Angel of the Somme: The Great War, Book 1 (25 page)

“Sam?” Her voice shook.

Sam stepped toward her, resisting the urge to gather her in his arms. During all those lonely months on the farm, he’d carefully planned a thousand different things he’d tell her if he should ever see her again. Upon seeing her in the flesh, all his words were blown completely out of his head.

“Are you…all right?” She glanced up at the sun. “Are you supposed to be out like this?”

“I would never take such a risk if it weren’t. You, above all people, know why.”

Her pretty green eyes filled with tears. She took a step toward him. “It’s wonderful to see you again, Sam.”

“And you.” He took a step toward her. “Oh, Lily, why didn’t you tell me you were here?”

“I tried to write. I just didn’t wish to hold you to a wartime promise. You’re always so good about your obligations and I shouldn’t wish to—”

“An obligation?” Sam interrupted. “The very last thing you are is an obligation. In the middle of all that chaos and death, you were the one true thing, Lily. The only thing.”

She lowered her gaze. When she spotted his herb bouquet, tears began to fall from her eyes. “Oh, Sam.”

She stepped toward him, but he held his hand up. “Not yet, Lily. Not quite yet, anyway. I want to do this correctly.”

Lily paused, a puzzled expression on her face.

“With no coaching from anyone, and with a total lack of propriety…” Sam knelt on one knee and looked up at her, heart in his hands. “Lily, I love you with all that I am. Please, marry me, darling.”

The noisy crowd gathered by the front door suddenly fell silent. Sam felt all eyes turn to them. And he knew damned well that from just across the street his little sister would likely be standing on the bench, on tiptoes. Should he glance skyward, he wouldn’t have been surprised to see Baden’s balloon bobbing in the breeze, perhaps with Gordy along for the ride, waving a battered bottle of cheap French wine.

“Yes. Oh, yes, Sam.” Lily’s smile was so bright that for a moment Sam was grateful for his tinted lenses.

He stood and gathered her into his arms at long last. He delivered a very thorough and most improper kiss. Her mouth was warm and willing and she tasted of licorice. Before he was quite finished, someone nearby broke out in applause. As they pulled apart, the rest of the crowd joined in. From a short distance away, he heard the very distinctive sound of his sister whistling loudly, as if she was calling Molly in from the South pasture.

Lily’s face had turned a bright red and she turned to look across the street. Sure enough, Evie was standing on the bench, waving toward them.

“Lily, meet Evie.” He was smiling so wide that his cheeks hurt. “I know I should apologize for this spectacle, but I can’t seem to find words at the moment.”

Lily waved toward Evie as Sam put his arm about her waist and pulled her close.

“That’s fine, darling,” Lily said, beaming up at him. “Who needs speeches, anyway? You and I have a bond that goes quite beyond words and wars and all of that nonsense.”

She leaned up and kissed his cheek. He sighed, feeling completely and utterly complete. Together, they turned to watch Evie spring off the bench and race across the street toward them, bouncing all the way.

About the Author

Terri Meeker is supposed to write her author blurb in the third person. It’s just how things are done. She shouldn’t question it, but then she’s always been difficult. Even in high school, her best friend’s mother described her as ‘eccentric’ before urging her daughter to make friends with a nice, normal girl.

She was born in Wyoming but has made her home on Fidalgo Island in Washington State. She’s loved history since childhood and has been fortunate to live in lots of places with fascinating pasts, including: Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Virginia Beach, Albuquerque, Missouri and Mons, Belgium. She’s an ex-history teacher, a mom, a Whedonite, a gamer and a ginormous nerd. She also loves to write.

Terri is really getting into this third person thing and thinks it will give her a lot of gravitas during future dinner conversations. She thinks you should probably start doing it as well.

Her website is at
www.terrimeeker.com
. Check it out and you’ll be able to find her on twitter, fb and all that social stuff. She’d love to hear from you. Trust me.

Look for these titles by Terri Meeker

Now Available:

Not Quite Darcy

The Great War

Angel of the Somme

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How to woo a gentleman—and weaponize dessert.

Romance novel junkie Eliza Pepper always thought she was born too late, but now she really
is
stuck in the wrong time. Tasked with mending a tear in the timeline, she’s trying desperately to fit into 1873 London. But dang it, mucking out a fireplace while looking like the lunch lady from hell is
hard.

If she can just keep from setting the floor on fire and somehow resist her growing attraction to the master of the house, she’ll be fine. All she has to do is repeat her mantra:
“He’s nothing like Darcy. He’s nothing like Darcy.”

William Brown has always taken pride in his mastery of English decorum, but his new maid is a complete disaster, has thrown his household into chaos…and he finds her utterly captivating.

Though he’s willing to endure extreme physical discomfort to keep their relationship in proper perspective, her arrival has brought out a side of him he never knew existed. And Eliza has an innocently erotic knack for coaxing that decidedly ungentlemanly facet of himself out to play…

Warning: A modern girl who knows bupkis about nursing and maiding in the 19th century, a gentleman poet with a repressed wild side, and inappropriate use of a pair of pantaloons.

eBooks are
not
transferable.

They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

Cincinnati OH 45249

Angel of the Somme

Copyright © 2015 by Terri Meeker

ISBN: 978-1-61922-677-7

Edited by Holly Atkinson

Cover by Kanaxa

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: May 2015

www.samhainpublishing.com