Elle and Jessica walked through the center of the meadow toward the copse where, for many generations, my family had cultivated different species of trees and harvested them for firewood.
Elle waved to me. She didn’t notice Lissie and Chelsea on their hands and knees near the small shelter house at the far edge of the woodland.
I waved back and pointed to where the girls were playing before moving back to the task at hand. Thomas and Ben were helping me fell a giant old beech who had done her time.
John and Joe Turner were hoisted up into one of the hornbeams, cutting back overgrowth that we would season for kindling.
A few minutes later, the beech was down, and I heard my wife’s husky laugh resonate through the brisk air. It was the joyful one that burst from her gut when she was overwhelmed with bright emotion. I tossed my headgear and gloves to the ground and sprinted along the tree line to get to her. No way in hell anything could have stopped me.
When I reached her, she was tumbling through the foliage with the girls and the four orphaned yellow Lab puppies that John and I had picked up earlier that morning from the shelter. My brothers and I had been given a similar litter of pups when we were young, and it was one of the best childhood memories I could recall. I’d wanted to give the same to Lissie.
Elle popped up from the ground into my arms and hooked her legs on my waist. I spun us round a few times. Sunlight broke through a split of trees and turned her green eyes a mesmerizing shade of aquamarine.
“God, what an incredibly sweet thing to do, Will,” she said before smashing her lips against mine. “Did you rescue them?”
“We have the space and the means, so it’s not a big deal. It’ll be quite a lot of fun for the girls.”
“You’re wrong. It is a big deal,” she said, then rewarded me with a more intimate kiss.
The magazine photographer appeared from nowhere to capture our moment.
Elle slid to her feet. As we watched Lissie and Chelsea feed the puppies with bottled milk, she whispered in my direction, “I’m so in love with you.”
My heart was struck with a calm that I’d only ever experienced once before—on the day she married me. I didn’t know what the fuck to do with it now any more than I had then, so I squeezed her hand and kissed the top of her head, whispering, “No words, Elle.”
Mrs. Bates called out from the shelter house, where she and my mother were organizing a late breakfast. “Come along now! Hot coffee and pastries, everyone.”
“But I don’t wanna leave the puppies alone,” Lissie said.
“No?” I smiled and picked up the basket we’d brought them home in, holding it low so she could reach inside. “Put them in, and we’ll take them with us.”
Lissie placed each puppy into the basket, reciting the names of her pint-sized treasures. “This one is for Chelsea. He’s small like me, but he’ll be so strong like you when he grows up.” She smiled while wrapping him in the blanket. “We named him Wyatt. Jess says it means he’s a little warrior.”
“That’s a great name, princess. Listen, I’m proud of you for sharing these pups with Chelsea.”
“Thanks,” she said, beaming up at me. “She’s like my little sister really. Oh! Guess what! Grannie said I can have hot cocoa milk and marshmallows for breakfast today.”
Christ. She looked like Ethan had when he lit up with excitement over a lucrative contract. Her eyes.
“Well then, we’d better get over there before John gets after it. I’ll bet Grannie has your eggs and cheese as well.”
I watched Lissie skip away to the shelter house and considered the consistent emotional growth she had been showing. She had been through hell, but my mother was right; Lissie was healing. She headed straight for John and challenged him with an aggressive bump of her hip.
Definitely a Hastings.
Elle came from behind and hooked her arm in mine as we walked. “Ben just ran up to the house in the Rover. He said your visitor has arrived. Who are you expecting?”
“Randall Martin. He’s an old friend of the family. My father worked with him for many years. He’s the director general for the Security Service.”
“Security Service? Do you mean MI5?”
“Yeah, homeland security.”
“So, this old friend of the family, who didn’t show up for Ethan’s funeral or our wedding, just stops by to say hello? Tell me, Will, why is he here now?”
“To recruit me.”
She tugged on my arm for me to stop. “What? No. You can’t.”
I set the basket on the ground and took her face between my hands. “I won’t do it, Elle, I promise. But I can’t burn the bridge either. He’s an important resource that I need to retain.”
“Is someone coming after us again?” She clung to my wrists, anxiety passing through her hands onto my skin like a cluster of electrical pinpricks.
I kissed the tip of her cold nose. “No worrying, Elle. I’m not aware of any particular threats at this time. I’ll spend some time alone with Martin this afternoon to feel it out, and after that, I’ll share with you any relevant information. You and me.... We’ve got this, remember?”
She met my eyes and measured my words.
I needed her to agree, needed her to continue trusting me. “All right?”
“All right,” she repeated, the full force of her stare burning into me. “You know that I trust you, Will.”
Her unshakable belief in me defied explanation, but I would be a fool to dismiss the sharp warning in her eyes.
My word was something she counted on to see her through the aftermath of the losses she had endured. I needed to tell her about my suspicions after meeting with Martin or risk losing her confidence.
“I want you to truly hear me when I say this, Elle. It was irresponsible and dangerous for me to keep the truth from you last year. Lesson learned. I won’t make the same mistake again. We’re in this together.”
Leading assassins away from her, I had chased them from England back to Connecticut. I left her without saying good-bye, without explaining. I’d thought it was the best approach to keep her safe, but I underestimated her. She followed me, and we almost lost our lives. I had taken a bullet meant for her.
My beautiful, strong-willed wife smiled. “You’re stuck with me.”
“Nothing could ever make me happier, baby.”