A Very Special Marriage

by Jennifer Taylor

  Liam took a deep breath when he heard the mounting anger in her voice. Maybe he had made a mistake but there was little he could do about it now except to try and make the coming weeks as easy as possible for both of them.

  ‘That’s right. I’ve signed on for the summer season,’ he explained, trying to disguise his hurt when he saw her mouth thin with displeasure. Surely he hadn’t been foolish enough to hope that she might be pleased to see him?

  ‘Dr Hampson has decided to retire,’ he continued hurriedly before the idea could take root. He knew why he’d taken the job and it had nothing whatsoever to do with winning Sophie over. ‘Apparently, he’s been having chest pains and his consultant has advised him to take things easy. I was hired at the last minute as his replacement.’

  ‘So you had no idea I would be working on this ship when you took the job?’

  Liam saw her frown as she tested out that theory and sighed. He was tempted to take the easy way out but he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t tell her the truth. There’d been enough half-truths in the past and he refused to let them spill over into the present.

  ‘No. One of your friends at the Royal Memorial told me that you’d got a job on board this ship when I went up there to see you. She wasn’t sure when the Esmeralda actually set sail but she gave me the name of the agency who’d hired you so I could check with them.’ He shrugged. ‘To cut a long story short, I phoned them and during the course of the conversation they mentioned they were looking for someone to replace Dr Hampson so I offered my services.’

  ‘This just doesn’t make sense!’

  She shook her head so that the spiky wisps of blonde hair shimmered as they caught the glow from the overhead light. Liam’s hands clenched again but this time because he had an almost irresistible urge to run his fingers through that silky halo. All of a sudden he could remember with alarming clarity just how soft her hair had always felt, how wonderful it had smelled when he’d woken each morning and taken her in his arms…

  ‘You seem to have gone to a lot of trouble to track me down, Liam, but surely it must have occurred to you that you were the last person I would want to work with? I would have thought I’d be the last person on your list, too, so what is going on? Why did you really take this job? If it was your idea of a…a joke then I have to say that I don’t find it the least bit funny!’

  Liam dragged his mind back from such nonsensical thoughts when he heard the fury in her voice. ‘I didn’t do it as a joke, Sophie. Far from it. I realised a couple of months ago that we needed to talk to one another. There are a lot of things we need to sort out so when I found out there was a job going on board the Esmeralda, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.’

  ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this!’ She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. ‘It’s two years since our divorce, Liam, and not once in all that time did you make any attempt to talk to me. You didn’t make much of an effort before that either, so why have you suddenly decided that it’s time we sorted things out?’

  ‘Because it might be two years but I haven’t come to terms with what happened even if you have!’

  All of a sudden Liam could feel his own anger igniting. He took a couple of steps, which were all it needed to cross the cabin. He stared down into her angry blue eyes, feeling the pain welling inside him as the memory of all the hurtful things they’d said to one another came rushing back.

  Sophie should have trusted him! She should have had enough faith in him to know that he would never have had an affair!

  ‘What happened between us left scars, Sophie, and I’m not too proud to admit that either. The only way we can rid ourselves of them is by talking it all through and getting the truth out into the open at last.’

  ‘You want the truth, do you?’ She laughed shrilly. ‘Well, the truth is that I don’t give a damn about what happened in the past. It’s over and done with, and all I’m interested in now is the future.’

  ‘So you’ve put it all behind you, have you? Every single thing that happened no longer means anything to you?’

  He couldn’t keep the bite out of his voice and he saw her flinch. When she went to push past him he caught hold of her arm and made her stop.

  ‘Maybe you’ve erased me from your memory, Sophie, but can you honestly say that you’ve forgotten our child?’

  His fingers tightened as grief suddenly overwhelmed him. ‘Look me in the eyes and tell me that you’ve forgotten about Zoë and then I’ll believe you when you say that we have nothing to talk about!’

  CHAPTER TWO

  ‘DAMN you, Liam! Damn you to hell for doing this!’

  Sophie’s voice broke on a sob and Liam felt his anger drain away when he saw tears streaming down her face. He already had hold of her so it was the easiest thing in the world to pull her into his arms and cradle her against him.

  She felt so small and fragile that he was terrified of hurting her if he held her too tightly, yet he needed to hold onto something as all the pent-up emotion suddenly spilled from him. Two years ago he’d been too numb with grief to cry but now he couldn’t hold back his tears as the memories came flooding back.

  Sophie had been six months pregnant when a routine check-up had shown problems with their baby’s development. The placenta had become detached from the wall of the uterus, depriving the unborn child of vital nutrients and oxygen. A decision had been taken to deliver the baby and Sophie had been rushed to Theatre for an emergency Caesarean section.

  It had been a little girl and Liam could still recall how perfect she had been when the doctor had placed her in his arms for a few, precious seconds before she’d been taken to the intensive care unit. They had called her Zoë and she had lived for just one week before her tiny body had given up the struggle for survival.

  Sophie had been inconsolable afterwards and he simply hadn’t known how to comfort her. It had broken his heart to see how devastated she’d been so that he’d found himself staying later and later at work to avoid going home. And then one fateful night, a few months after Zoë had died, his own grief had caught up with him.

  He’d gone out after work and, for the first time in his life, he’d got so drunk that he hadn’t known what he’d been doing. If it hadn’t been for one of the nurses taking him back to her flat, he would have spent the night on the streets. He’d been so ashamed afterwards that he’d let Sophie think that he’d spent the night at work but, somehow, the story had got out about him spending the night at Amanda’s flat and Sophie had accused him of having an affair…

  ‘Let me go.’

  Liam jumped when he heard the steely note in her voice. He quickly released her and ran his hands over his face to wipe away his tears. Sophie had her back to him but he could tell that she was struggling to regain her composure. He touched her lightly on the shoulder, wanting to comfort her in some way, but she shrugged off his hand.

  ‘Don’t!’

  Liam dug his hands into the pockets of his towelling robe. It hurt to know how much she hated having him touch her, but what had he expected? The days when she would have melted into his arms were long gone and too much had happened since to recapture the magic they’d once known.

  ‘Are you all right?’ he asked gruffly, trying not to dwell on how painful he found that thought. He wanted to lay the past to rest, not rekindle the embers of a dead love affair, he reminded himself sternly. It was the reason why he’d been so anxious to see Sophie again. It had become increasingly clear in the past few months that he would never be able to get on with his life until they had sorted out the mistakes they’d made, although the likelihood of them sorting anything out seemed non-existent at the moment.

  ‘I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. There’s no need.’

  She headed for the door but Liam knew that he couldn’t just let her walk away without trying to smooth things over. Maybe his plan hadn’t gone as he’d hoped it would but they were going to have to work together in the coming weeks s
o they at least needed to behave in a civilised manner with one another.

  ‘Look, Sophie, I apologise. Maybe this was a lousy idea but all I can say in my own defence is that I never meant to upset you.’ He shrugged when she glanced back. ‘I know it won’t be easy but we’re going to have to find a way to resolve our differences so we can work together.’

  ‘You really think I’m going to work with you?’ She laughed and Liam felt his insides twist when he heard the scorn in her voice. ‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, Liam, but it isn’t going to happen. I have absolutely no intention of working with you, now or in the future. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go and pack.’

  ‘There’s no point because you aren’t going anywhere.’

  He knew that he should be trying to appease her rather than confront her, but her unyielding attitude stung. Maybe Sophie had moved on but her feelings towards him certainly hadn’t improved.

  ‘I shall do whatever I want!’ She glared at him, her eyes filled with contempt. ‘The days when you had any say over what I do, Liam Kennedy, are long gone!’

  ‘I have no intention of trying to stop you leaving, Sophie, but I’m sure the captain will.’

  He went to the porthole and pulled back the curtain, feeling a wave of weariness wash over him. Sophie wasn’t interested in talking about the past and he really couldn’t blame her. He should have tried harder at the time to convince her that nothing had happened when he’d stayed at Amanda’s flat. But he’d been so hurt that Sophie had believed he would betray her and she’d been too angry to listen to him. Neither of them had been thinking clearly because they’d been so devastated by the loss of their precious child. It was that thought which made him soften his tone.

  ‘It may have escaped your notice but we’ve already set sail. We’re currently heading out into the middle of the Mediterranean and, from what I can remember of our itinerary, we won’t reach land until tomorrow morning. Even then, do you really think it would be fair to just up and leave?’

  He sighed as he let the curtain fall back into place. ‘There’s several hundred people on board this ship and any one of them could need our help at a moment’s notice. Surely it would be better if you contacted the employment agency in the morning and asked them to find a replacement for you? It would mean us making the best of things for a few days, but I promise you that I’ll do my bit if you’ll meet me halfway. So what do you say, Sophie?’

  ‘I…I don’t know.’

  She bit her lip and Liam could tell how difficult she was finding it to make up her mind. He crossed the cabin but this time he didn’t make the mistake of touching her. Sophie had made it clear how she felt about that.

  ‘We’ve worked together in the past, and successfully, too, so surely we can manage to do so again for a short time,’ he said softly, refusing to dwell on how distressing he found the idea. ‘I’d offer to leave but the people at the agency made it clear that they’d had problems finding a suitably qualified doctor. I wouldn’t want to leave the passengers in the lurch.’

  ‘No, it wouldn’t be right,’ she agreed reluctantly.

  She took a deep breath that made her small breasts rise beneath the close-fitting T-shirt and Liam just managed to stifle his groan when he felt his body respond with a fervour that shocked him. He drew the robe around him, relieved that its bulk concealed his predicament. He’d not exactly led the life of a monk since their divorce but he couldn’t recall responding so wholeheartedly to any woman in the past two years, not even Julia.

  The thought threw him into confusion so that he missed what Sophie had said. ‘I’m sorry, what was that?’

  ‘I just said that we shouldn’t need to see each other all that much.’ She shrugged but this time Liam wisely kept his eyes on her face and didn’t let them stray. ‘Once we’ve seen any patients who turn up for morning surgery then that should be it, basically.’

  ‘Of course,’ he agreed, trying to appear positive, no easy task in view of the way his mind was churning. He’d honestly and truly believed that he was ready to get on with his life and that all he needed to do was to draw a line under the past. But how could he be ready to plan his future when he was still so susceptible to his ex-wife’s charms?

  ‘And so long as the agency can find a replacement for me then there shouldn’t be a problem?’

  ‘It might take them a few weeks to find someone suitable,’ he warned, deciding it would be better to focus on this problem rather than start digging up any others. ‘Experienced nurses of your calibre don’t exactly grow on trees.’

  A touch of colour ran up her face but she didn’t acknowledge the compliment. ‘I’m sure they’ll find someone eventually.’

  ‘And what about you, Sophie? What will you do?’ He frowned as he thought about the implications of her having to leave the ship. ‘Maybe you could return to the Royal Memorial? I’m sure they’d be delighted to take you back.’

  ‘They probably would but I’ve no intention of going back there. The reason I left in the first place was because I needed a change of scene. Don’t worry about me, Liam, I’ll find something else, maybe go abroad. There’s a lot of nursing posts advertised in the USA so that’s one option.’

  ‘So what you’re saying is that you’re completely flexible?’ Liam couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice.

  ‘Yes. The world’s a big place and I’ve seen far too little of it.’

  ‘And there’s nothing to tie you down to any one place?’ he insisted, because he couldn’t help being surprised by her attitude. The Sophie he remembered had been a homebody, not an adventurer. It made him see just how great the change in her had really been.

  ‘Nothing and nobody,’ she stated firmly. ‘So if you’re trying to find a diplomatic way to ask if I’m involved in a relationship then don’t bother. I think the phrase which best sums up my feelings is once bitten, twice shy.’

  ‘It wasn’t all bad,’ he protested, because it was painful to realise how much their divorce had affected her. Sophie had always had a very loving nature and he hated to think that she’d ruled out the possibility of finding happiness again even though the thought of her finding it with another man didn’t sit comfortably with him, strangely enough.

  ‘You’re entitled to your view,’ she said dismissively. ‘Anyway, what about you, Liam? Is there someone special in your life?’

  Liam pushed the troubling thought aside because he needed to deal with the question. For some reason it seemed incredibly difficult to decide how to answer it. It wasn’t that he was afraid of upsetting her—Sophie had made it perfectly clear that he no longer featured in her life—but he felt rather awkward about discussing his plans with his ex-wife. Crazy though it undoubtedly was, it felt as though he was letting Sophie down.

  The idea was just so ludicrous that it immediately cleared his mind of any doubts. ‘Actually, there is. Her name is Julia and she’s a doctor, too. We met while we were both working overseas, although she’s from London originally.’

  He shrugged because there was no point holding back the most important bit now he’d got this far. ‘We’re thinking about getting married later this year, in fact.’

  ‘I see. So it appears that congratulations are in order.’

  Liam frowned when he heard what sounded suspiciously like a catch in her voice. He breathed a sigh of relief when she treated him to a brilliant smile because he wouldn’t like to think that Sophie had been upset by his announcement.

  ‘I hope you and the second Mrs Kennedy will be very happy, Liam. I certainly hope the marriage works out better than ours did!’

  ‘Ah, so there you are, Sophie! I was just coming to find you. I thought you had got lost.’

  ‘I’m afraid I got delayed. Sorry.’

  Sophie summoned a smile as Yuri greeted her at the entrance to the dining-room. She followed him across the room, murmuring her thanks when he pulled out a chair for her to sit down. Glancing around, she repeated her apologies for the benefit
of the other diners seated at their table.

  ‘I’m sorry I’m late.’

  ‘Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, young lady.’ The elderly American gentleman on her left smiled at her. ‘If my wife wasn’t sitting right here beside me, I’d tell you it was well worth the wait!’

  The blue-rinsed matron next to him raised her eyes. ‘Take no notice of Randolph, honey. He’s all talk these days! Anyhow, you’ve only missed the introductions and that isn’t a problem. I’m Gloria Walters and this is my husband, Randolph. We’re from Georgia and this is our first trip to Europe. We’re trying to see as much as we can, which is why this cruise is such a great idea.’

  ‘I’m Sophie Patterson, the ship’s nurse,’ Sophie explained. She jumped when someone approached her, but it was only the waiter wanting to drape a napkin over her knees. She smiled her thanks but she could feel her heart beating in time to the sentence that was reverberating inside her head: Liam is getting married, Liam is getting married.

  ‘Oh, we already know that. Yuri here told us all about you,’ Gloria assured her.

  Sophie had no idea what the purser had said but it was a relief not to have to go into detail about her role on the ship. She smiled and nodded as the rest of her table companions introduced themselves, though she doubted if she would remember many of their names later.

  Discovering she would be working with Liam had been a big enough shock but learning that he was getting married had been much worse, and yet she couldn’t understand why she felt so devastated. Their marriage was over and she most certainly didn’t want to resurrect it, but she couldn’t help feeling bereft at the thought of Liam marrying another woman.

  ‘And here is our final guest. Excellent! We shall be able to enjoy the evening now.’

  Yuri placed his hand lightly on her shoulder as he stood up, and Sophie flinched. She felt as nervous as a kitten, her whole body vibrating with a fine tremor that was making her feel sick.