by Amy Andrews
‘Really?’ He pouted, his hands travelling south over the rise of her delectable derrière. ‘Can’t we do that later?’
‘No.’ She smiled as she removed his hands from her butt.
They moved into the lounge room. ‘What happened?’ he asked.
‘I got home after talking to you and I realised I didn’t love him. Not any more. Not the way he needed me to.’
Callum sat on the lounge, his legs suddenly weak from relief. ‘It took you long enough.’
She grinned at him. ‘That’s why I was so confused, I think. It’d been bugging me why I wasn’t falling all over him. He was here and a year ago that had been all that I’d wanted so why wasn’t I leaping into his arms? Why was I holding back?’
‘And why was that?’
‘Because I was in love with you.’
Callum held out his hand and when she took it he pulled her down beside him, snuggling her close, kissing the top of her head. ‘Good answer. When did you know?’
Hailey thought back and smiled, locating the exact moment easily. ‘That night on the balcony when you were dancing with Tom after midnight.’
She sighed against his chest, rubbing her face into his shirt. ‘I think I was coming to the realisation the night we made love and then Paul showed up and everything got so messed up.’
They sat in silence for a few minutes, holding each other. ‘Where’s Paul now?’
‘I drove him to a hotel.’
‘How did he take the news?’
Hailey sat up. ‘Not well at first. But we had a long talk. He admitted he’s always blamed me for Eric’s death and could see that it was unfair and he and I would never have worked out. Eric had always been our glue.’
Callum cradled her face with his hands and ran his thumbs gently under her eyes where they’d been all red half an hour ago. ‘He upset you?’
Hailey placed a hand over his. ‘No. It was just sad, that’s all. Cathartic and emotional and…sad to close a chapter of my life that has been so turbulent. But I think he’s going to be OK. He confronted some things he’d been hiding from so, yeah, I think it’ll work out for him eventually.’
‘Are you OK?’ he asked gently.
She smiled. ‘I am now.’
Callum leaned forward and rained light kisses on her eyes, her nose, her cheeks and her mouth.
‘How do you feel about marrying me?’ he asked, pulling away from her lips reluctantly.
Hailey looked into his eyes, searching for any uncertainty. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Of course.’ He frowned down at her, sensing her hesitation. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
Hailey took a breath. ‘Because of Annie.’
‘Annie?’
‘I think you might still be in love with her and I’m not her, Callum. I’ve already been with one man who chose another woman over me and I don’t want to invest in this to discover that I’m never going to match up. A real woman I can compete with. I can’t compete with a ghost.’
‘Oh, no, no, no,’ Callum denied quickly, cupping her face in his palms and dropping kisses on her closed eyelids. ‘A piece of me is always going to belong to Annie, as I’m sure a piece of you is always going to belong to Paul. She’s Tom’s mother and I loved her deeply. But I’m not in love with Annie. My heart is too full of you. It yearns for you. It adores only you. You are the woman of my dreams. Annie was my past. You are my future.’
Hailey felt a lump in her throat at the poetry of his words. His sincerity and love shone down at her. ‘Well, in that case,’ she whispered, her voice husky with barely contained tears, ‘I’d like very much to marry you.’
Callum smiled and leaned his forehead against hers, taking a moment to let her acceptance sink in. He pulled away slightly as a thought crossed his mind. ‘So being with another man who has a son doesn’t freak you out any more? Because you know if you take me on, that means you take us both on.’
‘Of course,’ Hailey said, hurt that he felt he even had to mention it. ‘I love Tom, Callum.’
‘Even knowing he’s not out of the woods yet? Knowing that he could relapse at any time? Knowing that if he does, his diagnosis is not good?’
Hailey swallowed, terrified at the very thought that something could happen to Tom. ‘Yes. Even knowing all that. I can’t live my life shut away from maybes. Cut myself off from something wonderful because of something that could maybe one day happen. ‘
‘My sentiments exactly.’
‘I’m always going to be a little on edge about it, though, Callum. That’s just me. But I know he’s a little boy who just wants to live his life. I’ll try and not be obsessive about it but you’re going to have to help me.’
He nuzzled her hair. ‘Well, that’ll be two of us on edge, then,’ he murmured. ‘But it’ll be my pleasure, helping you to keep everything in perspective.’ He found the thought that she would lean on him infinitely comforting. ‘Maybe we can be each other’s brakes?’
She lifted her face to him and smiled. ‘Sounds like a deal.’
‘But you have to know,’ he said, his fingers stroking her cheeks, ‘if it happens it’s not anything you’ve done. It’s just life, it’s unfair and no one is to blame and we’ll deal with it. Together.’
Together. She liked the sound of that. ‘Oh, Callum, where have you been all my life? I love you so much.’
He dropped a kiss on her mouth, groaning as her lips opened on his, asking for more. ‘Can we stop talking now?’ he asked against her mouth.
‘I thought you’d never ask,’ she whispered, pressing herself against him and letting his kisses sweep her away to a happily ever after.
EPILOGUE
TOM, DRESSED IN HIS little black tuxedo with matching bow-tie, squirmed between Callum and Hailey. ‘Can I hold him, please?’
Hailey looked at her sister and Rilla nodded indulgently. She was tired from a lengthy labour but with Luca’s arm around her and her son sleeping soundly, she felt strangely invigorated. She’d been so disappointed to miss Hailey’s big day but little Carlos had decided he couldn’t wait any longer, insisting on arriving on the day of his aunt’s wedding.
Hailey, still dressed in her simple white satin slip of a wedding gown, a daisy chain in her hair, moved over and fussed around, getting Tom securely seated between them before handing over her brand-new nephew. They’d come straight from the ceremony when Luca had rung through with the good news.
‘What do you reckon, mate?’ Callum asked, keeping an arm firmly beneath Tom’s for added support.
‘Well, he’s not as good as a baby brother but I’ve never had a cousin before so I guess he’s all right.’
Rilla laughed. ‘Why, thank you young man.’
Callum grinned at Hailey over Tom’s head and leaned across to kiss his wife of two hours. ‘Wait till we tell him our news,’ he whispered.
Hailey smiled back at her very handsome husband, resplendent in a black tuxedo, looking just as good as the night they’d met. It had been an unorthodox wedding day that had turned into a wonderful double celebration.
Her hand cradled her belly, content in the knowledge that Callum’s baby was growing safe and snug. Another Winters baby was going to be making its way in the world in less than eight months. Hopefully, a little brother for Tom.
Life was utterly perfect.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2927-7
THE SINGLE DAD’S NEW-YEAR BRIDE
First North American Publication 2009
Copyright © 2008 by Amy Andrews
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.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, place
s and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.eHarlequin.com