The Single Mom and the Tycoon

by Caroline Anderson

  Crazy. He had to stop thinking every woman he saw was—

  ‘Molly?’

  Hell, his legs were going to give way. He started walking, then she smiled, and he started to run, until at last he reached her, sweeping her up into his arms and crushing her hard against him, choked with emotion.

  Until he lifted his head and caught sight of her close to. Then he stared down at her and shook his head, fear swamping him. ‘Molly, you look dreadful. What’s the matter? What’s happened?’

  ‘Nothing. I lost you,’ she said, and tears welled in her eyes.

  And in his.

  He wrapped her close again, shocked at how thin she was, stunned at the joy that was flowing through him just from holding her, touching her, being near her again after all this time.

  ‘Come on, let’s get out of here, go somewhere private,’ he said gruffly and, taking her by the hand, he led her along the path to his lodge, up the steps and in, kicking the door shut and dragging her back into his arms.

  His lips found hers and clung, and it was an age before either of them moved. ‘Has Cal been looking after you? Have you eaten? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I could have been there to meet you—’

  She put a finger over his lips and smiled. ‘Yes, no, and because I didn’t know what to say.’

  He shook his head, lost. He couldn’t remember what he’d asked, really. ‘Say about what?’

  ‘Us,’ she said simply. ‘I can’t live without you. I thought I’d die when Robert died, but this is far worse because it’s all so unnecessary. I had to see if we could find a way to be together, because without you life just isn’t worth living, and Charlie’s miserable all the time. He misses you so much, and so do I. So I wanted to see if there was a way we could live here with you some of the time, maybe in the school holidays, or perhaps during the term so we can be at home in the holidays just catching up with family. Or just somehow…’

  She gave a pathetic little shrug that tore at his heartstrings. ‘I didn’t know, but I thought—I had to try. I hoped you’d understand, hoped you wouldn’t mind—’

  ‘Mind?’ He laughed a little hysterically and hugged her tight again. ‘Of course I don’t mind! I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you—’

  He broke off, because he simply couldn’t speak any more, and taking her dear, beloved, tearstained face in his hands, he touched his lips to hers, so carefully, so gently, as if by doing so he could tell her how much he cherished her, how barren his life had been without her.

  ‘I need to get this wetsuit off and have a shower,’ he said after an age. ‘Come with me.’

  ‘On your veranda?’

  He nodded, and she smiled. ‘I’d love to.’

  It was just as she’d imagined it.

  Eerily, uncannily so. The rainforest was so close she could reach out and touch it. Literally. And the water was cool and sweet and refreshing, and he was there, his body just as she’d remembered except thinner, like hers, because, like her, she guessed, he’d been struggling to eat.

  ‘Come here,’ he said, and she went to him and stood under the streaming water and lifted her face to his and laughed with joy.

  ‘I have something to tell you.’

  ‘I’ve got something to tell you, too—well, to show you, really, and I hope you won’t be cross, because it’s what got me here. Do you want to go first?’

  ‘OK. I’ve sold out to Cal.’

  She sat bolt upright, shocked. ‘What?’

  ‘Well, not quite like that,’ he explained, pulling her back down beside him and wrapping her in his arms. ‘I’ve sold certain parts of the business, handed over the responsibility, so I can take a backseat. He can’t afford to buy me out, but he’s freed up enough capital so I can do what I want.’

  ‘Which is?’ she asked, her heart pounding.

  ‘To come home and take over from my father and go into business with Nick and Dan and Harry. And marry you. If you’ll have me. If you’ll marry me, and let me look after you and Charlie, and wage war on your garden and keep the drainpipes up and the roses pruned and the gates swinging on their hinges—’

  ‘You want to live in my house? After this place?’

  He laughed softly. ‘It’s a hotel, Molly. I thought I loved it, but it’s just a business. It’s where I work. It isn’t home. Home is wherever you are, because I love you—’

  ‘You love me?’

  ‘Well, of course I love you!’

  ‘You didn’t say! I wasn’t sure what you wanted, when you asked me to come out here. I thought—I don’t know what I thought. That you just wanted to keep it going for a while, get me to visit you from time to time in between your trips home—I didn’t realise you loved me.’

  ‘Love you. Not loved. Love. Would it have made a difference?’

  She shook her head. ‘No, not really. Not until I realised that Charlie loves you, too, and that changed everything. I could make sacrifices myself, for him, but if it was hurting him, it all seemed so silly and unnecessary. The world really isn’t that big, and the most important thing in it apart from Charlie is you. And I want us to be together.’

  ‘Is that a yes, then?’

  ‘What?’

  He gave a twisted little smile. ‘I asked you to marry me. I wondered if that was a yes—’

  ‘Well, of course it’s a yes!’ she said, tears welling again, and his arms closed round her and wrapped her against his heart.

  ‘Thank God,’ he whispered and, turning his head, he found her lips and kissed her as if he’d never let her go.

  But he did, in the end, and she told him about her exhibition. ‘I hope you’ll forgive me. Some of them were pretty frank. I’ve got a CD with them on to show you. I suppose I should have asked before I sold them.’

  ‘I’ve seen them,’ he said. ‘Nick sent me photos.’

  ‘He didn’t say!’

  His smile was slow and teasing. ‘There’s a lot my brother-in-law hasn’t told you. I bought some of them.’

  ‘You did?’ she said, aghast. ‘But—why?’

  ‘Because he said you loved them and didn’t really want to part with them. And because they’re amazing, and I’m so proud of you. And because I wanted something that reminded me of you. Just in case you wouldn’t let me come back.’

  ‘Oh, David—there was never any danger I wouldn’t let you come back. I need you so much. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe without you there. And I’ve been so sick with loneliness and missing you.’

  ‘Sick?’

  She nodded. ‘Every day.’

  He studied her for a moment, then gave a funny little laugh and said, ‘I don’t suppose you’ve done a pregnancy test?’

  ‘A pr—?’ She stared at him blankly, then her hand flew up and covered her mouth. ‘But—how—?’

  ‘The last time—when the car was on its way to get me. I’d packed. We didn’t even think of it. It didn’t occur to me until later.’ He tipped his head on one side. ‘When was your last period?’

  ‘My last—?’

  She broke off, thinking back, trying to work out when she’d last had a period. She’d been so stressed and unhappy since he left she hadn’t even thought about it, but now she did, she realised it was ages ago. Just before he arrived, she thought, but her cycle was long, nearly five weeks. And that last night would have been perfect…

  She felt the smile start in her toes and work its way all the way up to her eyes. ‘Oh, David. A baby—’

  But then she thought of something and panicked. ‘What about flying? What if I’ve done something dreadful to the baby—’

  ‘It’s safe,’ he said. ‘It’s the end, I think, when it’s a problem. But, just to be on the safe side, we’ll go home first class so you can lie down on a proper bed and rest.’

  She stared at him. ‘I don’t have a first class ticket.’

  ‘Nor do I. We’ll change them. I was travelling business class—’

  ‘What do you mean, you were travell
ing business class?’

  ‘I was coming home to you tomorrow,’ he said softly. ‘But, since you’re here, we might as well spend a few days together and then go. Especially since you’re in a delicate condition.’

  ‘We don’t know that,’ she began, but she did, now she’d stopped grieving for him and could listen to her body. And it was telling her, without doubt, that she was carrying their baby.

  She snuggled back into his arms. ‘First class sounds good,’ she said. ‘And so does a few more days. So what are you going to do with me until then?’

  He spoiled her.

  He took her sailing, and snorkelling, and for walks through the rainforest, and he fed her gorgeous meals carefully designed to nourish her and not trigger the sickness, and then at the end of the week they said goodbye to Cal and flew home to Charlie.

  He was staying with Nick and Georgie, but when they got back the house was deserted, so they went round to George’s house and found everyone there.

  Well, everyone except Nick and Georgie.

  They walked in and Charlie caught sight of her first.

  ‘Hey, Mummy!’ he shrieked, and ran over to her. ‘Guess what? Georgie’s had her baby, and it’s a boy! Did you have a nice time? Come and see the pictures of the baby—’

  And then he broke off, because his eyes had swivelled to David, and his jaw dropped and he stopped dead.

  ‘David?’ he said, and then he ran, his legs flying, and threw himself at David’s chest.

  ‘Hello, sport,’ he said gruffly, catching him and hugging him tight.

  ‘I told Mummy you’d come back,’ he said, his face buried in David’s neck. ‘She wouldn’t believe me, but I knew you’d come back.’

  His father was staring at him, his eyes hopeful, and he smiled and nodded.

  ‘You were right,’ he told his father. ‘If something matters enough, you find a way. And I’m coming home. Hopefully taking over from you and going into business with you guys, if you’re interested in that,’ he added to Daniel and Harry.

  And, holding out his arm to her, he drew Molly in to his side and bent his head and kissed her.

  ‘And we’re getting married,’ she said.

  Charlie turned his face up to David’s and said, ‘So will you be my daddy?’

  She saw his throat work, and he bent and kissed Charlie’s cheek. ‘If you’ll have me.’

  ‘Can we go crabbing lots?’

  David chuckled. ‘Lots.’

  ‘Cool. Are you going to have a baby?’

  ‘Charlie, you can’t ask them that, it’s not polite,’ George said quickly, but David smiled.

  They exchanged glances, and Molly felt herself blushing.

  ‘Well, it’s funny you should mention that,’ he said to his father. ‘About all these grandchildren you wanted…’

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-2299-5

  THE SINGLE MOM AND THE TYCOON

  First North American Publication 2008.

  Copyright © 2008 by Caroline Anderson.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  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.

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