by Lucy Clark
They had presents, chocolates and lots of Christmas goodies such as turkey and plum pudding. They were all wearing ridiculous Christmas hats and blowing whistles when there was a knock at the door.
‘Ryan! You made it,’ Marty called, and gave his cousin a hearty slap on the back. ‘Let me introduce you to everyone.’ He did, and Natalie noticed Ryan had the same Casanova charm as his cousin. All the women in the room seemed to swoon as Ryan smiled at them, except for Beth, but then Natalie remembered Beth and Ryan had already met.
‘I take it everything turned out the way you planned?’ Ryan asked her quietly.
‘Well, almost.’ She indicated her arm.
‘But you’re happy?’ he quizzed her.
‘Very.’
‘Good.’ Ryan bent and kissed her cheek. ‘You’re perfect for him. You always were.’
Natalie smiled at him but Marty interrupted. ‘Hey, hey. She’s my woman.’
‘Your woman?’ Natalie raised her eyebrows warningly and everyone laughed. Marty’s answer was to press another kiss to her lips.
‘You’d better believe it, honey,’ he whispered.
They continued with the party until the sun had set, with many staff members dropping in at one time or another. By the time the last person left, Natalie was exhausted. Marty came and sat down on her bed and kissed her.
‘Had a good day?’
‘Wonderful.’
‘You look wonderful. Do you know that?’
‘Thank you.’
‘I’m not just giving you platitudes, Nat.’
‘I know.’
‘Do you? I can still feel reservations between us and I want to assure you they’re unnecessary.’
Natalie bit her lip, wondering if she could change the subject. ‘Aggie, eh?’
He smiled. ‘I have her well and truly eating out of my hand.’
‘You are so conceited.’
‘Yeah, but you love me.’
Natalie sighed. ‘Yes. Yes, I do. I’ve been fighting it for so long.’
‘Really?’
‘I think I started fighting it when we met up in Fiji.’
‘Now you’re joking, right?’
‘No joke at all, although there was no way I’d admit it to myself. I found it difficult enough to admit I was attracted to you back then.’
‘Curious about me at school, attracted to me in Fiji and in love with me now.’
‘Yes.’ She sighed again.
He leaned in closer. ‘You do know that I’ve been totally smitten by you since we first met up again?’
‘What?’
‘Oh, yes. First in deepest smit and then in deepest love.’
She smiled at his incorrect English, then focused on what he’d said. ‘You love me?’
‘Of course I do.’ He sounded surprised at her question.
‘But, Marty, are you sure?’
‘Yes.’
‘But…’ She paused but knew she had to continue. All her doubts needed to be washed away. ‘What about all the girls you like to date?’
‘I’ve already told you I didn’t kiss a single one of them.’ He crossed his heart. ‘I arrived in town, ready for a little fun, and found you.’
‘Not fun at all.’
‘On the contrary. Finding the girl of my dreams means a lot of fun ahead.’
‘The girl you were curious about.’
He smiled. ‘You were everything I ever wanted but you were already going out with someone.’ He shrugged. ‘So I decided to spread myself around but after the first week I knew it was useless. I wanted to spend time with you and I could see that Everley wasn’t right for you.’
‘Arrogant and conceited.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m just a man who knows what he wants, and I want you. I’ve won our bet fair and square, Nat, and now you have to accept my proposal.’
‘Which is?’
Marty once more handed her an envelope. She took it and said, ‘Another marriage proposal? I’ve already had one today, you know.’
‘Mmm. So you’ve said. It’s not a proposal. It’s your annual Christmas card.’
‘Oh.’ Natalie opened the envelope and took out the card. She stared at it for a moment then threw back her head and laughed. ‘Is that us?’
‘Yes. I found the picture in one of our school year books and scanned it, thinking it would make a wonderful card for you. I also wanted to give this back to you.’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out her bracelet.
‘I love this bracelet,’ she murmured. ‘And I love you.’
She accepted his kiss before he pulled back, saying,
‘But wait…there’s more!’ He pulled another present from his pocket, a small square box and handed it to her. ‘Please, note this is not wrapped in Christmas paper. It is not a Christmas present, neither is it a belated birthday present, and I demand that you rip the paper. I don’t think I could stand the suspense.’
‘I’m going to have to,’ she said holding up her bandaged hand. ‘Being nice and neat requires all ten digits working.’
‘They’re working. Five of them are just wrapped up, that’s all. Let me help you.’ They pulled the wrapping paper off together and then Marty opened the box. A beautiful gold ring lay inside, a square-cut turquoise in the middle and two diamonds on either side.
‘It’s beautiful and my birthstone.’
‘Can I put it on you?’
‘Marty, wait. I know you love me and you know I love you, but what if…?’ She paused. She needed to say this, needed to know he accepted the difficulties they were now facing. ‘What if the road ahead is too rocky for us? As I said, it’s not a good way to start a relationship.’
‘I know you might be scared, especially given your parents’ rocky marriage and then their divorce, but we’re not them. I may have the same colouring as your father but I’m not him, Nat.’
‘I know. I’ve always known you were nothing like him but still…I’m scared.’
‘But we’re not starting a relationship, my darling Nat. We’re continuing. We started our relationship over fifteen years ago. It may change direction now and then but we’ll always be together. For years I’ve been looking for my home…the place where I fit, and I fit with you, Nat. You and no one else.’
‘But, you know, the grass is always greener on the other side and all that. You’ve been footloose and fancy-free for so long. Is settling down what you really want?’
‘Yes, it is and I’ll tell you something about that grass. It isn’t greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it and I want to plant a patch all the way around us and keep on watering it for the rest of our lives.’ He placed a hand on either side of her face, his thumbs gently caressing her small bandages. ‘You belong to me and I belong to you. We always have and now we can go forward together and build a wonderful life.’
Fresh tears were gathering in Natalie’s eyes. His words had made every last doubt disappear and in that moment, even though she’d thought it impossible, her love for him increased.
‘I am so hopelessly in love with you, Marty Williams, and I want to be with you for ever.’
A slow smile spread across his lips and, after kissing her, he placed the ring on her finger. ‘Of course, you do realise we’re going to need to have at least four children for a decent Twister competition.’
Natalie groaned then laughed. ‘Four?’
Marty nodded. ‘The girls will have your beauty and the boys will have my charm.’
‘A lethal combination.’
‘And they’ll all have your stubbornness,’ he continued.
‘And they’ll all have your warped sense of humour.’
‘And they’ll all have our intelligence.’
‘And they’ll all be arrogant and conceited like their father.’
‘All right. Enough’s enough.’
Natalie laughed, happier than she’d ever been, and touched his face with her hand. Tenderly she kissed his lips. ‘We’ll
have our work cut out for us,’ she whispered.
‘I know.’ He kissed her back then grinned and raised his eyebrow on a rakish angle. ‘But I love a challenge.’
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5841-2
CHRISTMAS-DAY FIANCÉE
© Lucy Clark 2005
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All 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 incidents are pure invention.
First published in Great Britain 2005
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