A Very Single Woman Page 15

  She took it, folding it against her chest and bending her head to press her lips against his fingers. ‘Thank God you’re all right,’ she said fervently. She started to shake, the reaction setting in now she knew he would live. She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again and found him still looking at her with a strange intensity.

  ‘Why are you here?’ he asked.

  ‘Because I love you,’ she said, unable to lie either to him or herself any longer.

  His eyes slid shut, and he sighed gently and slipped into oblivion.

  Helen sat by Nick’s bedside all that afternoon, waiting for him to come round after Theatre. Lawrence came, and told her that Mr Palmer was dead and that the police had arrested the son, and then he went, leaving her with Nick.

  Finally, at about five o’clock, his eyes opened and he looked at her.

  ‘You are here,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I thought I’d dreamt it.’

  She shook her head. ‘No, you didn’t dream it, I am here.’

  ‘Why?’ he asked softly.

  ‘Because I love you, and I’m a fool, and if you don’t want me, just tell me to go away, but there’s no way I’m leaving you unless you tell me to. Not now, not ever.’

  His eyes were wary, the dawning hope in them quickly suppressed.

  ‘I thought you didn’t do relationships?’

  ‘So did I, but that was before I met you. It’s easy to make decisions about your future when you don’t know what it might hold, but when someone offers you the moon and the stars, it’s much harder to walk away, and I’m not strong enough. Whatever happened in the future couldn’t hurt more than this, and I know you’re not Tony, or anything like him. I have to trust you. I’ve got no choice. I’m nothing without you.’

  She took his hand, drawing in a steadying breath, and forced herself to continue.

  ‘On Saturday morning you asked me to marry you. Is the offer still open?’

  He was silent for so long that her heart almost stopped, but then he smiled, a shaky, unsteady smile that he couldn’t hold onto. He pressed his lips together and nodded. ‘Oh, yes,’ he said rawly. ‘The offer’s still open. There’s no time limit on it.’

  ‘Yes, there is,’ she told him firmly. ‘Just the moment you get out of that bed, we’re getting married.’

  His eyes closed, and when he opened them the joy he’d been suppressing shone clear. ‘I love you,’ he said softly, and she felt her control start to slip.

  ‘I love you, too,’ she said. ‘I know you’re sore, but—can I have a hug?’

  He held out his good arm to her, and folded her firmly against his chest with a ragged sigh.

  ‘I thought I’d lost you,’ he whispered against her hair. ‘I thought that was it, that it was over. I thought you’d leave, and sell the cottage, and my world was going to fall apart.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said gently. ‘I didn’t want to hurt you, but I panicked. I didn’t realise I meant so much to you—I didn’t realise you meant so much to me. I thought there was still time to pull back, but there wasn’t.’

  ‘There was never time,’ he said. ‘We’re meant to be together.’ His hand stroked her back soothingly, and she lay with her head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart that told her he was alive.

  She didn’t deserve to be so happy, she thought. He was right, they were meant to be together. She’d nearly lost him twice, but it was never going to happen again. She wasn’t going to let him out of her sight.

  There was a knock on the door, and she lifted her head to see Sam framed in the doorway, a couple in their sixties standing behind him, their hands on his shoulders.

  ‘Dad?’ he said warily, and Nick lifted his head and held his arms out to him.

  Helen shifted out of the way as the boy flew across the room and landed on his chest. She saw Nick wince, but he said nothing, just clung to the boy with both arms and held him tight, rocking him gently.

  ‘They said a man shot you,’ Sam sobbed.

  ‘He did. It’s all right, though. I’m OK. He just got my shoulder.’

  ‘Can I see the bullet wound?’ he asked ghoulishly, sniffing and scrubbing his nose on his hand, and Nick laughed.

  ‘Maybe later. It’s lots of little ones, actually. It was a shotgun.’

  Sam’s eyes widened, clearly impressed. ‘A sawn-off shotgun?’

  Nick chuckled painfully. ‘I don’t think so. Just an ordinary one. I don’t know, I didn’t stop to ask.’

  He looked past the boy to the couple hovering behind him, and dredged up a smile.

  ‘Hi.’

  ‘Never mind “hi”. What do you think you’re doing, getting yourself shot?’ the woman asked, and turned her face into the man’s shoulder with a little sob.

  ‘Come on, Mum, I’m all right,’ Nick said bracingly. He shifted himself up the bed a little with a grunt, and turned to Helen, holding out his hand to her. He drew her to his side and looked up at his parents.

  ‘Mum, Dad, I want you to meet Helen Moore.’

  They looked at her with interest. ‘Sam’s talked about you. You’re the new doctor. You bought Mrs Smith’s cottage, didn’t you?’ Nick’s father said.

  Helen nodded. ‘Yes, I did.’

  ‘And she’s going to marry me,’ Nick said firmly. ‘Just as soon as I’m out of here.’

  Sam sat bolt upright on the bed and stared at her. ‘You are? Wicked! I’m going to have a mum again!’ He stopped in mid-whoop and looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Are you going to make me eat vegetables?’ he asked suspiciously, and Helen laughed.

  ‘Not all the time,’ she promised, and his face relaxed into a smile again.

  ‘Excellent. Can Tommy still come and play in the tree-house?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Wicked.’

  Nick’s parents looked down at her and smiled. ‘Welcome to the family,’ they said warmly, and Nick squeezed her hand.

  ‘Yes, welcome to the family,’ he echoed.

  Sam stood up and wrapped his skinny arms around her, and she felt a huge lump in her throat.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said softly. ‘All of you.’

  Her eyes met Nick’s over Sam’s head, and all the love he felt was written clearly across his face.

  There was a tap on the door, and Lawrence came in, took one look at them and grinned.

  ‘Thank God for that,’ he said. ‘I’ll cancel the advert for another partner.’

  Nick hugged her and Sam closer. ‘You do that thing,’ he advised. ‘She’s going nowhere. She’s staying here with me.’

  Nothing had ever sounded better.

  ISBN: 978-1-4603-5702-6

  A VERY SINGLE WOMAN

  First North American Publication 2002

  Copyright © 2002 by Caroline Anderson

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

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