by Maggie Craig
Liz found her voice at last.
‘I love you too, Adam.’
His eyes snapped open, but he wasn’t prepared to believe her. Not yet. He grabbed her wrists, drawing her hands away from his face.
‘And Mario?’ he asked tightly.
‘A very dear friend. No more, no less.’
He went on as though she hadn’t spoken. ‘Hope wrote to me.’
‘I know,’ she said, bemused by this apparent change of subject. ‘I gave my mother your forwarding address so she could write the envelope for her. I expect it followed you around for a while until you got it.’
He nodded impatiently. ‘Yes, but she sent me this drawing. It was very colourful. It showed her Auntie Liz in the Botanic Gardens. With her Uncle Mario. Hand in hand.’
‘I expect we were holding hands when she drew it,’ Liz said evenly. ‘That wasn’t very long after Mario came home.’ She paused. ‘When he and I were still trying to pretend that everything was exactly the same as it had been before.’
Adam was watching her closely. ‘And it wasn’t?’
Liz smiled, remembering that day in the kitchen of the flat, when Mario had told her to stop talking about washing curtains, when he had crooked his finger at her, more or less ordered her to come to him.
‘It was the day after that walk in the Botanic Gardens,’ she told Adam now. ‘Mario and I were in the flat above the eafé getting ready to start cleaning it up. He kissed me,’ she said. ‘Very passionately.’
The blood drained from Adam’s face and his fingers tightened on her wrists. ‘Liz... please...’
He had to hear this. She forced herself to go on.
‘I did my best to respond, but it wasn’t working. For either of us,’ she said softly. ‘And Mario made a very interesting observation.’
‘Which was?’ Adam’s voice was raw.
‘He told me that it was pretty hard to make love to someone who was quite obviously in love with someone else.’
She saw it then in his hazel eyes: equal parts hope and fear. He took refuge in flippancy. ‘Anyone I know?’
‘Someone into whose arms he’d once put me. Quite symbolic that, he thought,’ she said lightly. ‘At Partick police station - if that helps you work out who he was talking about.’
Her eyes dropped to his very beautiful mouth. When had she first started imagining what it would feel like on her own? ‘The last time I offered you a kiss, you turned me down. Would you refuse me now?’
Adam shook his head. The corners of that beautiful mouth began, very cautiously, to lift.
‘Oh, Adam!’
He pulled her roughly into his arms, the forcefulness back. His kiss was thorough, and everything she had dreamed it would be. When he released her they stayed in each other’s arms.
‘I love you,’ she said again. ‘Do you believe me now?’
Someone coughed. It was one of the pupil nurses, very embarrassed and apologetic.
‘Sister MacLean’s compliments, and she’d be extremely obliged if you could possibly find the time to step back into the ward. Sorry, Staff,’ said the girl a lot less formally. ‘She told me to say it exactly like that. And we tried to take as long as we could clearing it all up, but you know what she’s like!’
‘Don’t we just,’ murmured Adam, taking a firm grip of Liz’s hand. He gave the probationer a dazzling smile. ‘Lead on, Macduff.’
It was obvious that their reappearance had been eagerly awaited. Every head was turned towards them. Sister MacLean spoke, insincerity dripping from every lilting syllable.
‘How kind of you to rejoin us, Staff Nurse MacMillan. I do hope you’ve finished sorting out your private life?’
Adam grinned.’Not quite, Sister.’
She gave him a steely look. ‘She’ll be off duty in one hour, Dr Buchanan. If you’re going to wait for her, kindly do so out in the corridor.’
‘Och, Sister,’ he said. ‘Have a heart. She’s just told me that she loves me.’ With an impish grin, he walked up to the nursing tutor and, before she had time to object, kissed her on the cheek. ‘And we all know you’re not anything like as hard-hearted as you’d have us believe.’
‘Dr Buchanan!’
Liz, watching the reactions of the probationers, was pondering the fact that their mouths had once more quite literally fallen open when Adam walked over to her, pulled her to him and kissed her - briefly, but full on the mouth.
‘Enough!’ yelled Sister MacLean. ‘I won’t have my doctors and nurses kissing and canoodling and putting the patients off their recovery.’
‘The patients are enjoying it, hen,’ came a voice from one of the beds. ‘This is better than the pictures.’
Laughter ran round the ward.
‘Anyway,’ Adam told Sister MacLean cheerfully, ‘I’m not one of your doctors any more. I’m a free agent. Thinking of going into general practice. I thought Clydebank might be able to stand another doctor or two. I’d need a practice nurse, of course. What do you say, MacMillan?’
‘She says,’ broke in the man whose blanket bath had been postponed, and who was hoping that everyone had forgotten about it by now, ‘do you only want her for your nurse or are you planning to make an honest woman of her?’
The laughter died away, the patients sat up straighter in their beds and the student nurses stood stock still. Even Sister MacLean was quiet.
‘Liz,’ he said, ‘I love you. Will you marry me?’
You could have heard a pin drop in the ward. They were all waiting for her reply. She had eyes only for him. She thought of all they had been through, of all they had meant to each other - of all the future might hold for them. Together.
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘I will.’
A cheer went up in Male Surgical. As it subsided, Sister MacLean drew a sigh of theatrical proportions.
‘And now could we possibly get on with our work?’ Her gaze swept over Adam and Liz. ‘I suppose,’ she said in her lovely Highland accent, ‘we have to be grateful that Staff Nurse MacMillan has finally seen what has been staring her in the face for a long time. Several years, by my estimate.’
Liz and Adam looked at her. Then they looked at each other. Then they burst out laughing.
‘You look perfectly lovely,’ he said.
Liz dropped her head in pleased embarrassment at the admiration evident in Adam’s eyes. ‘Turn around,’ he commanded, ‘so that I can have a good look at you.’
Laughing, she did as she was bid. Her dress was of wine-coloured velvet, simply shaped, with a small matching cape over her shoulders.
‘The material was a gift from a grateful patient,’ she said. ‘No questions asked. No clothing coupons, either.’ She squinted down at herself. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have made the cape, though. Then the dress could have been a wee bit longer.’
‘I wouldn’t want it any longer,’ he growled, and Liz laughed again. His appreciative gaze travelled up to her head. ‘What do you call that thing you’re wearing on your hair?’
‘A snood.’ She put a hand to the back of her head and patted the heavy black crocheted lace which contained her hair below her ears. ‘Do you like it?’
‘Mmm... Maybe.’ He walked round her to examine it from the back. ‘It’s very chic.’
‘But?’ She went to turn, but his hands came on to her shoulders, holding her where she was. ‘What are you doing?’ she laughed.
‘Checking to see how it’s secured.’ He allowed her to turn to face him, but his hands remained where they were, resting lightly on her shoulders. ‘So I know exactly how to loosen it later. Did you enjoy yourself yesterday evening, by the way?’
‘Couldn’t you tell?’ she murmured. ‘I must say it was very tactful of your mother to suddenly remember a previous engagement.’
‘Wasn’t it? You know,’ he said, his mouth very close to hers, ‘I’m having a terrible problem. I find I can’t stop smiling. D’you think I should see a doctor?’
Liz shook her head. ‘Only one thing
cures a propensity to smile too much,’ she advised. ‘An intensive programme of kissing. Trust me. I’m a nurse.’
He trusted her for the next few minutes.
‘Eh...’ Liz said eventually, although she was finding it hard to concentrate with Adam’s arms around her waist and his hands beginning a little cautious exploring. ‘We’ve got a party to go to.’
‘And?’
‘Things are escalating, I feel.’
‘And?’
‘Well, we had a bit of a problem stopping last night, didn’t we?’
The roaming hands stopped moving. He sighed and placed them in a more neutral position, but he was still having the smiling problem. Liz addressed her next comments to his black bow tie, her hands flat on the lapels of his coat.
‘Thank you for stopping last night. Thank you for not assuming that... because... well, you know what I mean...’
‘I love you,’ he said simply. ‘I’ve loved you for a very long time, and I’m prepared to wait. I’m good at that.’ His voice grew dry. ‘I’ve had a lot of practice.’
She lifted a hand to his face. He turned his head and kissed her palm. ‘You keep touching my face,’ he observed.
‘I want to make sure you’re really here.’ She told him about her dream and he listened thoughtfully.
‘Helen knew how I felt about you,’ he said simply when she had finished. ‘From the start. She was a very perceptive person.’
Liz nodded, and swallowed the lump in her throat.
‘Do you mind me touching your face?’
‘I love you touching me anywhere,’ he assured her. A gleam of mischief crept into his eyes, ‘Do it as much as you like. Wherever you like.’
‘Adam ... What that patient said... about you making an honest woman of me. Well ... it wasn’t you who made a dishonest... well, what I mean is...’
‘Liz,’ he advised, ‘that hole you’re digging for yourself? It’s getting bigger by the second. If I were you, I’d stop shovelling.’
She looked anxiously up at him. ‘You mean it really doesn’t bother you about Mario and me?’
‘I’m jealous as hell,’ he said swiftly. ‘But only because I wish it had been me who was your first love. That’s all.’
‘You’ll be my last love.’
‘I’m going to need a lot of reassurance about that.’
She touched his face again. ‘As much as you want, my love. As much as you want.’
‘Well,’ said Cordelia, as she opened the door to them. ‘About time too. That’s all I can say.’ Then she threw her arms about Adam’s neck and greeted him properly.
‘Why does everyone keep saying that to us?’ he asked with a faintly puzzled air. ‘My mother said something very similar.’
‘Why do you think she and I didn’t come to see you off when you joined the medical corps?’ asked Cordelia cheerfully. ‘We were hoping that if we left the two of you alone you might actually get round to saying something to each other.’
She had been off visiting relatives in Edinburgh for the past couple of days, but Liz had given her the good news by phone, wanting her to be one of the first to know. Beaming at both of them, her face suddenly took on a guarded look. Liz turned, and saw Mario.
He came forward and greeted her before turning to Adam. They looked at each other a little warily, then Adam laughed and held out his hand. Mario shook it warmly and clapped him on the shoulder.
‘Welcome home, old friend. I understand congratulations are also in order.’
‘Be my best man?’
‘If you’ll do the same for me.’
‘Is this the one?’ Liz asked eagerly, peering over Mario’s shoulder. ‘Where is she?’
He had told her last week that he was bringing someone special with him tonight. He’d had two or three girlfriends since he and Liz had agreed to part. When he had forced her to admit how she felt about Adam, she had asked him anxiously about himself. Was there someone?
‘Not yet,’ he had said, ‘but I’m going to have fun looking for her!’
‘Come on,’ he said now, with a pride which boded well for this new relationship. I’ll introduce you both to her.’
‘Everything all right, Liz?’
‘Fine,’ she replied, turning her face away from the lights of Great Western Road. She patted the window seat beside her. ‘Come and join me for a minute, Mario.’
He sank down beside her. ‘Your mother and Mrs Crawford brought Hope to the café again today.’
‘It’s becoming quite a regular outing for them, isn’t it?’
Mario nodded. ‘Maybe we’ll even get your father in sometime.’
‘I doubt it,’ Liz said with a rueful smile. ‘But you never know, I suppose.’
‘How is it with you and him these days?’ Mario’s eyes went to Adam. He was on the other side of the room, laughing at something Dominic Gallagher had said. Mario’s new girlfriend was talking to Naomi Richardson and Jim Barclay. ‘I presume he approves of your engagement?’
‘Wholeheartedly.’ She shrugged. ‘And we communicate. After a fashion. It’s not great, but it’s better than it was.’
There was a certain wistfulness in Mario’s voice. ‘Do you regret it, Elisabetta? Us, I mean?’
‘Not a single moment of it. It was something very special – and very romantic.’
His face lit up. ‘It was, wasn’t it?’ His eyes went to his girlfriend. ‘It’s romantic this time too ... but different somehow.’
‘Deeper,’ Liz suggested. ‘Something that’s going to last.’
Mario’s glance lit on Adam, then came back to her. ‘We’ve both been lucky, Liz.’
‘Yes,’ she agreed, smiling into his eyes. ‘Now go back to her,’ she said gently. ‘I’ll be fine. Adam and I are going soon.’
Mario leaned over and kissed her on the cheek - an affectionate salute between old friends.
‘Will the two of you come for a meal with us and my father? To celebrate your engagement?’
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘We’d love to.’
She was still sitting on the window seat when Adam came looking for her later. He had to say her name twice before she heard him. He helped her into her coat and they took their leave of their hostess. As they walked down the steps on to the pavement he headed for Morag, but Liz pulled on his sleeve.
‘Could we walk for a bit? Would you mind?’
They walked in silence till they reached the café, dark now and shut for the night. Liz stopped.
‘This is where it all started. When you brought me for a coffee that day.’
‘The very first time I was jealous as hell, you mean?’
‘Were you really?’
‘I could see how you were reacting to Mario,’ he said lightly. ‘I didn’t care for that one little bit.’ He lifted her gloved hand and put his lips to it, sliding his other arm around her waist. ‘I was already falling in love with you, you see.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I was blind, wasn’t I?’
‘On numerous occasions,’ he said wryly.
‘The last night of the Empire Exhibition?’
‘Yes. The night of the Athenia, too. When I had to stand back and watch you go into Mario’s arms. Not mine.’
‘I’m in yours now,’ she said earnestly. ‘And I intend to stay there.’
‘I’m very glad to hear it.’
‘I think Eddie knew about us too, you know,’ she said. ‘He said something to me once about you being very fond of me.’
‘Did he? That’s nice to know. Almost as though I have his blessing. Was that who you were thinking about back at Cordelia’s? Absent friends?’
Liz nodded, and would have said more, but her eyes had filled with tears. Adam pulled her head against his shoulder. She wasn’t at all surprised that he had guessed. He had always been sensitive to her feelings. She sniffed and looked up.
‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t be,’ he said comfortably. ‘That’s one of the things I’m h
ere for.’
‘We won’t forget them, will we?’
The hazel eyes were very tender. ‘How could we, my love? They live on through Hope, for one thing. And through our memories of them. They’ll always be part of our lives. Come on,’ he said. ‘It’s getting cold.’
They turned, and began to walk up Byres Road.
‘Cordelia’s had a second letter from Hans-Peter. Did she tell you? They’re going to try and get together as soon as they can.’
‘That’s good,’ said Adam. He squeezed her hand. ‘I’m glad that you and she have become such good friends.’
‘She’s going to be my bridesmaid,’ said Liz. ‘Naomi too, of course - and Janet. Well, Janet will have to be a matron of honour, since she’s already married. Hope will be the flower girl, of course-’
She was brought up short by the look of sheer male panic on Adam’s face.
‘This wedding,’ he said, ‘it’s not going to get out of hand, is it?’
Liz chuckled. ‘You’ll have to speak to my mother about that - and your own. You wouldn’t want to spoil their fun too much, though, would you?’
‘Big weddings take longer to arrange,’ he grumbled. ‘I said I could wait - but not that long. When are we seeing your minister?’
‘Tomorrow afternoon.’
‘We’re going to tell him that we want to get married very soon. Very, very soon,’ he repeated. ‘Oh, damn. Come in here for a minute.’ He pulled her into a shop doorway.
‘I thought kissing in public was vulgar,’ she said some considerable time later.
‘What idiot ever said that?’ he mumbled. ‘I find I can’t keep my hands off you, Elizabeth MacMillan.’
‘Good,’ she said blithely. ‘Now that I’ve got you in a weakened state, I’ve got some things to say. First of all, an early wedding is fine by me. Secondly, after we’re married, I’m going to keep working.’
‘I’m counting on it,’ Adam said. ‘You’re going to be in charge of our health education programme at the practice.’
She beamed at him but he sent her a warning look.