A Nightingale Christmas Carol
Page 33
‘What’s been going on here while I’ve been gone?’ he asked lightly.
‘Not much.’
‘Really?’ His brows rose. ‘And that’s what you call getting shot? Not much?’
She stared at him. ‘How did you—’
‘I met David McKay on the train. He’d heard about it from Helen Dawson, in her letter.’ He looked down at her, his eyes full of concern. ‘How are you?’
For a moment she didn’t reply. It seemed so unreal, to be having a mundane conversation with a man she had thought was dead. It was certainly nothing like the conversations she had with him when she lay awake at night.
But perhaps they would come later. Now it was all she could do to act normal.
‘I’m all right now.’ She flexed her arm to prove it.
‘I wish I’d been here to take care of you.’
‘You’re here now.’
‘Yes, I’m here now. And I ain’t going anywhere.’
‘Do you promise?’
‘I promise. And I always keep my promises, don’t I?’
The self-control Dora had been holding on to for so long finally gave way, and she allowed herself to fall into his embrace. His arms went round her, holding her close. She pressed her face against the solid wall of his chest, breathing in the familiar smell of him.
‘You’d better never leave me again, Nick Riley!’ she whispered, her tears soaking through his shirt. ‘You’re staying here, where you belong.’
‘You try and stop me,’ he whispered into her hair.
She didn’t know how long they stood, locked together with their arms around each other. But suddenly Dora was aware of something brushing against her leg. She jumped back with a cry of fright, and looked down to see a slim ginger body winding itself sinuously around her.
Nick sighed with frustration. ‘That ruddy cat!’
‘Now, that’s no way to talk about your new pet!’ She pulled away from him and scooped Timmy into her arms. ‘Looks like the whole family’s back together again,’ she said.
Nick put his arm around her shoulders. ‘Then let’s go home,’ he said.
Dora smiled up at him. ‘Let’s go home.’
Acknowledgements
Many thanks as always to my editor, Jenny Geras, and team at Arrow. I would also like to thank my agent, Caroline Sheldon, for her endless support and good advice.
As far as research goes, I gained a great deal of information about POWs from Eden Camp in North Yorkshire, and the wonderful Imperial War Museum.
I would also like to thank my family – my daughter Harriet for listening to my ever-evolving plot ideas, and my husband Ken, for his support and his encyclopaedic knowledge of World War II. I knew it would come in useful one day . . .
The Nightingales Series
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Epub ISBN: 9781473517318
Version 1.0
Published by Arrow Books 2016
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Copyright © Donna Douglas 2016
Cover photography by Colin Thomas except background © Alamy and Getty
Donna Douglas has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Arrow Books
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781784750015