by Joanna Neil
‘I think he might do more than eat the grass,’ Sarah said in a thoughtful tone, turning her attention back to the child. ‘I’ve heard that goats eat lots of things, and we wouldn’t want to see him eat your toys, or try to eat your dress, would we?’
Emily wrapped her dress closely round herself and shook her head vigorously. ‘Him not eat my dress.’ She wagged finger at the animal. ‘Bad goat.’ She started to move away from him, positioning herself alongside Sarah as they walked back to where they had parked the car.
‘Well, that was easy enough,’ Ben said with a smile.
He drove them back to Sarah’s cottage, going into the house with them when Sarah invited him to stay a while. Emily ran to play with her doll’s house in a corner of the living room, while Sarah rummaged in the fridge for cold drinks.
She set them out on a tray with a jug and glass tumblers and carried it through to the room where Emily was playing.
‘I’ve had a lovely day,’ she said, placing the tray down on a table and turning to look at Ben. She let her hand glide over his arm. ‘Thank you for taking us out.’
‘I’m glad that you enjoyed it. It’s good to see you smiling and happy.’ He moved towards her, his hands lightly cupping her shoulders, and for a long moment she thought that he would take her in his arms and kiss her. She found herself longing for the touch of his lips on hers, but the wait seemed endless.
He gazed down at her, his eyes intent on her face, but though he drew her near him and stood poised, his lips just a fraction of a breath away from hers, he resisted, closing his eyes, and it seemed as though he was fighting a battle for control of himself. Neither one of them moved.
Then the phone rang, and Sarah almost jumped with surprise. She frowned, gathering herself together.
‘I wonder who that can be? I’m not expecting anyone to ring and, as far as I know, Carol is out for the day.’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Unless it’s your mother, of course. Perhaps she’s been trying to get in touch with you and couldn’t get through for some reason.’
Ben looked mystified. ‘I can’t think why she would need to do that.’
Sarah went over to the table by the sofa and picked up the receiver. It wasn’t Ben’s mother on the phone, but as she listened to the man who was speaking, her mouth dropped open in startled wonder. She recognised that voice. She knew who it was.
‘Is that Sarah?’ he asked. ‘I’ve been given your number, and I’m not sure if I’m speaking to the right person.’
‘Yes,’ she said huskily. ‘That’s right. I’m Sarah.’
She heard a heavy, shuddery sigh come from the receiver. ‘Thank heaven,’ the man said. ‘I’ve been calling all afternoon in the hope that I would find you.’
‘I’ve been out. I had no idea that you knew how to get in touch. How did you find me after all this time?’ She saw that Ben had tensed suddenly, and she realised that he must be wondering who was on the other end of the line. She spoke hurriedly into the phone. ‘Can you just hold on for a moment? I need to speak to someone. It’s really important.’
‘All right. Of course.’
She reached out for Ben. ‘It’s my father,’ she said. ‘I knew his voice as soon as I heard him speak.’ She slipped her arm around his waist and pressed herself against the warmth of his body. Then she put the phone to her ear once more and said, ‘It’s so good to hear you. I had no idea where you were. How did you find me?’
‘My boss said that someone was trying to put you in touch with me. Your mother and I—we didn’t know what had happened. We kept phoning our old house—you were supposed to be living there—but no one answered, and the neighbours hadn’t any idea where you might be.’
He seemed to be having trouble getting his words out, and she guessed that he was as overwhelmed as she was. He paused for a moment to get his breath. ‘When we didn’t hear from you, we contacted the hospital where you used to work, but they said that you had left as planned. They didn’t know what had happened to you. We put the police onto it, but they had no luck finding you. Thank heaven you’re safe.’
He broke off, and Sarah could hear a conversation going on in the background. A moment later he said, ‘It’s your mother. She’s desperate to speak to you.’ He was laughing now, and Sarah couldn’t stop a smile from coming over her face as her mother came on the line.
‘Sarah, is that you?’
‘Yes, it’s me.’
‘After all this time,’ her mother said breathlessly. ‘You can’t imagine how worried we’ve been. We’ve tried everything to find you, and then your father’s boss told us that you had been hurt and that you had lost your memory, and I was so afraid that you still wouldn’t know who we were. I can’t wait to get back and see you.’
Sarah tried to get a word in edgeways, but her mother was still in full flow. ‘And how is Emily? Is she all right? Are you managing to cope with looking after her? I never wanted to leave the country in the first place. I knew it was a mistake. I should have stayed behind with you, then none of this would have happened.’
‘Mother,’ Sarah said, chuckling, ‘everything is fine, just wonderful. It’s so good to hear from you. When are you coming home?’
‘In a couple of weeks. Your father’s work over here will be finished then, and he’ll be back at his old place.’
‘That’s good.’ Sarah looked across at Ben to see if he was following this conversation. He nodded, and she sent him a quick grin. ‘I’m so looking forward to seeing you both.’
‘It can’t come too soon,’ her mother said. ‘By the way, we had a call some time ago from Jason. Do you remember Jason?’
‘Yes, I do, I remember him.’ Sarah felt Ben stiffen, and she ran her hand along his side and sent him a reassuring glance, saying, ‘It’s all right, Ben. It’s all come back to me.’
Her mother was frowning. Sarah knew it because she could hear it in the words that her mother said. ‘Who is that you’re talking to? Is that young man with you the one who got in touch with your father’s boss?’
‘You mean Ben?’
‘Yes, Ben. That’s the one. If it hadn’t been for him, we would never have found you. Tell him thank you, thank you, thank you so much.’
Sarah sent Ben a quick look, her eyebrows raised questioningly. He nodded.
‘He heard. He’s smiling.’ Sarah laughed, and then said, ‘You were telling me about Jason phoning you. What was that all about?’
‘He was trying to get in touch with you as well,’ her mother said. ‘Apparently, when you left the hospital where you were working, he told you that he would come and visit you when his contract came to an end. He was planning on getting a job in one of the hospitals in Derbyshire, but he was offered something better down in Kent. I think he just wanted to look you up and make sure that you were managing all right but, like us, he couldn’t find you.’
‘I don’t suppose he left a number with you, did he, or the name of the hospital where he was going to be working?’
‘He gave me the name of the hospital. I’m sure he’ll be relieved to know that you’re OK.’
Sarah sensed that her mother was about to get back into full flow, but she was conscious of Emily tugging at her jeans and she said quickly, ‘Would you like to have a word with Emily? She’s right here by my side.’
‘Oh, yes, yes, please…put her on.’
Sarah looked down at the little girl. ‘Nana and Grandad are on the phone. Would you like to talk to them?’
Emily nodded solemnly and Sarah handed her the phone. ‘Just say hello, and they’ll talk to you,’ she said.
Turning back to Ben, Sarah smiled up at him. ‘All the pieces are falling into place now. I remember that I used to work with Jason in A and E. We were very close, we even got engaged, but after a while we both realised that we weren’t really suited. The relationship wasn’t working that well for either of us, but we stayed good friends. Jason helped me through the bad times when I first started looking after Emily.’
/> She reached up to him and planted a kiss on his mouth, and Ben blinked and kissed her in return. ‘What was that for?’ he asked, his mouth tilting at the corners.
‘For being you, for being here with me and Emily. For everything.’
He kissed her again, and she clung to him, her lips parting beneath his, her whole body alive with the knowledge that this was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
After a while he broke off the kiss, and she realised that the thudding feeling on her thigh was Emily banging the phone against her leg. ‘We finished talking,’ Emily said. ‘I pressed the button and they weren’t there any more.’
Sarah began to laugh and clapped a hand to her mouth. ‘She must have cut them off,’ she said, looking at Ben. ‘Not to worry. I expect they’ll ring back before too long.’ She glanced down at Emily. ‘It’s a good job the phone will store their number for me. Did you enjoy talking to Nana and Grandad?’
Emily beamed. ‘Yes. They’re coming home soon, and they’re going to bring me a present.’ She pressed her hands together in joyful expectation, and then said, ‘I go play with my dolly’s house.’
‘All right.’
Ben still had his arms around her but now he said in a cautious voice, ‘You were telling me about Jason, and from the sound of things you’re planning on getting in touch with him. Are you sure that you’re not still in love with him?’
She shook her head. ‘I just want to let him know that I’m all right. We were going to stay in contact with one another just because we were friends. I might have thought that I was in love with him at one time, but that was a long while ago, and it was definitely before I discovered what real love was all about.’
‘And what is that?’
She looked into his eyes. ‘It’s the doctor next door. He’s everything I could ever want, and I couldn’t bear to think of him not being there.’
He drew her against him, and she loved the way that her soft curves were crushed against his long body. ‘You don’t know how I’ve longed for you to say that,’ he said on a ragged breath. ‘I want to be with you for always. I love you, Sarah. You and Emily both.’
He kissed her with all the pent-up passion of the months that had gone before, blotting out all the worry and uncertainty that had beleaguered her all that time. It was a warm, wonderful kiss that fired her blood and sent ripples of sensation to every nerve ending in her body. Sarah wanted that moment to go on for ever and ever.
It wasn’t to be, though, because in a little while they both became aware of small hands clutching at them, one little curled fist tugging at Ben’s shirt. They looked down.
‘What you doing?’ Emily was frowning as she stared at Ben. ‘Is you kissing my mummy?’
‘Yes. That’s right,’ Ben answered soberly.
Emily thought about that for a while. ‘Is you going to be my new daddy?’
The question was so overwhelming in its simplicity that both Ben and Sarah felt for the sofa behind them and sat down.
‘Yes, I’d like that, very much,’ Ben told her. ‘Would that be all right?’
Emily nodded. ‘Yes.’ She frowned. ‘Are you going to kiss my mummy again?’
‘I thought I might.’ He studied her momentarily. ‘What do you think about that?’
She scrunched up her nose and gave an awkward kind of shrug. ‘It’s all right, I suppose.’
Ben reached for her and drew her up on to their laps so that she was sitting between them. They both held her close. ‘We both love you, Emily,’ he said, ‘and we want to be your mummy and daddy. That would be good, wouldn’t it?’
‘Yes.’ Emily gave a contented sigh. She leaned back against them and basked in their cuddles.
Over the top of her head, Ben sought out Sarah’s lips once more, and flame ran through her, searing her from head to toe as he kissed her long and hard. After a while he reluctantly broke off the kiss.
‘Will you marry me, Sarah?’ he asked in a thickened voice.
‘Oh, yes,’ Sarah murmured, reaching for him once more and kissing him in the full knowledge that she had come home at last. ‘Yes, please.’
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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First published in Great Britain 2008 Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Joanna Neil 2008
ISBN: 9781408902448
Table of Contents
Cover
Excerpt
About the Author
Title Page
His Very Special Bride
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Copyright