Rescued by the Dreamy Doc / Navy Officer to Family Man
Page 32
‘I’m trying to reach my husband, Commander Samuel Taylor? He was supposed to be involved in the training exercise. He’s not answering his phone.’ Her voice sounded wobbly and she had to make an effort to speak clearly.
‘The phone system is jammed, ma’am. Too many calls.’ The sentry was holding a clipboard in his hand, and he looked down and wrote something on the paper. ‘I’ll add his name to the list and if you can wait here, we’ll get back to you when we know more.’
She nodded silently, and returned to her car. She’d been hoping for something more definite but this was obviously as much information as she was going to get at this stage. Was that good or bad? Would they have a list of the people who were injured? Would they tell her?
Probably not, she thought. It wasn’t in their job description; they were too far down the chain of command. Information like that would come from an officer, a captain or higher, she supposed. She would have to wait. Just like everyone else.
She sat in the driver’s seat at ninety degrees to the wheel, leaning her shoulder on the seat, her feet resting outside the car, tapping on the ground. She couldn’t sit still; she wasn’t good at waiting. Two ambulances had passed her. The radio had said some personnel had been airlifted out. People had been injured. How many? she wondered. Was Sam one of them?
She pulled her phone from her handbag. Her hands were shaking. Was it worth trying him once more?
An officer, a lieutenant judging by his insignia, exited the base and came to stand in the centre of the car park.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention. The chapel has been made available for those of you who would prefer to wait inside the base. You’ll need to undergo security checks but you may be more comfortable waiting in the chapel instead of here. If you’d like to come forward now, we can start the process.’
Still no captain. Who would be coming to give them news?
Most of the people quickly gathered together at the gate, obviously keen to get inside. Juliet joined the queue. They had to show identification and metal detectors were waved over them before they were checked for traces of explosives. Only then were they allowed on base but everyone willingly subjected themselves to the checks. The idea of being on the base instead of waiting outside the gates gave everyone hope. It felt as though they were making progress.
The chapel was an attractive building. It was built of stone with stained-glass windows, light wooden floors and pews to seat a couple of hundred people. The morning sun was streaming through the eastern windows and the interior of the chapel glowed in the sunlight. Juliet sat alone at the rear of the chapel, unaware of the beauty of her surroundings.
Dust motes kicked up by the throng floated in the air, tiny specks dancing in the currents, coloured pink and gold and green by the light pouring through the stained-glass windows. Juliet noticed the dust and was reminded of a similar scene almost a year earlier when the dust motes had been pale grey. Last July, when she’d been sitting waiting to go before the judge, waiting for her divorce. Now she was waiting again. Waiting to see if the man she’d divorced, the man she loved, was all right. Waiting to see if she was going to get another chance or whether she was too late.
She sat in a pew and stared ahead vacantly. No longer seeing the dust motes. No longer seeing anybody.
How many chances did she deserve? She’d survived the first stage of breast cancer and she’d been resuscitated on an operating table. If Sam was okay, surely that made third time lucky. How many more chances could she expect? This was it. She couldn’t wait for life to be perfect?it obviously didn’t work like that.
‘Jules?’
She turned at the sound of her name. At the sound of his voice.
‘Sam!’ She sprang from the pew and flung her arms around him. She felt him flinch. She pulled back, just enough to get a look at him, not so far that she had to let go. His blond hair was damp—was it from sweat or water? He had streaks of dirt on his cheek and he looked exhausted, even though it was only late morning. Juliet wasn’t used to seeing him look dishevelled when he was in uniform. He was normally immaculate. ‘What’s wrong? Are you hurt?’ She ran her eyes over him, looking for damage. His left arm was tucked close against his side and he had a bandage wrapped around the palm of his left hand. Without thinking, she reached for his arm. ‘What happened?’ She saw Sam wince as she moved his arm.
‘I’m fine,’ he said. ‘Just bruised ribs and a burn on my hand. It’s nothing.’
He didn’t look fine.
‘Really, I’m okay,’ he insisted. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I was worried. I heard about the explosion on the radio but I couldn’t get through to you,’ she explained. ‘Next thing I know I was driving this way. I guessed you’d answer my call at some point but before I knew it I was here.’
‘You were worried about me?’
‘Of course I was. The news said people were injured. I knew you had a training exercise. I thought you’d ring me…’
He pulled her in close with his right arm, holding her tight. His arms were strong and comforting.
‘My phone was in my cabin. I couldn’t get back there after the explosion.’
‘You were on that vessel?’ She felt her heart skip a beat and her knees were weak. She wobbled slightly and Sam quickly pulled her into a pew and made her sit.
He nodded. He didn’t seem perturbed by what Juliet could only assume was a near miss. Was he that used to things blowing up around him?
He probably was.
‘So what did happen?’ Now she was glad she’d driven down here. If she’d heard that he’d been on the ship and hadn’t seen for herself that he was okay, she’d be a nervous wreck. More of a nervous wreck, she amended her thoughts.
‘We’re not sure yet.’
‘And the others? I saw ambulances. They said on the radio that people had been airlifted out.’ Now that she knew Sam was alive she could afford to think about the others involved, about all those other families waiting to hear something?—anything.
‘The injuries were relatively minor, thankfully. Some burns and broken bones, a concussion or two but no fatalities. They airlifted a couple of sailors out who had compound leg fractures but they should be fine. It could have been much worse. We’ve got the details on the injured now, and their families are being informed.’
Juliet looked around the chapel and saw that clusters of people were being spoken to by officers. Information was being imparted.
‘What are you going to do now?’ Sam asked her.
‘I don’t know,’ she said. She hadn’t got to that part of her plan yet. She didn’t really have a plan. ‘I guess I’ll drive back to Melbourne.’
‘I’d drive you but I have to go back to work. Things are going to be rather hectic for a few days, I reckon.’ He lifted his left hand and brushed his thumb across her cheek. The gauze of the bandage scratched her skin but his thumb was soft. ‘Will you be okay?’
‘Yes, yes.’ He leant forward to kiss her cheek and she knew he was about to stand up and leave. She put one hand on his forearm, stopping him. ‘Before you go, there’s just one thing I need to ask you.’ Sam relaxed into the pew. ‘I was going to save this for a more romantic setting but I think I’ve wasted enough time already.’ Very carefully she took Sam’s hands and held them in her lap. ‘When you proposed yesterday I said I would think about it. And this is what I think.’ She took a deep breath and continued. ‘I know I’ve been stubborn and demanding, I know I’ve been difficult, but I was afraid. I was afraid of coming second again, of always competing for time and attention with your career. And I was afraid of intimacy. Not emotionally but physically. But I decided last night that I had to get past that but then, this morning, when I couldn’t reach you on the phone, that’s when I knew what fear really was. I’ve coped with a lot of things over the past year but I didn’t know how I would cope if something had happened to you. I realised I’ve been worrying about things that don’t ma
tter. Thinking I had all the time in the world when I should have known better. I’ve wasted enough time.’ Sam was watching her, his green eyes intense. She could tell he knew what she was about to say. He smiled and that was all the encouragement she needed to continue. ‘I love you and, if you’ll still have me, I will marry you.’
His smile grew wider, the left side of his mouth caught up to the right and his eyes shone. He pulled his hands free and hugged her again, hugged her hard. ‘Of course I’ll still have you. We’re meant to be together.’
‘Scars and all?’ she asked as he released her.
‘Scars and all.’ He ran one hand up her side, sliding it under her shirt, stopping at the bottom of her ribs. Juliet gasped as a surge of desire shot through her. Sam was still smiling as he slid his hand around her back and pulled her close. ‘However you come is fine with me, you know that. And put back together is better than not having you at all. Your scars will remind us of what is important, of where we’ve come from. I love you more than you can imagine and that has never changed.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. I chose you fourteen years ago and I choose you again today and I will choose you again tomorrow. We have a lifetime ahead of us. I just wish it could start right now.’
So did she, but even Juliet knew that sometimes she just had to be patient. ‘It’s okay. I actually do understand that work comes first in this case. I can wait.’ She smiled. ‘Not for ever, mind you, but for a little longer. We will have the rest of our lives to make up for tonight, won’t we?’
‘We most certainly will, my love, we most certainly will.’ His smile spread slowly this time, full of promises, teasing, enticing, and her smile matched his. Slowly, so slowly, he bent his head to hers, joining them together with a kiss, sealing his promise to her with tenderness. Juliet kissed him back, using her lips to send him a message of love, trust and hope. She could feel her spirit responding to Sam’s touch, her body and soul growing warmer with every passing second as the heat spread from her lips to her heart and rushed through the core of her, swamping the adrenaline that her fear had unleashed.
Juliet shook as she realised how close she’d come to losing everything. She could feel Sam rubbing her back to keep her warm but it wasn’t the temperature that was making her shiver. The adrenaline was wearing off now that the danger had passed. The fear had gone but she was still tense and jittery.
Sam broke the kiss. He was watching her, his green eyes dark and intense, and she imagined she could see through them like windows to his soul.
‘I love you, Jules. You are everything to me.’ His eyes lightened in colour as he spoke and she could almost see his love for her pouring out from their emerald depths. ‘When I can get away from here we are going shopping for an engagement ring. I want to make this official. I’ve waited long enough.’
‘I don’t need a new ring,’ she protested.
‘You don’t?’
‘No.’ She slid her old engagement ring from her right hand and gave it to Sam. ‘I don’t even need a new husband.’
Sam was frowning now, looking puzzled. ‘But—’
‘My old husband was perfect for me,’ she explained. ‘I just didn’t see enough of him. If I can have him back, I’ll be happy.’ She held her left hand out, fingers spread, waiting for Sam.
‘Are you sure?’ he asked.
‘Positive,’ she replied. ‘I love you. All I ever wanted was to be with you.’
Sam held the ring between his right thumb and forefinger and slid it onto Juliet’s left hand. ‘You will be, I promise. I am yours, now and for ever,’ he said.
Juliet looked at her hand, at where her finger was encircled by the gold band. The ring signalled their promise to each other. They had come full circle and she was back where she belonged. She had her husband back. Her family was complete. Her world was perfect.
‘We made it.’
‘Yes, we did,’ Sam agreed as he bent his head to kiss her once more. ‘Yes, we did.’
Recent titles by the same author:
DR DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS
THE PLAYBOY FIREFIGHTER’S PROPOSAL
WEDDING AT PELICAN BEACH
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
First published in Great Britain 2011
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Amy Andrews/Emily Forbes 2011
ISBN: 978-1-408-92379-5
Table of Contents
Cover
Excerpt
Title Page
Rescued By the Dreamy Doc
About the Author
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Navy Officer to Family Man
About the Author
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Copyright