Riches to Rags Bride (15 page)

“I couldn't seem to stop myself.”

She tilted her head and gave him a sly look. “Mr. I-need-to-be-in-control.”

He chuckled. “You seem to make me lose all that hard-earned control.”

“Good.” She placed her palms on his chest, reveling in the freedom to touch him at will. “And I don't need a ring. I've got everything I want in you.”

He grinned. “You are amazing and special and more than I will ever deserve and I fully intend to get you a diamond that will weigh your hand down. You can put it in a box if you don't want it, but I need to give it to you. Still, for today…even though I don't have the ring, I do have something I think you'll like.”

He pulled a small box out of his pocket. It was larger than a ring box and deeper. He flipped it open. Inside lay a very small, very delicate castle with a silver sheen to it. He held it out to Genevieve.

Genevieve recognized it immediately. “Lucas. Oh…where did you find this?” She took the castle, slipped her finger in a hole in the bottom and popped out a pretty silver thimble. “I haven't seen this in forever. I thought it was lost.”

“I found it in a display of your parents' work in Austria. This was part of a group of glass thimbles they had made, but…one look at this and I was sure it was
your
work. Am I right?”

She nodded. “It was one of the few things I ever made. My father thought it was ridiculous.”

“That may have been what he said, but he liked it enough that he and your mother included it in one of their shows. This shows that they really did appreciate you.”

One tear that had threatened trickled down.

“Gen? I'm so sorry.” He wiped the tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. She shivered from his touch and moved closer.

“Don't be sorry. I'm not sad.”

“What are you, then, my love?”

“I'm strong, I'm independent, I'm a force to be reckoned with.”

He raised one dark eyebrow. “You forgot one thing.”

“I forgot two. I'm loved by the most wonderful man in the world and I'm in love with him. Now, can I ask you one thing, Lucas?”

“Ask away.”

“When are you going to kiss me again.”

He laughed. “Now. Very definitely now.”

I
T HAD BEEN THREE MONTHS
since he and Genevieve had married, they had been traveling the world, continuing their work and setting up the second Angie's House. But today they had arrived back in Chicago, where they'd bought a home, and Genevieve, his lovely, wonderful Genevieve was in her element, in her studio, creating some amazing pieces that would make a lucky art collector very happy.

“Lucas, I have something I need to show you,” she said. He turned with a smile on his face, fully expecting her to be holding some fragile bit of glass. Instead, she held out pieces of paper.

“They're drawings and letters from our ladies in Chicago,” she said. “And…”

Lucas frowned. Genevieve was not a woman to falter or look uncomfortable, but lifting her head, she gazed up at him with uncertainty in her pretty green eyes. “This one is special,” she said, held out a solitary sheet of plain white paper with a photo attached. The photo was of a pretty woman and a child of about eleven. There was no scar visible on the woman's face, because she was presenting her other side, but he knew it was there just the same. Beneath the photo was a brief note:

Lucas closed his eyes. He turned away, an emotional battle raging inside him.

“I know it was wrong to do this behind your back,” Genevieve said softly. “You'd think a woman like me who prides herself on doing everything herself, would never cross that line. But you named the house for her and hurting her had hurt you. I didn't want your past to hurt you anymore and…

“Louisa told me that you had located her before you'd ever met me. She was the first person you invited to Angie's House and she turned you down. Despite those dreams she'd had, she wanted and needed to break all ties to her past. I knew then, that I'd made a serious mistake. I'd breached your trust and I—”

Lucas whirled then. He pulled Genevieve into his arms, kissing her, raising her high on his body until his lips were against her throat. “I can't believe you did this for me, that you risked so much for me and…how did you get her to agree?”

He lowered Genevieve slowly until they were eye to eye, heart-to-heart. “I sent the best delegation I could think of, the women who have known the types of hardships Louisa has and who have grown to love you. I sent the women of Angie's House to Angie. They took her into their hearts—they persuaded Della to let them bring a child into their midst. In short, they loved Angie and
her daughter until she just couldn't say no. And I—I'm sorry that I interfered in your private life, Lucas. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Love makes a woman do incredibly risky things.”

“Thank goodness, my love. And…those women of yours…”

She shook her head, smiling at him. “No. Those women are yours, too. You changed their worlds, Lucas.”

“We did it together,” he said. “You and I.”

She smiled at him. “Lucas?”

He tilted his head and looked at her, waiting. “
We
did something else,” she said. “Something besides Angie's House.” Then she reached out, took his hand and placed it on her abdomen. “We created a miracle.”

Joy filled his soul. “I think I was given a miracle when you walked into my life.”

“And I'm never walking out,” she promised.

He kissed her lips. “I'll hold you to that promise.”

She smiled against his mouth. “I'm counting on that.” Then she kissed him again. The letter fell from her hand to the ground, but it didn't matter. He had his miracle and his love in his arms.