by Joanne Hill
She glanced up as Britney stood in front of her, her pudgy fist around a Barbie with chopped hair.
Diane and Eli weren’t far behind with groceries.
But she’d blown it. Daniel was coping with his grief, looking for Barnaby, and romantic entanglements would be the very last thing on his mind. He no longer needed her, anyway.
The break in her heart widened a fraction more, and she stood up to take the groceries from Diane.
Daniel stood at the gate to the campsite, and scanned the grounds.
There were more campers than before but it was still short of the numbers there’d be in few months’ time.
Barnaby pulled on the leash, his nose to the ground sniffing like a maniac, his stumpy tail wagging.
Daniel wasn’t even sure she was here. He could only guess that she might be, but it was the only lead he had.
“Let’s go, boy,” he told Barnaby and they headed in to the campground. Daniel shaded his eyes against the sun, and looked for a sign of Mel’s old red and green tent. There were some fluffy poodle things laying alongside one caravan, looking with lazy interest at Barnaby. Daniel pulled the old fella’s leash tighter just in case they got any ideas.
Suddenly Barnaby strained on the leash and Daniel saw her. She sat on a camp chair, her back to him.
His heart nearly stopped beating and he stopped in his tracks.
He had never gone begging to anyone in his life. He had never met a woman he’d felt compelled to track down and ask forgiveness of. Yet from the first time he’d met Mel, she’d been different. That first day, he’d gone back to that campsite to apologize, and then to make doubly certain, he’d taken her out. But the truth, he sighed, anxiety rippling uncomfortably through him, was that she would always have a hold over him and there wasn’t a darn thing he could do about it. For a man who thrived on control it had stunned him to realize that he had slowly and surely allowed Mel to control him. To control his heart. She was controlling him right now and it occurred to him, he wanted that. He wanted this. He wanted Mel to take care of him. He wanted – he needed – Mel to love him.
He walked closer and with each step, his body grew tight with nerves. Just because he loved her, did not mean she loved him. Just because he wanted her in his life, didn’t mean she wanted him in hers.
He steeled his heart, bent down to let Barnaby off the leash and ordered in a low voice, “Go, Barnaby. Go and find Mel.”
He remembered the biscuits in his pocket, reached in for one and threw it. It landed a foot short of Mel’s chair.
Barnaby ran, and seconds later he was on the ground, chewing the treat. Then he raised his head, and gave a woof.
Mel let out a scream of shock, and Barnaby ran under her chair.
She squealed again, as Barnaby ran out by her legs.
“Barnaby, Barnaby! Oh my gosh, Barnaby. I don’t believe it. You’ve been found.”
Daniel bit back a wince at the high pitched excitement and uncomfortably noticed people looking at them. He did a double take as he noticed the hippy, Diane, watching him with suspicion. Mel collapsed to the ground, wrapped her arms around Barnaby as he licked and slobbered over her, and she laughed out loud. The sound was joy. Pure joy.
Then the laughter stopped. She froze.
Slowly, she pushed herself up from the ground, and stood up. She turned around, and looked straight at him.
He began to walk toward her, and when there were only a few feet between them, he stopped, barely able to hear anything above the pounding of his heart.
He took in every detail of her. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders, starting to curl at the ends, and her mouth was tight, grim. Her eyes were shrouded in disbelief and confusion.
She shoved her hands in the pockets of old denim jeans. He watched her chest rise with a deep breath beneath the old gray sweatshirt, and she said, “How did you know I was here?”
She was talking to him. Good. “Process of elimination.” He took a step closer. “I went to see Ellie. She had no idea where you were, just that you needed to get away for a few days.”
Her eyes were cautious, watching him as if not believing what she was seeing. Denying the pull of attraction even though it was there between them.
She dragged her gaze away and glanced down at Barnaby. “So where did you find our boy?”
Our boy. More hope slivered through him, gaining strength. Our boy. “A house in Coogee. He was a little the worse for his travels and he was sad. He misses Arthur like you wouldn’t believe. But he’s had a vet check him out and he’s fine.”
Mel bent down, and ran her palm down his back in a long stroke then back up. He gazed adoringly up at her. “I really wanted to come and pay my last respects to Grandad – I mean.” She began again. “Your grandfather. And be part of the farewell. I realise I didn’t know him all that long but it's as if I've known him all my life. He meant a lot to me.”
“He could be a tyrant and he could be ruthless. But yes, he was a great guy. And he wanted you to call him Grandfather because he loved you.” He bent down so he was level with her, and reaching out, he took both her hands in his. She stared at him. Without a word, he pulled her up and took a step closer to her. His heart slammed in his chest with nerves. “You returned the cheque.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Did you really think I’d keep it?”
He brushed her hair from her face, let the back of his hand sweep gently over her skin, felt her shiver. “Mel, I lied. I panicked. I didn’t let myself even think what might happen when you found out there could be no annulment. I knew you had to find out and it was all going to come crashing down and a part of me hoped you’d be okay with it.”
Her eyes remained sceptical and he reached for her hands again, laced her fingers with his. “Only it wasn’t okay. It never was.” His chest was aching but he had both her hands in his and he wasn’t letting go. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Mel. But I’m asking you for it. Will you please forgive me?”
Her eyes flickered but still she didn't say anything. His gaze dropped to the pendant around her neck. “And know that if I could take it back, I would. Believe me, I would.”
He tightened his grip on her hands. “But know this, too. I fell in love with you.”
Her eyes widened.
“It has taken me too long to realise it, that it wasn’t just some short lived attraction that I felt for you, but something more. It was love.”
The scepticism in her eyes returned and he gripped her hands tighter. More possessively. He couldn’t make her believe him but he’d die trying.
“I can’t take back that I didn’t tell you the truth but I will make it up to you. I promise, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I want to be with you forever, to spend my life with you until the day I die.” He gestured to Barnaby but didn’t take his gaze off her for a second. “Even with a menagerie of Barnabies. If that’s what you want.”
His gaze slipped to her stomach and he placed his hand over her soft, rounded belly. “And maybe babies. Maybe we already made one together.”
Finally, the glimmer of a smile.
“Maybe,’ she said softly and the hope he hadn’t allowed himself to acknowledge, surged inside him. Alongside them, Barnaby barked a gruff, “Woof.”
Mel sighed. “You were right with what you said in your office that day. I was the one who signed the agreement. I made a decision and you didn’t force me. I can’t blame anyone else for what happened, least of all you.” She smiled. “I believe you. I trust you. And…” He held his breath. “Most of all...” He pulled her closer and she came willingly. In her eyes, he saw the truth and only then did he allow himself to believe. The relief washing over him was so intense, he could barely breathe.
“Most of all,” she said, as she closed the gap between them, “I fell in love with you, too.”
They celebrated with Diane and cheap wine, and Diane sobbed when she realised it was Eli and his broken kite that had sort-of gotten them t
ogether. Mel and Daniel took Barnaby for a walk along the beach, a real walk, holding hands. Daniel told her he’d talked to Everett, and to Sean, and they were coming home. Hearing that Sir Arthur had died had shocked something into them.
“I’ve forgiven them,” he told her, as he bent to kiss the pendant of St Maria Gioretti, then kissed her throat and her jaw, and her mouth, until Barnaby barked.
Back at the tent, Barnaby collapsed for a rest under the shade of the tree, and Daniel pulled Mel down on to the grass with him.
“We can have a big wedding. Renew our vows,” he told her. “If that’s what you want.”
Mel thought of that beautifully framed wedding photo Hugh had given them. Had he known all along that she and Daniel were meant to be together? Had that old romantic believed it would work, while they’d anticipated splitting up once Mel was no longer needed?
“I know it was an odd wedding.”
He took her hand, squeezed it, and she looked at both their hands, at how well they were made to fit together. “But it was beautiful. And it was our wedding. I don’t need to do it again.” She remembered the cake in the back of the pantry in Daniel’s apartment. “We can celebrate our first year anniversary with Mum and Hugh and everyone.”
"Your mother and Hugh would be delighted," he said cryptically, and Barnaby gave a growl of contentment where he lay, making Mel smile
She placed her hand on her stomach and wondered if she was pregnant. She didn’t think she was but it wasn’t impossible. A child. Ellie would be a grandmother.
“If not this time,” he murmured, “maybe next.”
“Mum would love a grandchild. She’d be a terrific grandmother. And I think I’d be a good mum.”
“You’d be a great mum.”
He pulled her close, kissed her again. “So? Do you want lots of kids? Or just one or two.”
“Lots,” she said as he ravished her neck some more.
“Good,” he murmured as he finally found her mouth. “Because you should know, Melinda Christie, that I am more than happy to oblige.”
THE END
Visit the author at
www.joannehill.com
Also available now on Amazon
Love the Commute
Five short romantic reads for the ride home