‘It went well,’ he said softly, perching down beside her and taking her hand in his. ‘I can go back to what I was doing before any time I want.’
‘And do you want?’ she breathed.
‘Yes, I do.’
She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. ‘I’m so glad, Gabriel, so very happy for you, and in spite of what you said when we were discussing a puppy for the children, if London is where you need to be, we will go back there.’
He shook his head. ‘No, Laura. I meant what I said. Here in Swallowbrook is where we are going to stay. London is a fabulous city, but we are all happy here, and it would be cruel to uproot the children again.’
‘So are you intending staying in the town house during the week and coming here to us at the weekends?’ she asked as the bubble began to burst, ‘because if you are, it will be like taking a step backwards and I don’t want that to happen.’
‘No, I’m not intending anything of the sort,’ he said reassuringly.
‘So how, then?’ she asked. ‘You surely can’t be thinking of commuting every day!’
‘No, of course not, but there is always a way and I will find it.’ He already had, he thought, and tomorrow Laura was going to know what it was.
‘It’s your birthday tomorrow,’ he reminded her, ‘and I don’t want there to be any clouds in your sky, so are you going to trust me on this one?’
‘Yes,’ she said weakly, with the feeling that there was no way that Gabriel could combine working in London with her and the children in Swallowbrook, without the stress being worse than it had been before. Was he so much on cloud nine at being reinstated that he wasn’t seeing the difficulties of what he was planning?
He was reading her mind, eager to tell her his plans to stop her from fretting, but her special day was only hours away, and he said, ‘Tomorrow is your birthday and there have to be no clouds in your sky, so why don’t you pop up to bed and get your beauty sleep while I make myself a drink, and tomorrow I’ll tell you all about what went on when I was in front of the firing squad.’
She smiled. ‘It would seem that they were out of bullets.’
‘Yeah, they must have been,’ he agreed, adding as she began to climb the stairs, ‘Would you like your breakfast in bed on your birthday?’
She shook her head. ‘No, Gabriel. I want it with you and the children. I want us all always to be together…’ she raised her eyes heavenwards ‘…until our young birds fly the nest.’ As she slowly climbed the stairs, Laura thought she couldn’t have explained it much clearer than that.
* * *
The day of her birthday had dawned and the children were beside her bed the moment she opened her eyes with the presents and cards that they’d made, and with one cuddling up on each side of her she opened their childish offerings and expressed her genuine delight at the thought that had gone into them.
There had been no sign of Gabriel so far and when hunger overcame excitement and the children went downstairs she threw on a robe and went to see where he was.
He was in the kitchen and Sophie and Josh were eating their breakfast in front of the television in the sitting room when she appeared, still tousled from sleep.
‘Happy birthday, Laura,’ he said, kissing her lightly on the cheek, and handed her an envelope.
As she opened it slowly she saw that it wasn’t a card. Inside were flight tickets, a paid-up booking form and a brochure of an hotel beside a golden beach on an island that she’d always wanted to visit. As he watched her surprise become delight she said softly, ‘Is this why you weren’t interested when I suggested we go abroad, Gabriel?’
‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’ He smiled. ‘I already had it sorted and you took me by surprise when you came up with the suggestion, so I had to play it down, otherwise it would have meant telling you and spoiling the surprise.’
She went up to him and held him close for a precious moment. ‘How could I have thought that my birthday was going to be a non-event?’ she choked.
As he looked down on to her he said, ‘I have something else for you, Laura, but I want to give it to you when we’re alone. Do you mind waiting?’
‘No, of course not,’ she said dreamily, with the thought of the holiday he had planned making her feel warm and cherished.
* * *
They’d had a lovely day, the four of them, a picnic lunch on the lakeside down by the marina, a sail in the afternoon and an early evening meal at the hotel before they went home to Swallows Barn. As Laura tucked the children in later she reminded them joyfully that they had just one more week of school and then at half-term they would be off to sun, sea and sand on a beautiful island.
When they were asleep she took off the jeans and the top she’d worn that day and changed into a dress of soft apricot silk that Gabriel had always liked to see her in, before going downstairs to where he was waiting for her.
There was stillness all around them as she went to join him in the sitting room and when she had settled herself across from him she noticed that there were no gift-wrapped boxes or bags to be seen, and wondered what it could be that he had for her.
‘You look very beautiful,’ he said gravely. ‘I hope that what I have for you will match the occasion.’
‘What is it?’ she asked with a sudden feeling of confusion.
‘It is something rare and comes under the heading of “peace of mind”. When I’ve told you what it is I hope you will understand and see it that way too.’
‘What is it?’ she asked again, feeling suspended in space and unable to get a footing on anything solid.
‘I want you to answer me a question first,’ was his reply.
‘All right, then, go ahead.’
‘Do you still want me to go back to oncology?’
‘You know I do, Gabriel,’ she cried. ‘There is nothing I want more. It was my fault that you gave it up in the first place.’
‘It was not your fault and I beg you not to ever say that again,’ he told her. ’Getting back to what I have to tell you, I’ve been asked to take over the running of the new clinic when it opens.’
Her eyes were wide with wonder. She’d been able to see the clinic as it took shape from her office window on a lower level and had imagined Gabriel finding the fulfilment that he was being denied there. But her thoughts hadn’t gone any further than the odd moment of wishful thinking because she knew that his heart belonged to a big hospital in London, well worn, well used, that he must surely yearn to see again.
‘Just like that, without any ifs and buts and whys and wherefores about your past?’
‘Yes, that describes it,’ he said calmly, ‘but I have had Nathan on my side, determined that I should get the job, and he has a lot of pull in the area’s health arrangements.
‘I’ve had a few interviews towards that end and only heard that the position was mine a few days ago. I’ve kept it to myself until I’d been to London because if they’d banned me I would have wanted to know if that made any difference to the job here, even though I’d been assured that it wouldn’t.’
If he’d expected delight, it was slow in coming.
‘But what about London and the hospital there…and James?’ she cried. ‘What if you grow bored with small-town medicine?’
He was smiling. ‘You are incredible. I thought you would be over the moon to know that I’m going to be working in Swallowbrook. No more late nights, no more being overworked.’
‘I am! Have no doubts regarding that. It will be wonderful, marvellous,’ she told him with shining eyes. ‘How long have you known about this?’
‘I was approached some weeks ago and have caused a delay because I wanted the appointment to be on my terms and I only heard a few days ago that I had the agreement of the governing body.’
‘And what are your terms?
’ she asked tremulously.
‘That I work in London two days of every week, and for the rest am based in the clinic at Swallowbrook. I intend to spend most of my time in Theatre in both places as surgery is my main occupation, and in the case of the clinic, where there will be no facilities for it, I will do my consultations there and use those of the new hospital on the lakeside when I operate.
‘I’ve arranged with James that I will do each Tuesday and Wednesday at his end, which will fit in with me seeing your uncle, and I will only be away from you for just the one night.
‘What do you think? I hope I’ve got it right for everyone and you most of all.’
Her cheeks were wet with tears. ‘You have got it right for everyone, and I love you so much for it, Gabriel, but is it going to be right for you? What about you?’
‘I’ve got you, haven’t I? What more do I need?’ he said gently.
The tears were still flowing as he produced the box that held the eternity ring and he wiped them away gently before telling her, ‘I had got this to give you on our wedding anniversary, but if you remember your job got in the way and I was introduced to the feeling of having made a meal for someone who didn’t appear, as you must have done many times in the past, so the ring stayed in its box, but not any more.
‘There will never be a moment that is more right to slip it on to your finger than this, but read what it says inside before I do that.’ And he placed it on her open palm and waited.
‘“True love never dies”,’ she said softly, holding the gold band with its circlet of diamonds up to the light, then she held out her hand and as he slipped the beautiful ring onto her finger it was as if their world had righted itself at last.
‘Do you think our love got lost somewhere along the way?’ he asked as he held her close.
She shook her head. ‘No, Gabriel. Underneath all the misery and heartache we never stopped loving each other because ours is of the kind described in the engraving and it does last for ever.’
Lifting her into his arms, he carried her up the stairs and into the master bedroom, and when he laid her on top of the covers she gazed up at him and it was there, the need they had always created in each other. It wasn’t dead, it had just been sleeping.
Later, after they had made love with passion and tenderness, like wanderers coming home after a long journey, Gabriel raised himself onto one elbow and looking down at her said softly, ‘Tonight has blotted out the pains of the past, Laura, and the only thing we have to concern ourselves about now is the future, the fantastic, wonderful future.’
Reaching up, she brought his face level with hers and as their glances locked it was there in their eyes, the promise of what was to come in the days ahead, and all of it was good.
EPILOGUE
IT WAS the opening day of the clinic and they were all there in the foyer. The mayor and his associates, the representatives of the area health authority, the doctors from the practice and Gabriel, looking tanned and relaxed after their Greek idyll.
Seated on the front row of chairs that had been set out to accommodate guests, Laura was remembering how he had given her the precious gift of not only what he’d described as ‘peace of mind’ but also a rekindling of their love.
If ever she had any doubts about that she need only take off the beautiful ring he had given her and read once again the message inside it.
‘True love never dies’ had been the words of the engraving and she was wrapped around with the wonderful truth of them.
It was done. The mayor had said his piece and declared that the clinic was now open and functioning, and that refreshments were available at the back of the entrance hall.
As Laura looked around her at the immaculate newness of the place and compared it with the well-used facilities of the London hospital that Gabriel hadn’t forgotten during the months of his absence, she was happy that he hadn’t cast aside the old in preference of the new.
When he appeared beside her and took her hand in his it was there again, the feeling that all was right with their world and that after many long months this time it was here to stay.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781459234253
Copyright © 2012 by Abigail Gordon
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Marriage Miracle in Swallowbrook Page 14
