The Ultimate Choice

'Yes, you will,' he retorted determinedly. 'You loved taking those jumps on Rasputin this afternoon. And I won't make a prison of our marriage, Kelly. Your pleasure will be mine. And if ever we get my leg right again, I'll go riding with you. Be damned if I'll let fear dictate our lives. We'll do everything together.'

She smiled her delight up at him. 'Well, I'm certainly going to keep working on that leg… in between the times when you simply must make love to me. But as for the rest, I'm going to be very busy having babies, Justin. I always planned on having lots of children once I got married.'

He raised a slightly sceptical eyebrow. 'You did, did you?'

'Yes. And if I have to fight you for them, I will.'

His eyes sparkled with anticipation. 'I think I can be seduced. I rather fancy a lot of children myself.'

Kelly glowed with her love for him. 'We'll have polo players and show-jumpers and sheep breeders, and…' An idea struck her. 'You know what, Justin? I think Rasputin would make as great a sire as Octavian Augustus the Fourth. If I mate him with Rapunzel…'

Justin laughed, and Kelly thought what a wonderful, free, rippling sound it was. She had not heard him really laugh until tonight. She vowed to make him laugh more often.

He hugged her close. 'I love you more than I'll ever be able to tell you,' he said on a deep sigh of contentment.

She hugged him even tighter. 'I'll remember this moment all the days of my life,' she breathed happily. 'I didn't know what bound me to you, but now I do. It was the promise of what love could be. I'll always love you, Justin.'

And once more they kissed, losing themselves in each other, celebrating the joy of becoming one in mind and heart and spirit.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

They were married a month later.

Despite Justin's misgivings, Kelly blithely withdrew from pursuing her chances as a competitor in the World Cup. She was far too busy to want to go show-jumping. There were preparations for the wedding, a honeymoon to be planned, clothes to buy and Justin's family to meet. And, as much as she loved riding Rasputin, that love came a very poor second to spending every available moment with the man who had only to look at her to send her heart soaring with happiness.

The St John family was delighted that Justin had finally found a woman he wanted to marry, and if any one of them held some reservation about the age difference between the prospective bride and groom, a few minutes' observation of their radiant delight in each other was enough to dispel any doubt about the wisdom of their marriage.

The wedding was held on the terraced lawns at Marian Park. The magnificent gardens were in summer bloom. The day scintillated with sunshine and benevolence from all who gathered to witness the nuptial celebrations. Justin's guests were mightily complemented by every man, woman and child who had any claim to belonging to the Crooked Creek community. It was the most festive occasion that anyone in the district could remember.

Judge Moffat performed the ceremony.

He had rehearsed every line of the marriage service with his wife, perfecting the proper resonance of every phrase, sharpening every nuance of the words to give each its full measure of meaning and importance. Everyone from Crooked Creek thought he gave a grand rendition of the traditional lines that joined Kelly Hanrahan and Justin St John as man and wife in the eyes of God and all His creation.

It was the very popular opinion that Kelly had done them all proud, marrying the new owner of Marian Park. She was one of them. And she would make Justin St John one of them. It would be like Henry Lloyd's time all over again.

Their congratulations to the bride and groom resounded with sincerity.

Kelly looked heart-wrenchingly beautiful in her bridal gown and veil. And Justin St John was not a bad-looking man either, even though he was a good few years older than her. The general opinion was that he scrubbed up very well. A fine fellow. And no doubt about him thinking the world shone out of Kelly. He couldn't keep his eyes off her.

'A fine wedding!' Judge Moffat proclaimed afterwards to the grandfather of the bride, his voice honed to a rich roll by the demands of the day, his face more florid than usual from an accumulated consumption of the best French champagne.

'And he's a fine man,' his old friend asserted, nodding solemnly towards Justin St John. 'It's got me thinking… maybe we shouldn't have done it, Judge.'

'Now, Michael…' The judge eyed him gravely. 'We can't be mixing principles up with personalities. We did the right thing. All of Crooked Creek was agreed on it. And what's done is done. Anyway, the Russians will still get better than they'll ever produce naturally. Lambs that will grow the best wool the Russians have ever seen. No doubt about it. And we saved the best bloodline for our own country.'

'That's true, Judge. Guess I'm going soft in my old age.' A reminiscent grin spread over his face. 'We did plan it well, didn't we? Taking Octavian Augustus the Fourth to distract attention from the real operation. No one even thought of checking the cryogenic unit to see if the artificial insemination straws had been replaced.'

A smug chuckle issued from the judge's throat. 'Well, it was handy that Uncle Tom's, nephew is the local vet.'

'Tom Kennedy sure was a slippery one in his day.'

'Heart's in the right place, though. Look after your own first. Can't go wrong doing that, Michael,' the judge said with wisdom.

'Yes, you can!' Michael O'Reilly protested heatedly. 'Kelly and that husband of hers won't leave me alone. Insisted I live up here at Marian Park. Treating me like an old man who can't look after himself. That's wrong!'

'Well, Michael, you might as well face up to it. I reckon Kelly's got you beaten there.'

'It's a sad thing… a sad thing when a man has to leave his home of seventy years. But you're right. She's got me beaten.'