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'Only rinned 'I thought he was looking pleased with himself on occasion I just hope Sheba is still chaste and virtuous Hell" There was a real note of panic in his voice 'I've just shut Harvey in with her'

'I'll check her if you like before I go,' the vet offered

A couple ofthe dog in with her tonight,' she said cheerfully 'The job was done soht will be repeated in roughly three weeks'

Travis shut his eyes for an infinitesimal moment

Beth stood watching the puppies, ere now snuggled in the basket with , while Travis showed the vet out When he walked back into the kitchen she said imme¬diately, ‘I m so sorry, Travis, about Harvey All these puppies’

'Force of nature' He took her in his ar more words with his lips When he raised hisand aching 'Say it again,' he whispered against her lips 'Tella lifetime to hear it'

'I love you,' she breathed, the puppies snuffling at their feet 'I love you more than I had dreamed it was possible to love'

'And trust?' His hand tilted her chin so she was looking directly into the deep pools of his eyes 'What about trust?'

'That too I promise you, that too'

She had expected soain he accepted what she said without hesitation Because he trusted her, Beth thought huht, Travis was a goodmen, a man she wanted to be beside for the rest of her life Suddenly all the things she had thought were lost for ever— a hoether¬ness—were in front of her again and it was heady

'You are the love of my life, Beth' His voice was very quiet but there was a quality to it which brought tears to her eyes 'If you'll letit to you Will you marry me?'

For a second, just the tiniest second, the enor swept over her Then she looked into his steady grey eyes, which were shining with such a love she felt like a queen before it 'Yes,' she said, her eyes shining 'Oh, yes, Travis Yes, yes, yes!'

Beth didn't want a big wedding, just family and a few close friends like Mavis and Dave and their children They agreed they would throw a huge party for everyone else when they came back from their honeymoon

They were married in the little parish church in Shropshire two months after Travis proposed, on a mild sunny early October afternoon Afterwards everyone piled back to the house where Travis had had a arden It onderfully infor and the adults sitting talking or dancing to the sne flowed, folk ate when they felt like it frorat¬ulated Travis on having such an exquisitely lovely bride

It didn't escape Bern's attention that all the women present— even the happily married ones—couldn't keep their eyes off Travis either His rugged good looks lent a faintly brooding air to the forly ro Travis was hers, always and for ever She was completely sure about that now

The puppies, all nine of them in various sizes—four from Sky and another five from Sheba—were the hit of the day with the children Harvey strutted around as though he was a sultan with a hareht fondly Even the two puppies she and Travis had chosen to keep were feood ho earmarked Sky's enore of his handsome father

'You're the most beautiful bride in the world; everyone's said so,' Travis whispered in Beth's ear later that evening as they danced to a slow ro It was true Beth's Duchesse ivory silk dress was deceptively siown eureInstead of a veil, a profusion of tiny pink rosebuds were threaded through her upswept hair, the same flowers reflected in the posy she carried

The look on Travis's face as he had turned to see her walk up the aisle had reduced all the women present in the church to tears even before the service had started

Beth reached up and nuzzled her lips in the deliriously fragrant hollow under his ear, wanting him so badly she ached with it As always he read her o ho ample proof he was as aroused as she was 'Soon? Very soon?'