by Ally Blake
‘I will, in fact. I’ll be taking leave of my Kelly duties for a bit.’
She would? Yeah, she thought with an inner sigh of relief, she would.
He glared at her as though she’d said she was renouncing her name, her religion, and the old country just to be contrary. She raised both eyebrows and glared right on back.
‘The thing is, Dad,’ she said, ‘I currently volunteer at the Valley Women’s Shelter every week. Have been doing so for some time now. It’s tough, it’s terrifying and I love it madly. So much so I’ve decided my PR work for the family is going to have to slot in around that from now on rather than the other way around. In fact, I might even take a social work course, which would cut into that time even more.’
He opened his mouth, no doubt to cut her down twenty ways from Sunday. She held up a hand and said, ‘Not this time. The decision’s been made. And there’s more. I’m in love, Dad, with an amazing man who knows everything about me—everything—and he loves me anyway. Can you believe it?’
She could hardly believe it herself, but saying the words out loud finally made it all utterly, beautifully, intensely real.
‘I’m tired, child,’ he said, turning away. ‘Can’t you have this conversation with your mother?’
‘I will in good time. But I wanted to have it with you too. For you to know that I’ve reached a point in my life when I feel as though I might just be really, really happy.’
‘And you need to tell me this now in case I don’t wake up in the morning?’
She lifted an eyebrow. ‘That’s exactly why. So now you know. Your daughter has turned out just fine.’
He looked her in the eye, for the longest time she could ever remember him doing so. His eyes, so very like hers. His inability to forgive so far removed from hers. Then he settled deeper into his pillows and looked up at the fringing hanging off the canopy bed as though it held more interest than anything she’d had to say.
‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Now I know.’
It wasn’t congratulations. It wasn’t an act of contrition. Yet Meg felt her oldest wounds beginning to mend.
A soft rap on the door was followed by James’s face poking through the gap. James slipped into the room with a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
She opened her mouth to rouse at James, then let it fall shut. She wasn’t her father’s keeper any more than he was hers. So without another word she just hopped off the bed and walked out, pretending she hadn’t seen.
Feeling as if she were living a good inch higher off the ground than she had been her whole life, Meg floated into her old bedroom, grabbed her handbag, fixed her hair, swiped on some lip gloss, spritzed on some perfume and continued floating down the stairs.
She passed the library where the family had gathered for after-dinner drinks. Dylan called out, ‘Get in here, kiddo. I want to run through next week’s schedule. There’s a dozen odd things I need you to do for me.’
Her shoes touched solid ground. Telling Dylan he’d have to find someone else next week would take all night.
She caught James the butler’s eye as he eased silently into the room from another door. And seeing her escape, mouthed ‘sorry’ then said, ‘Did you know James is feeding Dad doughnuts?’
Brendan made to scold, but Cameron got in first, laughing his head off. And as their collective attention was diverted Meg took her chance and escaped.
And then she was gone, jogging down the dark front steps of the manor two at a time, the rush of summer air blowing her hair off her face, making her skin tingle, making her lungs feel open and free.
Or maybe it was the thought of a man with dark chocolate eyes, adorable curls, warm, strong arms, enough chutzpah to put her in her place, and a capacity to love her despite knowing the worst she had to offer that had every sense feeling as if it was truly alive.
She hopped into her Jag and burned down the Kelly Manor driveway, spinning gravel in her wake.
Only when Meg hit the locked gates outside the Juniper Falls Rainforest Retreat did she realise she hadn’t exactly mapped out any kind of plan.
She simply pressed the intercom. A sleepy voice answered. ‘Juniper Falls Rainforest Retreat, how can I be of assistance?’
‘Hi. Meg Kelly here. Can you, uh, by any chance, wake Zach Jones and tell him I’m here?’
After a pause the voice said, ‘I sincerely wish I could, Ms Kelly, but you are not down on my sheet as being expected.’
‘I know. And I’m sorry about that. But this is a surprise visit. Of sorts. A last-minute but long-overdue kind of thing. You see I’m here to…’
To what? Oh, to hell with it. Zach had laid himself bare for her, to her family, to the press, to his little girl. If she was ever going to prove to him she was right there with him, she had to do the same.
‘I’ve come to tell him that I’m in love with him!’
The gates whirred open instantly. She crawled through to find two men grinning at her from their booth. One doffed his cap, the other blushed like mad.
‘Take the route around the back of Waratah House past the garage,’ one said, ‘and keep on following the fence line. You’ll practically drive straight into Mr Jones’s private carport. Good luck!’
She gave them a jaunty salute and spun off, feeling high as a kite, and as terrified as if she were in the middle of one of those walking-down-the-middle-of-the-Queen-Street-Mall-naked dreams.
But there was no backing down now. Her secret love was out there for her father and all Zach’s staff to know. There was nothing, nothing, stopping her but herself, and herself was pressing down hard on the accelerator.
Zach was waiting by the garage at the side of his house wearing nothing but thin, faded, cotton pyjama bottoms when Meg’s noisy old car zoomed up, lights on high beam.
He hated to think what had brought her here, tonight, at such a time. He reached for her car door and opened it before she’d even come to a stop. ‘Meg, don’t tell me your dad—?’
She half stumbled out of the car. ‘He’s fine. He’s the same. But we talked. Well, I talked, he pretended not to listen. And it felt like letting out a sour, stale breath I’d been holding for almost thirty years. The next breath in was…ecstasy. I could never have done that without your encouragement. So first I have to thank you for that.’
He opened his mouth to try to slow her down, but she kept on going.
‘I talked with my mum too. Boy, did so many things become clear. Even you’ll be shocked. Or maybe not. I’ve probably used up your shock quota for the year by now. Or maybe I’d just been locked up inside all week and what I needed was fresh air and sunshine to see things clearly. You taught me that too. So thanks again.’
She looked up into the sky, arms outstretched, breathing deep, then seemed to realise the velvet black sky was littered with stars. She frowned.
Worried Meg might be about to spontaneously combust, Zach took her by the elbow and walked her to the octagonal pool house around the side of his property. Once inside the snug room he turned on a lamp, and placed her on a bamboo love seat.
Her entire, beautifully nubile body jiggled. He clenched his hands at his sides and struggled to keep his eyes on her face. ‘I hate to ask,’ he said, ‘but have you been drinking?’
She looked up at him, all big blue eyes and pink cheeks and red lips raw from being nibbled at. Or had she put on make-up since he’d last seen her? Lip gloss, rouge, mascara, perfume? Had she done that for him? His fingers unclenched a very little.
‘Coffee,’ she said. ‘Loads and loads of coffee from a couple of drive-through places on the way. I haven’t slept much in the past few days and I needed to be awake for this. And since I wasn’t actually sure that you had coffee on hand, or if you’d merely been using the promise of coffee as a lure all this time—’
She shook her head, seeming to realise she hadn’t taken a breath. Then she gingerly reached out and took his hand and gently drew him down onto the seat next to her.
His fingers gr
ipped hers and pleasure flooded through him. It seemed that even after she had put him through one of the most gruelling and sobering afternoons of his entire life, his body was not nearly as immune to her as his brain would have liked.
‘Meg,’ he said, his voice gravelly, ‘it’s after midnight.’
‘It is?’ she asked, looking around as if she only just realised where she was.
‘I’m usually used to functioning at this hour, but it’s been a very long day.’
‘Tell me about it.’ Her eyes swung back to his. Warm, inviting blue. Calm, settled blue. Vivid with a great purpose blue. A tiny ray of hope split the night. At least it felt like hope. Hope wasn’t something he’d experienced all that much of in his life, but it felt good whatever it was.
Not sure he could stand to have it dashed twice in one day, he asked, ‘Did you have a particular purpose in coming all the way out here?’
She turned his hand over and placed her palm against his. It was cool and small and light. He ached to pull it to his lips and kiss it for the longest time. But the purpose in her eyes was something he did not want to divert.
‘I don’t quite know where to start,’ she said. ‘I feel like I’m on daylight savings time. It all made such perfect sense about an hour and a half ago.’
He took a calming breath. ‘What did?’
‘That you came to the house today to tell me that you loved me,’ she said. ‘And for some great daft muddle of a reason I tried to convince you that it wasn’t the most glorious news I’d ever heard.’
Zach’s heart lurched. Gloriously.
‘You love me,’ she said again, shuffling closer. ‘You, Zach Jones, love me. You love me enough to give me the space I needed to confront my past so that finally I could see further than a designer-shoe-clad foot in front of my own face, which was as far as I’d dare look into the future for such a long time.’
He did. And he had. On the drive home he’d realised she needed more time. And that he’d wait for her as long as she needed. A half a day was as good as he could have hoped.
He did what he’d been aching to do since the moment she arrived and slid a hand around the back of her neck. ‘I must be crazy, but I do truly love you.’
‘You do?’ Her voice was so soft and unsure, her eyes so big and bright, Zach did all he could do and laughed.
His heart felt like a rocket ready to take off. The countdown had begun inside him the moment she’d hopped out of the car and if she didn’t reciprocate and soon he was going to explode. ‘If you have any feelings for me whatsoever then you’ll put me out of my misery and fast.’
Her blinking slowed and, as was her way, she looked him dead in the eye. At the same time she laid a gentle hand on his cheek and it was all he could do not to ravage her on the spot.
‘I’ve lived with a debilitating fear of rejection my entire life. I combated it by being whatever I had to be to be loved by as many people as possible. You made me feel like I actually had to earn your respect. And when I did my opinion counted as much as yours, if not more because it was fresh and new. For those reasons and about a trillion others I do love you.’
She needn’t have said another word for the rest of time. But being that she was who she was, she kept on giving.
‘I love that you own a million health resorts, but have a thing for chocolate muffins. I love that you push my buttons leaving me nowhere to hide. I love your eyes, your arms, your bare feet, and the crease that appears in your right cheek only when you laugh. But most of all I love that you are ambitious, and hard-working and wilful, but it took less than half a second for you to change your entire life for the sake of one small girl. You are a unique specimen amongst men. And I love you so much my heart is full to bursting with it.’
The rocket inside him went off, filling the last of the empty places inside him with nothing but warmth. ‘You have no idea what it feels like to hear you say that.’
‘So tell me.’
He laid a matching hand on her cheek, her softness seeping into him, melting away the last of his sharp edges. ‘After so many years spent not believing love was in store for me, I’m still halfway stunned that I actually believe you.’
She nodded. Glanced at his lips. Licked her own. Then swung her legs so they rested atop his. His soft cotton pants did nothing to hide the stirrings beneath.
‘So what now?’ she asked, her voice a husky whisper in the darkness.
‘Are you kidding me? Do you want a play by play?’
She pulled back and gave him a look he feared he was going to be on the receiving end of for a very long time. ‘I meant we aren’t the only ones affected by this.’
‘How about we keep the press release in the drawer for a few days yet?’
‘Don’t be smart. I meant Ruby and you know it.’
‘She made me pancakes, but she never made me a card. I have the feeling you’re going to be a big hit. And as for your other concerns, you have to remember she comes from tough stock.’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘You think the Kellys aren’t tough? They suck you in and there’s no getting out. Dylan and Cameron are intractable and they’ve both managed to convince perfectly lovely women to be with them. And you took one look at me and you were gone. Kellys are competitive, ambitious, opinionated, defiant—’
‘Sweetheart, they’re you.’
‘Me? I’m a marshmallow.’
‘Nah. You just do it prettier.’
‘Zach—’
‘She’ll be fine. Honestly. And at the first sign she isn’t then we’ll deal with that then. Okay?’
She thought about it a moment, then nodded.
‘Though,’ he said, ‘there is one other way to fix any concern you might have over your family’s influence over our girl.’
‘How’s that?’
He twirled her hair between his fingers. ‘Don’t be a Kelly any more.’
She shook her head so hard her hair fell in messy waves over her shoulders. ‘They may all be as mad as March hares, but I do love them too.’
‘Of course you do. Anyone who stepped foot inside that behemoth of a house of yours would see that as a clan you’re just about unbreakable. But that’s not what I meant. I mean you wouldn’t be a Kelly any more if you changed your last name to Jones.’
‘Very funny,’ she said, slapping him on his bare chest. He clutched her hand to him and her fingers curled against his bare skin. ‘So is now a good time to admit you’re not the first person I told?’
He waited for his offer to sink in, but she was obviously still too wired. ‘That you love your family?’
‘That I love you!’
‘Dare I ask?’
‘I kind of let it slip to the two security guards who let me in.’
Zach laughed. He laughed so hard the windows of the tiny thatched pool house shook. ‘Then again,’ he finally managed, ‘what’s the use of one more secret? Everyone’s going to find out eventually.’
‘They will?’ she asked.
‘Marry me and there’s no stopping them.’
Her eyes grew as big as saucers and he knew this time she’d heard him.
‘You can’t just say something like that to a girl, especially one in my highly caffeinated state.’
‘I can and I will.’
‘You really want to marry me? Even knowing everything you know? Even though I can’t…’ She swallowed down an obvious lump in her throat. ‘I can’t give you any more kids.’
Zach knew better. He’d Googled like a madman the minute Ruby was asleep. The operation she’d had was irreversible. She couldn’t conceive naturally. But it didn’t rule out IVF. He knew she’d have no idea because she’d have been too terrified to check. But now wasn’t the time for that. They’d get there when and if the time was right, as they seemed to get to everything else when they were good and ready. Only this time he’d make sure they’d get there together.
‘Meg,’ he said, running his thumb down the side of her face, ‘I cert
ainly don’t want to marry anyone else.’
‘Ah,’ she said, her voice getting wobblier by the second. ‘The last of the great romantics.’
‘How’s this for romantic?’ He took her hand, lifted it to his lips and left a gentle trail of kisses up each finger and across her palm. Her eyes fluttered closed and her mouth fell open. He took advantage, pulling her to him and kissing her for all he was worth.
She melted against him, warm and languid, and he had not a clue how much time passed before they fell apart.
She gripped his upper arms for support and her famous blue eyes fluttered open, looking into his as if she’d just had some kind of religious experience. God, he was going to love being with this woman.
He asked, ‘Tell me that’s a yes.’
She snuck her arms around his torso and hugged him tight, her chin resting on his shoulder, her words sliding against his ear. ‘Yes.’
Yes! He mentally punched a fist in the air.
He said, ‘We are never going to be able to live this down, are we?’
‘What’s that?’
‘Meg Kelly, heiress, society princess, only daughter of the Ascot Kellys, the Kelly Investment Group Kellys, marries orphan-made-good Zach Jones.’
‘Did you have any idea I could be so magnanimous?’ she asked.
He laughed. Warm all over now, and only getting hotter every second, she wiggled her body further atop his.
‘But first,’ she said, running a finger in circles over his bare chest, ‘before we go one step further, we need to get some things straight.’
‘Honey,’ he said, sliding a finger along the neckline of her stretch T-shirt. ‘Believe it or not I’m worth double what you are. A pre-nup wouldn’t be worth the paper it’s signed on.’
Meg breathed out long and slow and finished with a smile that hovered halfway between beatific and a threat. ‘Kellys don’t do pre-nups. Kellys do for ever.’
Zach’s next breath matched hers. For ever. Never ever did he think he’d see the day when he believed in for ever. But as he let his hand slide over her shoulder and more firmly down her back until she curled like a cat, he couldn’t wait for for ever to start. ‘So what do we have to get straight?’