Runaway Bride
Page 15
‘He’s being very good now. Following doctor’s orders to the letter. And Kent will keep an eye on him.’
‘You could fly back whenever you wanted to.’
Damon slipped his arms around Bella’s waist and held her more tightly. ‘And I won’t stay in the same job forever. There’s this guy I know—a foreign correspondent who works in Toronto. He flies overseas to cover special stories, and he consults his wife and daughters before he takes on a job.’
‘Wow. Does his family really have a say?’
‘Sure. The girls wouldn’t let him go on a job where there’d been particularly nasty suicide bombings. When he was given the case, they looked it up on the internet. They asked their dad how he would know if someone had a bomb under his shirt.’
‘Good question. How would he know?’
‘He wouldn’t. So the girls said he shouldn’t take the job.’
‘Clever girls.’ Bella sat up and turned to him. ‘But why are you telling me this? You’re not planning on having daughters.’
Damon smiled. ‘Not until after we’re married.’
Her eyes widened with surprise. ‘I don’t believe you said that.’
Still smiling, Damon drew a ring from his pocket. ‘Would you believe me now?’
Now there were tears in Bella’s eyes as she stared at the diamond-and-ruby engagement ring.
She touched the ring with her fingertip. ‘It’s so beautiful. I know this sounds strange, but it seems familiar.’
‘It was Violet’s engagement ring. I told her I was coming to Brisbane to see you and she guessed. She wanted you to have it.’
‘Oh, Damon. How gorgeous. How sweet of her.’
The tears streamed down Bella’s face as he slipped the ring onto her finger. She dashed at them with the heel of her hand and tried to smile. ‘I’m glad I’m wearing pale pink nail polish today. I’d hate to spoil this elegant ring with something too out there.’
‘Don’t tell me your fingernails will be boring from now on.’
She rubbed her bare foot against his. ‘I can still be as daring as I like with my toenails.’ Another tear fell and she swiped at it. ‘I’m not sad. Honestly. These are tears of happiness.’
Damon was happy, too. In fact, he couldn’t believe how happy and calm he was. He’d expected to feel terrified at the prospect of pledging himself to one woman for the rest of his life, but as he drew his fiancée into his arms he was aware of the ten lonely years he’d spent without her, and he felt nothing but certainty and astonishing joy.
EPILOGUE
IT WAS a crisp, pale winter’s evening when Bella and Damon arrived at Willara Downs. Although it wasn’t quite dark, the lights were on in the homestead and as they drove up to the front steps they could see smoke curling from the chimney.
A door swung open spilling yellow light down the steps and into the garden. Kent and Zoe’s one-year-old son, Harry, came toddling ahead of his father, arms wide in welcome.
Bella was laughing as she jumped out of the car and hugged little Harry and then Kent.
‘It’s wonderful to be home,’ she said, looking about her, beyond the homestead gardens to the paddocks lush after a good wet season.
‘Did you see Blue Gums as you drove past?’ Kent asked.
Bella nodded. ‘It was weird to know strangers are living there now, but I hear they’re very good tenants.’
A year ago, her father had finally moved off the Blue Gums farm and was now living in a cottage in town. He was a regular visitor at Greenacres and he was bringing Paddy and Violet to join in this evening’s festivities.
They were celebrating a mock Christmas in July, which was Zoe’s idea. ‘You always seem to be away at Christmas time, and it’s too hot anyway. In July we can have traditional roast turkey and plum pudding in front of the fire.’
‘Sounds perfect,’ Bella and Damon agreed.
Bella smiled as Damon joined her, throwing an arm around her shoulders. They’d been based in Hong Kong for four years and they’d been the happiest years of her life. Apart from sharing Damon’s life, a joy which couldn’t be overestimated, she loved the lifestyle.
She loved exploring the crowded market places and the fascinating narrow streets, or catching the Star Ferry to discover the outer islands. She enjoyed getting to know the other journalists’ wives over noisy, laughter-filled lunches. She’d studied Chinese calligraphy and discovered a whole new art form.
But it was good to be home. Bella hadn’t realised till now just how uplifting it was to revisit familiar places and people.
While Kent took Damon to the back veranda to fetch a beer from the second fridge, Bella found Zoe in the kitchen.
‘How’s my favourite farmer’s wife?’ She was grinning broadly as she gave her best friend a hug, and remembered once again how overjoyed she was when Zoe and Kent announced their engagement after returning from—of all places—Prague.
She knew Zoe would relish her role as a farmer’s wife, and indeed Zoe threw herself into the lifestyle with gusto. She grew parsley and shallots and rhubarb for the farmers’ markets and she was always making relishes and jams and preserves.
This evening Zoe’s kitchen was filled with delicious roasting smells. She was glowing with good health and happiness.
‘Let me look at you,’ Zoe said now, releasing Bella from a bear hug and holding her at arm’s length. ‘You look fabulous.’ Her eyes narrowed as she stared hard at Bella. ‘And do I detect a glow?’
Bella blushed.
Zoe squealed. Then dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘Am I right? Is there a baby on the way?’
‘I wasn’t going to say anything, yet. I haven’t told Dad or Paddy.’
Zoe shrieked and hugged Bella again. ‘I won’t say a word, but I’m so excited. I’m going to be an aunty.’
‘Well, sort of.’ Bella laughed. ‘Even though we’re not related.’
‘Well, a godmother, then. Or something.’
‘You’ll certainly be a VIP in our baby’s life. I like the sound of Aunty Zoe.’
‘Is Damon pleased?’
‘Pleased? He can’t stop grinning. By the way, there’s one other bit of news.’ ‘Not twins?’
Bella rolled her eyes. ‘Heavens, no. At least I don’t think so. But we’re relocating to Brisbane.’
‘Oh, Bella. That’s wonderful. You must be so happy.’
‘We’re both ready to come home.’ She didn’t mention that Damon had made a ‘kind of’ truce with his dad, who also lived in Brisbane. Instead she patted her tummy. ‘We want this little guy to grow up in Oz.’ As Bella said this she looked around, then asked, ‘Where’s Abbey?’
Abbey was Zoe and Kent’s three-year-old daughter, as adorable as she was mischievous.
‘That’s a good question,’ said Zoe. ‘Where is Abbey? I take it she wasn’t with Kent to welcome you?’
‘No. I only saw Harry.’
Zoe frowned. ‘I hope she’s not rearranging my table decorations.’
Behind her, the oven pinged.
‘Would you like me to check the dining room?’ Bella asked.
‘Thanks. I need to baste this turkey.’
In the dining room, Bella discovered a long white table covered in crisp white cloths and gleaming silver, with wine glasses shining like bubbles. There were tasteful centrepieces made with pine cones and ivy. Everything looked in place.
She heard a sound coming from the lounge room next door, and poked her head around the doorway.
She gasped when she saw Abbey sitting in front of the fire with a hen in her lap. There were two more hens in a doll’s pram. A fourth was scratching at the carpet.
Abbey turned and she saw Bella and put a finger to her lips. ‘Shh,’ she whispered. ‘The chooks is going to sleep.’
Bella clapped a hand over her mouth to hold back her laughter. She tiptoed forward. ‘Does Mummy know you have the chickens in here?’
Abbey shook her head. ‘No, I’ll get into trouble. But I had to br
ing them into the fire, Bella. It’s too cold outside.’
Bella smiled and suggested that the adults would be coming in here soon, including Abbey’s grandparents. ‘Mummy might be cross, so I think we should put the chooks back in the hen house with plenty of straw to keep them warm,’ she said. ‘Wait here a minute while I get Damon to help me smuggle them out.’
Five minutes later, Bella and Damon were running back across the yard from the hen house, their secret mission accomplished. Their breath made white smoke in the frosty air. On the back veranda they paused before going back into the warm house.
‘Come here,’ Damon said, drawing Bella into his arms and nuzzling her cheek. ‘Have I told you you’re the prettiest mother-to-be in Australia?’
‘Once or twice,’ she said, hugging him.
‘Do you think our little one will get up to tricks like Abbey?’
Bella smiled and kissed the tip of his cold nose. ‘With you as his father I think there’s every chance he’ll be a gorgeous little bad boy.’
‘Or girl.’
Laughing, they went, arm in arm, inside.
* * * * *
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.
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First published in Great Britain 2012
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Barbara Hannay 2011
ISBN: 978-1-408-97263-2
Table of Contents
Praise for Barbara Hannay
About the Author
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Copyright