His mouth pressed on hers, shutting off her teasing, invoking all the promises of loving they knew in each other. “You’ve burst like a flower, Tish,” he murmured softly. “So much love in you-I can’t get enough…”
“And I’ve decided he’s right,” she murmured back, hiding her face in his neck when his fingers reached beneath the soft pink fabric to play against her skin. His fingers stilled.
“I beg your pardon?”
“He’s right,” she repeated teasingly, her eyes wide open and innocent on his as she escaped from his lap before he could catch her again. “I have every intention of ‘taking you for all I can get,’ Kern. Although I certainly don’t have money in mind!”
“You come back here!”
She shook her head with a radiant smile. “I’ve got a houseful of people,” she said, scolding. “But Kern…when I went into town this morning…” She hesitated and then opened the door. “You know that little creek, about twenty-minute walk from the camp? I think we should do the next one there. And for the third baby, we could go back to the waterfall again…”
“Trisha!”
She closed the door, singing with mischief and laughter and love inside. The four women were waiting with raised heads, demanding to know what Kern had wanted, teasing her for the flush of pink on her cheeks as she settled down to work again. The quilt was within an hour of being done. The women would go then. She could wait, to really savor the news with Kern. The look on his face had told her all she needed to know, that first startled expression rapidly changing to elation. He wanted children. Her children. And she felt absolutely exhilarated.
Kern was suddenly a giant in the doorway again, silent this time, his eyes strictly on his wife. The four other women glanced up at him and then at each other.
“It’s not as though we can’t finish this another time,” Rhea said as she moved toward the door.
“Yes,” Trisha said helplessly.
In five minutes they were alone in the room. “You didn’t really expect to just drop fireworks like that-” Kern started vibrantly.
“No.” She shook her head, laughing as she crossed the room to him. “I meant to tell you after a terrific dinner with chilled champagne. But I couldn’t wait, Kern.” She wound her arms around his neck, looking up at him with love-filled eyes. “I love you so!”
“And I love you,” he murmured deeply, and dipped his head to kiss her. “How soon?” he whispered.
“March,” she whispered back.
“You need rest,” he scolded, as his lips gently claimed hers over and over.
“Rest?” she reminded him teasingly as she felt his fingers unsnapping the back of her dress. His hand faltered.
“Tish, if you actually need-”
She shook her head. “What I need, Kern, is you.” Fleetingly she thought how good and easy it was to say those words. And as Kern removed the last of their clothing, a look of happiness and love on his face, Trisha welcomed him with open arms, certain they shared the joy of knowing they were building a rich, new life-together.
About the Author
Jennifer sold her first book in 1980, and since then she has sold more than eighty books in the contemporary romance genre. Her first professional writing award came from RWA-a Silver Medallion in l984-followed by more than twenty nominations and awards, including being honored in RWA’s Hall of Fame and presented with the RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. Jennifer has been on numerous bestseller lists, has written for Harlequin Books, Avon, Berkley and Dell, and has sold over the world in more than twenty languages. She has written under a number of pseudonyms, most recognizably Jennifer Greene, but also Jeanne Grant and Jessica Massey.
She was born in Michigan, started writing in high school, and graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in English and psychology. The university honored her with their “Lantern Night Award,” a tradition developed to honor fifty outstanding women graduates each year. Exploring issues and concerns for women today is what first motivated her to write, and she has long been an enthusiastic and active supporter of women’s fiction, which she believes is an “unbeatable way to reach out and support other women.” Jennifer lives in the country around Benton Harbor, Michigan, with her husband, Lar.
