Jack hugged Ryan tightly and kissed the top of his head. Pain burned in his chest at the thought of losing Melanie and giving up this smart kid. He already loved him like a son. But if Melanie didn’t come back, he wouldn’t go after her. Not this time. If she refused to make an effort for him, then he had to admit defeat. He loved her, but it would slowly destroy him if he had to spend the rest of his life worrying she might leave him.
Extracting himself gently from Ryan’s fierce grip, Jack stood and clasped the boy’s small damp hand in his own. He swallowed down the tightness in his throat. “Shall we go and find Matt and Sam? I think it’s about time you boys had the ice cream I promised you.”
Ryan glanced over his shoulder, and pain fisted around Jack’s heart at the uncertainty on the boy’s face. “Is Mummy all right?”
Jack pasted on a smile. “She’ll be fine, kiddo. She’ll come back in a minute.” He wished he really believed that.
* * *
Melanie went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. She had to go back to the party, but how could she walk into that room full of people when she’d just run out like a madwoman? At least she didn’t have to worry about racing after Ryan. She trusted Jack and his family to keep him safe. She must trust Jack with her own heart as well or she would lose him.
She stared at her pale face and flushed cheeks in the bathroom mirror. It was years since she’d had a full-blown panic attack like that. The last time was the day her mother had blamed her for Marcus’s behavior in front of half the village.
A knock sounded on the flat door and she started. Please let it be Jack coming after her. Melanie hurried to the front door and wrenched it open. Her mother stood outside, a tentative smile on her face. They stared at each other for long moments, the air prickling with tension.
“I’m sorry, love. For everything,” her mum said softly. She stepped forward and gathered Melanie into the strong, warm embrace she remembered from her childhood. Five years’ worth of animosity and heartbreak melted away as her mum rocked her to and fro like a child.
“I’m sorry too,” Melanie whispered into her mum’s shoulder.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, love. It was up to my father who he left his money to. I shouldn’t have used it against you. Let’s forget the past, please. Dad and I want to be proper grandparents to Ryan. Now you’ve found yourself such a wonderful young man, I hope you’ll give us more grandchildren.”
Melanie pulled back and smiled. Her mother’s answering smile warmed her heart.
“And I have to say your young man’s rather easy on the eye.”
“Mum!” Melanie laughed.
“He’s a gentleman too. Dad and I were very impressed by what he said when he called and invited us here. Jack cares about you, love. He wants you to be happy.”
“I know.” Melanie sighed. “I’ve probably hurt him again by running out on him.”
“Nothing’s broken that can’t be fixed. Come on now. Let’s find you a pretty dress to wear and go back to the party.”
Quickly, Melanie touched up her makeup and ran a brush through her hair. She stripped off her jeans and shirt while her mum searched her packed bag and found a dress.
Five minutes later, she locked her front door and the two of them headed back to the hotel. Her heart raced so fast it made her lightheaded. She paused, a hand to the rough granite blocks of the stable to ground herself. Her mother’s arm circled her shoulders. “Calm down, love. Breathe slowly. It’ll be all right.”
Together they walked on across the stable yard, and Melanie concentrated on the click of their heels on the path.
What did it matter if everyone at the party thought she was loopy? Jack’s family already knew she was a little strange. As long as Jack loved her, she didn’t care what anyone else thought. She glanced up and there he stood, waiting at the end of the wall, the shoulder of his gray jacket resting against the stone.
Her mum patted her arm. “I’ll go inside and see what that grandson of mine is up to.”
“Thank you, Margaret,” Jack said softly, and smiled as Melanie’s mum walked past.
When they were alone, Jack’s gaze returned to her. “You’ve changed. You look lovely.”
“Thank you.” Love swelled in her chest for this beautiful, patient man. She didn’t deserve him.
“Are you coming back to the party?”
Melanie looked down at her dress and touched her earrings. “I thought…I hoped…”
Jack pushed away from the wall and came towards her. He halted just out of reach and opened his arms.
Melanie rushed into his embrace. Her whole body sighed with pleasure at the strong warmth of his body and the soft brush of his lips across hers. She pressed her face into the familiar crook of his neck. She could smell the sweet powdery fragrance of her son on Jack’s collar. “I panicked.”
“I noticed.” He stroked her hair and kissed her temple.
“Everything that happened this afternoon added together to overwhelm me. For a little while I was confused.”
A slow smile spread across Jack’s face. “You will marry me, though.”
“Yes.”
He dipped a hand in his pocket and pulled out the ring. “I was going to make a performance of giving this to you inside.”
“I guessed.”
“Under the circumstances…” He took her left hand and slipped the gold band on her finger.
She looked down at the diamond sparkling in the sun and remembered how it had spread rainbows across the kitchen wall in the flat. “There really is gold at the end of the rainbow.”
Jack put a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up to his. “At the end of our rainbow, there’s love,” he whispered. And then he kissed her.
* * * * *
About the Author
Helen Scott Taylor’s first novel, The Magic Knot, won the American Title contest in 2008, was a Golden Heart Award finalist and was chosen as one of Booklist’s top ten romances of 2009. Since then, she has published other novels, novellas and short stories in both the U.K. and U.S.A. Her published works have been finalists in a number of contests including the Holt Medallion, the Lories, the Prism Contest, the Write Touch Award and the Maggies.
Helen lives in South West England near Plymouth in Devon between the windswept expanse of Dartmoor and the rocky Atlantic coast. As well as her wonderful long-suffering husband, she shares her home with two Shih Tzus and an aristocratic chocolate-shaded silver Burmilla cat who rules the household with a velvet paw. She believes that deep within everyone there’s a little magic.
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ISBN: 978-14268-9440-4
Copyright © 2012 by Helen Scott Taylor
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All 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 incidents are pure invention.
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