‘I couldn’t be less upset,’ he whispered in that low sexy drawl that had her toes curling.
‘This isn’t going to undo all the work you’ve done?’ Leah said. ‘I mean, you’re not suddenly going to demand I take vitamins and don’t lift a single cup…’
‘Probably.’ Cole laughed. ‘But reel me in when I go too far.’
His kiss sealed it then, sealed the love that had simmered for so long unattended, sealed the passion and the pain that had held them together and torn them apart.
‘Cole,’ Leah squeaked, pushing him away, grinning at the shock on his face at her abrupt withdrawal. ‘Isn’t there something you’ve forgotten? I mean, kissing you is divine and everything, but it is my birthday.’ She gestured frantically at the little bag. ‘Isn’t there something you wanted to ask me?’
‘You want your keyring now?’ Cole frowned, handing her the bag.
‘It’s a keyring?’
‘With a key on it.’ Cole smiled softly. ‘For when you’re ready to come home.’
Which was a lovely gesture and everything, but Leah struggled to keep the disappointment from her face as she pulled off the bow and peered in the bag.
Oh, she knew a ring didn’t matter, that there was plenty of time for all that later, that the fact Cole was here was more than enough, but feeling the shape of a key through the pouch she bit back a little sigh.
‘Aren’t you going to open it?’
‘Later.’ Leah smiled, turning back to kiss him, embarrassed at her own presumption and determined not to show it. ‘Now, where were we?’
‘You’re a lousy actress,’ Cole said, taking the pouch from her lap and prising it open. ‘One key,’ he said softly, holding it up, but Leah wasn’t looking. What was holding her attention was the other object Cole was pulling out of the pouch. ‘And one ring,’ he added, holding up a band of gold with a diamond that could almost have qualified for its own donkey, given the amount of carats involved.
‘Is this what you were hoping for?’ Cole asked, slipping the ring on that finger. The catch in his voice told Leah he was as moved as her, told Leah that despite the little game he was taking this moment just as seriously as her.
‘It’s everything I hoped for, Cole,’ she whispered.
Oh, it was a beautiful ring, everything a girl could wish for and all that, but after a moment’s gazing she stared up into something infinitely more beautiful and precious: the look of love from her future husband.
EPILOGUE
‘GIVE your crazy mummy a kiss and tell her we’ll see her soon.’
Leah stood, teeth chattering in her green overalls, fiddling with the straps on her hard hat as Cole looked on, a smile on his face as for the hundredth time she changed her mind.
‘I don’t want to do this, Cole.’
‘Yes, you do,’ he said patiently. ‘It’s all you’ve talked about for weeks.’
‘No, I don’t,’ Leah insisted. Taking Gemma from Cole, she held her little girl close, breathing in the sweet baby smell, kissing the fat little hands jabbing at her face. ‘It was all very well doing these adventure sports when I was backpacking—I was single then,’ Leah pointed out. ‘And if the truth be known, I hated doing them. That bungy-jump was the most frightening thing I’ve ever done.’
‘But you’re glad you did it,’ Cole reminded her as Leah pulled Gemma even closer. ‘The picture’s got pride of place in the living room—you can’t wait for people to notice it so it can give you an excuse to talk about it. And this will be the same. I’ve got the camera ready, Kathy’s taking the video.’
‘I’m a wife and mother now, and jumping out of a plane isn’t exactly the most responsible thing to do.’
‘Leah.’ Prising Gemma out of her arms, Cole kissed her chattering lips. ‘They’re waiting for you. If you don’t go now, the plane will leave without you.’
‘I don’t care,’ Leah insisted, but as Cole took her arm and walked her over she didn’t put up too much resistance.
‘It’s last-minute nerves,’ Cole insisted. ‘And if you don’t do it, not only will you regret it for ever but you’ll bend my ear about the fact all the way back to Melbourne. And then your birthday dinner’s going to be a complete non-starter, with you feeling sorry for yourself.
‘Come on, Leah,’ he said with a smile, nodding to the waiting team who were looking over impatiently. ‘It’s your thirty-first birthday today. You said yourself you wanted to do something special. Now give Gemma a quick kiss and go.’
Kissing her daughter’s smiling, innocent face, Leah turned her face to Cole, closing her eyes as his strong mouth quelled her pale, quivering lips.
‘Go!’ he said again as Leah stalled at the final hurdle. ‘We’ll be right here waiting for you.’
This made even childbirth look easy, Leah thought as she sat on the hard bench in the plane, staring fixedly ahead, not even smiling at her fellow daredevils.
It was all very well for Cole to tell her she could do it, Leah thundered internally as she stood, reluctantly moving up the line, wincing every time the light changed from red to green and another idiot jumped. Cole thought he was doing her a favour, showing her he had changed, but that was all behind them now. They’d dealt with all that months ago and Cole had nothing more to prove.
She didn’t need to do this!
The sensible thing to do would be to turn back now. Cole would understand—he probably didn’t want her to jump anyway.
But suddenly it was her light turning green, the instructor giving her a thumbs-up. And even before a thought pattern emerged, even before she could register her protest, she was nodding, holding her breath and jumping, falling out of the plane with a delicious, exhilarating scream, freefalling through the air with a heady sense of freedom. As she pulled her ripcord, as the chute dragged her upwards, caught her fall, Leah knew what it felt like to be on the top of the world.
The view was amazing. She could see for miles and miles, the endless roads, the rivers running dry, the clear blue sky and the parched yellow grass. But best of all, as she drifted down she could see Cole waving frantically, holding onto Gemma just as he had promised he would be…
Bravely waiting for Leah to come back to him.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5787-3
THE CONSULTANT’S ACCIDENTAL BRIDE
First North American Publication 2004
Copyright © 2004 by Carol Marinelli.
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