‘It was,’ he told Nikki, and he took her hand. ‘And it was magical! The beautiful place, the smiling people, the beaches and the surf, we had such fun. We went up into the mountains, climbing to the very top of a peak that looked out over all the island, we wandered around temples where monkeys played, and bought flowers to weave in Liane’s hair—hair like yours, that golden-brown colour.’
He paused, uncertain how this was going, Nikki’s eager face suggesting she was taking it all in.
‘Go on,’ she whispered, so he did.
‘She was special, your mother. She laughed and sang—that must be where you get it—and everywhere she went people smiled at her. She was like a beautiful bird or a brilliant butterfly, you had to look at her all the time, to watch her for the extra shine she seemed to bring to everything around her.’
He hesitated, but then added, ‘And I loved her.’
Nikki was sitting very still, Izzy apparently turned to stone, but once he’d started, he knew he had to keep going.
‘The trouble was it was a holiday—two weeks—and at the end we both knew we’d be parting. I was in the army—they’d trained me as a doctor and I’d been posted to Townsville way up in North Queensland—and she had a fabulous job waiting for her in Sydney. So we’d told ourselves all along it was just for now, and living for the moment, for the day, probably what made it so special.’
He paused, remembering that fateful moment in the hotel.
‘As it turned out, we didn’t even get two weeks!’ he said. ‘Two days before our holiday finished I had a message from home. My father was seriously ill and I had to go home. The army gave me leave but it was weeks before he was out of danger, and by then I had to get to Townsville.’
‘You didn’t keep in touch, didn’t email, text, even read each other’s social media pages?’
Mac took a deep breath.
‘We’d agreed not to, but leaving the way I did, I tried to get in contact with her, but it was as if she’d been nothing but a dream. When she didn’t return my calls or emails, I understood she’d meant what she’d said but I cannot tell you how deeply I regret not persevering. I should have contacted her, if only to make sure she’d got to Sydney safely—but we’d promised not to spoil what we’d had by trying to make it last long distance.’
He took Nikki’s other hand and waited until she looked up at him.
‘I’m sure you’ve guessed where this is going, and I know this must be terribly hard for you, but I had no idea. Liane said she had been told by doctors that she could never have children. We lived and loved and laughed because we knew our time together was so limited. If I’d known, if I’d even suspected—but I didn’t, and what happened happened, and I cannot say how sorry I am.’
The silence was so loud it hammered in Mac’s ears as he waited for a reaction.
‘So you’re my dad?’ Nikki said at last, studying his face as if she might recognise it. ‘Are you sorry about that?’
‘Good grief, no, it’s the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me, apart from meeting Liane. Izzy worked it out kind of by accident, but we’ve checked and it’s true. I’m still getting used to it and I don’t know if I can be called a dad when you’ve gone all this time without me to do dad things with you, but I’d like to start, if that’s okay with you, and maybe if we start small and get to know each other, eventually it will seem right to both of us.’
‘You can walk me down the aisle when I get married!’
The remark was so unexpected that Mac could only gape, but Izzy burst out laughing and reached out to hug her daughter.
‘Oh, Nikki, you do bring everything back to basics.’
She pushed the long golden-brown hair off Nikki’s face and looked into her eyes.
‘I know this is all a huge thing for you to take in. It’s been pretty huge for Mac and me as well, but we’ll both be there for you, to answer questions or talk about the situation. As Mac said, he can’t become an instant father but I think he’s a good man and he’ll soon learn the job.’
‘It’s really weird,’ Nikki responded, shaking her head as if that might help all the information settle. ‘To think I’ve got a dad. Just wait till I tell Shan and the girls at school.’
And hearing that, Izzy relaxed, smiling at Mac across what was suddenly their daughter.
Silence fell between them, punctuated occasionally by a question or remark.
‘You really loved her?’ Nikki asked.
‘I really did,’ Mac said, with such conviction Izzy knew it was true.
More silence, then, ‘Does this mean we can shift into the doctor’s house with Mac? It’s a great house, I’ve always loved it.’
‘It does not,’ Izzy said firmly.
‘But you could come for sleepovers,’ Mac replied.
‘But if we moved in, then you and I would get to know each other better. You said we’d have to do that before we could love each other like a dad and daughter, and if we were living there you and Mum could grow to love each other, too, and then get married and we’d be a family.’
‘Pushing things, Nikki!’ Izzy warned, well aware of how the girl could tease, and embarrassed that Mac should be put in such a delicate position.
But she’d underestimated Mac.
‘It’s a great idea, but we needn’t rush things,’ he told Nikki. ‘And I don’t need your mother living in my house to fall in love with her because that’s already happened.’
Izzy simply stared at him, her lips moving in protest but no sound coming out, and when they did come out they made no sense.
‘You can’t—you don’t—that’s silly—’
Nikki, however, was ignoring her, her gaze riveted on Mac.
‘You’re kidding me, right? You’ve come down here, found a daughter and fallen in love with her mother—that’s fairy-tale stuff, not real life.’
Mac smiled.
‘Sounds like it, doesn’t it, but it wasn’t entirely magical. I had some rough times in the army and needed somewhere peaceful, and I remembered Liane mentioning Wetherby, just once. It was a place, she said, where nothing ever happened. That was exactly what I was looking for so, really, it was your birth mother who brought me here and that’s how I found you.’
‘Shan will never believe this!’
Izzy smiled at Mac and said, ‘It’s okay, that’s a normal reaction from a nearly thirteen-year-old. And I think the days of nothing ever happening in Wetherby are over—if you think Nikki’s excited about talking to her friends, wait until the town gossips get hold of this.’
Mac groaned, but he was smiling, and somehow the awkwardness that had stopped the conversation with his love declaration was gone.
Fortunately!
Gone but not forgotten. They lingered on the hill until the sun began to sink over the rolling hills to the west, then packed up their picnic and walked back to the car.
‘Can you drop me at the restaurant so I can tell Shan?’ Nikki asked, excitement shimmering in her voice.
Mac looked at Izzy who shrugged, and said, ‘Might as well get it over and done with,’ she told him. ‘The sooner the story starts on the rounds, the sooner it will die. But I need to go home and talk to Hallie and Pop before they hear it from someone else.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Mac said quietly, and Izzy groaned, but inwardly.
It was the right thing to do, but what she really needed was time away from him.
Not that she believed the love thing he’d said. How could he be in love with her, he who dallied rather than loved?
But having him with her to see Hallie and Pop was a good idea so she’d think about the love business later.
* * *
The couple she considered her parents were in the kitchen, sharing a rare bottle of wine.
&nbs
p; ‘Good,’ Hallie said, ‘you can each have a glass. Pop and I don’t ever finish the bottle. It always seems like a nice idea but one glass does us.’
Izzy and Mac joined them at the kitchen table, accepted their wine from Pop, sipped and—
‘Something you want to tell us?’ Hallie asked.
‘Yes, but it’s more Nikki than us. Well, us in some ways, or more precisely Mac, but—’
‘Perhaps you should let Mac tell us,’ Pop said gently, moving his chair closer to Izzy and putting his arm around her shoulders.
So Mac did, leaving little out, explaining that they’d told Nikki, and she was already spreading the news.
‘How did she take it?’ Hallie asked, and Mac looked to Izzy to answer.
‘Okay so far, but there’ll be questions and it will take time for it all to sink in. It’s not every day you find your father.’
‘Nor every day a father finds his daughter either,’ Hallie reminded her, looking at Mac with raised eyebrows.
‘In truth, I’m lost,’ he said, ‘so many conflicting emotions churning inside me. Regret I wasn’t there for Liane, that I wasn’t there for Nikki when she was born, then worry—or more probably terror—that I might not be any good at this dad business. And now I’ve found her, what if she decides she doesn’t want me? Not immediately—there’ll be novelty value for a while, I imagine—but down the track. What if she blames me for her mother going back onto drugs? For her mother’s death?’
Hallie smiled and poured him another drink.
‘Do you think all parents don’t go through that list of doubts and many, many more, every day of their lives? You just hang in there, do your best, be yourself, be as truthful as you can, and hope it all works out.’
‘You make it sound so easy,’ he said, and Pop shook his head.
‘We all know it’s not, but worrying about what might be never got anyone anywhere. It’s like the holiday you took with Liane, take each day as it comes and get as much joy as you can from it. That’s how Hallie and I always worked. Yes, there’ll be tears and probably tantrums and you’ll do or say the wrong thing, but with love, and patience, things usually come right at the end.’
Having made a speech far longer than she could remember ever hearing from Pop, Izzy was surprised when he turned to her.
‘Are you all right with all of this, lass?’ he asked, and Izzy felt tears prick at her eyelids.
‘Just about,’ she admitted. ‘Though it will take time for all of us. I think it’s the most wonderful thing for Nikki and, really, that’s all that matters.’
‘Humph!’ Pop said. ‘That’s the way you always think, but it’s time you put yourself first, Izzy. Think of what you want and how you would like this to work for you.’
‘Pop’s right,’ Hallie put in, and Izzy held up her hands in surrender.
‘Okay, but like we’ve all been saying it’ll take time. It’s a big change in all our lives, a huge change for Nikki and Mac—so we all need time to work out where we fit.’
And suddenly the energy that expectation and concern had built in her all day drained away, leaving her in a state of total exhaustion.
‘In fact, if you’ll all excuse me, I really need to have a hot shower and a wee rest before I can even begin to think about the future.’
Mac was on his feet immediately.
‘I’ll walk you up to the flat,’ he said, but Hallie held up her hand.
‘Let her go, Mac,’ she said gently. ‘It’s been a lot for her to handle as well, and do you think she doesn’t have a list of doubts and what-ifs as long as yours?’
Mac subsided into his chair once more, and Izzy beat a hasty retreat.
Her mind was blank—overloaded, she knew—and much as she’d have liked to have Mac’s arms around her, she was so emotional she knew where it would lead.
Which was another complication she’d think about later, along with that strange declaration.
How could he love her when he didn’t do love?
CHAPTER TWELVE
HE WAS WAITING at the fresh-water tap again the next morning, appearing like a wraith in the light sea mist.
‘So, shall we get married?’ he said as she bent over to catch her breath.
Catch her breath when he’d just made what sounded very like an extremely casual but probably serious proposal?
She straightened cautiously, and looked into the now-familiar blue eyes.
‘Why?’ she asked.
He kind of smiled and kind of shrugged, and reached out to touch her cheek.
‘It just seems like a good idea,’ he finally replied, no smile now, deadly serious.
‘For you, for Nikki, or for me?’ Izzy asked, the hammering of her heart against her sternum telling her just how important his answer would be.
Wishing...
Hoping...
‘For all of us,’ he said.
Wrong answer!
Her head dropped, her eyes watered, her body trembled in reaction and he reached out and put his hands on her shoulders, drawing her slightly closer but not close enough for body contact.
Just close!
‘And...’ he said, and she could read stress in his face, feel tension in his hands.
‘And...’ she prompted.
Wrong prompt!
‘Damn it, Izzy, you know why. I told you yesterday that I love you.’
‘You told Nikki that you love me,’ Izzy reminded him gently, although her heart had stopped hammering and was doing a little skipping thing in her chest. ‘Not the same thing.’
‘But you heard me say it,’ he protested, and she wondered if she should give him a break.
No way!
‘Not to me!’
He drew her close, clasped his arms around her back and rested his chin on her head.
‘Oh, Izzy, I have no idea why it’s so hard. Perhaps because I’ve thought for a long time that people say it too readily, too often, and the words lose their meaning. But I’ve known for days now, probably weeks, yet putting how I feel into words—’
‘You’re doing okay,’ Izzy whispered, feeling the love through the lips in her hair, the hands on her back.
‘I love you, Izzy. There, I’ve said it, but it wasn’t just words, it was a pledge of my heart, my life, my love for ever. All for you, my for-ever-and-ever woman!’
She raised her head to his for the kiss to seal the declaration, but put her finger to his lips before they touched hers.
‘Isn’t it my turn now?’ she asked, then had to laugh at the astonished look on his face.
‘But of course you love me,’ he said. ‘You must! We’re meant to be together. Even without Nikki it would have been you and me. Besides, you have to marry me, because being with you, loving you has stopped my nightmares.’
‘Well, there’s a good reason,’ Izzy teased.
But Mac was serious again.
‘Not as good as love,’ he said quietly. ‘I think we both knew there was something special between us from our first meeting at the beach that morning. It was as if a whole new world had started—for me anyway.’
‘For me, too,’ Izzy agreed, and now she did kiss him, revelling in the sense of belonging that filled every cell in her body.
‘I love you, Mac,’ she whispered as they pulled apart.
‘And I you,’ he confirmed, and he took her hand to walk back along the track—to a daughter, to marriage, to a family...and to happy ever after.
* * * * *
EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT
Secret royal prince Dr Elias Santini is stunned when he rushes to an emergency delivery. The patient is
Beth Foster…and she’s having his baby!
Read on for a sneak preview of
THEIR SECRET ROYAL BABY
by Carol Marinelli
‘How pregnant is she?’ Elias asked.
‘Twenty-nine weeks. Her waters broke as we got her onto the gurney. Elias, this baby is coming and very rapidly.’
They had reached the cubicle and Elias took a steadying breath.
‘What’s her name?’
Before Mandy could tell Elias he was already stepping into the cubicle.
And before Mandy said the name, he knew it.
‘Beth.’
She was sitting up, wearing a hospital gown, and there was a blanket over her. Her stunning red hair was worn up tonight but it was starting to uncoil and was dark with sweat. Her gorgeous almond-shaped eyes were for now screwed closed and she wore drop earrings in rose gold and the stones were rubies.
They were the same earrings she had worn the night they had met.
He could remember vividly stepping into her villa and turning the light on and watching the woman he had seen only in moonlight come into delicious colour—the deep red of her hair, the pale pink of her lips and eyes that were a pure ocean blue.
Now Valerie had her arm around Beth’s shoulders and was telling her to try not to push.
For Elias there was a moment of uncertainty.
Could Mandy find someone else perhaps? Could he swap with Roger?
Almost immediately he realised there was no choice. From what Mandy had told him this baby was close to being born.
His baby?
Don’t miss THEIR SECRET ROYAL BABY by Carol Marinelli
Available March 2017
PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Copyright ©2017 by Carol Marinelli
Also available in March from Mills & Boon Modern Romance is Carol Marinelli’s 100th book, THE INNOCENT’S SECRET BABY
ISBN: 978-1-474-05132-3
A FOREVER FAMILY FOR THE ARMY DOC
© 2017 Meredith Webber
Published in Great Britain 2017
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
A Forever Family for the Army Doc Page 15
