The Baby Emergency
Page 16
Honour, that one tiny word proving the depth of Ross’s love. For so long Shelly had worried that if ever love did come her way then freedom would be the price the man would pay for her love. Yet here was Ross turning everything on its head, saying in that one word that Matthew would never, ever be baggage. That he, Ross Bodey, would be proud to be Matthew’s father.
She’d have followed him to the ends of the earth on the strength of that alone.
Her answer was in her kiss, sweet and deep and full of passion. Trembling with desire, they melted onto the floor, mindless of the open curtains and of Marlene waiting anxiously at home. It could all wait for the moment.
‘Is that a yes?’ Ross mumbled as he fiddled with her name-tag and the endless row of buttons on her blouse.
‘How could I say no?’ Shelly caught his eye and gave a hint of a wicked smile. ‘After all, how many men would stay celibate all those years, pining for little old me?’
Ross gave her a slightly startled look. ‘Er, Shelly.’ His hands froze mid-button. ‘When I said I’d always loved you I meant it, but it doesn’t mean…’ Looking up, he saw she was laughing and Ross joined in. ‘You’re a wicked woman, do you know that?’
‘Very wicked,’ Shelly whispered. The smile was back on his face, the easygoing joking was everything she could have hoped for and more. ‘And very, very happy.’
EPILOGUE
‘PICKED up any good tips?’ Ross spoke over the sound of the engine, bouncing an over-excited Matthew on his knee as the small Cessna barely registered a blip as it tore through the massive blue sky.
Looking up from her survival guide, Shelly grinned. ‘If I’m lost in the outback, I can flash my ring at the sun to draw attention to myself.’
‘Any excuse to look at that thing,’ Ross groaned, as Shelly lifted her hand and admired the huge diamond cluster on her finger.
Six none-too-small diamonds glittered back at her—one, Ross had explained, for every year he had loved her. It was larger than life, ostentatious and the antithesis of what Shelly would have chosen, yet she loved it with a passion.
‘It really is in the middle of nowhere, isn’t it?’ Shelly said, her gaze turning to the window, taking in the endless red of the hot earth, the rock formations so immense, so awe-inspiring Shelly knew the endless books she had read hadn’t done them justice. Nothing except the naked eye could appreciate the glorious vastness of the outback and Shelly drank it in, scarcely able to believe that this was going to be home.
Home.
The word bathed her in a glow as warm as the hot Australian sun high in the midday sky, and she stole a look at the two men in her life, two people who had shared a rocky start, yet carried right on smiling. A lump surely as big as Ayers rock seemed to fill her throat as Shelly’s gazed lingered, watching one blond and one dark head bent over a book, the ties that bound them now unbreakable, her love strong enough, confident enough for them all.
‘The welcoming committee’s here.’ The thick Aussie accent of Bruce, the pilot, forced her attention and Shelly tore her eyes away, blinking as the ground neared, kicking herself for missing the approach, the first glimpse of her new home. Vast properties, white and brown, were beneath them, a petrol station, a pub, horses. She counted them off as Matthew, sensing Shelly’s excitement, strained to get over to her, to see what all the fuss is about.
‘Who are all these people?’ Shelly asked as the plane bumped down, children, adults running alongside, waving, their mouths grinning, mouthing words they had no chance of hearing as the engine died down.
‘Like Bruce said, it’s Tennagarrah’s welcoming committee.’ Ross stood up first, helping Shelly up before handing her Matthew, then impatiently pushing the door and stepping down into a throng of people as Shelly stared in wide-eyed bemusement at Bruce.
‘He’s a popular guy, that husband of yours.’
‘Tell me about it.’ Suddenly overcome with shyness, Shelly hovered at the door of the small plane, watching as they greeted Ross with like a long-lost brother, waiting for the curious stares to inevitably come her way.
‘Shelly! Matty!’ Arms were reaching out to her, a mass of limbs pulling them both into the warm embrace of their new community. Matthew was prised from her and Shelly felt a tiny bubble of alarm rise, sure Matthew would wail in horror at the tactile, overpowering nature of the greeting, but instead he was laughing, giggling, revelling in the moment, one eye fixed on Ross enough to make him feel safe.
The welcome didn’t end there. Somehow between the high chatter and laughter Ross managed to carry her over the threshold and, despite the audience and revelry, the look in his eyes as they went through the door made the moment as intimate as it should be, and Shelly was only too happy to be entertained in her own home as she was welcomed the way only Aussies could.
‘I think I’m finally getting a taste for beer,’ Shelly said with a laugh much later when only a few lingering guests remained hovering around the barbeque outside. Shelly finally made her way in and stood watching Matthew through the flyscreen as he rushed around the veranda with his newfound friends.
‘So, what do you think?’
There was a slightly nervous note to Ross’s voice as Shelly looked around the vast jarrah-floored lounge, the airy high ceilings, the simple beauty of the furnishings. ‘I love it,’ she said softly.
‘Still worried about being lonely?’ Ross tested gently, but Shelly just laughed.
‘Hardly. I think I’m going to have to make a booking just to cuddle Matthew at this rate. Anyway, Mum and Dad are coming next month, then after that we’ve got the honeymooners…’
‘Don’t,’ Ross said, yelping in mock horror and putting his hands over his ears. ‘Melissa and Dr Khan’s bedroom will be right on the far side of the house. I don’t think I could stand it if I heard the two of them…’ He screwed his eyes closed and pulled a face. ‘And if she keeps calling him Mushi, I think I’ll die of embarrassment.’
‘It’s lovely.’ Shelly laughed, pulling down his hands and making sure they were firmly wrapped around her. ‘I think it’s just so romantic…’
‘Well, you would,’ Ross grumbled. ‘What gets me is how they managed! All those years of being in love, working alongside each other, and they didn’t do a thing about it.’
‘He loved his wife,’ Shelly explained. ‘But somewhere at the back of his heart he loved Melissa, too.’
‘But how, how can you let all those years slip by…?’ His voice trailed off as he looked at Shelly holding her ring up to him. Another excuse to admire it, if ever she needed one. ‘That was a silly question, wasn’t it?’
‘A very silly question,’ Shelly answered, her lips moving towards his, melting at the thought of permanent access to his most divine body. ‘And one that I’m not even going to try to answer.’
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5792-7
THE BABY EMERGENCY
First North American Publication 2004
Copyright © 2003 by Carol Marinelli
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Carol Marinelli, The Baby Emergency