Another fortnight passed in what Peggy could only describe as pure bliss and carnal torture. Adam made the decision to move in with her at the shop for a trial period, which meant there were no more private evenings with Lord Belton. Peggy was disappointed, but Adam was her first concern.
She had worried that the boy would be uncomfortable with the shared space, but the addition of a second bed and a small chest of toys was all the boy needed to feel at home. Their evenings were spent talking and playing. At bedtime, he would ask her to read to him or to tell her stories of her travels with the gypsies.
He shared with her stories of his life at the gamekeeper’s house and the kindness that he had been shown by the entire family. She learned that he had broken his arm three summers past, and Mr. Finch and Nash had driven him to the next town over to see a physician who had set the bone with care. He spoke of fishing trips and the hunt for the infamous white stag. To his amazement, Peggy informed him that she had seen the beast and confirmed that it did in fact exist.
“What does it mean?” Adam asked.
Peggy recalled her time with the gypsies. “Mrs. Banning would say the stag loses his antlers but grows them anew each year, showing that loss is nothing but a gateway to bigger and better things—more important things. No matter how broken you feel, there is healing in nature. You have that power, the power to make your own choices. Nothing can stop you…” She broke off, wondering how many things she had learned about herself on the journey north. “And everything you experience, the good and the bad, makes you the person you are.”
It seemed an apropos time to explain more fully about the horrors that she had endured for four long years. The boy listened in silence, punctuated only by a few meaningful questions such as if she had missed him or if she had wondered how he had been. When she completed her tale, sharing much more than she had intended, he threw himself into her arms and promised that he would protect her always and she need never fear anyone harming her ever again. Peggy had kissed his hair and held him close, promising to protect him in return and assuring him that she would do whatever it took to keep them together.
What surprised Peggy most was the town’s acceptance of the transition. As soon as it became known that she was Adam’s birth mother, she had expected whispers and long stares. Instead, it was as if she were welcomed even more as a true part of the community, for everyone knew and loved the boy and had grown to love and respect her as well. Other mothers in the village stopped her to talk and muse about their children, an aspect that she had missed out on when they had thought her merely a single woman. This journey had brought her so much more than her son. She had friends and a place in the community—and Lord Belton.
He began to visit again, but his visits were chaste and somewhat unsatisfying. They were learning to know one another as friends, and there was no repeat of their passionate kisses, but Peggy could hardly look at her own counter without blushing.
Adam boasted about the success of the store, calling it theirs and showing distinct pride in his mother’s success. He sat with Peggy and Nash as they went over the books, and he showed a remarkable acuity for the arithmetic involved. Nash and Peggy snatched a stolen kiss here and there, but there was no repeat of their passionate evening. Lord Belton was ever the gentleman.
Mr. and Mrs. Finch came to visit regularly and invited Peggy and her son to dinner no less than twice a week. The couple were pleased to see Adam thrive in his mother’s care and were even more pleased that they had not been excluded from his life while the pair remained in Riversbend. Talks of leaving had become fewer and farther between, but Peggy knew that the Finches would always be a part of their life no matter what she decided. She could see now that they were not only good for Adam, but they were good for her as well. They were far too good to allow their relationship to fall to competition for the boy’s affection. They merely wanted the chance to watch him grow, and Peggy found she wanted that too. She had no family nearby, but Mrs. Finch, like a doting auntie, had an unending stream of motherly advice that Peggy soon learned. The elder woman also knew well enough to prevent Adam’s antics before he had a chance to pull one of his many pranks on his unsuspecting mother. But Peggy’s favorite morsel of guidance came from Mr. Finch and had to do with throwing up one’s hands and merely hoping for the best.
Peggy laughed when the elderly woman had declared that her husband had the right of it with his hands off approach, especially with the boys. Later that same day, Martha revealed that she was getting married to the man of her dreams as soon as the love potion that she had baked into a muffin took effect.
Mrs. Finch groaned and shook her head. “Where on earth did you get a love potion child?” she asked.
“The gypsy woman of course!” the young girl declared. “She said it works every time and she had loads of sons to prove it. It’s been weeks, but I think it just takes time for the love to grow. He’s really coming ‘round I think.”
Peggy and Mrs. Finch had shared a long glance filled with humor at the girl’s foolhardy beliefs, but as Mr. Finch said, sometimes children had to learn in their own way. Nonetheless, Mrs. Finch had to comment.
“Well, if you wasted your coin then that’s your own doing,” the woman declared with a shrug. “You’ll not be getting your purse back when it fails. Who are you marrying anyway?”
“It’s a secret!” Martha had giggled. “And a fine match, Mama. I promise you’ll be proud of me.”
“Mrs. Banning gave me a love potion too!” Peggy laughed and played along for the girl’s benefit.
“Didn’t it work?” Martha asked, eyes wide. “You don’t have a man.” She blushed most profusely at the words, realizing that Peggy had a child but no husband. Little did the girl—or anyone for that matter—know, but Peggy did in fact seem to have a man, with or without a potion. But that was not the point.
“I dumped it out in a bucket of water on my stoop and you shall never guess what happened…” Peggy teased.
“What!” Martha cried on the edge of her seat. “What happened?”
“The tomcat that hangs out behind the shop… Well, I learned he wasn’t a tomcat at all! She had six kittens last week!” Peggy giggled at the ridiculous story while Mrs. Finch swatted her with a towel.
“That cat has a litter twice a year, mind you,” Mrs. Finch declared. “It was no potion that did the deed.”
“Well, if your man has a litter, then we’ll know for sure,” Peggy had said with a concerned shrug.
“Oh no…” Martha snorted and ran off, annoyed with their teasing.
Peggy felt like she had truly found her footing in the town. Not only were things with Adam going swimmingly, but her stolen moments with Nash were just as wonderful.
What passed between them was the best kept secret in Riversbend, and that was saying something because Miss Nora had yet to catch on. She complained about it constantly and bemoaned the pair not giving their love a chance.
“I really do think you’d make a fine pair,” she said one day at tea after having sworn that she was done with the topic for the hundredth time. Little did she know that Nash had kissed Peggy quite thoroughly only that afternoon when the shop had been empty. “I told him he’s a blind fool for not making more of an effort with you.”
Oh, Peggy had wanted to say, he was making plenty of effort. The number of times and places they had stolen kisses was adding up, and the excitement of finding yet another secret spot heightened their secret passion.
Twice Peggy had awakened to find a bouquet on her back doorstep. The silvered pocket mirror that she kept at her bedside had come from him too, which was a rather expensive gift, but he had not allowed her to return it. Furthermore, every chance Lord Belton found, when no one was looking, he allowed himself to brush his fingers across her hand or tuck a wayward lock behind her ear. She never went more than a day without being kissed so thoroughly her toes curled, and her nights were filled with fevered dreams.
With Adam living at the shop, there were no more wanton repeats of the night that Lord Belton had come to profess himself. He maintained all proprieties in front of any watchful eyes, particularly those of the boy, but that didn’t mean that Peggy’s life was without romance.
Still, whenever he was nearby, Peggy could not help but be struck by how well the males were together. Adam admired the Baron as only a young boy could, and Nash doted upon him. At first, she had been afraid that his attentions had only begun with her and that it would catch the interest of the townsfolk or at the very least Mrs. Finch. But she soon learned that Nash had always interacted well with his tenants and all of their families. He was loved and respected, and she in turn was loved and respected.
Adam and Jemmy told stories of fishing trips in the summer with a dozen smart boys and all the men of the estate, including Lord Belton and his own father, the Viscount. They laughed and shared tales of the fabled stag hunt that ended in nothing more than disappointment and years of teasing the gamekeeper for having imagined the beast.
When Jemmy returned to the shop one afternoon holding back tears and attempting a brave show of confidence, it was Nash who had coaxed him to reveal that Marie Harper preferred David Rothels instead. The Baron had thrown an arm about the young man’s shoulder and taken him for a stroll. Whatever they had talked about, Peggy could not say, but Jemmy had returned to the shop with a smile and declared that Marie Harper could have David Rothels and he wished them well.
“In a few years, when I have my own cottage, I’ll have the pick of the crop,” Jemmy had declared with a puffed chest as he returned to restocking the shelves.
“Nicely done,” Peggy had whispered to the Baron when he had returned to her side, brushing against her as he passed and sending a shiver up her spine.
“If only I were as good with the ladies as my advice suggests,” Nash had chuckled, sneaking a kiss. Thank goodness the naïve child had taken no notice of the adults’ strange behavior.
Peggy took in a deep breath and held it, turning and catching Nash’s eye as she did so. How fortunate they were that the boy did not equate the Baron’s obsession with helping out at the shop as one and the same to spending time with his mother. The fact that the rest of the town was not seething with gossip just proved that the Baron was always one to help when the need arose. He was not one to generally pass off such tasks to a footman, so it was not unusual that he took an interest in his investment. No, he seemed to like to be in the thick of things.