by Katie Fforde
‘I think you’ll find that the fire is anything but out,’ said Alasdair when he joined Emily in the sitting room a little while later. He kissed her neck. She was sitting on the sofa with her feet curled up under her.
‘You seem to have only one thing on your mind,’ she said, kissing his hand, which was the only thing she could reach at that moment. ‘Have you sorted everything out with your daughter?’
‘Very much to her satisfaction. Now, a drink?’
‘Mm, yes please.’
‘So, this baby thing,’ he said, putting a glass of malt whisky in her hand. ‘What do you think?’
‘What do you think? What does Kate think?’
‘Kate is keen. I have explained about the broken nights, the constant howling, nappies, puke, the general disgustingness of babies and she doesn’t seem to mind.’
‘In which case, I think having a baby would be brilliant! I would prefer to have at least started my job – and possibly even got married first – but—’
‘As we may have started one already things might not happen in the accepted order?’
‘You know? I wouldn’t care a bit. Not really.’
‘Nor would I.’
‘I need to do something about accepting that job. And telling my colleagues at home about leaving the other one.’
‘Will that cause a lot of upset?’
‘Yes, but I don’t care. And my best friend down there, Sally, will be delighted for me.’
‘We should invite her to stay when we’re organised,’ said Alasdair. ‘But not just now. Right now we should celebrate being together, having a future, making a life.’ He got up and clicked buttons and seconds later the room was filled with the sound of a fiddle. Then Emily realised what she was listening to.
‘It’s your band! The one I never got to hear at the party.’
‘That’s it. I’m not great at saying how I feel. You’ll get the message more clearly if you listen to the song.’
She smiled at him. ‘I think I’ve got the message. I think you quite like me.’
‘So, so much more than like.’ He came and sat next to her on the sofa and took her face in his hands. ‘I’m not sure proposals under duress really count so I’m going to do it again. Will you marry me, Emily?’
‘I will.’
‘And can you face living with a grumpy GP and a sometimes difficult daughter, not to mention an old, smelly dog?’
‘I can.’
‘And will you mind if I’ve already made you pregnant, although we didn’t talk about it and plan it?’
She shook her head. ‘You know? I think whatever happens, about the job, having a baby, or a puppy, or all three, it will all work out for the best. You, me and Kate, we’re a team, and we’ll win, whatever happens.’
Then she pulled his head down to hers and kissed him.
Author’s Note
I once heard someone describe Crinan as the floor of heaven. It is indeed so. But for the purposes of fiction I have had to alter the floor of heaven, which is the height of insolence, so I apologise profoundly.
I could have called the place in my novel something fictional but nothing seemed right.
If you haven’t been there and meet it through the pages of this novel, do go – it is even better in real life.
I have also been a bit cavalier with how the National Health Service operates with regard to maternity units, social services, health visitors, etc. Please forgive me. I was going for emotional truth rather than strict accuracy.
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Epub ISBN: 9781448136988
Version 1.0
Published by Century in 2016
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Copyright © Katie Fforde Ltd 2016
Katie Fforde has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
First published in Great Britain by Century in 2016
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781780890852
