“I have to talk to Kat,” he told Tom. “This is going to change our plans for dinner somewhat. I hope she’s up for pizza and ice cream rather than fine dining!”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you!” Tom cried. “Krissy charged up to the room! God knows what she said, but it must have been bad because Kat’s gone.”
Alex stared at him. “What do you mean, Kat’s gone?”
“Exactly that. She took her bags and left not long before you arrived back. She looked really upset.”
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know!” wailed Tom. “All I saw was her jumping in a taxi. She’s gone, Alex, and from the look on her face I don’t think she’s coming back.”
Alex felt sick to the stomach. He could only imagine what Krissy had said to Kat – and what she hadn’t said she would have implied. He didn’t blame Kat one bit for jumping to conclusions. He’d hurt her so badly before and he knew just what a leap of faith it had been for her to trust him again. To know that she was all alone and hurting, believing he’d been using her, crucified him. How could he prove to her that she was wrong?
“You’ve got to go after her,” Tom said. “I bet she’s gone to the station.”
Alex shook his head in despair. “It’s too late. I’ve lost her.”
And this time he knew there would be no second chances.
“For goodness’ sake! Men! Do you love the girl or not?” This exasperated question came from Ella, the hotel’s scary manager, who’d joined them to find out what was going on. Raising her eyes to the ceiling in an expression of utter frustration, she added, “I’ve no idea what’s been happening here but it’s obvious you and Ms Room Eighteen are crazy about each other. More to the point, my Assistant Manager has devoted far too much company time to playing Cupid for that to be wasted now.”
“Not that much really,” said Tom swiftly. “Hardly any in fact.”
“Now why don’t I believe that?” replied Ella wryly. Then she bent down and smiled at Emmy. “How about you and I go and see what we can find in the kitchen while Daddy finds his friend? I think if we look really hard we might find some cookies.”
Emmy considered this carefully. “With chocolate chips?”
“Of course,” said Ella. “Are there any other kind?”
Emmy looked pleased, and as his daughter took Ella’s hand Alex felt a tingle of pride mixed with sadness. His little girl was so used to being passed from pillar to post that she never made any fuss. Well, that was going to change.
“I won’t be long, munchkin,” he said, giving her a kiss. Not that Emmy was worried at all that he was heading off so soon; she was happily chatting to Ella as they walked towards the hotel kitchen.
“Blimey. What have they done with the real Ella St Milton?” wondered Tom. “Quick, let’s get going before she comes back as her usual mean self!”
“You’re staying here,” said Alex firmly. Tom had interfered far too much this Christmas. Whatever happened next would be between Alex and Kat, without anyone else’s intervention.
He only hoped he could find her and that she would be willing to listen to what he had to say. If not… well, that didn’t bear thinking about. Now he’d found Kat again, Alex knew he couldn’t be without her.
It was time to put that borrowed Ferrari to the test. How far away was the station again?
The taxi lights swept into the darkness as the cab carried Kat away from Polwenna Bay. She’d be on the train soon and speeding away from Alex, putting more and more miles between them with every passing second. She’d never need to see him again. It was over.
Her throat grew tighter with grief. She could try to deny it, but in truth the last thing she wanted was to be apart from Alex. Running away without seeing him felt wrong and every fibre of Kat’s being was telling her to turn around. This knee-jerk reaction was a mistake. She needed to go back!
Kat clenched her fists. She was being ridiculous. Go back for what? For a man who had lied to her? Used her? Made a fool of her twice? Alex was still with Krissy, that much was clear. He’d only been filling time with her, having some Christmas fun the way that rock stars do best. He was probably in the pub right now and having a big laugh about it all with Zak. No doubt she was just the latest in a long line of girls. Even Issie had said that Alex was gorgeous and could have taken his pick.
So playing with her poor bruised heart again had been nothing but cruel.
Kat felt desperately sad. These past few days with Alex had been the happiest of her life, and to discover that what they’d shared had been no more than an illusion was intensely painful. She’d really thought he’d meant it when he’d held her close and said that he loved her. It had felt so real. How could his kisses have lied? How could his touch have been so deceitful? His promises so hollow? How had she got everything so wrong?
I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow, than a man swear he loves me, Kat thought bitterly. She was an English teacher! Why hadn’t she paid more attention to her Shakespeare? God! She’d been such an idiot!
Had she fooled herself then? Kat frowned because she didn’t think so. Her heart had told her that what they’d shared was real – and she’d believed it. Deep down she still believed it, even though the evidence of her own eyes had told her something entirely different. Or rather the gloating woman who’d shattered Kat’s world had told her something different. She hadn’t imagined Krissy, had she?
Listen to your heart, was what Reverend Jules had told Kat on Christmas Eve. That’s when miracles happen. Your heart is never wrong. Trust it.
She had listened, and look where that had led! Kat dashed tears away. She’d been wrong and if she’d thought her heart was broken when she was eighteen then it was nothing to how she felt now. Pride and humiliation had played a huge part in her anguish when she was eighteen; now it was the loss of a future she’d hardly dared hope for that hurt. She’d truly believed that Alex was her soulmate. Every cell of her being had felt it. How could she have been so mistaken?
Listen to your heart!
Jules’s words couldn’t have been louder if the vicar had been sitting next to Kat in the cab.
Your heart is never wrong.
But mine was, Kat thought with a pang. Alex was still with his Krissy. Every time Kat closed her eyes she saw the other woman again, beautiful and brimming with confidence. Why else would Krissy be in Cornwall if she wasn’t still with Alex? It didn’t make sense.
“Oh!” Kat said aloud, feeling infuriated. She needed some answers and she needed them now. She wasn’t eighteen anymore. This time she was going to demand an explanation.
In any case, this behaviour just didn’t seem like Alex. Kat had always thought him to be honest; whatever mistakes he’d made in the past, lying hadn’t been among them. When he’d left her before he’d been upfront, and although she’d been hurt Kat had understood his reasons. But cheating and manipulating her seemed totally out of character. Had she jumped to conclusions? Had her own insecurity led her to make assumptions that weren’t correct?
Trust your heart.
Kat bit her lip. Her heart was telling her to trust Alex. Jules was right: Kat needed to listen to what it was telling her.
“Can we turn around, please?” she asked the cabbie. “I need to go back to the hotel.”
His eyes met hers in the rear-view mirror. “Left something behind?”
Kat nodded. She only hoped she could find it. If not, she didn’t think she’d ever be able to believe in Christmas miracles again.
Chapter 14
The taxi braked sharply to avoid the red sports car that was swinging out of the hotel driveway.
“Blooming emmets!” snarled the driver, yanking the wheel and narrowly avoiding a collision. “Why can’t they drive properly? And now he’s blocking the bloody way!” He tooted the horn irritably. “Out the way!”
The red car had stopped right in the gateway. It would be impossible for the taxi to get through unless the sports ca
r moved. Unable to wait a second longer, Kat pushed the door open and jumped out into the crisp night air. At that exact moment, the Ferrari driver did the very same.
It was Alex. Kat couldn’t help it; having thought she’d never see him again, she now drank in the sight of him with an unquenchable thirst.
“Where are you going?” she asked. “Off somewhere with Krissy?” She craned her neck to see who was in the passenger seat and was flooded with relief when she saw it was empty.
Alex shook his dark head. “Of course not. I was coming to find you.”
“I was leaving,” Kat said quietly.
“I know.”
They stared at each other. Although they were only a few feet apart the gravel between them felt like an ocean.
“I saw Krissy,” Kat told him.
“Yes, so I gather,” Alex replied. He looked her straight in the eye and Kat was taken aback by the pain she saw there. “I don’t know what she’s told you or what she said but none of it’s true. I know I’ve hurt you in the past, I know I wasn’t the man you deserved – but, Kat, you have to believe me when I say that I’m sorry for the mistakes I made. I can’t apologise enough for what happened then, but you have to believe me when I say that I’m not that boy anymore. I love you, Kat. There’s nothing between Krissy and me anymore. Absolutely nothing. I swear it.”
Kat had nothing to lose. She had to know the truth even if it hurt.
“If that’s true then why’s she here? She told me herself that she was in a hurry because she’s going to Paris with you.”
Alex started to laugh. “Oh, Kat!”
“What’s so funny?” she demanded. “I can’t say I thought it was at all amusing. Or is the joke on me? Is that it?”
This was a waste of time. She should never have bothered coming back. So much for listening to her heart! Furious with herself, Kat spun on her heel to make a dive back into the cab, only to find that Alex had caught her arm and was pulling her against him.
“Get off me!” she snarled. “I’ve had enough!”
“Yes, so have I!” Alex agreed. “Enough of my ex-wife! Oh, Kat, when Krissy told you she was flying to Paris she wasn’t making it up – but she isn’t going with me!”
Kat stared at him. “But she said… She said…”
Her words tailed off because what had the other woman said? Had she actually told Kat that she was going away with Alex, or had Kat jumped to that conclusion?
Alex grimaced. “I can imagine what she said – or rather what she didn’t say. She probably implied that we were flying away together but nothing could be further from the truth. She’s off to Paris, but not with me! Of course not me! We’re not together, Kat. We haven’t been for a long time.”
Kat was confused. “So if she’s not flying away with you then why’s she here? Cornwall’s hardly on the way to Paris!”
“She’s here because there’s someone else involved too,” Alex confessed, his face serious now. “Someone I love very much. She’s just arrived here actually and she’s inside. Would you like to meet her?”
It felt as though Kat’s whole world was about to tumble down around her ears. How many women did Alex have on the go? Her eyes filled. She’d been so close to thinking she could trust him, that her happy-ever-after was so nearby she could touch it. To hear from his own lips that he loved somebody else was devastating. Why was he being so callous?
“How can you ask that of me?” she whispered.
In answer, he placed his hands either side of her head and gazed down into her face, as though trying to imprint it in his memory. His eyes were bright with emotion, the laughter chased away by an intensity and passion that took Kat’s breath away.
“Because I’m hoping you’re going to become very important to her, Katherine James,” he said quietly. “I’m talking about my daughter, Emmy.”
“Your daughter?” Kat was astonished. “She’s here?”
He nodded. “Krissy’s left her here with me so that she can go away with her latest boyfriend. I had no idea at all until I came back from the village, by which time you’d gone—”
Kat stared up at him in horror. She’d jumped to all the wrong conclusions, hadn’t she? Been so swift to think the worst.
His forefinger caressed the curve of her cheek and she trembled with a desire that shivered through her at just this slightest touch. “Oh, Alex. I’m so, so sorry. I got it all wrong and leapt to all the wrong conclusions. I thought—”
“Hey, it’s OK. I know what you thought. I know Krissy too, don’t forget, and I’m sure she’d just love to have accidentally given you the wrong impression! I can see exactly how it would look.” He rested his forehead against hers, his mouth just a kiss away. “All I could think was that I’d lost you, and all I could imagine were years upon empty years stretching out without you there. I don’t want to be without you, Kat. Not ever.”
“Me too,” she said, “but I was so scared of being hurt again, Alex. All I wanted to do was get away – and as far as possible too. I was so afraid.”
“I’ll never hurt you again,” Alex promised. “I love you, Kat.”
He kissed her then, a gentle kiss that spoke of homecomings and promises of the future, and Kat melted against him.
“I love you too,” she said. “I always have.”
But a puzzled look was crinkling Alex’s brow. Stepping back a little, he regarded her quizzically. “Hold on! If you didn’t know Krissy was only here to leave Emmy and that we weren’t flying away together to spend New Year in Paris, then why did you come back? How come you didn’t just jump on that train and head for the hills? What made you change your mind?”
Kat locked eyes with him; her stomach was a rollercoaster ride of love and desire.
“It was my heart,” she told him simply. “My heart told me to trust you.”
And when Alex kissed her again, Kat knew beyond all doubt that the Reverend Jules had been right: when you took heed of that small voice deep inside, Christmas miracles really did happen.
There was a loud cough from behind them and, breaking apart, they saw the cabbie leaning out of the taxi window and watching them indulgently.
“Err, when you two love birds have quite finished? The meter’s still running here, you know!”
Epilogue
“Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!”
No sooner had the last year slipped away and the new one arrived than the sky above Polwenna Bay was exploding into colour. Green, gold and silver stars filled the darkness, mirrored below in the inky black sea. From the crowds of people clustered around the harbour or gathered on the terraces outside their cottages came gasps and cheers, and on the village green Auld Lang Syne was being sung with great enthusiasm (if not much tunefulness).
Kat inclined her neck to watch the midnight sky as golden sparkles burst into the cold air, leaping heavenwards before falling back to earth in a dazzling shower. She felt her gloved fingers being squeezed tightly every time a rocket exploded, and when she looked down at the wide-eyed child beside her and then up at Alex, Kat thought her heart would burst too, albeit with love rather than gunpowder.
“Happy?” he asked, and Kat could only nod because there simply weren’t the words to express how she felt. Happy didn’t even come close when Alex pulled her against him and Emmy wrapped her arms around their legs, hopping with excitement and gasping at each magical burst of colour. The sea beyond shivered with reflections and the cottage windows glittered with peacock blue and vivid scarlet as the display danced and arced above. Watching from the vantage point of Seaspray, it felt as though they were almost soaring with the display – although that could also be down to pure happiness, Kat thought as she turned her head and brushed Alex’s mouth with her own.
The terrace was filled with people she’d only known a short while but who had already become dear to Kat. Issie and Nick were manning the barbecue and squabbling; Jules and Danny were making sure that the drink
s were topped up; and Tom was handing out sparklers. Zak Tremaine, bundled up in a huge fleece and with a beanie hat squashed down over his curls, was perched on a garden bench holding court to his usual harem of adoring women. Before the fireworks display had begun, though, Zak had been entertaining them all with his guitar playing. As she’d listened to Alex’s heartfelt lyrics, Kat had felt Alex’s gaze rest on her and finally understood that every word he’d written was for her, just as Tom had claimed.
“Sparkler?” Tom was asking now, holding a fizzing one out to Emmy. Giggling, the little girl waved it around in a silver blur. Kat’s heart swelled with affection for her. With her dark curls, green eyes and infectious laugh, Emmy was adorable. Seeing Alex with his daughter had revealed another side to him that utterly melted her. He was a wonderful father and it was clear that Emmy worshipped him. Although Kat wasn’t sure what the future held for her and Alex, she did know that Emmy was going to be a big part of it.
“Careful with that, munchkin,” Alex warned as the sparkler faded to an orange glow. “Go and pop it in the bucket of water by the door.”
As Emmy scampered off, Tom lit another and held it out. “Any takers?”
“It’s definitely my turn,” said Alex, and clutching it in his gloved hand he sliced trails of light through the air like a Jedi Knight. “Are you watching, Kat?”
Kat rolled her eyes. “Of course, Obi-Wan!”
“Don’t mock the Force,” Alex grinned. “Watch carefully now!”
He was writing something in the air. Kat leaned forward, her eyes narrowed as she concentrated on the silver trails of light left against the darkness for a split second.
Will…. you… marry… me?
She gasped. Had she read that right? The words had only hung there for the briefest of moments, as bright as the hope that flared through her. Then Alex dropped to one knee and, with the sparkler still fizzing in one hand, was tugging a small box out of his jacket pocket.
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