‘I’ve something to tell you,’ she said quietly but without hesitation. ‘I’m pregnant, Daniel. I’m carrying our child.’
‘You...me...we...a baby!’ The words came out in a rush, shock rippling the edges, but it was no competition for all the other emotions she could hear as well. Then all of a sudden he was standing up, drawing her into his arms, holding her close, kissing her and talking at the same time. ‘I had no idea...I never suspected... Is that why you were leaving?’
It was easier to answer the last question first. ‘Yes. I thought it was unfair to drop it on you when you didn’t love me.’
‘Oh, Eleanor. Darling! I can’t imagine what you’ve been through these past weeks.’ He cupped her cheek, tears pouring down his face. ‘Thank you. You were mad to do such a crazy thing but I understand why you did it.’
‘Because I love you too much to hurt you or cause you any pain. I also couldn’t bear to think that you’d do the right thing out of a sense of...well, duty,’ she admitted, not wanting to make it appear that she had been thinking solely about him and not even a little bit about herself.
‘Damn! Does that mean that I can’t do the right thing now, even though it’s the thing I want to do more than anything else? Talk about boxing me into a corner!’
Ellie was feeling a little lost. Maybe it was the rush of emotions, Daniel’s confession, and everything else, but she was finding it difficult to follow what he was saying. ‘I’m sorry but I’m not sure what you mean.’
‘Then I need to make myself clear.’ He smiled into her eyes and she felt her heart catch when she saw the love in his. ‘I should by rights be down on my knee, ring in one hand, rose in the other, with violins playing in the background, but somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen, so here goes. Eleanor, my love, my darling, will you marry me?’
‘Marry you?’ she repeated blankly.
Yes. Oh, I know it’s old-fashioned in this day to get married and that a lot of people live perfectly happily without doing so, but it’s not what I want.’ He drew her to him and kissed her tenderly. ‘I want to make a proper commitment to you and our child. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and caring for you and knowing that we shall always be together. I always wanted another child but it simply didn’t happen so this is like a double blessing. To be loved by you and to have our baby as well is more than I could have dreamed of.’
‘It’s more than I could have dreamt of too,’ Ellie whispered, almost too moved by the admission to speak.
‘So does that mean you will marry me?’
‘Yes!’ The word shot out of her mouth as her voice came rushing back. When Daniel bent and kissed her again, it seemed to put the seal on her happiness. She was going to marry him and they would raise their baby together, loving and caring for each other. She had everything she had ever wanted and more!
EPILOGUE
‘NOW, ARE YOU sure you’ve got everything? Passport, money, phone...?’
‘Yes! I’ve also got a clean hanky and been to the loo and had a pee.’ Nathan rolled his eyes. ‘Chill out, Dad. I’m going to Australia, not the moon.’
Ellie chuckled. They were at Manchester Airport, waiting for Nathan to board his flight to Perth. He had decided to take a gap year before starting university. It was only a delay, he’d assured them. He had no intention of skipping out. But, as he had explained, he needed to find out who he was before he decided who he wanted to be.
Although most of the memory lapses had resolved themselves, there were a couple of incidents he couldn’t recall and might never do so. However, he was philosophical about it and accepted that some areas might always be blank. The strange thing was that losing bits of his own memory had triggered an interest in helping others in a similar position and he was thinking about switching courses and working in that field. He’d had an interview at Liverpool and despite the fact that he would need an extra science subject, they had offered him a place studying medicine the following year. Ellie knew that he must have impressed them to have been given such an opportunity but, there again, he was turning into a very impressive young man, just like his father was.
She glanced at Daniel, feeling her heart lift as it always did whenever she looked at him. They had got married at the end of November, a simple ceremony held at Beesdale Parish Church. Her whole family had attended, even her sister. She and Gemma had had a long talk about past issues and, to Ellie’s surprise, Gemma had admitted that she’d always felt jealous because their parents had chosen her, whereas she was just their natural child and nothing special. They had laughed about it and it had healed the rift that had existed between them since childhood. When Gemma had asked if she could be her bridesmaid, Ellie had readily agreed. Now that she was having a baby of her own, she wanted all her family around her.
‘Right. Time to go. And, yes, I shall be in touch for an online video chat every single evening or I will unless I’m too busy enjoying myself to think about aged parents back home—not meaning you, obviously, Ellie,’ Nathan added, winking at her.
‘Obviously not,’ she agreed dryly. That Nathan had accepted her relationship with Daniel and been thrilled when he had learned about the baby had doubly endeared him to her. She had no hesitation as she reached out and hugged him. ‘Have a brilliant time. We’re here if you need us, but I know you won’t, so just enjoy yourself.’
‘I will.’ Nathan hugged her back, sounding ever so slightly choked. ‘You’ve brought the fun back into my life as well as Dad’s and I love you for it.’ He let her go before things got too mushy, grinning broadly as he looked pointedly at her bump. ‘Just make sure this little one doesn’t play you up. Kids can be a trial. I’m talking from experience here, so I know!’
‘Oh, I’m sure we’ll cope when your sister arrives,’ Daniel declared airily, getting his own back. ‘Girls aren’t nearly as much trouble as boys.’
‘It’s a girl? When did you find out?’ Nathan demanded, sounding for all the world like a ten-year-old who had missed out on a treat.
‘When I went for my twenty-week scan,’ Ellie admitted, laughing. ‘Your dad insisted that we shouldn’t tell you until today. A sort of farewell gift.’
‘More like an attempt to get one over on me,’ Nathan declared grumpily, then suddenly laughed. ‘That is so cool! I’m going to be a big brother to my very own baby sister. I can’t wait!’
‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to,’ Daniel declared, stepping forward to hug him. ‘But don’t worry, it won’t be long now and we’ll keep you posted—make sure you receive lots of bump photos et cetera.’
‘I think I can live without them—just!’ Nathan hugged Daniel back. ‘Thanks, Dad, for everything. I know I’ve been a real pain in the backside but you never gave up on me and I won’t forget it.’
‘It was what I wanted to do,’ Daniel told him truthfully. ‘I love you too, son, and nothing will ever be too much trouble where you’re concerned. I just want you to be happy. That’s all I ask.’
‘I shall.’ Nathan picked up his bag, kissed Ellie again, then went to join Jack and a couple of others who had decided to enjoy a year of freedom before knuckling down to work. They were laughing and joking as they headed off to security.
Daniel felt his eyes prickle with tears as he watched them leave but in his heart he knew that Nathan was going to be fine. Now it was time to think about Eleanor and their new little daughter. Happiness fizzed through his veins. A world that had once seemed grey and bleak now seemed to be filled with light and colour. Sliding his arm around Eleanor’s shoulders, he drew her to him, kissed her, held her, and smiled as he said softly, ‘Shall we go home?’
‘What a good idea.’
She snuggled against him as they left the terminal. It was still very early and although there was traffic about there seemed to be an odd sense of peace hanging over the place.
But maybe the peace came from within, Daniel mused, came from his heart, from his soul, from his love for this woman who had given him her heart and taken his in return.
He breathed in deeply, not tasting the vapours of aviation fuel or the emissions from countless car exhausts. All he could taste was happiness and it had a very special flavour, one he intended to enjoy over and over again. For ever.
* * * * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Jennifer Taylor
REAWAKENED BY THE SURGEON’S TOUCH
THE GREEK DOCTOR’S SECRET SON
MIRACLE UNDER THE MISTLETOE
BEST FRIEND TO PERFECT BRIDE
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from REUNITED BY THEIR PREGNANCY SURPRISE by Louisa Heaton.
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Reunited by Their Pregnancy Surprise
by Louisa Heaton
CHAPTER ONE
HER HEELS CLICK-CLACKED down the hospital corridor, a hurried, tense staccato, as Emily headed for the familiar room that Sam had been moved to after his short stay in the ICU.
She cut a striking figure in her stylish clothes, her long honey-blonde locks held back by sunglasses on her head and her large expensive bag swinging from the crook of her elbow. Her face, beautiful without the aid of make-up, was today showing strain. Lines and dark circles framed her eyes. And those who saw her noted the way her fingers twisted and fidgeted at her wedding band.
The Beverly West Hospital was the biggest and most prestigious hospital in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California. Sam’s care here had been amazing. From the second he’d been scooped from their crumpled, steaming vehicle and blue-lighted to its doors, Emily had not doubted for one second the level of care they had both received. Apart from that split second when she’d first received her pregnancy test results...
Outside Sam’s room she could see Dr Waters and her team, standing discussing something in low voices, with the occasional glance at Sam’s notes on a clipboard. They looked serious. Concerned. But why? Hadn’t they just rung her with the news that he was starting to wake up? That was good, right?
Dr Waters looked up as she became aware of Emily’s approach and, meeting her by the door to the room, pasted a polite smile onto her face. ‘Mrs Saint—’
‘Is he awake?’ She bit her lip and again twisted the wedding ring on her finger.
This was it. Now or never. She would go inside her husband’s room and either find a man who was happy to be alive and willing to work on any problem, or the bear of a husband she’d been used to over the last few difficult months.
‘He is. He’s tired, and occasionally lapses back into sleep—which is normal considering the trauma his brain has been through. Coma patients usually take a day or two to wake properly.’
‘I can go in and see him? Talk to him?’
The call from Dr Waters had come in the early hours of the morning. The phone ringing had not woken her. She’d already been awake. Lying in her very empty bed, staring at the ceiling and trying—still—to decide what was best to do.
Leave Sam? Or stay and fight for their marriage?
She’d even pulled a suitcase out and laid it on the bed one day, stood staring at it in numb indecision. Her heart wavering. It had all seemed so very clear-cut before the car crash. But now...? Knowing that he was sick...knowing that she was pregnant?
She had returned the suitcase to its storage spot and closed the doors on it. Her mind ran back to the times when Sam had refused to talk to her about having children, clamming up the second she raised it. Why had he done that? Over and over again? What hadn’t he been telling her? There had to be something, but his refusal even to talk to her about it had been hurtful. They’d got to a point when they had barely been speaking to one another.
Her brain had almost torn itself in two, trying to figure out his secret. Thinking of one scenario and then another. None had seemed likely, and she’d begun to believe that maybe he just didn’t want to have a child with her.
Emily had stared at the closed closet doors, knowing that she would do what was right. And the right thing here was to give Sam time to recover and then let him know about the baby. Because then there was a small chance—a tiny, infinitesimal chance—that now the baby was no longer hypothetical but real and here he might change his mind.
She couldn’t leave him without him knowing the truth. And if he heard the news about the pregnancy and still didn’t want to be there for her and their child then she would go. Step out into the world on her own, even though doing so would break her heart. She didn’t want to leave Sam, but he’d made life unbearable—had backed her into a corner.
Dr Waters shifted, looking at her colleagues, who all understood the implicit suggestion that perhaps they should leave, allow her to talk to Mrs Saint alone. They gave her sympathetic smiles and scurried away.
‘Of course, but before you go in there’s something you need to know.’
Her blood ran cold. Was there a problem? Brain injury? Dr Waters had mentioned that there might be the possibility of something like that once before. But Sam had recovered so quickly! His coma had been short, the ICP had dropped to normal levels incredibly quickly...
‘What is it?’
Sam could have anything wrong. Be blind. Deaf. Find it difficult to talk or maybe swallow.
‘We spoke once before about the damage that might have occurred to Sam’s brain because of the injury to his head, and after a quick examination of your husband we believe that there seems to be some sort of memory deficit—mainly amnesia. It could be temporary, of course. He might remember everything after he’s had another good sleep. But right now Sam seems...confused about his own timeline.’
Emily let out a long, slow, measured breath. Amnesia? She’d been fearing the worst! Temporary amnesia they could deal with.
‘Is that all?’
Dr Waters frowned. ‘Amnesia is a significant condition. I’m not sure you understand the full—’
‘I’m going in to see him.’ She cut off the doctor and stepped into Sam’s room. She’d been waiting long enough for this moment. Ten long days. Nothing more could keep them apart.
Ten days. It had seemed like a lifetime.
Sometimes in those ten days she’d held his hand in hers, taking advantage of the fact that he was unconscious, remembering the happier times when they’d been close, pretending it was still that way. Sometimes she’d read to hi
m from that day’s newspaper, hoping that the sound of her voice would bring him back. And sometimes she’d just sat and stared at him, mulling everything over in her head, thinking of where they’d gone wrong and how she could fix it. Imagining the day he would wake—the day his eyelids would flutter open and he would see her, sitting by his bedside like a sentinel. How he would smile and say her name, reach out slowly for her hand and kiss her fingertips...
Okay, so maybe she lived in a fantasy land at times, but surely a touch of escapism had never hurt anyone.
‘Sam?’ So much hope, so much need was in the pitch of her voice.
Her husband lay in bed, his face pale and relaxed against pure white starched hospital pillows, his blue eyes slowly opening, wincing at the light in the room before fixing his gaze upon her.
And smiling!
It’s been too long since you smiled at me like that...
It was like when they’d first been going out. The way he would look at her as if he was already in love with her. As if she was pure joy for him. Had no faults. Had not driven him crazy yet with endless requests to start a family. Okay, maybe not crazy, but she had tried to start that conversation lots of times. In the end even she had refused to talk. It had been too hard. Their conversations would always somehow end in arguments, and it had been easier just not to talk at all. She’d feared what would happen if they did.
The Boss Who Stole Her Heart Page 16
