Page 63 of Provoked

“All right.”

She shifted up, making room for him, then carefully lifted the sleeping baby and placed him in David’s arms.

He was a warm wee weight, the shape of his little body just made to sit in the crook of an arm. His extravagant lashes kissed cheeks that looked like apricots in the fire’s glow. Like a little prince, he lay, confident of his welcome, helplessly trusting and full of potential.

Would this child be a farmer, like his father and grandfather before him, or would he want to seek out another path, as his uncle had done? Perhaps one day, he would need David’s help. It was a thought that warmed David unexpectedly.

David might never have a wife and children of his own, but he had a family, and more besides. Good health, friends, work that brought him great satisfaction.

And besides all that, he’d tasted, if only once in his life, real, honest passion.

With Murdo Balfour.

How could he regret that? How could he regret the best, and sweetest moment of all his life?

He swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat and looked up to find his mother smiling at him. His father and Drew bent over their game. Letty dozing beside him, an exhausted new mother. The baby in his arms.

This house was full of love. And it was enough.

For now, it was enough.

The End