Doctor and Son
Page 18
‘Hi, there,’ he murmured, his lips curving into a gentle smile.
‘Hi, there, yourself.’ She smiled back. ‘Rough evening?’
‘You could say that.’ A slight frown creased his forehead. ‘I didn’t hear Nick’s car.’
‘I came back by taxi.’
His eyes shot to the clock on the mantelpiece, and the frown on his forehead deepened. ‘But it’s not even ten o’clock. What happened? Annie, did that bastard—?’
She put her fingers to his lips quickly. ‘Let me put Jamie to bed, and then I’ll explain.’
Gently she eased Jamie off his chest and carried him through to his bed. He was dead to the world, and it didn’t take long to get him into his pyjamas and into bed, but it was clearly too long for Gideon because he whirled round impatiently as soon as she came back to the sitting room.
‘OK, what happened?’ he demanded without preamble.
‘You were right,’ she said, sitting down on the sofa. ‘I did have some old ghosts, some demons.’
He nodded slowly. ‘And have you…?’ He paused. ‘Have you laid them to rest, or…?’
She smiled. ‘Come and sit down, and I’ll tell you exactly what happened.’
And she told him. She told him everything Nick had said, and about the plate of tagliatelle.
‘Lord, but I wish I’d been there,’ Gideon exclaimed, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes with the back of his hand. ‘I’d have given a month’s salary to see Nick’s face, and the faces of the other diners when you upended that plate. The restaurant was busy, I hope?’
Her lips quirked. ‘There wasn’t a spare table.’
‘Perfect.’ He grinned, then his smile became a little lopsided. ‘I didn’t want to do that, you know—practically force you go out with Nick—but I thought for your own sake…’
‘I know.’ She nodded. ‘So what now, Gideon? I’ve done what you asked—faced my fears. What happens now?’
He reached out and caught her hand in his, his face suddenly unsure, uncertain. ‘Annie, I know I’m not Jamie’s father, but I love your son as much as if he were my own.’
‘He told me this morning that he’d like you to be his daddy.’
‘Did he?’
‘Yes, he did.’
‘Then do you think…?’ He stared down at her hand and began to awkwardly twist the single ring she wore on her right hand between his fingers. ‘Do you think it would matter to him eventually that I wasn’t his real father?’
‘Gideon, some anonymous donor to a sperm bank would be as much of a father to Jamie as Nick has been, or ever wants to be.’
‘And what about you?’ he asked.
She couldn’t resist it. ‘Well, I don’t actually want a daddy.’
‘Annie, you know what I mean,’ he protested. ‘Could you…? Do you think you could ever love me enough to contemplate spending the rest of your life with me?’
His hair was sticking up all over the place as though he and Jamie had been playing some pretty energetic games, and she stretched up and smoothed it down. ‘Oh, Gideon, don’t you know even now how much I love you?’
‘I’d like to think that you do, but Nick…He’s everything I’m not…’
‘I don’t want you to be like Nick,’ she protested. ‘I want you to stay exactly the way you are because I love you, you big idiot.’
‘You do?’
‘Uh-huh. After tonight I know with absolute certainty that you’re everything I always wanted. Everything I thought I’d never have.’
‘Oh, lass.’ He kissed her long and hard, then drew her into his arms and held her tight. ‘I wish I’d been born ten centuries ago. I could have got out my sword, fought him for you.’
‘Slapped your gauntlet across his face, then demanded a duel at dawn?’ she said with a bubble of laughter.
Gideon’s lips quirked ruefully. ‘Something like that. Then I’d be sure you’d never have any regrets.’
‘Gideon, if I had any regrets I wouldn’t be sitting here with you, and Nick wouldn’t be putting his suit into the dry-cleaner’s.’
‘It looks like it’s official, then,’ he said, ‘apart from one very important thing.’
‘What thing?’ she questioned.
‘You haven’t said you’ll marry me.’
‘You haven’t asked me,’ she pointed out.
‘Do you want the full down-on-my-knees bit?’ he asked, his brown eyes dancing, ‘or will you take pity on a poor old man who’s had a very long day, and an even longer night, trying to entertain your son?’
Annie chuckled. ‘I think we can skip the knees bit.’
‘Hallelujah for that,’ he said with feeling. ‘Annie Hart, will you marry me, be my wife, look after me in my old age, and love me to bits in the meantime?’
‘Should I hum and haw a bit here, do you think?’ she asked, her own eyes sparkling. ‘I mean, if you’re my knight in shining armour, maybe I should play the coy maiden for a while.’
‘You’d never get away with it—not wearing that dress,’ he growled. ‘Just put me out of my misery, woman. Will you marry me?’
She smiled. ‘Whenever you want, Sir Gideon.’
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5727-9
DOCTOR AND SON
First North American Publication 2003
Copyright © 2002 by Maggie Kingsley
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