‘Oh, Rob…’ She sucked in a shaky breath, and fell into his arms, the tears falling like sweet summer rain, washing away the hurt.
His lips touched her cheeks, kissing away the salty trails, his thumb smoothing them out while he fought to hold back tears of his own. ‘Yes or no, Maisie. Tell me now, for pity’s sake.’
‘Yes. Oh, yes, my love,’ she said, lifting her face to his so he could see the love there for him, shining silver in the moonlight. ‘Of course I’ll marry you again, and I don’t care where we live. I love it here, so long as you’re here with me. I can still do my photography, and I can write features and send them to magazines and newspapers, if I want, or I could just help you here, help you to build up the business, work alongside you, if you want me.’
‘Want you?’ He laughed a touch crazily. ‘Oh, my dearest, darling Maisie, of course I want you. I can think of nothing more wonderful than having you by my side every day of my life.’
‘My family are down there. My father came, even after all the things that have been said, even though he’s old and ill, he still cared enough to come to Jenni’s wedding. I’ll need to spend some time down there. And I’ve got other friends. Good friends who’ve stood by me. I can’t forget them.’
‘I wouldn’t want you to. And, anyway, I’ve got the business in London and I go down from time to time, as you know, so we can keep the house in Cambridge as a base and go down together, and you can catch up with your friends and family while I keep my firm on the straight and narrow. And now we can leave this place with Jenni and Alec, it’s not such a problem to get away. It’s going to be theirs, after all. And my mother might like to spend some time in Cambridge, and Jenni and Alec. It won’t go to waste. Talking of which…’
He drew her gently into his arms, kissed her tenderly, then shifted so he was sitting down, one leg bent at the knee. He patted the rug beside him and she settled there, watching as he opened the hamper and pulled out a bottle and two glasses, a little basket of canapés left over from the wedding and a big chunk of Mrs McCrae’s fruit cake.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Feeding you. I don’t know about you, but I hardly ate anything, I was too wound up, and I’m starving. Champagne?’
She started to laugh, and he gave a chuckle, then put the bottle down and lay back, laughing till the tears ran down his cheeks, Maisie cradled against his chest.
She lifted herself up on one elbow when she could breathe again, and stared down at his beloved face. ‘Make love to me, Mackenzie,’ she said softly. ‘I’ve waited such a long, long time.’
‘And you’re going to have to wait a little longer,’ he told her, kissing the tip of her nose before sitting up and reaching for the champagne. ‘I’m taking a leaf out of our daughter’s book, and doing it properly this time round. Only I’m not waiting two and a half months. We’re getting married in two and a half weeks, my darling, so pull up a glass, get stuck into the food and start planning.’
She wore the dress again, with the fascinator she’d worn for Jenni’s wedding as a veil, the net over her face hiding her eyes from him as she walked down the aisle on Alec’s arm.
Jenni was behind her, waiting to take the simple posy she had made of flowers from the castle garden, and Helen and the Coopers and Mrs McCrae made up the party.
Or that was the idea, but word had got out that the Laird was marrying his lady again, and the church was packed to the rafters, all the estate workers up in the Laird’s loft above them, anyone who could get inside crowded in around the back of the nave, and the rest were outside, cheering and waving as she walked in to marry the man of her dreams.
As she reached his side, he held out his hand to her, his eyes glowing with love, and she went to him with a smile that came from the heart. Their vows were the same they’d made all those years ago, but this time they said them with new conviction, a deep-seated sincerity that left the other in no doubt that this time their love was unshakeable.
He slipped the ring on her finger, the same ring he’d put on nearly twenty-two years ago, and then she gave him his, a new one because he’d thrown his own into the sea in a rage of despair when their divorce had come through.
And then he kissed her, his eyes warm with the promise of what was to come, and after they’d signed the register, witnessed by Jenni and Alec, they turned and walked back down the aisle and out of the church together, arm in arm, in a hail of confetti and good wishes. He kissed her again, just to give the crowd something to make them happy, and then with a smile and a wave he led her away, down to the hotel where they were having a lunch party.
She could hardly eat anything. Her nerves were strung tight, her heart was racing, and every time he caught her eye, she knew he felt the same.
As if he’d read her mind, he passed on coffee and got to his feet, holding out his hand to her. ‘Sorry to bail out on you, guys, but we’re off now.’
‘Off?’ Alec said, his face a picture, but Rob just laughed.
‘You’ll cope. We’ll be back the day after tomorrow. We’ve been waiting twenty years for this day, and I think you’ll agree we’ve earned it.’
‘Oh, Mum…’
Jenni got to her feet and hugged her, Alec too, and then they left the table, with Mrs McCrae dabbing her eyes and Helen trying to look disapproving and failing dismally, and he ushered her out to the car, which was waiting in the car park.
‘So where are we going?’ she asked, taking off the fascinator and dropping it down behind her seat as he put down the roof.
‘The place we sent Jenni and Alec. We’ve got a lodge in the grounds, with a hot tub and room service.’
Her heart rate hitched up a gear, and she rested her head back as he drove swiftly through the glorious scenery, pulling up after a couple of hours outside a beautiful old country house hotel on the shores of a loch. They checked in, and the receptionist asked if they wanted to book dinner.
‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘We’ll get room service.’
And the moment the door was closed behind them, he drew her gently into his arms and stared down into her eyes. Then he lifted his hand and cradled her face.
‘I love you, Mrs Mackenzie,’ he said gruffly, and, lowering his head, he touched his lips to hers in a kiss of promise.
He lifted his head, and she reached up and laid her hand against his cheek, relishing the feel of stubble against her palm, the contrast between them, yin and yang. ‘I love you, too,’ she said, her heart slowing now because there was no hurry. They had all the time in the world, and from the look of him, Rob intended to take it.
He crossed to the window and tilted the blinds, and the ring she’d put on his finger in their simple ceremony caught his eye. It felt strange after all these years, but he’d get used to it. And for now it was a constant reminder of what he’d so nearly lost. He’d thrown the other ring away, but this one he knew he would never take off, because it was engraved inside, with one simple word.
Forever…
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5525-2
MOTHER OF THE BRIDE
First North American Publication 2010.
Copyright © 2010 by Caroline Anderson.
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