melted away into this beautiful, glorious moment.

*

The two girls wrapped their arms around his and Tessa’s waists, holding fast as they unleashed all the joy their little hearts held, and though Wesley was more circumspect in his display, he drew near enough to allow Gregory to throw an arm around his shoulders.

He turned his gaze to his lovely bride-to-be, meeting her eyes with a waggle of his brows.

But for all his triumph at having been proven right, the feeling fled as he watched Daphne embrace her mother.

All of Tessa’s fretting had been for naught, just as his worries about relocating to Leeds had been, and he knew in his bones that this union would bless the children more than they would ever know.

Coming forward, Jackson shook Gregory’s hand, giving his guardian a manly slap on the shoulder as though he were greeting a colleague. Gregory hid a smile at the overdone show of maturity in the lad.

Then his gaze met Clark’s. The lad stood apart from the others, his hands in his pockets as he watched his guardian with a wary expression. Gregory stood there, meeting his gaze as he waited to see what the fellow would do.

Slowly, Clark crossed the distance, standing within reach as he watched Gregory.

Pulling his hand out of his pocket, the young man extended it, and Gregory snatched it up, pulling the lad into his arms. Of course, Clark allowed only a quick embrace that was more of a thumping pat on the back than a proper hold, but he accepted it before releasing the lad.

A tug on his frock coat had Gregory looking down at Eva, who stared up at him with a puzzled frown.

“Does this mean I can call you Papa now?” she asked.

The others stilled, glancing at their sister, and Gregory wasn’t certain what to say or do.

Marrying their mother would make him their stepfather, which in the eyes of society was as good as the flesh and blood variety.

Yet to usurp the title from his friend gave him pause as he considered his stance.

“Do you wish to?” Gregory asked.

Eva nodded, a smile stretching across her face, and he struggled to take breath into his lungs. Standing there, he looked at the others and saw them watching him with mixtures of hope and worry.

“Papa, Mr. Gregory, or anything you like,” he said, bending down for a proper embrace. “As long as we are together.”

“I love you, Papa,” she whispered.

Gregory’s arms tightened around her until he was afraid he might hurt the child, but he couldn’t release her. The eight of them stood there, together. A family. An unconventional one, perhaps, but one he was proud to call his own.

***

The shadows of the night stretched across the house as the little ones finally nestled into their beds. The house was silent. Naught but the distant ticking of the clock and a few rattling dishes from the kitchen disturbed the quiet.

Sitting on the sofa, Tessa stared at the portrait in her hand.

The face she knew so well. Though time had altered him some, Rodney hadn’t aged much during their time as husband and wife, but she certainly felt far older than the young lady who had joyfully received this miniature and carried it with her.

The sofa sagged as Gregory came to sit beside her, his arm slung over the back for a moment before snaking around her shoulders and pulling her close. Curling into his chest, Tessa gave him a chastising grin.

“This is the reason our children believe we are already married, you rogue.”

“The door is open, and the servants are about,” he said with a waggle of his brows. “We aren’t truly alone, after all. And I prefer it when you call me a ‘lummox.’”

Leveling a narrowed look at him, Tessa elbowed his side before settling into the crook of his arm, the portrait still clutched in her hand.

“What is that?” asked Gregory, and she turned it to show him.

“Rodney had it commissioned as a wedding present. As much as I wanted to destroy it many times over the years, I couldn’t quite bring myself to do so, and now, I thought one of the children might like it.”

“Faith,” said Gregory. “I think she would like it best. Or perhaps Wesley.”

Tessa nodded, but her attention was fixed on the face staring up at her from her hand. And once more, a question rose to her thoughts.

“What would Rodney say about this?”

“Heaven knows I have struggled with that question, my love, and it isn’t wise to fixate on it,” he said, his hold tightening around her as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

“I do not know if he is aware of what is happening, but even if he were angry, it wouldn’t change my decision. You needn’t feel guilty.”

Tessa rested her head on his shoulder. “I don’t. Not precisely. I suppose I find myself wondering because I hope he has found peace.”

Silence followed that, though she felt Gregory’s attention on her, and when she turned to meet his eyes, she found him watching her with warmth and admiration glowing in his gaze.

“You are incredible,” he whispered, leaning in to seal that statement with a kiss.

Though Tessa still couldn’t accept that assessment, she knew better than to argue with Gregory on the matter.

The forgiveness in her heart had more to do with her own happiness than Rodney’s, which meant it was far less self-sacrificing than Gregory liked to believe.

Letting go of that anger and pain had been necessary.

An effort of self-preservation. Nothing more.

When he released her lips, Gregory reached into his pocket and tugged out an envelope.

“I have a gift for you,” he said as Tessa set the portrait aside and took hold of the offering.

“What is it?”

“You must open it,” he insisted. “Consider it an early wedding present, as I couldn’t bear to wait another moment to give it to you.”

Leaning away just enough to free her arms, Tessa broke the seal and opened the page, unfolding it. “Your will?”

Brows furrowed, she glanced at Gregory, but he nodded for her to continue. As she’d read through her fair share of contracts, such legal wording was easy enough to decipher, though she couldn’t say why Gregory would wish her to do so.

Then her eyes fell to a line a few paragraphs below:

“‘I appoint my wife, Theresa Rush Stuart Vaughn, sole Guardian of our children…’”

Tessa straightened, her eyes scouring the paragraph again and again, studying the sentences that granted her full custody of the children and control over Rodney’s estate.

They were thorough (though she would expect nothing less of Gregory), tying the matter up so neatly that another couldn't usurp it.

When she turned to look at her husband-to-be, he gave her a sad smile.

“They are your children, and you ought to have legal guardianship over them, but even if I could convince the courts to recognize your claim, marrying would transfer it immediately to your new husband and revert the guardianship to me. So all I can do is ensure that you never have to be without your children again.”

“ Our children,” she corrected, though he didn’t seem to hear, babbling apologies as though the blame lay with him that the law denied a married lady custody.

“It is the best I can do—”

Setting the will beside the portrait, Tessa grabbed his lapels and tugged him close, silencing his lips the best way she knew how.

The thought of him gone sent a shudder through her soul that drew her heart to the surface, filling the whole of her as she reveled in the feel of him.

Winding her arms around his neck, she tried to show with every touch just how grateful she was for him.

This incredible man of hers.

Ten months ago, she had arrived in Thornsby, searching for the children she’d lost, and she’d found so much more.

A treasure she hadn’t known was awaiting her.

Gregory wasn’t the man she’d dreamt of as a young girl, but he was precisely the man she needed.

The cold, frozen winter that was her marriage to Rodney had melted away, that pain and sorrow blossoming into this beautiful spring.

Her love. Her children. Their family.

And Tessa was going to revel in every moment of it.

*

How could one explain love? Gregory had tried so many times to tell Tessa his feelings, but no amount of words could describe the joy she brought to his life and the great gaping hole that she and the children had filled.

It had been so large that Gregory hadn’t recognized it for what it was. It had simply been him.

It felt as though he’d been stumbling through the moors on a cold winter’s night, and Tessa was the warm hearth at the end of his journey. Gregory basked in the feel of her and wondered how he had almost allowed so many hurdles to turn him aside.

But now, with her in his arms and in his life, Gregory would never let her go.

This was his love. His life. And what a beautiful future they would build together.