An image of a crowd of reporters shouting questions flashed into her mind, and she pushed it away. "I don't know."
"Oh, Katey. You should at least have found out. It's obviously important to Andre. Why don't you phone the Caspian and ask? You don't have to say who you are."
"I don't think the date's finalized yet, and I'm not getting involved anyway. I've had enough of the press to last me fifty lifetimes. Andre will manage just fine without me." And he would. He'd been managing alone since his grandfather died.
Alone. The word penetrated her soul like a shard of ice. Andre's mother had left him, his father hadn't cared about him and, eventually, even the grandfather he loved had gone. Andre had coped with the responsibility of taking over the hotels at an age when most young men were still studying. Kate had regretted not being there for him. Yet when he told her he loved her and suggested she do just that, be his wife, stand by his side and support him, she had thought only of reasons not to. She loved him, but she had walked away and left him alone again.
***
Kate lay under the apple tree in the back yard of her mother's cottage, listening to the rhythmic sweep of Derrick's scythe as he cut the long grass at the end of the garden. Three days had passed since Kate arrived, four since her argument with Andre. She wanted to go back to him, but her mum had persuaded her to take a few days to recharge her batteries before she made the tiring journey again, and she'd agreed. Poor Keiko needed time to recover from the constant stress of the last few weeks as well.
Kate had phoned Andre, though, and left messages, but he hadn't returned her calls. Perhaps he didn't want to talk to her. Perhaps she shouldn't go back to him. Perhaps her mum was wrong and when Andre had told her to leave, he really meant it.
To add to Kate's sense of guilt, her mum kept on about what a wonderful father he would make. Recollections ran through her mind of the many times he'd been thoughtful or kind to Keiko, the gentle way he held her and touched her with a sense of wonder on his face. Not only had she been selfish in not considering Andre, she hadn't even thought what was best for her baby!
She had to reach him on the phone, had to apologize and go back to the Caspian in time to present with him at the press conference. She rested her arm over her eyes to block out the sun. Andre was right. She was a liability. Memories of the happy moments with him chased through Kate's mind like a string of tumbled crystal beads, each one unique and beautiful. She missed him so much it was a constant physical ache inside her.
The phone rang and she sat up with a jerk. She rushed to the kitchen door, but it was only someone calling about flowers for the church.
"I can't sit still any longer. I'm going stir crazy." Kate poured herself some lemonade and paced to and fro across her mother's studio, watching Keiko through the open window.
"Why don't you go for a walk?" her mother said. "Take Keiko down to the estuary. The exercise will take your mind off Andre. He'll call when he's ready."
"That might be never! I just want to go back to him."
"Then go. But stay a couple more days before you take my granddaughter away from me. I love having her here, and I've seen so little of her."
Kate pulled on her mother's straw sunhat and set off along the road with Keiko in a stroller her mum had borrowed from a friend. When she had walked a mile up the estuary footpath and was nearly back to the road, she tucked herself away in a shady spot beneath some ash trees and sat on the grass with Keiko on her lap.
A young springer spaniel played in the water, and Kate held Keiko up, wondering if her sight was good enough yet to see the dog. Andre would know. His head was always stuffed full of facts, and it was a given he would have researched babies as soon as she arrived with Keiko.
In that moment she missed him so badly she could hardly breathe. Tears filled her eyes and she pressed her face against Keiko's lacy bonnet. The spaniel barked and Kate heard the owner calling it back. Then she heard a man's voice, a familiar voice, talking to the dog.
Her gaze jumped to the path and there was Andre, the springer pup bouncing around his legs, begging for attention. He paused and rubbed the dog behind the ears before it dashed after its owner. Kate sat stunned, her heart pounding, her breath suddenly gone as if all the air had been sucked out of her lungs.
He looked so good, dressed in a pair of tan pants and a blue button-down shirt, his dark hair gleaming. "Hello, stranger," he said with a smile as he drew closer. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Andre, I called you. Why didn't you phone me back?"
"I wanted to speak to you face to face."
He folded his lean body and sat on the grass at her side. "How are you, sweetheart?" He touched a finger to Keiko's chin and she smiled.
"Oh, my God! Did you see that? Keiko smiled at you."
"I know."
"That's the first time."
His eyebrows shot up. "The first smile. You mean, ever?"
"Yes." They stared at each other, the air between them charged with emotion.
"Do I get a smile from you as well?" he asked softly.
Kate tried to smile but her eyes filled with tears and she had to clamp her lips together to hold back her urge to cry.
"Oh, Kat." Andre pulled her into his arms and held her tight. "I'm sorry for being an idiot. I seem to make a habit of it around you."
His hand smoothed her hair, his fingers gentle against her cheek. "I love you just as you are. I don't want you to change. Please come back and be my wife. There's never been anyone else for me but you. I miss you and Keiko." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Can you forgive me?"
"I'm just as much to blame. I was going to return to you in time for the press conference to show you I do care about what you want."
Andre leaned back so he could see her face. "I'd love that, but you don't have to. I know I've pushed you too much."
"I want to, Andre. I want to share this with you. I want us to do things together."
He cupped her face in his hand and touched his lips to hers so sweetly and gently she melted in his arms.
***
The following Thursday, Kate dressed in the green dress and matching shoes and arrived in the Caspian lobby just before ten thirty. She had hardly slept the night before and her belly churned with nerves at the thought of facing a whole room full of reporters. But she knew she would be all right with Andre by her side.
He'd come over from his cottage earlier to check everything was set up as planned while she waited for Mrs. Cooper to arrive to babysit Keiko. As Kate entered the Great Hall, she barely noticed the rows of people. Only one person mattered.
Andre stood in the corner of the room, a hand rested casually on the carved oak paneling while he waited for the crowd to seat themselves. The sun flooded in the large leaded window at the end of the huge room, bathing Andre in its glow, turning his hair to gleaming dark silk. Love swamped her, stole her breath with its intensity. He turned his head, his smile warm and welcoming, and held out his hand to her. Kate hurried the last few steps and grasped his fingers as though they were a lifeline.
"You look beautiful, Kat," he said softly. "Time to get this show on the road. Are you ready?"
Kate clutched her notes in a leather folio he'd given her with the new Caspian dragon logo on the cover. "Ready as I'll ever be."
"You'll do great." He brushed a knuckle across her cheek and then, with a hand on her back, guided her to a table at the front of the room. They'd been over their joint presentation many times during the past week, tweaking it until they were both comfortable. Andre introduced them and spoke first.
Reality hit. Kate stared at the faces, and her stomach went into freefall. Her gaze skittered to and fro along the rows. Edmund and Liz sat at the front and Jerry Markham's familiar cynical grin caught her attention half way back. Her throat squeezed shut. She wouldn't be able to speak!
She raised her eyes to the minstrels' gallery, concentrated on the carved oak spindles, the small candle-shaped wall lights, and made hers
elf breathe. She listened to the easy cadence of Andre's voice, marveled at how natural and comfortable he was in front of the crowd. In comparison, she was certain she'd sound wooden and horribly nervous.
Then Andre looked her way and she couldn't remember a thing. A terrifying silence descended. Andre's hand pressed warm and reassuring against her back and the tension eased from her body. She glanced down at her notes and started talking. As she settled in to her presentation, she relaxed. Andre chipped in with a few points, reminding her of things she'd wanted to say. She would never be a natural at public speaking, but ten minutes later she had covered everything and was still alive to tell the tale.
Andre opened the floor for questions and answered most of them, but a few times, he looked at Kate, a gentle, encouraging smile on his lips, and she responded. Then suddenly the presentation was over. Edmund Delacroix came forward and shook their hands, a slightly pouty Elizabeth at his side. The reporters milled around and members of Andre's staff were on hand to offer guided tours to anyone interested. When most of the crowd had vacated the Great Hall, Andre took Kate's elbow and led her through a side door into the service corridor.
As the door shut behind her, Kate leaned back against the wall her breath whooshing out. "I can't believe I did that."
Andre stepped closer and kissed her. "You did brilliantly."
"You had confidence in me?"
"I did."
Kate laughed, feeling drunk on her success. "They really liked my ideas, didn't they?"
"Of course they did. I told you people would be impressed."
Andre embraced her and she melted against him, overwhelmed with a sense of relief. They stood together, cradled in each other's arms for long minutes, until her heartbeat returned to normal. "Ready to go home?" Andre whispered.
"Don't you need me to do anything else?"
"We've done our part for today. I want you to myself for a little while. There's something I have to show you."
They wandered back to Andre's cottage arm in arm. A sense of peace and happiness she'd never known filled her. Being with Andre was so right. He led her to his front door but didn't go inside. Instead he crouched and pushed aside the prickly stems of the climbing rose that clung to the wall. "Come here beside me. You need to crouch down to see."
This was surreal. Careful not to drag her hem on the ground, Kate bent her knees to take her down to his level. Andre dusted away a layer of green algae on the wall and Kate stared, disbelieving. It was the marriage stone the two of them had carved with their initials when they were children.
Clutching Andre's arm to steady herself, Kate peered at the granite aghast. Three years ago, when Andre renovated the cottage and must have installed the stone, she'd been living with Dan.
"We spent so long carving that hunk of granite I couldn't leave it out. It belonged here," Andre said. "I guess deep down I hoped one day you'd come home and make the promise on the marriage stone a reality."
"Andre…" Tears filled her eyes, clogged her throat. Back then, in their childish innocence, they were certain they belonged together, and they'd been right.
Andre pulled her to her feet. "I'm going to do this properly this time." He kneeled on the grass and fished the engagement ring out of his pocket. "Kate Frost, will you marry me?"
Kate stared at the ring through a window of tears. "For real this time?"
"Of course." Andre slipped the ring on her finger and stroked his thumb across her knuckles.
"I haven't said yes yet."
Andre grinned as he got up. "I'm not giving you a chance to say no, Ms. Frost. You're mine now; my ring is on your finger."
Her lips quivered. "Yes," she whispered.
Andre cupped the back of her head in his hands and kissed her possessively. "There's one last thing I want to do." He withdrew an envelope from his pocket and handed it to her.
She looked at him questioningly as she pulled out the sheet of paper. It was a real estate valuation for both of Andre's hotels. "You're not selling the Caspian, are you?" Had she driven him to this?
"I'd like to keep the Caspian, but I don't mind selling the Court Royal. If I do, we'll have plenty of money to move anywhere we like. I'll put a manager in the Caspian and we can live quietly and raise our kids. You could spend your life painting and being a mum if that's what you want."
"But you love it here, and what about the promise you made to your grandfather? I don't expect you to give that up, Andre."
He lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her fingers. "I would like to fulfill my grandfather's dream of taking the Caspian to the top. But once I achieve that, I have my own dreams waiting in the wings. We've plenty of time to do everything we want to."
Kate linked her arms around Andre's neck. "There's only one thing I want, and that's to spend the rest of my life with you."
"Then, my darling, your wish will come true." And he kissed her.
Thank you for reading Unbreak My Heart
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About the Author
Helen Scott Taylor won the American Title IV contest in 2008. Her winning book, The Magic Knot, was published in 2009 to critical acclaim, received a starred review from Booklist, and was a Booklist top ten romance for 2009. Since then, she has published other novels, novellas, and short stories in both the UK and USA.
Helen lives in South West England near Plymouth in Devon between the windswept expanse of Dartmoor and the rocky Atlantic coast. As well as her wonderful long-suffering husband, she shares her home with two Shih Tzus and an aristocratic chocolate-shaded-silver-burmilla cat who rules the household with a velvet paw. She believes that deep within everyone, there’s a little magic.
Find Helen at:
http://www.HelenScottTaylor.com
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***
Also by Helen Scott Taylor
Paranormal/Fantasy Romance
The Magic Knot
The Phoenix Charm
The Ruby Kiss
The Crystal Crib (novella) in A Midwinter Fantasy anthology
The Feast of Beauty
Warriors of Ra
A Clockwork Fairytale
***
Contemporary Romance
Safe In His Arms (Coming May 2012)
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Unbreak My Heart (Childhood Sweethearts Reunited) Page 15