‘Congratulations.’ His voice was cold. He knew that. ‘You got your promotion.’
She leaned forward a little. ‘I got my promotion because they told me mine was the most inclusive recommendation they’d ever seen. They are thinking of using a more three-sixty approach to recommendations in the future. They realised it’s important that everyone can give feedback on a candidate, not just their superior officer.’
Travis was still. He’d heard she’d got her promotion but hadn’t asked any details. He’d still been unsure if what he’d done had been the right move for Ivy or not.
He gave the briefest nod of his head but didn’t speak.
‘I came to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry I lost my temper with you and misjudged you. I didn’t expect you to leave. I thought... I thought that at some point on the ship we’d get a chance to talk again. Re-evaluate things.’
‘But I was doing a job you didn’t think I was fit to do.’
She froze, her eyes darting away from his. When she looked back she pressed her hand on her heart. ‘I’m sorry, I should never have said that. You’re a wonderful doctor, Travis.’
He shook his head. ‘You were right. I needed to make a choice to get better. Aileen had already spoken to me about how continuing in the navy was probably triggering things for me. I hadn’t taken the time to think things through. Even though, subjectively, I think I’d already figured that out. Now...’ he glanced out the window again ‘... I have taken time to think things through properly. That’s why I’m here.’
‘And that’s why I’m here.’
He furrowed his brow. ‘What?’
‘I’m here because I’ve had ten weeks to drive myself crazy in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. About how I can say sorry to the man I love. The man I should have told there would be no need for waiting, that I would stay by his side while he got treatment. The man I should have told that, whether his treatment worked or not, I would always be by his side.’
He stiffened and shook his head but Ivy continued.
‘I want you to get better, Travis, of course I do. But I should never have walked away. I should have stayed by your side, right from the start.’
‘There’s a chance that I’ll never be better,’ he said softly. Those words were hard to say out loud. But ten weeks away from Ivy and ten weeks of counselling had made him realise it was important to be honest. ‘You should feel safe to be with the person you love.’
In the blink of an eye Ivy moved around the desk to be by his side. ‘Travis, I do feel safe around you. I’ve had a long time to think about this. My heart keeps telling me the same thing. I have to be with the person I love. You are a good man. If you spend your nights having nightmares, we’ll find a way to deal with it. I can sleep in another bed, although I’d much rather be in your arms. And if you have a nightmare, I’ll be there to support you when you wake up.’
She sighed and reached out to take his hands. ‘A number of years ago someone I loved told me I wasn’t good enough. It doesn’t matter that you never, ever made me feel like that. I had my own issues that I hadn’t admitted. I always had the little voice in the back of my head, and when I thought you hadn’t backed me for the job, all those feelings came flooding back. I’ve had weeks to think about that, and Aileen has been a great friend and support. She made me realise I had to work through those things and face up to reality.
‘And the reality is, I love you, Travis King. You’re a good man. The best man I’ve ever met and the one I want to have in my future—however that looks.’
Travis sucked in a long, slow breath. ‘Ivy, I can’t pretend I was happy when you told me I couldn’t do my job. But you were right, and I knew I had to step away. I’ve been seeing a counsellor for the last ten weeks and things seem to be going well. Will my nightmares ever stop for good? I don’t know. Have I thought about you every day since I left the Coolidge? Of course I have. But you thought I’d ruined your career, Ivy. The fact that you even considered I’d do something like that made me step back and wonder if you loved me like I love you.’
She went to speak but he shook his head. ‘You see, Ivy, ever since I met you I’ve let my guard down. Because it seemed like the right thing to do. You were the first person I felt a real connection to. I lost my heart to you—right from the beginning—even when I knew I wasn’t in a position to do that. When I thought that I’d hurt you I couldn’t cope. I had to leave. I’d put off seeking treatment for my PTSD too long. I requested an emergency leave of absence and resigned from the navy. I was lucky they agreed to my request and let me leave early.’
He paused for a second. She was watching him intently, her hands still in his. ‘The truth is I had wondered if I’d ever get the chance to meet someone and have something other than the navy in my life. I’d been approached a few times about going into private practice but had never even considered the possibilities. Here?’ He pulled one hand from hers and held it upwards. ‘I joined on the agreement that this company would offer services to veterans. I’ve done three surgeries every week so far. Mainly follow-ups on injuries received in service, a few surgeries on back and hip problems—long-term damage from the job.’
He looked out at the view across the bay. ‘It feels good to be here. I’m getting used to sleeping in my own bed at night.’ He licked his lips and looked at her again. ‘But there’s something missing.’ His gaze locked with hers. ‘A huge part of my heart.’
* * *
Ivy was glad she’d changed position. She was kneeling next to Travis’s chair right now. If she’d been standing, her legs would have been shaking. From the second she’d disembarked from the Coolidge and started on her long journey back home, she’d had one thing on her mind. Seeing Travis King again.
She was sure he’d hate her. He hadn’t answered a single one of her messages—and she didn’t blame him. But she had to be here. She had to be by his side. The longer they’d been apart, the more sure she’d become. Her earlier flurry of anger had disappeared. Her rational brain had kicked in, and she’d never felt so much like a villain in her life. She loved this guy. This was the guy she’d spent the last few years dreaming of meeting. Someone with whom the spark was so vibrant it could light up the sky. Someone who had captured her mind, and her heart.
Aileen had talked her through her feelings of inadequacy, the thoughts of never being good enough, and she’d realised she had to let them go if she ever wanted to live the life she should.
She kept holding Travis’s hand. Now she was here she didn’t want to let go. ‘Travis, I’m so sorry. All the dreams that you mention, and feeling like you’re missing a piece of your heart? I feel exactly the same. Since you left, nothing has felt good. Nothing has felt right. I know what I would be asking of you. I know that this time it would be me asking you to wait—to wait while I go on assignments that will last months. We never discussed things like this. And I don’t even know if that’s the kind of future you imagined for us.’ She blinked and swallowed the huge lump in her throat. ‘But if it’s not, I understand.’
He gave her an odd look. ‘If you hadn’t got the job, if you hadn’t been given the promotion, what would you have done?’
She didn’t hesitate for a second. ‘This. I would still be right here.’ Ivy took an enormous breath. ‘I love my job—you know I do. I thought career was everything, and then I met you and realised my job didn’t define me. I want a life I can live and enjoy. I want to be with the person that I love. And I have to work to make that happen. You’ve managed to create a new life outside the navy, and I can do that too.’
His voice was low. ‘I wouldn’t ask you to.’
She pressed her lips together. ‘That’s because you put me first. And I need to do the same. I need to put you first. If you’re willing to give me a second chance, we can work at it. I can try this first assignment. If things don’t work out, I’ll look at other career pathways. On
es that mean I can be by your side every single night.’
He gave a soft shake of his head. ‘I’m not your patient.’
She smiled at him, noticing the tiny lines at the sides of his blue eyes. ‘No, but you are my one true love. And hopefully one day you’ll be the father of my children.’
His eyes crinkled in amusement. ‘Are we going from blind date to children in one fell swoop?’
She shrugged. ‘We’ve wasted enough time. A really wise woman told me that when you know, you know.’
His eyebrows rose. ‘Who said that?’
‘Your sister.’
His eyebrows went even higher. ‘You’ve been talking to my sister?’ Then he gave her a sideways glance, as if scared to ask the next question. ‘Which one?’
‘All three. They’re quite a lethal combination. When you wouldn’t answer my messages I contacted them all. I told them it was all my fault. And that I wanted to make things up to you.’
He gave a quiet laugh. ‘Now I understand why they haven’t been constantly pestering me about you.’
She gave a nod and finally let go of his hands, holding hers out. ‘Think of this a recreation of our blind date. You’d just come back from deployment and the first thing you did when you arrived back in San Diego was to message me to meet. I’ve been waiting ten weeks to do this. It’s been the longest ten weeks of my life.’ She laughed and tilted her head to one side. ‘Remember all the eighties and nineties movies we talked about?’
He nodded and she grinned. ‘Then all I’ll say is I’m just a girl, standing in front of a guy I love, asking him to love me.’
Her heart was fluttering in her chest, wondering what Travis would say.
He stood up, gave her a smile and pulled her close. ‘I think he might say, I love you right back, Ivy Ross. Best blind date ever!’
EPILOGUE
THERE WAS ONLY one place they could possibly get married. The hotel on Coronado Island was famous and the gardens were currently packed with half of San Diego’s resident navy personnel, alongside Travis and Ivy’s families and friends.
‘Ready?’ asked Travis as he slid up the zip on her satin wedding dress.
They’d decided not to be traditionalists. Ivy’s next deployment was in a few weeks and they wanted to spend as much time together as possible. She picked up her bouquet of orange blossoms and dark green leaves and turned to face her soon-to-be husband in his tuxedo.
She straightened his tie. ‘Well, hello, handsome.’ She smiled. Outside the grounds were crowded with many of their friends in uniform, but Travis didn’t seem the least bit bothered that he was wearing something different.
He interlinked his fingers with hers as the sound of clinking glasses from the gardens drifted up towards them.
‘Let’s get out there and join in the fun.’ He smiled.
‘Can’t wait,’ she replied.
There was a huge cheer as they walked down the staircase and out into the gardens and shaded arboretum with an arch of flowers.
Travis’s parents and his three sisters were at the front of the crowd, dressed in bright colours, with Ivy’s parents and brother and sister at the other side of the aisle. His brother was his best man, and Ivy’s brother’s kids were already off playing in a corner of the garden, smearing dirt on their yellow outfits.
Isaiah Bridges gave her a nod as they walked down the aisle, from where he was sitting along with Tony, Aileen and a whole array of personnel from the Coolidge.
Ivy’s father stood to give her away and the gardens fell silent as they recited their vows. Love, honour and obey in sickness and health had special meaning for them. Travis was still on his journey but making good progress.
As the celebrant finished the service, Travis bent to kiss her. ‘When are we talking about babies again?’ he whispered.
‘That ship might have sailed.’ She winked as a nearby waiter appeared with a silver tray of champagne and she lifted a glass at one side. ‘Secret lemonade. Let everyone else think it’s champagne.’
His eyes widened. ‘Really?’
She nodded and grinned. ‘Really.’
Travis clasped his arms around her waist and spun her then lifted his own glass from the tray and raised it in the sky. ‘Everyone, I’d like to raise a glass to Ivy King, my blind-date bride!’
* * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Scarlet Wilson
Family for the Children’s Doc
Cinderella and the Surgeon
Just Friends to Just Married?
Healing the Single Dad’s Heart
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Second Chance in Barcelona by Fiona McArthur.
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Second Chance in Barcelona
by Fiona McArthur
PROLOGUE
Wednesday, eleven p.m. Private Maternity Wing, Sydney Hospital, Australia
‘SOFIA?’ CLEO SPOKE quietly as she crossed to the first-time mum in the birthing unit. ‘I’m Cleo Wren.’
Sofia Gonzales sat as haughty as a princess in her bed with her jet-black hair coiled in a plait on her head. Her long slender neck looked delicate against the pillows. Most telling, her elegant fingers twitched and then stiffened as she clasped them together on the coverlet with rigid tension. The girl stared unsmilingly back.
She looked fragile to Cleo. Even from that first moment she’d entered the room. So young and lost. A child, bearing a child. Alone. Cleo felt sympathy rise in her chest.
‘You are the next shift?’ The words were formal and surprisingly soft. The accent Spanish, her friend Jen, the previous shift’s midwife, had said.
‘Yes. I am. And you are Sofia?’ She smiled. ‘I hope we are simpatico as we will spend the next eight hours or so together until you meet your baby.’
A tiny lift of one corner of the lovely mouth. ‘Jen said you are a woman of warmth, determination and strength. I need that on my side. That is simpatico enough for me.’
Despite the brisk words Cleo could see how close to breaking this young woman was and she wanted to know why. She touched her hand and Sofia’s fingers closed around hers in greeting.
Sofia nodded. ‘The doctor has said he will see me to deliver this baby in the morning. He thinks I will be here in labour all night.’
‘You and your baby are both well and already working together. It is quite possible we can surprise him in the morning.’
‘I would like that.’ Labour intruded, and with the first links of connection between the two women established, something crumpled inside Sofia and she turned her face away to hide the weakness. ‘I’m scared,’ the girl whispered, with her soft European cadence. Sofia grabbed tighter to Cleo’s hand and began to gasp through the contraction.
Cleo placed her other hand firmly on Sofia’s shoulder and concentrated on transferring calmness and strength through her fingers. Young and alone. She felt so glad she’d chosen to come in here for the extra shift now. Jen had said this woman badly needed support.
Sixty seconds later, as the contraction ended, Sofia released Cleo’s hand, and Cleo mimed blowing out a deep breath to demonstrate.
‘Purse your lips and blow that contraction away,’ she murmured as she assessed how best to help her new initiate into the wonders of birth. ‘Allow your body to sink into the bed and sigh a big sigh after each contraction.’
Sofia closed her eyes and followed Cleo’s instructions obediently, and when she opened them again some of the fright had receded. She blinked and already her face appeared less tightly drawn.
‘There. T
hat one is done.’
‘Many more to come, though.’ Sofia tried to smile. ‘I’m still scared.’
Cleo nodded. ‘Doing something you’ve never done before asks a lot of us. But I’ll stay with you. By the time you’ve had your baby you’ll have achieved one of the most amazing things in your life. You won’t be scared any more. You’ll have turned into a lioness to protect your young.’
‘Easy for you to say.’ A little haughty impatience in the tone and Cleo held in a smile. ‘I’ll have been in agony and it will take hours.’
‘Not agony. But hours, yes, possibly. We’ll work on speeding labour up. But the journey will take as long as it needs to.’
‘Sí. The faster the better.’
Cleo glanced around the empty room. She couldn’t understand the lack of support for this woman. This was a private hospital that cost bucketloads to be admitted to. Why was she alone? The previous staff had asked, and she’d just said her family were overseas. But where was the baby’s dad?
‘Is there anyone I can call to come to sit with you as well?’
‘No.’ A long pause and then quietly, ‘My fiancé has left me. I am alone.’
The shock made Cleo’s eyes widen. Cleo’s husband had left her, too. Not as a pregnant woman in labour, thank goodness. But she understood Sofia’s sadness now.
Had he left Sofia for a richer woman, more acceptable to his mother? Like hers had?
Sofia went on. ‘Any family...’ A pause and a definite lip curl. ‘Any I would have with me are in Spain.’
So? ‘I’m guessing there are family in Australia, then?’
‘My cousin has destroyed my life by forcing my fiancé to leave me. He is the same as his father was. A pig.’
Well, Cleo could understand why she wouldn’t want her cousin here. That was fine. She’d been thinking of female relatives or friends. ‘No one else?’
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