He lowered his voice almost to a whisper and looked up at her from under hooded lids. ‘Is that really the kind of guy you think I am?’ He looked wounded.
Her heart twisted inside her chest. She was confused. What he was saying to her confused her. As she stared into those green eyes she felt as if she could see right down into his soul. He’d told her the part of herself she’d thought she had to hide from so many people, and it didn’t matter to him. And for that part she believed him.
But her heart still ached. While he might say he loved her, he’d still been looking at Esther’s picture. She might know now that the house back in Scotland didn’t hold memories of another woman, but she still felt she was in her shadow. She still felt as if Joe weren’t truly hers. She might ache to have a life with him and Regan, but it still didn’t feel right. Not really. Not when her heart was still here.
She shook her head. ‘I love you, Joe, and I’ll miss you. But I can’t come with you to Scotland. There isn’t a place for me there.’ She put her hand to her chest. ‘Not in here. Not where it matters most.’
Tears slid down her cheeks. ‘Please don’t make this any harder than I’m already finding it. I’d like to see Regan. I’d like a chance to spend some time with him over the next few days.’ She gave a soft smile. ‘I want him to take happy memories of Vietnam home with him.’
She tried very hard not to let her voice shake. ‘And that’s what I want for you too, Joe. I want you to take away happy memories of your work here, your time here. Because we’ve loved having you. You’ve played a huge part in the hospital over the last six months and we’ll miss you when you’re gone.’
She wiped a tear from her cheek and straightened her shoulders. ‘Goodbye,’ she whispered, then she turned away and walked on shaking legs out of the room.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HE UNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING that she’d just said to him.
Alongside Regan, she was the first person he thought about every day. Somehow, when he blinked he saw her perfect skin, straight, shiny hair and cheeky smile, as if they were ingrained somewhere deep in his soul.
He hadn’t come here looking for someone, but that was what he’d found. And he couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened.
Home for him had always been Scotland. For the last four years he’d never looked any further. He’d never wanted to. But what if home could actually be somewhere else?
His life had turned upside down in so many ways. What if home wasn’t the country he’d always lived in but instead where his heart lay?
Vietnam, and the woman in it, had captured him in so many ways. She’d woken him up in ways he hadn’t expected.
When he’d got on the plane to come here, he’d fully expected to turn around in six months and head back to the home he owned, and the job he’d postponed back in Scotland. He hadn’t really considered anything else.
And the truth was part of him was scared.
Could he live his life in another country?
Could he change his future plans for himself and his son?
He hadn’t considered those things as part of his future. But now, discovering how much he loved one woman was making him reconsider his future in so many ways.
Part of the little seed of doubt inside him depended on a conversation he needed to have with his parents. He loved them both dearly. They expected Regan and him to fly back to Scotland and start anew.
Both of them were getting older. He wanted to be there for them, just like they had been there for him when he’d needed them most.
But his world had changed.
Places that had been smoky around the edges had sparked to life in a rainbow of colours he wanted to embrace.
And the person holding the key to those changes was Lien.
Of course she would have doubts. He hadn’t even asked her the real question yet. Did she have room in her future for a Scotsman and his son?
All he knew for sure was that he loved her. Any plan that formulated in his head from here on included her.
Vietnam was a land of discovery for him. He wanted to stay here. He wanted to spend the rest of his life here.
And that realisation was everything.
It was the one option he hadn’t given her. That they would stay here, with her. He smacked his hand to his head. Was he really that dumb?
He’d been asking her to upend her life for him when he hadn’t offered to do the same for her. He knew that in her heart she felt she had so much work to do here. If he loved her, why on earth would he ask her to leave?
Lien was scared to trust him with her heart. He couldn’t take back what he’d already lost to her.
He understood those fears. He understood that her whole future might look different from what she’d planned. Would she really be willing to share her future with him and Regan?
The fog that had enveloped him for so long had finally lifted. He wanted to reach out and grab the future, for himself, for Regan and for her. He just had to hope that her future looked a lot like his.
He pressed a button on the computer in front of him. He had to be honest and it started here.
* * *
Her legs were still shaking even though she’d lain down on her bed half an hour ago, curling up into a ball.
So much of her wanted to turn back and just say yes.
Joe and Regan made her happy. She was being selfish. One person couldn’t have everything their way. She’d found love and family, maybe it was reasonable to have to sacrifice some of her career ambitions. But even just the thought of that made her stomach churn.
The knock at the door was something she truly wanted to ignore. She was always ready to work at the drop of a hat, but why today couldn’t they find someone else?
The knocking continued, more insistently this time.
She rubbed her face, wondering if she should wash it before answering. But just as she swung her legs from the bed she heard the door open.
The footsteps were pensive.
‘Lien?’
Her heart jumped.
Joe stood in the middle of the room with his hands at his sides.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked, staying at the doorway of her bedroom. ‘I don’t think my heart can take much more of this.’
‘Neither can mine,’ he said softly.
This time when he moved towards her she didn’t object when he reached out to cradle her cheek in his hand.
‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered. ‘I’m sorry that it’s taken a broken heart for me to realise what was the first thing I should do.’
She frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
She could tell he was nervous. His thumb brushed underneath her eye. ‘I thought home was Scotland,’ he said. ‘I had never considered anything else. And I should have. Of course I should have. I don’t want us to be apart. I want to spend my life creating happy memories with you, Lien. With you, me and Regan. If you’ll have us.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t get it.’
He smiled softly. ‘Neither did I. But I do now. If we leave now, I leave my heart behind in Vietnam. I don’t want to do that. This place?’ He held up both hands. ‘It’s opened up a whole new world for me and Regan. We love it. The place, the people, the work, and—’ he met her gaze ‘—one very special lady.’
His voice trembled. ‘I don’t want to go back to Scotland, because Scotland doesn’t feel like home any more. Here, with you, feels like home.’
She held her breath. This was different. This was different from what he’d said before.
‘If you’ll have us—’ his voice was still shaking and there were tears in his eyes ‘—we’d like to stay. For good.’
She let out a gasp. ‘What do you mean? I thought you had to take Regan home for school? What about your mum and dad?’
He nodded thoughtful
ly. ‘Regan can stay in school here. He’s learned so much already at the international school and he loves it. I’d be foolish to take him out now. As for my mum and dad...’ He paused for a second, then reached up and cradled her cheek again. ‘They told me to grab love with both hands and hold on tight. They love you already, Lien, and can’t wait to meet you. They’re probably booking flights as we speak.’
She blinked, tears flooding down her cheeks. ‘But your job, your house...’
He shook his head. ‘My house can be sold. I’ve rented it to the doctor and his wife who’ve been covering for me at the GP practice. It could be that they want my old job and my old house on a permanent basis.’
‘You’d sell everything?’
He nodded. ‘What do I have to go back for? We can visit my mum and dad whenever we choose.’ He took her hand and put it on his chest. ‘I want my life to be here, with you.’
‘But...’
He pressed his lips together for a second. ‘Maybe I’m reading all this wrong. Because if you don’t want me to stay, I won’t. I’m not trying to push things on you. But somehow I think that you love us, just as much as we love you.’
‘You want to stay?’ She almost couldn’t believe her ears. Her heart felt as if it was swelling in her chest. ‘You really want to stay?’
He nodded, and now a smile formed on his lips. ‘Of course, Lien. We want to stay with you.’
Her hands started to shake. It was like the pieces of her life, and her heart, were finally falling into place.
‘You’re sure?’
He put both hands around her waist. ‘You don’t need to ask me that. I’m sure. Surer than I’ve been of anything. I won’t change my mind. You don’t need to worry about this. I love you, Lien. I asked Hoa and Khiem if I could stay. You know what they said? They asked when the wedding was.’
Her mouth opened. ‘They, what?’ She was shocked. It seemed like her colleagues knew her better than she did.
He moved a little closer. The solid warmth of his body was reaching out to hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck. ‘So, what did you say?’
He smiled. ‘I said it was all up to you. Pick a date.’
The love that she’d tried to fight for in the last few days finally bubbled over. She could love this man, and his son, all on her own terms.
She leaned her forehead against his, trying not to let her emotions overwhelm her.
‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered. ‘I’m sorry you thought I was still living my old life. You caught me changing the picture on my phone that night—but didn’t give me a chance to tell you that.’ He pulled his phone from his back pocket and turned it around so she could see the screensaver. Her breath hitched. It was them, on the bridge at Hoàn Kiếm lake, laughing and joking together. ‘This is how I hope we’ll be for the next fifty years,’ he said huskily.
She looked up into those green eyes. ‘Just fifty?’ she teased.
He closed his eyes for a second. ‘However many we’re blessed with.’
Now it was her turn to get it. And she did. He was accepting they’d take whatever time they had. Through his health or hers.
She ran her finger down his cheek, feeling his stubble under her fingertip. ‘So...’ she smiled ‘...about this date, how soon do you think your mum and dad will get here?’
* * *
‘Dad!’ Regan shot through the door, making them spring apart, laughing.
‘Ooh!’ he said, looking at them both, then putting his hands on his hips. ‘Dad, were you kissing the girl?’
Joe laughed and swept Regan up into his arms. ‘I was trying to. What’s going on?’
Regan looked serious, as if he was trying to be grown up. ‘I have a message. You missed Grandma and Papa video-calling. They said to let you know that they’d be here in three days and you need to find them somewhere to stay.’
Joe turned to Lien and raised his eyebrows. ‘Three days?’
She wrapped her arms around them both. ‘Sounds perfect to me.’ And she kissed him, keeping her arms around the family that she loved.
* * *
Look out for the next story in The Good Luck Hospital duet
Just Friends to Just Married?
And if you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Scarlet Wilson
Tempted by the Hot Highland Doc
Island Doctor to Royal Bride?
Locked Down with the Army Doc
Resisting the Single Dad
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Just Friends to Just Married? by Scarlet Wilson.
Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!
Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards
http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010003
Did you know that Harlequin My Rewards members earn FREE books and more?
Join
www.HarlequinMyRewards.com
today to start earning your FREE books!
* * *
Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
Join Harlequin My Rewards and reward the book lover in you!
Earn points for every Harlequin print and ebook you buy, wherever and whenever you shop.
Turn your points into FREE BOOKS of your choice
OR
EXCLUSIVE GIFTS from your favorite authors or series.
Click here to join for FREE
Or visit us online to register at
www.HarlequinMyRewards.com
Harlequin My Rewards is a free program (no fees) without any commitments or obligations.
Just Friends to Just Married?
by Scarlet Wilson
CHAPTER ONE
THE SHRILL OF the phone cut through the dark night.
Vivienne Kerr fought her way free of the tangled sheets, her brain desperately trying to make sense of the noise. Was she on call? Was this a home delivery?
By the time she reached for the phone she was shaking her head. No. Definitely not on call. Not tonight. She’d been on call for the last three nights in a row. This was her first night off.
Or maybe it was morning. Maybe she’d slept for more than twenty-four hours and was late for her next shift...
Her eyes glanced at the green lights of her clock. Three thirty-seven. Her heart sank. Nope. She definitely wasn’t late, and no normal person would phone at this time of night—not unless it was bad news.
She picked up the phone, sucking in a breath as if, in some way, it would protect her from what would come next.
She was practically praying that this would be a wrong number. Someone looking for a taxi, or someone with crazy middle-of-the-night hunger pangs that could only be filled with some kind of takeaway food, or even a drunken call from some guy she’d previously given her number to. She’d take any of the above.
‘Hello?’
For a few seconds there wasn’t really a reply.
Every tiny hair on her bare arms stood on end. She swung her legs from the bed and sat bolt upright. All her instincts were on edge. Her stomach clenched.
‘Hello?’ she tried again.
There was a noise at the end of the phone. She couldn’t quite work out if it was a sob or a choke. ‘Viv.’
The voice stopped, as if it had taken all their effort just to say her name. She’d recognise that voice anywhere.
‘Duc?’ Panic gripped her. Her best friend. Where was he working now—Washington? Philadelphia? She moved into work mode. The way she acted when ever
ything that could go wrong at a delivery did go wrong.
Take charge.
‘Duc? What’s wrong? Where are you? Are you okay?’
Every tiny fragment of patience that she’d ever had had just flown out of the window. Duc. As she squeezed her eyes shut, she could see his floppy brown hair and soft brown eyes in her head. Duc. They’d met at a teaching hospital in London while she’d been a midwifery student and he’d been a medical student. No one could have predicted how much the crazy, rootless Scottish girl would click with the ever cheerful, laughing Vietnamese boy.
It was fate. It was...kind of magic.
A clinical emergency had floored them both. A young mother with an undiagnosed placenta praevia. Both had only been in the room to observe. Both had had no experience of a situation like this before. The mother had haemorrhaged rapidly, leading to the delivery of a very blue baby. Both Vivienne and Duc had ended up at either side of the bed, squeezing in emergency units of blood at almost the same rate as it appeared to be coming back out of the poor mother. It seemed that every rule in the book had gone out of the window in the attempt to save both baby and mum.
By the time things had come to a conclusion with mum rushed to emergency surgery, and baby rushed to the NICU, Duc and Vivienne had been left in the remnants of the room, with almost every surface, them included, splattered with blood.
Vivienne had done her best to hold it together. And she’d managed it. Almost.
Right until she’d reached the sluice room to dispose of aprons and gloves. Then she’d started to shake and cry. When the slim but strong arms had slid around her waist without a word, and Duc had rested his head on her shoulder, she’d realised that he had been shaking too. He’d known not to try and speak to her. He’d known not to ask her if she wanted a hug. He’d just acted, and they’d stood there, undisturbed, for nearly five minutes, cementing their friendship for ever.
But now? Fear gripped her chest. Duc hadn’t answered.
Healing the Single Dad's Heart Page 16