Sydney Harbor Hospital – 06 – Bella's Wishlist

by Emily Forbes

  Everything they discussed was important but it didn’t get Charlie any closer to knowing what he needed to know. He felt they talked about everything but nothing because they didn’t talk about them. And he needed to know if there could be a ‘them’.

  ‘Have you finished your official duties?’ he asked as the song ended. ‘Do you think anyone would notice if you sneaked outside with me?’

  Her eyes sparkled silver and her pink lips broke into a wide smile. ‘You’re not going to drag me down to the frangipani bushes and take advantage of me, are you?’

  ‘Not unless you want me to,’ he teased. ‘I have a proposition for you,’ he added, ‘but I’d like some privacy.’

  Bella nodded silently, and then surprised him when she took control, keeping hold of his hand and leading him out into the garden, guiding him along the path. The air was heavy with the scent of frangipani flowers but Bella walked past the bushes and headed for the Moreton Bay fig tree that stood sentinel over the lawn. An old wooden swing hung from its branches, the seat big enough for two, and Bella pulled him down beside her under the canopy of the old tree.

  ‘I’m listening.’

  He wondered what was going through her mind. What she was expecting him to say? She seemed so calm. He was a bundle of nerves. It mattered so much to him to get this right. This was the most important conversation he ever expected to have.

  He stood up from the swing, too keyed up to sit still, and paced backwards and forwards, working up the courage to start. What if she said no?

  He took a deep breath and began. ‘This new list of yours, I was wondering if you’d share it with me, tell me what’s on it?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The wedding is almost over and you must have close to three months until college starts. What’s next on your list?’

  She’d been wondering the same thing herself just moments before. She needed to find something to occupy her time until college started otherwise she’d waste it daydreaming about things that were never going to happen.

  ‘I’m going to go out in the world and experience life,’ she told him. Being deliberately vague allowed her to keep her options open but also suited her because she really had no idea what she was going to do. ‘I’ve been given the second chance I’ve always wanted. Now I can do anything, so I’m going to search out as many new experiences as I can.’

  ‘Do you think I could persuade you to share some of those experiences with me? I want to ask you for another chance.’

  She hesitated. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting but this declaration wasn’t it. Or to be more accurate, it wasn’t what she’d hoped for. She hadn’t hesitated to join him outside but she knew it was because she was eager to have just one more moment with him. It didn’t mean she would be okay with a casual relationship. She still wanted Charlie but unless she could have all of him, emotionally and physically, she was better off alone.

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t think you can give me what I’m after. I don’t want a casual relationship, I want something deeper. Not that I expect to find that in a hurry but I want my heart intact so that when the time is right I’m ready. I don’t think I can risk my heart with you.’

  Charlie sat down beside her and his weight made the swing sway on its ropes. ‘Don’t give up on me.’ His brown eyes were unreadable in the darkness but his voice was thick with emotion. ‘I promise I won’t hurt you. I’ve already promised Evie I wouldn’t break your heart.’

  ‘I’m okay by myself,’ she told him. ‘I don’t want you to ask me out because of my list or because you feel sorry for me or out of some sense of misguided loyalty to me because I’m Evie’s little sister. I’ll be fine.’

  Charlie reached for her hand. ‘This has nothing to do with your list and definitely nothing to do with Evie. Just because I see Evie as my little sister it doesn’t mean I see you the same way. I’m asking you to let me date you. Give me a chance. Please.’

  He hadn’t let go of her and her fingers trembled under his touch. She yearned to give in to him but somehow she managed to shake her head again. ‘I’m going to use the next few months as a chance to find out where I belong and I don’t think I’ll be able to do that unless I spend some time by myself. I need to learn to be independent. I need to learn to stand on my own two feet.’

  ‘I get that, but what if I stood beside you? I want to be with you. I want to be the man you’re looking for.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I’ve missed you.’

  The way he said it, so simply, as though that explained everything, made her want to believe him and almost made her want to give in, but it wasn’t enough.

  ‘I’ve missed your courage and your spirit,’ he continued. ‘I’ve missed our conversations. I’ve missed everything about you. I’ve missed hearing your name on my lips, I’ve missed seeing you smile when I walk into a room. I’ve missed the taste of your mouth, the touch of your hand.’ He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. ‘I’ve had plenty of time to think over the past weeks and to work out what’s important in my life. And I know now that it’s you. I can’t imagine my life without you and I want to be a part of your life. I want to be beside you when you see the Eiffel Tower for the first time, I want to be the man you kiss standing on the banks of the Seine under a starry sky, I want to drink champagne with you at midnight and stay up and watch the sun rise.’

  ‘You want to do all that with me?’

  He nodded. ‘When you were in hospital after your operation I realised if I had to choose between being able to surf for one more day or seeing you, I would choose you. I’m not talking about a casual relationship. I’m ready to make a commitment to you. Not for the next week or the next month but for ever.’

  He reached into the pocket of his tuxedo and pulled out a thin envelope. He opened it and removed two sheets of paper, which he handed to Bella.

  ‘What’s this?’ she asked.

  ‘Two tickets to Paris.’

  ‘Paris? I don’t understand.’

  ‘I want to take you to Paris. In July.’ He got off the swing and knelt in front of her, holding her hands in his. ‘I want to take you to Paris for our honeymoon. I love you, Bella, and I want you to be my wife.’

  Bella’s heart was racing in her chest and her mouth was dry. He what?

  ‘You don’t need to answer me now,’ he said. ‘I’m prepared to wait, as long as you agree to go on another date with me. Just agree to let me love you.’

  ‘You love me?’

  ‘I do. And I want to be the best man I can be. For you.’

  ‘Are you sure I’m who you want?’

  ‘I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. You have made my world a better place and you have given me the freedom to be myself. That’s something I’ve been searching for ever since I had to give up surfing. When you thought I couldn’t give you what you wanted you didn’t judge me, you left me to be my own person, but I found out I didn’t want to be my own man, I wanted to be your man. If I could still surf I would give it up for you, I would give up everything for you, but the only thing I can offer you is my love. I thought I wanted freedom but I don’t. I want you.’

  The tickets to Paris were resting on Bella’s lap. She folded them up and slid them back into their envelope. ‘I don’t need Paris.’

  ‘But—’

  She reached out and put her fingers on Charlie’s perfect, plump lips, quietening him.

  ‘I don’t need Paris but I would love to go and I would love to go with you. I also don’t need time to think about us. I don’t need anything except you. I used to feel like a fairy-tale princess, locked away watching the world pass by, kept separate and apart from everyone else, restricted by my illness, but you have never treated me as a fragile invalid who needed protection. You are the only person who treats me as if I’m the same as everyone else.’

  ‘I don’t want you to feel as though you’re just like everyone else. I want you to
feel special.’

  ‘I do feel special when I’m with you,’ she told him. ‘It’s funny, I envied you your freedom but you’ve set me free. You’re my very own Prince Charming. I’ve been waiting for you all my life. I love you and I know where I belong in the world. I belong with you.’

  Charlie stood and lifted her off the swing, pulling her to her feet, and kissed her long and hard, and Bella knew that with Charlie by her side, loving her, all her dreams would come true.

  ‘So you’ll marry me?’ he asked.

  Her heart flip-flopped in her chest. ‘Yes, I will marry you,’ she replied.

  ‘And we can honeymoon in Paris?’

  ‘Definitely.’

  ‘Then I just have one more request,’ he said.

  ‘Anything.’

  ‘You have to throw away all your old pyjamas. You’re too beautiful to be wearing them. They’re not coming to Paris, they’re not allowed anywhere near you. From now on it’s red negligees only. Agreed?’

  ‘Agreed,’ Bella replied, as she sealed her promise with a kiss.

  All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

  All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

  First published in Great Britain 2012

  by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited.

  Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road,

  Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

  © Emily Forbes 2012

  Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Emily Forbes for her contribution to the Sydney Harbour Hospital series.

  ISBN: 978-1-408-97340-0

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Praise

  Excerpt

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Copyright