Evoking the memory of the last day she spent with him she gazed down at her palm. His kiss had been a butterfly-touching of his lips against her cold flesh, but it had felt like he had given his heart to her for safe keeping… And his words… Briefly she closed her eyes. His words would stay with her forever. “I’m happy that you were mine, Alice, even if it was only for a short time,” she whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Then, she vaguely remembered screaming and screaming as Hawk was pushed off the cliff, and then everything became a blur. She recalled being hit and threatened by Bashir, and she remembered the excruciating pain in her head and the noise.
It was only later waking up in the hospital that she had been told how she’d got away.
It seemed that Hawk had arranged for his men to airlift them out once they had completed the mission they had been otherwise engaged in. And it was just sheer bad luck that Hawk had been killed before the extraction by helicopter had taken place. The rest, as they say, is history. But at the end of the day, Hawk had completed his final mission—he had saved her life.
* * * *
The next month passed relatively slowly. The nearer Alice came to her time the closer she felt to Hawk. Some nights she awoke sure she could hear him calling to her. It was so real she felt she could reach out and touch him. Those nights left her in tears and restless. Her health was good, and her counseling complete, and yet she still felt uneasy. Upon her return to normal life she had undergone therapy. Talking out her year-long ordeal with professionals had eased the self-imposed guilt, and now she saw herself for the victim she was rather than the instigator of her troubles. However, Hawk’s loss had never been fully expunged, and somehow she didn’t want it to be. Just to know she had been with him at the end had given her some form of comfort.
John, Hawk’s cousin, was a rock she leaned heavily on, being there for her whenever she needed him. He’d helped her move into her new flat, helped with the decorating, and was there when the guilt took over, and she collapsed in tears. Now he was in the nursery setting up the new furniture. Calling up to him that coffee was ready she returned to the kitchen. Throwing the dog a biscuit she smiled as he barked for another, and unable to resist his whiskery face she reached for a second. Looking up as John entered, the smile left her face at the serious set to his.
“Alice, I need to go. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Okay, but what is it? What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, I’m, err… I’ll be back.” He strode out, leaving Alice feeling bewildered. She frowned. What could have happened in the last few minutes to change him from the laughing happy-go-lucky man into the serious set-faced individual that had just strode out of her house?
An hour later she looked up as with a shout John opened the door and came hesitantly into the room.
“Oh, John, you’re back. I was wor…” Her voice trailed off and she swayed on her feet.
“Hawk!”
Hurrying forward John helped her into the nearest chair.
“Look…” He rubbed a hand over his head. “Look I’ll leave you two alone, I…” He gave a tight smile and left, leaving behind him a tangible tension.
“Hawk,” she repeated bewildered.
“Alice.”
Speaking simultaneously they both smiled.
Alice swallowed. She didn’t know what to say, to believe. It was unbelievable. In a minute she would wake up and find it all a dream.
“Alice, I don’t know where to begin except to say, I’m sorry and I do still love you, and I hope you still feel the same about me?”
Alice continued to stare at him.
Sitting opposite her he took her hand in his and turning it over gently kissed the palm and closed her fingers around the kiss. The tension broke, and Alice’s heart began to beat erratically, and her stomach twisted into knots. With tears filling her eyes she stared helplessly at him. Lifting a trembling hand to his face she tenderly stroked his cheek, feeling the tightening of his jaw under her touch.
“Hawk, I can hardly believe it. I saw you die.”
“I thought I was a dead man when I got pushed off the mountain, but luckily although the fall was about a hundred feet I landed on a ledge. Barely conscious I hung there not moving for what seemed like forever. Then just as I was about to give up and let go I was found by the bandits we stayed with. They helped me back to their cave, but I was out of it for weeks. Of course they couldn’t call for help or take me to a hospital without too many questions being asked, so they just fixed me up as best they could. Eventually I regained my health, but I’d lost my memory. A severe hit on the head can do that to you. I had no ID and couldn’t remember anything except I was there for some important reason. The bandits recalled a woman being with me, but although they searched for you they could find no trace, but what they did find was Abdul’s men, all killed. I had no idea who you were. Hell, I had no idea who I was, or where I came from. So in the hope that eventually my memory would return or someone would come looking for me I stayed with the bandits. Then just a few days ago I suddenly and inexplicably regained my memory. I’d had dreams for a while, some bad, some…” He grinned. “Not so bad, positively erotic in fact, but everything else eluded me, and the more I tried to remember the more elusive the memories were. But as I said, suddenly out of the blue there you were in my mind, in my memory, and hopefully still in my life?” He drew in a deep breath. “Alice, is it too much to hope that you still love me?”
Alice started to cry. She couldn’t help it, such were her emotions she could no longer keep control. Sweeping her up in his arms, Hawk held her tightly to him, soothing her and stroking her back in caressing, comforting circles.
“Shush, Alice. It’s all right I’m here, and if you want me to go, well…I’ll do that. But please don’t cry anymore.”
Sniffing, Alice pulled back and stared into the slightly thinner, rugged face of the man she loved.
“Hawk, of course I still love you, and of course I want you to stay. It’s just I can hardly believe you are here with me. I saw you die!” she finished, her voice breaking in remembered anguish.
Hawk smiled. “Shush, my love. I didn’t die except for a moment, the moment when I thought I’d never see you again, never have you near, and never hold you in my arms again.”
“I’m pregnant!”
Laughing he swung her up into his arms. “I can see that and I… Please tell me it’s mine, that I’m going to be a father?”
Nodding Alice smiled. “Yes, yes, and yes, you’re going to be a father and a lover and a husband. Hawk, will you marry me?”
“Absolutely, my love,” he said before finding her lips in a most satisfying kiss.
Epilogue
Alice was married to the man she loved four weeks later. A special license had been obtained, and things had moved swiftly. The wedding had been all that she could have hoped for. Hawk’s health was fully restored, and he looked exceptionally handsome in his tux. Her father had given her away, and her mother cried and fussed and cried some more. John had been Hawk’s best man and his wife Miriam her maid of honor. Alice’s dress had been beautiful. Ivory taffeta, it had disguised most of her bump from all but the discerning few. Her cropped blonde hair had once again grown to shoulder length and was dressed with gypsophila and pearl drops that matched the earrings Hawk had given her as a wedding present. The reception had been held in the grounds of Hawk’s house, which had left Alice gasping in wonder. It’s gabled, sprawling edifice was charming. Made of sun-kissed stone it had been further enhanced by the rambling profusion of roses that trailed over its old-world charm. The grounds were a modest three acres, and were home to numerous species of wildlife and pet farm animals. And to top her very special day, a doe and her fawn had made a sudden and short appearance on the lawn as the photographs were being taken.
* * * *
Later that evening when all the guests had gone home, they retired to their room, and as the full moon shone down on th
eir marriage bed, Hawk made slow and perfect love to her. Dawn was breaking, turning the sky into a cornucopia of purple, pink, and orange when Alice felt the first stirrings of discomfort. Lying still so as not to wake her sleeping husband, Alice tenderly stroked her stomach, talking softly to her somersaulting child. But two hours later she had no option but to wake Hawk.
Panic-stricken, Hawk jumped from the bed and dashed around finding clothes and quickly packing her case.
Eight hours later with Hawk in attendance, Maisie-Rose Hawk was born. All six pounds four ounces of screaming infant came into the world with a full head of very black hair and the deepest blue eyes.
“She looks just like you, my man of the mountain,” Alice whispered, looking from her sleeping child in the bassinet beside the bed to the adoring eyes of her very new husband.
Hawk smiled. “The next will look just like you, my love,” he whispered, kissing the palm of her hand and folding her fingers around the kiss.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rosemary Anderson was born in Shipston-upon-Stour Warwickshire England and is one of seven children. Born into a military family she has moved all over the country. She now lives in the village of Adlington in Lancashire and shares her home with a large dog, a long haired Akita named Sumo and numerous cats. She enjoys reading, going to the cinema, eating out and spending time with friends and family. Before moving to Lancashire she spent many years in Bristol working as a Legal/Financial Caseworker for the Legal Aid Commission. Her passion is for all animals and of course writing.
For all titles by Rosemary J. Anderson, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/rosemary-j-anderson
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Man of the Mountain (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 11