She looked around her London office one last time. Everything was just so. Her desk was tidy, the fingermarks had been polished off the glass coffee table, and the four brightly upholstered easy chairs were arranged around it. Through the glass partition, which looked out into the main office, Joe’s workspace was unusually clutter-free, and hopefully the two empty desks that stood alongside it would be filled by the end of the day. Before she started on job interviews, though, she had a visit from a client.
The intercom buzzed, and the security guard’s voice crackled through the small loudspeaker. ‘Visitor. Some charity or the other. He’s comin’ up, anyway.’
‘Thanks, Frank.’
Sam took a deep breath, smoothed down her dress, and waited for David to climb the stairs.
* * *
She was wearing a shade of dark red that Euan couldn’t quite give a name to but which suited her colouring perfectly. The dress was businesslike, but however discreetly it followed her curves it still couldn’t disguise them.
Sam was different. Her hair in a loose chignon, rather than clipped tightly to the back of her head. Her make-up a shade more natural. The overall effect was less like an attempt at a disguise, and a lot more like a beautiful woman, dressing to please herself.
‘Euan.’ She looked as if she’d just seen a ghost. If she was going to faint, he’d have to move quickly to reach her in time to catch her.
She didn’t faint. He should have known that Sam was made of sterner stuff than that. Instead, she drew herself up to her full height. ‘You’re not David.’
‘No, I’m not.’
She looked around wildly, as if she was trying to think who else he might not be. He noticed that one of her hands was trembling, her fingers clutching at empty air.
‘Sam, I...’ He took a step forward and she backed away. ‘Sam, I’m sorry if I’ve given you a shock, but I want to talk to you. Please.’
She gave him a small nod. ‘Come into my office.’
He followed her, keeping his distance. At least she hadn’t thrown something at him, or refused to speak to him, or called the security guard from downstairs to eject him from the building. Just as well. The guy had to be past retirement age, and Euan might have had to help him up the stairs.
He wasn’t sure where to sit down, thinking that perhaps she’d retreat behind her desk, but she waved him towards one of easy chairs. Perhaps that was a good sign.
‘I’ve something to say.’ She was still trembling.
‘Me too.’
His gaze connected with hers, and he almost choked. He’d promised himself that he would say his piece and then go, but Euan wasn’t sure whether he could do that. Wasn’t sure if he could ever let her go again.
She swallowed. ‘You first.’
That was fine. Whatever she wanted to say to him, it couldn’t change how he felt. Wouldn’t change what he was about to tell her.
‘I lied when I sent you away.’
She gave a little huff of impatience. ‘I know. That occurred to me as soon as I was done with wanting to strangle you. You were right about one thing, though. We were tearing each other apart.’
Poisonous disappointment crawled through his veins, heading inexorably towards his heart. ‘Is there anything I can say to convince you that things could be different between us now?’
She thought for a moment. ‘Words don’t count for much. Actions...’
‘I’m here. I wondered whether I should come or send a note first, but sending a note is the kind of thing a man does when he needs an answer before he risks everything. I’m not that man any more.’
She nodded, looking at him gravely.
The long, detailed speech he’d prepared and memorised seemed beside the point now. Really, it all boiled down to one thing. ‘I love you, Sam.’
‘But...?’
‘No buts. No doubts or reservations. I love you.’
She stared at him, as if this was the last thing she’d expected. ‘You do?’
‘Yes. I’ve come to tell you that I won’t let you down, and I’ll never stop loving you. If that’s not what you want to hear right now, I’ll go, but I will never stop waiting for you, because I know I can be the man you deserve.’
‘I was never in any doubt of that.’ Slowly, she seemed to be getting the gist of what he was saying. Blooming in front of his eyes.
‘It was your confidence in me that made me see that.’
She slid forward on her chair, seeming to stumble as she rose. Euan reached out to steady her and then she was in his arms. Sitting on his lap, crushed against his chest. One long breath. It seemed as if he had been holding his breath for the last two months, without fully realising how much he needed to breathe again.
‘May I kiss you?’ He still couldn’t quite believe that this was happening.
Her eyes were bright, almost like quicksilver. ‘Do you really need to ask?’
* * *
It was more. More in every way. That was the only way that Sam could describe it. Everything that she wanted and needed fell into place around his kiss. She clung to him, in case the lurch of the world turning should somehow throw them apart again.
‘Am I dreaming?’
He chuckled. ‘I don’t think so. You can pinch me if you like.’
‘You’re supposed to pinch me...’
‘Nah. I’m not going to pinch you.’ He settled his arms around her, cocooning her in his warmth. ‘You had something you wanted to say to me?’
He’d been listening. One of the things she loved about Euan was that he always listened. ‘I phoned the number you gave me. The one for the guy who runs a group.’
‘Yeah? Did you go?’
‘I went. Listened to everyone else’s stories. Told my own. I cried quite a bit.’
‘And did it make a difference?’
‘Yes. I didn’t think it would at first, and I hated every moment of it. And then I started to feel the way that I did when Sal and I started out. When I couldn’t wait to get out of bed in the morning to get to grips with the day.’
He smiled. That melting grin that she loved so much. ‘That’s the way it often goes. It takes a lot of courage to confront your past.’
‘It was more like desperation. I loved you, and I just had to find my way back to you. So I talked it all out. Sally dying. My mother. Stuff about having to earn love, not feeling I had a place in the world...’ He was nodding, and she broke off, laughing. ‘You know.’
‘Yeah. I know.’ He brushed another kiss against her cheek. ‘I never stopped loving you, Sam. You made me trust that I could finally come to terms with the past, and I realised that I trusted you to do the same. We just needed a little time by ourselves to achieve it.’
‘I would have come for you. If you hadn’t pipped me to the post and come here first.’
‘Yeah? When?’
‘I was thinking Christmas. Or New Year...’
‘Christmas! That’s two months away!’
‘Or next weekend possibly. I was wearing down much quicker than I thought I would. I had this fantasy about you on the beach, sitting in one of those dreadful old deckchairs...’
‘Hey! They’re our Monday morning deckchairs. They’re a Driftwood tradition.’
‘All right. Sitting in one of your traditional deckchairs, with your eyes closed.’
‘And then...’
The fantasy was so much better now that she knew how it ended. ‘And I’d come and sit down. You’d say something grumpy and then you’d open your eyes and see that it was me, and not David.’
He laughed. ‘It’s a good plan. I’m glad you didn’t, though.’
Sam couldn’t believe that. ‘You mean it wouldn’t have been good for your ego?’
‘Wonderful for my
ego. But I’m the one who never goes back, remember? And you’re the one that people don’t come back to. I prefer it this way round, we can start as we mean to go on. Turning the tables on the past.’
She was only starting to explore the true beauty of that thought when a noise at the door of the outer office made her jump. By the time Joe had rounded the corner and was able to see through the glass partition, she was standing three feet away from Euan.
‘Joe, what are you doing here? Has the Manchester trip been called off?’
‘No, I forgot something.’ Joe opened his desk drawer and drew out a box of DVDs. ‘Hi, Euan. How’s everything going?’
‘Good. I was just telling Sam how pleased we are with everything you did for us.’
‘Yes. He was,’ she agreed.
‘Great.’ Joe didn’t seem to notice that Sam only had one shoe on. ‘Gotta go, or I’ll miss my train.’
The door slammed shut behind him and Sam kicked off the other shoe. ‘What now?’ There was still no plan for anything past this moment.
‘You could lock the door and keep going...’
His grin made her want that more than anything. ‘If only. But I’ve got the first of six job candidates coming in half an hour. We’ve got two vacancies to fill.’
‘Then I’ll wait.’ The grin broadened. ‘I can make myself useful. Make tea. Answer the phone. Be nice to your candidates to put them at their ease.’
‘Please tell me there’s nowhere else you need to be tonight.’
‘I’ve got the whole of this week off.’
She hugged him tight. Kissed him, and then kissed him again. ‘You were that confident, were you?’
‘No. I reckoned that you’d send me packing and that the rest of the week would give me a bit of time to plan my next move. Send flowers. That kind of thing.’
‘So I’ve missed out on the flowers?’ As if she cared. She had Euan.
‘Not necessarily. I rather like the idea of wooing you back. I think I should do it anyway.’ He curled his arms around her waist. ‘We still need to plan, though. You’re just getting established here—’
She laid her finger over his lips. ‘It’ll work. We’ll make it work.’
He kissed her. Languid and lingering, and the only thing that she needed. ‘Yeah. We will.’
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE WEDDING HAD been organised in six weeks flat, and was more joyful than Sam could have ever imagined. Ann had helped her into her silk and lace dress, producing a blue garter that she claimed to have worn at her own wedding, and Paul had given her away. She’d recited the vows that she and Euan had written together, and he had never once taken his eyes off her. When she’d seen him waiting for her at the end of the aisle, she’d almost knocked a flower girl over in her haste to reach him, and David had jabbed Euan in the ribs when he’d started to shake with suppressed laughter.
Kathryn House was due to open in the new year, and a huge marquee erected in the empty grounds took the overflow of people. Ann and Paul, Sal’s brother Josh and his wife, Euan’s parents, friends from London and everyone they knew from the Driftwood Drugs Initiative. Jamie was there with Kirsty on his arm, and Juno turned up, her hair dyed purple for the occasion, presenting Sam with a piece of swirled, shaped glass that gleamed in the light of the lanterns that hung along the veranda.
‘It’s beautiful!’ Sam hugged Juno, who glowed with pleasure.
‘There’s a message for you both in there.’ Juno tilted the piece to exactly the right angle, and Sam stared at the coloured glass and metal strands.
‘Oh!’ Her hand flew to her mouth. ‘Thank you. We’ll make sure to do that.’
‘Yeah. Often.’ Juno snorted with laughter, grinning at Euan, who had decided that two minutes away from Sam was too long and had come to collect another kiss.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘I’ll show you later.’ Sam smiled up at him.
‘Where’s the honeymoon, then?’ Liz had squeezed through the throng of people to dispense hugs and kisses.
‘We’ve got a beach house. Somewhere sunny.’ Euan had made those two stipulations, but was still keeping the exact location a surprise.
‘Yes. No internet. No phones.’ Sam had specified those two details. Six months ago it would have been unthinkable. Now it sounded like paradise.
‘Sounds wonderful.’ Liz caught sight of Juno’s present. ‘Juno, that’s lovely. May I see it?’
For a moment they were alone in the centre of a crowded room. Holding onto each other tightly.
‘Happy?’ He smiled down at her.
‘Yes. You?’
‘I could be better.’
‘Oh, yes? And how could you be better?’
‘Another kiss and then I get to dance with my beautiful wife. Then it’ll all be just perfect...’
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460337677
A Doctor to Heal Her Heart
Copyright © 2014 by Annie Claydon
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