by Aston, Alexa
Lucy gripped the book tightly. “I saw her. She’s very beautiful.” She looked up from the book to Caroline. “You’re beautiful, too.”
“Thank you,” his wife said, her gaze tender as she looked at Lucy.
“Where is your home, Lucy?” Luke asked quietly.
The little girl’s face tightened. “I don’t have one anymore. The street is my home.”
He strained to keep the shock of her words from registering on his face. It was one thing to suspect it and another to hear his suspicions confirmed. “Do your parents live on the streets with you?” he asked carefully.
“No. Mama died after the baby was born. He died, too.” Her bottom lip quivered. She hugged the book tightly to her.
“And your papa?”
Lucy shrugged.
“You can tell us,” Caroline said, slipping her hand around the girl’s tiny one.
“Papa sold me. He didn’t want me anymore. I saw him in an alley later. He was dead.”
Luke’s gut tightened in anger, knowing what that meant. Anger surged within him, thinking of grown men taking a piece of this child’s innocence from her over and over.
“My new papa, Driskell, taught me to work the streets.” She glanced up at him. “Do you know what a pickpocket is?”
“I do,” he assured her, comprehending that this child had been utilized as a thief and not one used by vile men for other purposes.
She smiled at him sadly, placing the book on the table. “I know stealing’s wrong but my new papa said I had to help Jem do the work. So I would cry and act lost and people would stop to help me. That’s when Jem would pick the mark’s pocket.”
“How long have you and Jem worked for your new papa?” Caroline asked.
“I came last Christmas. Jem . . . Jem’s dead now. He got run over yesterday.” Tears began streaming down Lucy’s face. “I couldn’t do it anymore. With Jem gone, I didn’t want to go work upstairs. Jem said bad things happen to the girls upstairs. I think that’s where Driskell wanted to take me. I didn’t want to go there.”
Lucy began sobbing violently. Luke scooped her up and placed her on his lap, his arms enfolding her. He wanted to protect her from all she’d witnessed. Caroline stood and stroked the girl’s hair, murmuring soothing words. He slipped his hand around Lucy’s and she eventually cried herself out.
“Do you have anywhere left to go, Lucy? Any family at all?” he asked.
When she looked up at him, she shook her head. “No.” The whispered word hung in the air.
Caroline’s hand squeezed his shoulder encouragingly.
“Then you’ll come home with us,” he told the orphan.
An array of emotions crossed the young’s girl’s face. Fear. Excitement. Frustration.
And hope.
“I can help in the kitchen,” she said eagerly. “I’m strong. I can carry things. I learn fast. Driskell said so. Maybe I could learn to be a maid when I’m bigger. Or help—”
Luke cradled the girl’s face. “We don’t want you to come as our servant, Lucy.”
Her face fell. She wriggled away, sliding from his lap. Once again, a mask slipped over her features, making her appear far older than her years. She picked up the book and handed it back to him.
“I can’t take this.”
Lucy turned and began walking away on shaky legs.
“Wait,” Caroline called out.
Luke held his breath as the girl turned, eyeing them with suspicion.
“We don’t want you as a servant, Lucy,” Luke gently explained. “We want you as our daughter.”
Shock rippled through the child, visibly jarring her. She began quivering from head to toe. Caroline closed the gap between them, dropping to her knees and wrapping Lucy in her arms.
“I know it’s hard to trust, Lucy, but I’m asking you to trust us,” his wife said.
“But I saw you,” the girl said. “You have other children. You don’t need me. I’m . . . nobody.”
Her declaration angered Luke and yet touched him deeply at the same time. He joined the two, kneeling beside them.
“You are somebody to us, Lucy. We have enough love in our hearts for another child. We may even have more someday. Right now, though, we hope you’ll want to come home with us and be our little girl. Be a sister to the other children we already have and to those that may follow. What do you say, Lucy? Would you like to be a St. Clair?”
The young girl hesitated a moment and then whispered, “Yes.” She threw her arms around Caroline and then Luke, saying yes over and over.
Luke rose and then helped Caroline to her feet. Laughing, he picked up Lucy and twirled about with her in his arms. Joy filled the child’s face and she joined in his laughter. Her laugh sounded rusty, as if she hadn’t used it in a long time. He promised himself he would make Lucy laugh every day from this one until the last he spent with her. That he would make her believe in life and love.
“You’ll be a part of our family forever and ever,” he told her, reaching for the book and returning it to her. “Christmas isn’t the only time to be kind, just as Catherine’s book says. We must be kind to each other every day.”
Lucy hugged the book to her chest and grew thoughtful. “Do I call you Luke?”
“No,” he said firmly. “I am Papa and Caroline is Mama. And you are our darling Lucy.”
With that, he slipped an arm about his wife’s waist and they left Evie’s Bookstore. He gave Caroline the keys to lock up, not wanting to set his precious Lucy down for even a moment. His children would be surprised with a new addition to their family but Luke knew they would grow to love Lucy as he and Caroline already did.
Luke glanced up into the night. A myriad of stars were scattered across the sky, shining brightly down on London. Caroline slipped her arm through his and they walked down the street, his arms secure about his newest daughter. Lucy relaxed and fell asleep, her soft breath coming evenly.
“Christmas will be upon us soon and a new year will follow,” he told Caroline. “A new life for Lucy St. Clair—and us.”
He paused and gazed down at his wife and kissed her tenderly. “Thank you,” he said. “For having enough love in your heart.”
“Thank you for finding Lucy,” she said. “We are so fortunate, Luke. So blessed. I can’t wait to share her with all of the St. Clairs and show her just how powerful love can be.”
Luke kissed Caroline again. “Once we get Lucy settled tonight, do you think we might find time to read another chapter in our special book?”
Caroline’s smile shone as bright as the stars that looked down upon them.
“We can do more than read, Luke,” she said, mischief in her eyes.
“I was hoping you would say that,” he replied.
THE END
About the Author
Award-winning and international bestselling author Alexa Aston’s historical romances use history as a backdrop to place her characters in extraordinary circumstances, where their intense desire for one another grows into the treasured gift of love.
She is the author of Medieval and Regency romance, including The Knights of Honor, The King’s Cousins, The St Clairs, and The de Wolfes of Esterley Castle.
A native Texan, Alexa lives with her husband in a Dallas suburb, where she eats her fair share of dark chocolate and plots out stories while she walks every morning. She enjoys reading, Netflix binge-watching, and can’t get enough of Survivor, The Crown, or Game of Thrones.
Website
Newsletter Sign-Up
Facebook
Twitter
Email
BookBub
Amazon Author Page
Goodreads Author Page
); -moz-filter: grayscale(100%); -o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
