by Lucy Clark
He smiled at her, relaxing with her firmly in his embrace. ‘And you are, Annie. You are the best…for me.’ He breathed in and slowly exhaled, all the while mesmerised by her. ‘You are one special lady.’ He kissed her again. ‘I didn’t want to hurt you, never intentionally, but in the end I did and was surprised when it hurt me just as much. You can’t go. You can’t leave me. I tore up the paperwork.’
‘You didn’t!’
‘I did. I was furious you’d gone through with it. Furious that you were daring to survive without me. I knew I’d pushed you to do it and it was then I knew it was wrong. Everything I’d thought, fought against for years was wrong. You were the only right thing in my world and I’d done an excellent job of pushing you away.’
She tightened her hold on him. ‘I’m still here, aren’t I?’
‘Where you belong.’
‘Yes.’ Annie took a deep breath and asked, ‘How about if I stay right here in your arms for…hmm…I don’t know, about the next fifty or sixty years?’
‘At our age?’ He chuckled. ‘We’d be one hundred after sixty years of marriage.’
‘I think we can handle it.’ It was then she realised he’d said the ‘M’ word. She sat up straighter. ‘Did you just say…?’
‘Marriage? Yes, I did.’ Hayden took her hands in his. ‘I didn’t want to get married again or have children because I couldn’t bear to fail again. I’d failed as a husband and as a father already, and in taking a chance with you I would be risking failure once more.’
‘You didn’t fail as a father,’ Annie whispered. ‘I’m positive Liana not only knew she was loved but felt it. It wasn’t your fault she died.’
‘She was a good baby, quiet and happy, and she looked so peaceful when I checked on her only a few hours before.’
Annie looked at the man before her, not at all surprised to see tears in his eyes. ‘Then she left you, carried away on the wings of angels to a far, far better place. Hayden, you were a good father and I’m not just saying that because I want to have children with you. I’ve seen the way you are with your nieces and nephews. They adore you. I’ve seen how you care for your patients, how you cared for me when I was sick.’
‘I don’t know if I can bear to have another child.’ Annie kissed him, putting all the reassurance she could into it. ‘I want to and I want you to be the mother, but I still don’t know.’
‘Regardless of what may happen in our future, we’ll be handling it together. You’re my soul mate, Hayden. I need to be with you as much as I need to breathe, and I’m never going to leave.’ She kissed him again. ‘Trust me. Trust me, Hayden.’
‘I do.’ He kissed her back then gazed into her eyes. ‘You humble me, Annie, and you make me want to be a better person. Not only when I’m with you but when I’m at work, with my family—all the time. I have a huge debt to repay.’ He nodded with determination. ‘And I’m going to start right now.’
He cradled her in his arms and stood before gently lowering her to her feet. ‘Come with me.’
‘What?’ Annie was a little confused but followed him nevertheless. ‘Hayden?’
He picked up her keys and walked to the front door. He opened it and, holding her hand firmly, took her out into the corridor. He dug out his own keys from his pocket and unlocked his apartment door.
‘What’s going on?’
‘Close your eyes.’ She frowned at him and he moved closer, putting his arm securely around her shoulders. ‘You’ll be fine. Trust me, Annie.’ He kissed the tip of her nose. ‘And close your eyes.’
‘OK.’ She leaned into him before lowering her eyelids, her ears listening for any clue to what was going on. The last time he’d done this, she’d received a wonderful dress. It had been an overwhelming surprise and now…she had that same feeling churning around with the nervous butterflies in her stomach.
He urged her forward, over the threshold, before closing the door behind them.
‘Hayden?’
‘A little bit further.’ She heard him flick the light switch. ‘Open your eyes.’
Annie gasped in wonderment, her jaw hanging open. His apartment had changed somewhat since she’d last been over. Around the floor, on his desk, on the comfortable chairs were chocolate frogs!
She laughed in amazement, her hands covering her mouth. ‘I can’t believe this.’ There were also six or seven large florist’s boxes of gerberas around the room, brightening it up and contrasting with the shiny chocolate frog wrappers.
She turned to look at him. ‘Oh, Hayden.’ She laughed again. ‘You really are a romantic at heart.’
He bent and kissed her. ‘Only with you.’
Annie leaned into him, utterly content. ‘I can’t eat all of them by myself. You are going to have to help me.’
‘This is just the beginning, Annie.’
‘There are more chocky frogs?’
‘No.’ He led her over to one of his luxurious chairs. ‘Have a seat.’
Annie lifted the frogs off the chair before she sat. ‘More surprises?’
‘Yes.’ He walked carefully through the scattered frogs to his desk, opened a drawer and pulled out a flat, rectangular box. ‘Here.’
‘Are you sure I don’t need to close my eyes for his one?’
Hayden chuckled at her teasing. ‘No. I want them wide open.’
Annie accepted the box and carefully lifted the lid. ‘Hayden…’ She could feel her lower lip begin to tremble as she stared at the present. ‘It’s perfect.’ She trailed her finger around the edge of the gold heart-shaped photo frame which held a picture of herself and Hayden taken at Rowena’s wedding.
‘Turn it over.’
‘What? The frame?’
‘Yes.’
Annie took it out of the box and there, tied to the black stand, was a diamond ring. She glanced up at him, totally flabbergasted.
He moved, lowering himself to one bended knee, and Annie couldn’t resist smiling. She was totally surprised by his romantic streak but loved it all the same.
‘I love you, Annie. Marry me. Build a home with me. Build a life with me.’
She touched the ring, biting her lower lip to stop the quivering. Taking a deep breath, she angled her head and eyed him thoughtfully, pretending to consider his request. ‘Will your mother make her mouthwatering pancakes?’
Hayden smiled. ‘I can guarantee it.’
‘And we can do the whole prewedding family breakfast, even if it’s considered bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the wedding?’
‘I have an idea.’ He pulled her up out of the chair, settled himself in her place and then tugged her back down onto his lap. ‘Why don’t we make the wedding a breakfast wedding?’
‘Wouldn’t that be too much work for your mother?’
Hayden laughed. ‘No. She thrives on that kind of thing and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already started planning it.’
Hayden unhooked the ring from the frame and took Annie’s left hand in his. ‘This is for life, Annie.’ He gently pushed the ring onto the third finger. ‘For life and for ever.’
With that, he gathered her close and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Annie melted into his embrace, her mouth moving over his with a renewal of her love. Their passions met and united, taking them both to dizzying heights neither had dreamed of.
Hayden broke his mouth from hers and buried his head in her neck. ‘You will definitely have to marry me soon.’ He nipped her ear lobe.
‘Why?’ She pulled back to look at him.
‘Well, you can’t expect to kiss me like that just for fun and get away with it!’ His blue eyes twinkled with love and Annie’s breath caught in her throat.
She hugged him tight and looked around the room. It was then she froze, her eyes growing as wide as saucers. ‘Eww.’
‘What?’
‘Spider!’
‘Where?’ He started chuckling.
She pointed, looking the other way.
; ‘It’s only a small one.’ He looked at the eight-legged creature crawling around the ceiling.
‘Eww.’
He laughed again, lifted her from his lap, placed her back in the chair and went to the kitchen. ‘Huntsmen aren’t all that bad,’ he said as he came back with a glass.
‘Yeah? How so?’
‘They travel in twos, remember. They find their mate and stay together for life. Just like the two of us. Together for life.’
‘Well, could they do it somewhere else?’ Annie hunched herself up on the chair, closing her eyes, glad Hayden was around to take care of it. ‘Make sure you find the other one, too.’
She stayed where she was until he returned from taking the spiders outside. Hayden laughed as he gathered her close.
‘All taken care of.’
She kissed him. ‘My knight in shining armour.’
‘You know, you still haven’t answered my question.’
‘What question?’
‘Whether or not you’ll marry me!’
‘Oh. Haven’t I? How remiss of me.’
‘Well?’
‘OK. I will marry you but just don’t ever group the two of us with those eight-legged things again! Eww.’
Hayden laughed. ‘Being married to you, Annie, is going to be…’
‘Stressful?’
He shook his head.
‘Challenging?’
‘That wasn’t what I was going to say.’
‘Well?’
‘Being married to you is going to be…perfect.’
EPILOGUE
‘EXCUSE me.’ Brenton tapped the side of his champagne glass. ‘Quiet, please.’
Everyone at the long table in Eloise’s and Mike’s back garden stopped their conversations to listen. Kelly and Matt sat with their children, along with Natasha and the rest of the Worthington clan.
Hayden’s sisters and their families were smiling happily at their new sister-in-law. Eloise and Mike had welcomed her warmly the instant they’d learned of her engagement to their son. Annie’s ‘family’ was almost complete.
All that was missing were children of her own, but who knew what would happen during their planned honeymoon at the Great Barrier Reef?
They’d decided to wait until Annie had finished her orthopaedic rotation and qualified before getting married. Both she and Hayden had honoured her transfer to Melbourne General for three months, and although the commute had been stressful at times, it was now over.
‘As the person who has known the bride the longest, it’s only fair that I get to toast her first,’ Brenton said. ‘To the woman who saved my reputation in high school by putting herself…and her nose…on the line.’
They all laughed and Annie shook her finger at him.
‘She is an amazing woman and I’m honoured to call her one of my dearest friends for over twenty years. Thank you for your friendship. It’s a precious gift and one I, my wife and our children will always treasure.’ He inclined his glass towards Hayden. ‘And to the groom—thank goodness you came to your senses!’
Hayden laughed as everyone else chorused their approval.
Annie didn’t even try to stop the tears that twinkled on the edges of her lashes, knowing Hayden would always be there to tenderly wipe them away.
Her husband rose to his feet, his glass also raised. ‘Thank you, Brenton. As the husband of the bride, I would also like to propose a toast to my wife.’ He gazed down at her, his eyes filled with the unconditional love that would always make her heart race.
‘Annie, you gave me a second chance at happiness, at love and, more importantly, at life. You are truly a special person and I’m honoured that you’re my wife.’ He glanced around the table at their family. ‘I’m sure everyone here agrees just how special you are because in some unique way you’ve touched us all. Each and every one of us at some point has been privileged by your inner strength, your spirit and your natural ability to give so selflessly.
‘I love you, Annie, and I always will.’ Hayden bent his head and claimed her lips possessively, tenderly wiping away her tears of sheer joy.
Everyone stood and raised their glasses to the blushing bride. Annie’s heart filled up with love and bubbled over. She had never, in her wildest dreams, thought she could be so happy—yet she was.
‘To the bride and groom.’ They all chorused.
‘To Annie,’ Hayden said softly beside her. ‘My love. My soul mate. My wife.’
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5773-6
THE REGISTRAR’S WEDDING WISH
First North American Publication 2004
Copyright © 2003 by Lucy Clark
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