The Secret in His Heart
Page 18
He gave them the details, hung up and tucked her in closer beside him. ‘I’m sorry I scared you. Tell me you’ve forgiven me.’
‘No, I won’t,’ she said, snuggling up to his side and ignoring the rank smell of river water that clung to his sodden clothes. ‘I don’t know if I ever will. I thought I was going to lose you, James. I was so scared.’
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I just saw her go in, and I couldn’t let her die. Not Saffy, not after all she’s been through, all she means to you, to Joe. You would have been devastated. She’s our family, Connie. And I knew the tide was going out. It’s when it’s coming in it’s so dangerous, because the denser sea water sinks under the river water where they meet and it drags you under.’
‘And if you hadn’t known that? Would you still have dived in?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Probably not. I might have nicked a boat and gone after her, but even on an outgoing tide, the current’s really strong. I do know it’s dangerous. I’m not an adrenaline junkie, Connie, not like Joe. I want to grow old with you, and see our children graduate and have babies of their own. I have no intention of dying. Not now. Not now I’ve got something worth living for. Someone worth living for.’
Saffy lifted her head and laid it on his lap, and he stroked her gently. ‘Poor old girl. Two someones.’
Connie leant over and pressed a kiss to the dog’s now warm flank. ‘Thank you for rescuing her. You’re right, I would have been devastated if we’d lost her.’
‘I know that. I’m sorry I frightened you.’
‘Don’t do it again. Ever.’
‘I won’t.’
‘Good.’
* * *
Two hours later, after the vet had been and Saffy was declared fit enough to stay at home to recover from her experience, they were all upstairs in his bedroom.
Saffy was snuggled up on an old quilt on the sofa by the window, snoring softly, and James and Connie were in bed, emotionally exhausted but happy. They’d showered to get rid of the smell of the river water which by then had been clinging to both of them, and now they were lying propped up on the pillows watching Saffy’s chest rise and fall and letting the drama of the day subside.
‘I love you,’ she murmured, and he bent his head and pressed a warm, gentle kiss to her hair.
‘I love you, too. I’ve loved you for years.’
She turned her head then and looked up at him. ‘Really?’
‘Really. I didn’t let myself think about it before but you’ve always been more to me than just a friend. That was one of the reasons I couldn’t just say yes to giving you a baby the way you asked, because I wanted so much more. I wanted to do it properly, like this, in the context of a permanent loving relationship, and anything less just seemed wrong, as if it would cheat all of us.’
‘Oh, James...’
She lifted her hand and cradled his cheek, touching her lips to his, and he eased her closer, deepening the kiss, feeling the warmth of her soothing him.
It was like coming home, and he couldn’t quite believe it.
‘So—about these babies,’ he murmured against her lips, trailing a daisy chain of kisses over her cheek and down towards the hollow of her throat.
She arched her head back, the soft sigh whispering in his hair. ‘Mmm—want to make a start?’
She felt his smile against her skin.
‘You read my mind,’ he said softly, and kissed her all over again.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781460314258
Copyright © 2013 by Caroline Anderson
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