For the first time all day an expression crossed his face as he looked at her and the desolation in his eyes made her gasp. Unconsciously her arm rose to grip his arm and she squeezed it to comfort him with her fingers.
‘Another woman I love leaves me,’ he said. The wind tossed his dark hair and she shivered at his pain.
‘Like you will leave me.’ He’d said it very quietly and she looked up.
Startled.
‘It will be a little different when I leave,’ she said, ‘because you don’t love me.’
Instead of answering, he looked down at the grave and said, ‘Now, Àvia? You think this is a good time?’ Then his face softened and he whispered, ‘Then rest well, my little grandmother.’ He took Cleo’s arm and steered her away from the crowd.
‘Do you know what she said?’ He didn’t look at her as they walked. ‘She said, “Do not let her get away.”’
‘Who?’ Cleo was a little worried about the way this conversation was going. At the crowd they were leaving behind. Had Felipe lost it in his grief?
He looked down at her but at least his face was no longer impassive. ‘No. I’m not going mad. My little grandmother told me she would haunt me if I let you get away. And I nearly did.’
She tried to pull her arm away. ‘Um... I’m leaving, Felipe. My flight goes in four hours.’
‘I promise that if you still wish to catch it when I am finished, I will get you there in time.’
He ushered her with his hand at her elbow to the car where Carlos was waiting. Felipe spoke quietly and Carlos nodded. When they were in the back seat together, Carlos shut the door and stood a few paces in front of the car door to prevent anyone approaching them.
He turned to her, then took both her hands in his. She lifted her chin. ‘What?’
‘You are never afraid, my midwife. And I would never do anything to make you afraid.’ He kept hold of her hands but more gently now. ‘I see I must work harder for you. Must open myself up, but I find this so hard.’ His eyes searched hers.
‘I don’t understand.’ She didn’t.
‘Yesterday, inside I was a young lover playing Romeo, yet on the outside I came across as cold and forbidding as my father.’
‘Romeo?’ She shook her head. ‘Where was he during that conversation?’ A small glimmer of light hit her.
He smiled. ‘Emotion of the heart. It is hard for me to show. It makes me sound formal when I try to let it all out.’ He shrugged without releasing her fingers.
‘You were nothing like Romeo yesterday.’
Then he smiled and his face finally opened up to show the man she loved. ‘But I will work on it. You will help me. You will always bring out the passionate dancer in my soul. If anyone can do it, it is you. For you are my angel. My midwife.’
She shook her head. Too much. Too fast. Too dangerous to believe in.
‘You see my problem?’
She still felt confused.
‘I love you.’ He shrugged those beautiful shoulders and she felt her pulse speed up.
Three crazy words she’d never expected him to say. But he didn’t give her time to question him.
‘I did not know, until after that babe was born in the street, that I love you with all my heart. I have done ever since that first night.’
Nope. He’d left her without even a word. ‘I don’t believe you.’
‘Did you know, that first morning, I stopped and looked back at your window, where I had left you, and was so torn?’
How could that be true? Not one word of the future had he spoken. She would have welcomed even one.
‘And what happened to all my clever plans yesterday, my love?’ He shook his head. Bewildered. Searching her face for the answers.
‘Yesterday?’ She said it carefully.
‘I was full of plans but nervous like a boy.’ He sighed. Disgusted with himself. ‘Later I wondered if I’d scared you with my serious face because I wanted you to say yes to what I asked you so badly.’
She remembered. ‘Yes, you did. Scare me.’ She nodded. It had scared her that he didn’t care about her at all. Not one bit. But maybe that wasn’t true? But she still didn’t fully understand him. ‘You wanted me to work for you so badly?’
‘No. Yes. I am doing it again. I just wanted you to listen to my plans for our future. And part of that could be work, but most of it is you and I together. But it was a shambles.’
She couldn’t deny it. It had been.
He smiled ruefully. ‘And here was me with a picnic basket in the boot and a trip planned to the Park Güell to ask permission to court you slowly.’
She blinked. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘We will do it all again and this time it will work.’ He shook her hands. ‘If only you do not climb aboard that plane this afternoon.’
Cleo’s mind raced as she pieced everything together. He’d been nervous, not aloof. Scared, not arrogant. Afraid she’d say no. Afraid she didn’t want him. Not asking about work. Or moving in with Sofia. But about the possibility of a future. With him. Together. Her confident, passionate, sometimes arrogant Felipe was a mess because of her? He’d been adorably nervous and had made a mess of it all.
Had she made him nervous because he’d cared so much that she agree to his plans? That’s what he’d said.
‘And you were so hard and unbending, my love. So angry and determined to leave,’ he said.
Yes, she had been that. Looking back. Firmly in protection mode. ‘You offered me a job.’
He dropped her hands and lifted them to his face. ‘My last resort to keep you here until I could move mountains and seduce you.’
She sat back. A small smile finally played around her lips. Now she recognised him. Here was her passionate flamenco dancer. ‘So your plans are to seduce me?’
He nodded. Decisively. ‘Absolutely, but again my grandmother would haunt me if that was all. No, my love. My plans are to make you my wife and live with you to the end of our days, teaching you again and again how much I love you.’
And he had her.
Right there. That was all he needed to say.
‘Dear Felipe.’ Though there was a touch of exasperation in her tone. ‘A little straight talking would have helped you yesterday. Do you know why I think straight talking would have worked?’
‘Tell me.’
‘Because...’ She swallowed. She’d known herself, had thought it, cried over it, but had never said the words, and would have to admit it out loud for the first time. ‘I love you. Have loved you from the first moment I saw you in that cantina.’ She leaned her head into him and tapped his chest with her finger. ‘You are so hot.’
‘I know,’ he said with an arrogant lift of his brow, and she laughed.
But the laughter died when he pulled her close, slid his arms around her waist and lifted her onto his lap. Thank goodness Carlos was blocking the view.
He rested his forehead against hers. ‘I adore you, and thank heaven for the night I found you, my beautiful Cleo.’
He looked down at her, their faces close together. Said softly, ‘So, when we go for a picnic, and I bring more roses, and we walk in the park, will you listen to my reasons why you should spend your life with me?’
‘Yes, I will listen, my passionate flamenco dancer.’
And then he kissed her, his relieved sigh deep and heartfelt as he cradled her face. She closed her eyes and sank into him, her arms around his shoulders, his big hands warm and gentle.
Finally, she’d found the man she’d thought she’d lost when one dawn he’d walked away from her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Six months later
THEIR FIRST WEDDING was held in the small chapel underneath the Sagrada Familia. Weddings below the church, where there were soaring archways, were not common. After all, it was a crypt, whe
re Gaudi, and others, rested eternally.
Only those with a certain postcode could be married there, and luckily Felipe had the right house. The architecture rose in stunning archways, a circular room with a flower of small chapels and the pulpit in the centre. Light streamed in through careful structures in the walls.
Felipe’s old nanny beamed and quivered with excitement from the front pew next to Alba and Carlos. On the other side of the circular vaulted room Sofia and Isabella both looked gorgeous in pink and smiled at him.
Felipe stood tall at the altar with his cousin Diego next to him. Later there would be another wedding in the grand cathedral and the enormous reception would be held in the town hall. But Felipe had wanted this tiny, intimate gathering first, in the place that had been so special to him for so many reasons.
And now she came.
The music began and the tiny congregation turned. Beside him Diego stirred as his Jen appeared at the door in palest pink.
But Felipe had eyes only for the woman behind the bridesmaid. His bride. His Cleopatra. His queen.
And she looked every inch the queen with her head held high as she walked slowly but confidently towards him. His heart swelled as the music did, and her eyes met his. Such love shone out at him. He adored her.
He could do nothing else for he had never been so happy and hopeful for the future with his beautiful Cleo coming to stand by his side. To be his wife. His love.
And tonight, after the second wedding and the main reception, Felipe had a surprise for her. Tonight he would teach her the first steps of his dance so that for ever, together, they would dance as one. Then he would carry her to his bed and love her with all the joy in his soul.
* * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Fiona McArthur
The Midwife’s Secret Child
Healed by the Midwife’s Kiss
A Month to Marry the Midwife
Midwife’s Christmas Proposal
All available now!
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CHAPTER ONE
JESS KNEW SHE’D made the right decision to come back. Standing at the front of the ferry as it chugged its way towards Thorney Island, she felt the cool breeze blowing through her hair, heard the noisy gulls circling overhead.
Thorney Island looked exactly as she remembered. Only smaller. She’d been brought here as a child by her father. Their annual holiday—one week away in a caravan, year after year, without fail. Until she’d got old enough to want something more.
The bustling harbour was filled with boats of all shapes and sizes: trawlers, dredgers, fishing boats and the occasional pleasure cruiser. It was as if she had only left yesterday, and the aroma in the air of brine and fish was just so familiar, so filled with happy memories, that it almost took her breath away.
She’d missed this, and it was something she’d never expected to feel—this longing. This grief. But of course it would remind her of the happy times she’d had here with her father. She should have expected it. Because remembering that happiness simply served to remind her of what she had lost.
The ferry slowed as it came into port, drifting in on the tide. She heard the harbour master and the others calling to one another in their thick Scottish accents and she smiled before she hurried back to get into her car, ready to drive off when they finally docked.
The waterfront looked the same—as if the island had been trapped in time from the second she’d left to this moment she was in now. She thought briefly about stopping to pop into the Harbour Café, to grab a coffee and a bite to eat, but she knew it would be busy, as it always was, and she was keen to get to the estate agents to pick up the key for her temporary rental property.
She’d have the rest of the day to settle in, and then tomorrow she would start work under her new boss, Dr Jack Campbell, who seemed to be a really nice man.
He’d interviewed her on the telephone and in a video call online, as she’d been unable to make it over to the island. He reminded her of her own father. They’d have been the same generation as each other and, with his silver hair and his twinkling blue eyes and his nice smile, Jack had made her feel very comfortable indeed.
She imagined that working for him at the island’s cottage hospital would be interesting and educational, considering how broad the work requirements were. And he’d really liked it that she was already familiar with the island as apparently he’d had trouble trying to fill the post—candidates had been turning it down as there wasn’t much opportunity to specialise, and most doctors were looking for their next step up the long ladder of success, rather than a small hospital.
The estate agency she was looking for was a little bit inland from the harbourfront, and she drove away from the waterside and found a small parking area behind the first street of shops. She parked, and pushed open the door of Wainwright’s Estate Agency, hearing a bell ringing merrily above her head as she walked in.
There were three desks all in a line, and behind each one sat an agent dressed in a grey suit. Over the left breast pocket of their jackets, they each wore a name tag. Two of the agents were on the phone, so she walked over to the female agent who seemed free and glanced at her badge: Moira.
‘Good morning, can I help you?’ Moira smiled, all white teeth and thick-lashed eyes.
‘Hello. I’m Dr Jessica Young and I’ve rented a flat on Haven Road. I was told I could collect the key here.’
‘Okay. Do you know who you were dealing with?’
‘Adrian.’
‘Ah. He’s not here today, but I can certainly help you. Have you brought your documents and ID?’
Jess delved into her bag to bring out all that was needed, and after a few moments of checking, she was passed a key with a label hanging from it.
‘There’s a map in the documentation, but Haven Road isn’t far. I can direct you, if you’d like?’
‘That’s okay. I think I know where it is. It’s that long road that runs towards the hospital, isn’t it?’
Moira nodded. ‘Aye, it is. Well, I hope you’re happy there. Any problems, you’ll need to contact your landlord. His details are in the pack.’
‘Thanks.’
Jess headed back outside and took a brief moment to suck in the briny sea air just one more time before heading inland.
Fresh air and a fresh start was everything her own doctor had prescribed.
* * *
‘You must be Dr Young—Jessica, isn’t it?’ asked the bespectacled, perfectly coiffed lady.
‘Call me Jess.’ She reached out her hand for the older woman to shake.
‘Call me Judy. I’m Jack’s wife. Also his receptionist and assistant extraordinaire.’ She smiled. ‘Did you have a calm crossing on the ferry?’
‘Very calm, thank you.’
Jess liked Judy. She had the look of a stern librarian, with her glasses attached to a colourful chain around her neck.
‘I’m afraid Jack has had to go out on a call, so he’s not here to meet you as he planned.’ Judy came out from behind her desk and indicated that Jess should follow her. ‘Can I get you a cup of tea?’
‘Oh, I’m fine, thank you.’
Judy escorted her towards a door that bore a plaque stating Dr Jack W Campbell, Clinical Lead.
‘He’s left a few things you’ll need today, so let’s get those.’
Jess waited as Judy searched Jack’s desk, opening drawers and rummag
ing, and let her eyes scan the room. It was stylishly decorated, and had some added touches that Jess assumed had been made by Dr Campbell’s wife. Some beautiful pot plants that she couldn’t name. A sofa to one side of the room, beautifully arranged with some modern cushions, a piece of cross-stitch on the wall, of a busy harbourside filled with boats, and a windowsill filled to the brim with family photos in elegant silver frames.
They all seemed to be of the same person. A little boy growing into the man he appeared to be now. Handsome, too. One photo showed him stood in his university gown holding a scroll, a beaming smile upon his face. And to the side was a picture of the same young man kneeling down with a group of kids, all smiling towards the camera as a hot sun beamed down upon them.
Where was that? Egypt? Somewhere in Africa?
Another showed the man standing in the midst of a jungle, his face turned up to the heavens as it rained, his hands stretched out as if he was grateful for the rain.
‘Settled in all right?’ asked Judy.
‘Yes, I have. I must thank your husband for the recommendation. The flat’s a good size.’
‘In good condition, too. Our son lives in the same building, so he did us all a favour by giving us his landlord’s contact details.’
Their son lived in her building? She smiled, suddenly nervous.
‘Ah! Found it!’ Judy brandished a file full of paperwork and a temporary ID card on a lanyard with her name on it. ‘You can use this until we get your photo taken. It’s great to meet you at last. Jack had no doubt about you at all during the interview, but it’s always better to meet someone in person, don’t you think?’
Jess nodded. ‘Absolutely.’
‘Okay! So, we’ll go through a few housekeeping bits and pieces and then we’ll get you started. Adam’s all ready to get you up and running.’
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