Redeemed by Her Midsummer Kiss by Liz Fielding

Author:Liz Fielding
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-11-09T20:20:45+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

‘Yet soon fair Spring shall give another scene. And yellow cowslips gild the level green.’

—Anne E Bleecher

THE MINUTE THE words were out of his mouth, Lucien knew he’d made a mistake. Honey had been back on the defensive, blanking out a future that seemed to offer her nothing, and he’d fallen into the trap.

Having experienced an up close and personal experience of her blowing her top, he prepared to duck. For long seconds they both held their breath and then she swallowed hard and began taking the slow, measured breaths that he recognised from his own sessions with a therapist.

‘Professor Flora Rose,’ she said, when she was sufficiently in control to speak, ‘was a botanist who travelled the world until she found herself saddled with a six-year-old orphan at an age when most women would be retiring. Not that she ever retired.’

‘Professor...?’

He’d thought he was in trouble. This was trouble tripled...

‘Alma didn’t mention that when you were having your little tête-à-tête about the crazy woman next door?’ she asked with that edge of sarcasm that made any conversation with Honey such a dangerously enticing game.

‘I asked her for your name so that I could send a note, apologising for the way I spoke to you. Nothing else.’

‘Oh, dear...’ She shook her head but, as quickly as it had come, the tension seeped from her body, her voice. ‘Poor Lucien. You asked a simple question and got a history lesson.’

‘Pretty much.’ At the time he’d wanted to escape. Now he wished he’d taken more notice. ‘She told me that your aunt was responsible for all the wildflowers and butterflies in the village.’

‘Her re-wilding project didn’t meet with universal approval, but it’s become something of a model for other places, and now it brings visitors to study, as well as enjoy, what has been done here. And that, of course, has proved beneficial for the local economy.’

‘Like Diana Markham’s antique shop?’

‘Like the antique shop, the book shop and the boutique that sells locally made crafts and New Agey stuff,’ she confirmed. ‘And the Hartford Arms does a roaring trade in lunches.’

‘Creating jobs,’ he said. ‘Keeping young people in the village.’

‘All that,’ she agreed.

‘She sounds like quite a woman.’

She gave a little sigh and he wanted to hold her, as he had when they’d walked into the orchard, but he sensed that this was the wrong moment to do anything but listen.

‘Your arrival was clearly a life-changing moment for her,’ he prompted. ‘How did she cope with a grieving six-year-old?’

‘With kindness and the peaceful aura that touched everything she did. But, while my arrival might have kept her at home, it didn’t slow her down. She continued to write books and articles, lectured to students who adored her and was honoured for her work. The present Prince of Wales was an admirer, and she ended her days as Emeritus Professor in Biodiversity at Melchester University.’

‘I had no idea. The wilding, the stillroom, the herbs...’ He stopped making excuses and was rewarded with a smile.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.