‘Ah. Personal, not business. Yes, I do. Eden is more than my best friend, David. She’s like a sister to me.’
‘Well, if you want to have any hope of making her your real sister, then you’ll tell me where she is.’ He stalked around the room, agitated and tired. ‘I’ve been trying to call her for the past two days. First of all the hotel took my messages, saying she didn’t want to be disturbed. And now I’ve just called and they’ve informed me that Dr Caplan isn’t staying there any more.’
Sasha nodded. ‘Have you tried her cellphone?’
‘It just goes through to voicemail. Where is she?’ He felt so dejected, and slumped into a chair. ‘I’ve stuffed up, Sash. She won’t talk to me. She’s avoiding me.’
‘Haven’t you seen her on the ward? I thought she was a visiting medical officer.’
‘She is, but whilst she’s been in to see the patients she does it when she knows I won’t be on the ward. She knows my schedule inside out—when I have clinic, when I have meetings—and she uses it to her advantage. This morning Dart was jumping around, all happy and cheery because Dr Eden had just done a magic trick and pulled some money from his ear. Then I go to see Chelsea and she tells me that she and Eden shared a hot chocolate this morning as they talked about Paris.’
‘Isn’t she the young girl who wasn’t eating?’
‘Yes.’ David raked a hand through his hair and stood to start pacing again. ‘Yesterday I spent a lot of time trying to track her down, narrowly missing her. “She was just here.” “Oh, David, you just missed her.” Everyone likes her. Everyone thinks the world of her—’
‘It’s you that she loves,’ Sasha pointed out.
‘She has a funny way of showing it.’
‘How do you feel about her, David? Eden’s sure you love her, but that you’re too scared to do anything about it.’
‘I am. I was.’
‘In love with her or scared?’
‘I am in love with her and I was scared.’ He’d been such a fool—a fool in love. And love could be blind, couldn’t it? He just hadn’t known what he was doing, fumbling around like a…well, like a fool.
‘So what are you going to do about it?’
‘A lot. But first I need to find her.’ He came and gently sat on the bed next to his sister. ‘Help me, Sash.’
‘I’ll call her.’ Sasha picked up the phone by her bed and dialled an outside line before entering Eden’s number. ‘Hi, there,’ she said a moment later. ‘Where are you?’ A pause. David looked hopefully at his sister. ‘Uh-huh.’ Sasha’s gaze met his. ‘Oh? Really?’Another pause. ‘Eden, I’m sorry. No. No. I quite understand. Yes, yes, he is here with me. Do you want to—’
David eagerly held his hand out for the receiver, but Sasha didn’t relinquish it.
‘No?’ she continued. ‘All right, then. Yes. OK. Call me if you want to talk.’ Sasha hung up the phone and glared at her brother. ‘You had better fix that.’
‘What? What just happened?’
‘She doesn’t want to talk to you.’
‘What? Why not?’ Panic gripped him and he found it difficult to swallow. ‘Where is she, Sasha?’
‘I promised her I wouldn’t tell you.’
‘What? This isn’t primary school. We aren’t playing kid games. This is my life.’
‘Eden’s too.’
David began to pace around the room. What was Eden doing? Playing hard to get?
‘She just needs to sort herself out, that’s all.’
‘And what if she leaves? What if she runs away again?’
‘What if she does?’ Sasha countered. ‘What would you do, David?’
‘Go after her.’ He didn’t even need to think of his answer. He needed Eden, was desperate for Eden, and now that he’d realised that he wanted to go to her, apologise and beg her to take him back. ‘Come on, Sash. Tell me where she is. We need to talk. We need to sort this out. She doesn’t understand how much I need her in my life. I have to tell her.’
‘Well, you’re going to have to wait a few more days, at least. Unless…’ Sasha smiled widely at her brother, wanting the two people she’d loved for most of her life to get their act together.
‘Unless?’
‘Unless you’re smart and you figure out where she might have gone. Let’s see if I can’t help you narrow down the parameters. Who does Eden know in Sydney? You. Me. Well, she isn’t staying with either of us. Hmm…Who else does she know here? Who else would she go and visit with to reconcile the past?’
David hit his forehead and shook his head, before kissing his sister’s cheek.
‘You’d better tell her you love her, David,’ Sasha called as he bolted for the door.
‘I’ll shout it from the rooftops,’ he returned with a bright grin.
David knocked on his tennis partner’s front door with complete impatience. He hadn’t bothered waiting for someone to open the large front gates, instead had quickly scaled the front brick wall. Hal answered, surprised to see a dishevelled David standing there.
‘Is Eden here?’ he asked eagerly.
‘I’m sorry. You’ve just missed her. She’s gone shopping with her mother.’
He couldn’t believe he’d just missed her! Again!
‘Come in, son.’ Hal invited him, and they went into the living room. ‘You’ve obviously heard that Eden’s staying with us?’
‘I’ve not long realised that.’
‘She came round late last night and asked if she could come home.’ Hal shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. ‘It’s as though everything really is in the past—that it has all been forgiven and forgotten. I feel as though I have my family back.’ He clapped David on the back. ‘And we owe it all to you.’
‘To me?’
‘Yes. You brought her over, got her to talk to us.’
‘I didn’t do anything, Hal. It was all Eden. I merely provided moral support.’
Hal nudged him and winked. ‘Looked like more than moral support to me. So, what’s the deal? You in love with my Eden?’
‘As a matter of fact, yes.’ David’s answer momentarily stunned Hal.
‘Really? I was only trying to tease you.’ Hal gulped and quickly processed the information. ‘Well, that’s beaut, then.’ He offered his hand to David and pumped it proudly. ‘If you can tame my daughter, get her to settle down, we’d be forever grateful.’
David’s smile was one of slight relief. He’d found out where Eden was staying. She was all right. She hadn’t left town. She hadn’t given up on him. ‘I doubt anyone can tame Eden. Besides, I think she’s perfect just the way she is.’
Hal beamed. ‘Welcome to the family, son.’
David needed to prove to Eden that he was worth taking a risk with. Sasha wanted them to be together, and so did Hal, but it was Eden who mattered and David had to keep reminding himself that he hadn’t won her over…yet. He needed to convince her that he was serious, that he believed in her, believed in them, and that despite what the future might hold he wanted it to be the two of them together—for ever.
But how? How could he? After a moment David stood. ‘Listen, Hal, do you have a ladder I could borrow?’
‘I’m so glad the hospital let you come,’ Eden said to Sasha as she gathered the dinner plates.
‘You and me both. Sister thought as I’d managed to survive the other night at a restaurant, I could manage a sedate family dinner.’
‘It’s like old times,’ Gretchen said, helping her daughter. ‘Only David’s missing. Where did David say he was tonight, Hal?’
Hal thought for a moment, then shrugged. ‘He said he had some business to take care of.’
‘It was a wonderful meal, Mrs Caplan,’ Sasha commented, wanting to change the subject. Her brother had called her to let her know what he had planned, which was why Sasha had insisted on wangling an invitation to dinner. She wasn’t going to miss this moment for anything.
‘Thank you, dear. Todd, take those plates from Eden—you too, H
al. The two of you can be on dish duty tonight.’
‘Well, if it’s the men’s turn,’ Robert said, ‘I’d better help, too.’
‘They only have to stack the dishwasher,’ Eden said. ‘How hard is that?’
‘For your father and brother?’ Gretchen said. ‘It could take quite a while. They both have their own system, and they argue over which one is the most effective. Now, why don’t you get the things you bought today, Eden, while I wheel Sasha into the living room? Then we can have a bit of a girly time looking at clothes and shoes.’
‘Mum bought me way too much. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it all.’ Eden started towards the stairs, but stopped when she heard a strange noise. ‘What on earth is that?’ she asked, heading over to the window. Gretchen followed, and both of them peered out.
Dogs up and down the street were beginning to bark, but the noise continued and it sounded very close. Eden went to the front door and walked outside, down the steps onto the grass, searching for the sound. She turned and glanced up at the roof, her heart catching in her throat.
‘David! What are you doing up there?’
‘Serenading you,’ he called back, and began to sing once more. He was standing on the roof of her father’s house, balancing very carefully. He was wearing a tuxedo and held one single long stemmed rose in his hands.
The rest of her family came out, with Todd and Robert carrying Sasha’s wheelchair down the steps.
‘You’re supposed to be on the ground and I’m supposed to be up high if you’re going to serenade correctly,’ she called, but he continued to sing. Badly.
It was awful, and he was fumbling a lot of the words, which only made him sound worse, but she loved every wrong note he sang. Eden laughed at the total ridiculousness of the man, clapping her hands in delight, unable to believe he was doing what he was doing. When David broke out of his shell he broke out!
‘At least we have a doctor around if he falls,’ Hal commented.
‘Come down!’ she called, but he continued singing—if you could call it that. ‘You’re scaring the animals in the neighbourhood,’ she tried, and finally he finished.
Then he looked down at her and smiled.
‘I love you, Eden,’ he said, and then lifted his head and yelled to the entire neighbourhood, ‘I love Eden Caplan.’
She laughed, unable to believe he was actually shouting from the rooftops that he loved her.
‘Why is he up there?’ Gretchen asked. ‘What’s wrong with the ground?’
‘It’s romantic.’ Sasha sighed, and clasped her hands to her chest.
‘Oh,’ was all Gretchen said.
Eden saw the ladder, and knew if he wasn’t going to come down then she was going to go up—and that was exactly what she did, climbing carefully onto the roof. She stood and headed over to him, watching where she was putting her feet.
‘Be careful,’ he said when he spotted her, and reached out a hand, grasping hers and steadying her when she missed her step. When they were next to each other, he looked down into her eyes. ‘I’ve missed you,’ he whispered.
‘I’ve missed you, too,’ she said. ‘It’s just like you to be so literal.’
‘Hey, you wanted me to shout it from the rooftops and I have. The serenading was something I came up with all by myself.’ The smile on his face began to fade. ‘You’ve said a few times that Sasha is the only person who’s ever really cared about you, and I want you to know that’s not entirely true. She’s not the only person, Eden. I’ve cared about you for far longer than I’ve been willing to admit to myself. I’m sorry, Eden. Sorry for hurting you, for rejecting you, for not listening to you. Can you please forgive me?’
‘Why?’
‘Because I love you. I love her!’ he shouted again, and she laughed.
‘You’re crazy.’
‘You’ve taught me everything I know in that department.’ He waited a beat, then said seriously, ‘I’m sorry about the other day. I was just so overwhelmed that you weren’t put off by my revelation that I didn’t want to believe what I was hearing.’
‘I love you, David. You. If we can’t have our own children, that’s fine.’ She shrugged one elegant shoulder. ‘We’ll adopt.’
He widened his eyes. ‘Just like that? Adopt?’
Eden’s smile continued to grow as she pushed her fingers lovingly through his hair. ‘Have you forgotten where I’ve been working? Many of my assignments have been at orphanages. There are so many children out there with no one to love them. You and I both know that love is what matters, not bloodlines.’
He nodded. ‘Every child needs love.’
‘And we’ll give it. Look at your friends Chloe and Michael. They’ve adopted a little Tarparniian boy, and he probably won’t be their last.’ She laced her hands behind his head. ‘We can do this, David. We really can. I believe it with all my heart. We can be parents—parents who will shower their children with love.’
David couldn’t believe how incredible this woman was. She gave and she gave and she just kept on giving. He vowed right then and there to always give back to her. He would support her, help her to remain strong and support the gift she had. Together they could do so much, share so much of themselves, so much of their love.
‘Eden, I need you in my life. I’ve loved you for so long, but I was just too preoccupied with my own sadness to notice. I let it eat away at my life, and because of that I almost missed my chance at true happiness.’
She smiled at him. ‘You didn’t miss it, sexy boy. I’m still here.’
‘Marry me? Be my wild-child wife?’
‘Wife, eh?’
‘I want you to marry me. No.’ He stopped, and her heart caught in her throat. ‘I need you to be my wife.’
She looked into his eyes, seeing the commitment, and the love, as well as the passion and the desire. ‘Really?’ she whispered.
‘Yes.’ He laughed. ‘Please, yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’re the other half of me,’ he replied. ‘Where we live, how many children we adopt, where we work—that’s all semantics. I realise that now. I need to know you’ll be with me, Eden. Side by side. Together. For ever.’
‘I love you,’ she said. ‘So very, very much, David.’
‘Is that a yes?’
‘You bet it is. Besides, after your public display of affection, how could I refuse?’
At that, his mouth met hers.
This was the very beginning of their life as Mr and Mrs Perfectly Happy—which was what Eden had been striving for her whole life.
‘Are you two ever coming down?’ Sasha called with excited impatience, making Eden laugh.
Eden didn’t rush to end the kiss, but when he lifted his mouth from hers she allowed David to help her towards the ladder. He kissed her lips once more.
‘After you, my wild-child.’
‘Thank you, my tone-deaf serenader.’
When they were on the ground, and after they’d been congratulated and hugged by their family, David took her in his arms once more.
‘We are so perfect for each other.’
‘Mmm,’ Eden said, pressing her mouth to his. ‘Told you so.’
MARRIAGE
REUNITED:
BABY ON THE WAY
BY
SHARON ARCHER
Born in New Zealand, Sharon Archer now lives in county Victoria, Australia, with her husband Glenn, one lame horse and five pensionable hens. Always an avid reader, she discovered Mills & Boon as a teenager through Lucy Walker’s fabulous Outback Australia stories. Now, she lives in a gorgeous bush setting and loves the native fauna that visits regularly…Well, maybe not the possum which coughs outside the bedroom window in the middle of the night.
The move to acreage brought a keen interest in bushfire management (she runs the fireguard group in her area) as well as free time to dabble in woodwork, genealogy (her advice is…don’t get her started!), horse-riding and motorcycling—as a pillion or in
charge of the handlebars.
Free time turned into words on paper! And the dream to be a writer gathered momentum. With a background in a medical laboratory, what better line to write for than Mills & Boon® Medical™ Romance?
Recent titles by the same author:
SINGLE FATHER: WIFE AND MOTHER WANTED
I’d like to especially thank my editor, Lucy Gilmour,
for her suggestions, encouragement and belief
in my manuscripts.
Thank you always to Anna Campbell,
Rachel Bailey and Marion Lennox.
You are the best!
Thank you, too, to Judy Griffiths and Serena Tatti
for your input on this book.
And especially thanks to my husband, Glenn,
for his unstinting support with everything!
CHAPTER ONE
JACK CAMPBELL slipped into the hospital room and closed the door. Muted sounds of the emergency department filtered through to him, the jingle of an instrument trolley, the squeak of a rubber-soled shoe.
The pungent smell of antiseptic. A decades-old aversion leaped across the years to roll nausea through his stomach. For a split second, he was thirteen years old again—wretched, angry, useless—listening to nurses discuss the rapidly failing infant that had just come in. His sister, his family.
He blew out a breath, made a conscious effort to push down the unwelcome, unhelpful recollection.
He was here to see Liz.
Dr Elizabeth Campbell…his wife…He clenched his jaw. Soon-to-be ex-wife if she had anything to do with it.
She lay on a gurney, her back towards him. A grey blanket skimmed the curves of her shoulder and hip. Dark curls tumbled across a small, flat pillow. His fingers curled involuntarily with the memory of the silky strands slipping across his skin. They had a lot of talking, a lot of healing to do before he could look forward to that intimacy.
A louder clatter came from outside the door. So used to the background noise of the hospital, Liz still didn’t wake, didn’t even stir. She always slept serenely, such a contrast to the snapping vitality she radiated when she was awake.
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