She could hear the wind through the palm trees and was all knotted on the inside but in a very nice way.
Steele was here.
‘Why are you here?’ she asked.
‘Because I had this vision of trying to date you from Kent while you were living with your parents,’ Steele said as he read through her list.
‘I’d already addressed that,’ she said, and pointed to her decision on the list she had written.
So she had.
‘I feel like the teacher is reading my homework,’ she admitted. ‘Do I get marked?’
‘Verbal comments,’ Steele said. ‘I didn’t bring my red pen.
‘Okay, I think moving away from your parents is very brave and very sensible.’
‘Thank you.’
‘And I think telling Gerry’s parents is very brave and very right too,’ Steele said, and carried on reading through her list.
‘Work...’ Steele said, and his hand wavered in the air. ‘That’s a tough one.’
‘I like what I do.’
‘I know.
‘What’s “Ha-ha-ha” for?’
‘Money,’ Candy said, and he laughed.
He was serious when they got to Gerry. ‘As for the memorial service...’
‘I feel bad that I didn’t go.’
‘I went,’ Steele said.
‘Were there a lot of people?’
‘It was packed,’ he said. He decided not to mention Elaine and her tears. He had spoken to her the next day and had hopefully helped by listening a bit.
‘I met Rory, and Gina...’
‘Gina!’ Candy’s eyes were wide. ‘She’s been on extended leave. I think she’s been in rehab.’
‘Well, it looks as if she’s coming back,’ Steele said. ‘Oh, and I met Anton. We went for a drink afterwards.’ He watched as she blushed. ‘Is he the doctor overseeing your pregnancy?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you happen to mention my infertility?’
‘I did.’
‘It’s fine that you told him. I don’t have any issue with that at all. You must have been in the most confused space.’
‘So how did you guess that he was my doctor?’
‘Heathrow to Hawaii gives you quite a lot of thinking time.’ He told her all the questions he’d had for Anton and then he told her why. ‘I’m here because I love you, but I never wanted you to think I wanted you for the babies. Does that make sense?’
‘Sort of.’
‘Anyway, I’m not. I want the babies very much but if it hadn’t happened, it helps to know that you very probably can have a baby with me. Not naturally, but the choice and the chance is there.’
She turned and smiled at him. ‘Did you do it into a jar for me?’
‘I did,’ he said. ‘And, had it been necessary, I would have undergone a procedure that would involve a lot of local anaesthetic on a very delicate area but, thankfully, Anton seems to think I’ve got enough swimmers to work with.’
‘You asked Anton all those embarrassing questions for me?’
‘Yes.’ Steele sighed. ‘I did. I had no idea at the time that Anton had practically led me to ask them—you’ve got a lot of fans, you know.’
‘Who?’
‘Anton, Macey...’
‘How is Macey?’
‘Meddling. She practically told me to get on a plane.’
Then he got to the hard part. ‘Gerry’s parents and brother and sister were at the service and they told a few tales.’
‘How did they seem.’
‘Lost,’ Steele said. ‘Confused. I think the news of the twins is going to mean an awful lot to them.’
‘Why did you go to the service, Steele?’ she asked.
‘Because I wanted to know more about the man whose children I want to raise and perhaps if they have questions I might be able to answer some,’ he said. ‘And I’m here because I love you,’
Candy looked at him and her eyes filled with tears. She realised then what Macey had meant when she’d asked her about duty.
Steele had no duty to her babies unless he wanted them.
They had been together for just two weeks when the news had hit.
He had every reason to walk away, to be gone, for things to fade out quietly, and yet he was here, sitting beside her and loving her with his eyes.
‘I’m sorry they’re—’
‘You’re going to say that once,’ Steele broke in. ‘Now. Then it’s done.’
He was the most direct person she had ever met.
‘You’re sorry they’re not mine?’ he checked.
Tears shot out of her eyes without a sob. They just spilled out with such force that they splashed on her sarong.
‘We have to be honest now,’ he said. ‘We have to have the most honest conversation of our lives and I’m ringing in sick even if it take six months to sort this out because we’re staying here till it’s done.’
‘We’ve only got five months left till they’re here.’
‘So we need to talk, right here, right now, and nothing, nothing gets left unsaid. My first thought, when you found out you were pregnant, was just that...I wanted them to be mine,’ Steele said. ‘Then I asked myself what would have happened if the twins weren’t already here? My guess is that we’d have made it, because I was already coming to Hawaii and I don’t go on holiday with women yet I was about to with you...’
She thought back. Things had been so easy then.
‘And if we had made it, would you have wanted a baby at some stage?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know. I think I would want children but if we couldn’t...’ She looked at Steele.
Did his infertility change how she felt about him?
Never.
Could she love him less?
Not a chance.
‘If we couldn’t have children we’d have gone for treatment,’ Steele checked, and she nodded.
‘Or adoption.’
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Had we adopted, would you have loved them less?’
‘No!’
‘Would you, in an argument, say that they weren’t biologically mine?’
‘No!’
‘So what’s the difference?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘If we had to use donated sperm, would it change how we feel about them?’
‘Of course not.’
‘I’m going to be there for the pregnancy, the birth, the nappies. The twins will be mine,’ Steele said. ‘They will know about Gerry and when they turn into feral teenagers and say that I’m not their real father, I won’t be hurt, not for a second. Instead, you and I will laugh in their moody, acne-laden faces when they say that, because we know we dealt with all that in Hawaii many, many years ago.’
Candy let out a breath.
‘It’s not just you that has concerns about getting married,’ he said. ‘I made a list of my own.’ He took out his boarding pass and she read it.
Movies.
Football.
Cricket.
‘It’s a lot less complicated than mine,’ she said.
‘Oh, no, it isn’t. I like my life very much and there are certain...er...requirements that I swore I would not forgo...’
She looked at him.
‘The movies,’ Steele explained. ‘I like to go on my own sometimes. I just do. I don’t want you saying, “But you used to take me”...’
Candy smiled.
‘And I know it’s horrible and selfish to take myself off when you’ll have been stuck indoors with screaming twins, so perhaps you might like to take yourself off now and then to wherever ladies take themselves off to...’
‘Like a spa day?’ she said.
‘I think so.’
‘And you’d never say, “Oh, Candy, why do you have so many spa days? Why don’t I come with you this time?”’
‘Never,’ he promised.
‘Deal.’
‘The football and cricket are one and the same...’ He looked a
bit worried and so too was Candy as she hated sport—it made her sweat and feel shaky and that was just watching it. ‘I don’t do romantic holidays,’ he said. ‘I shall, of course, and I’ll do family ones too, but I have a group of friends and we like some big-ticket stuff.’
‘Such as?’
‘You remember how well we negotiated the movie issue?’ Steele checked, because was he really going to land a perfect woman who didn’t mind what he was about to suggest?
‘I do.’ Candy was very curious. She loved their discussions. ‘What sort of big-ticket stuff?’
‘International cricket events. World Cup...’
‘Oh.’
‘We don’t always all go to everything.’
Candy said nothing at first. It really was a bit awkward. ‘Would I be expected to go?’
‘Well...’ he said. ‘There’s a lot of drinking and singing...’ He waited for her to say that no way would she ever want to go. Yes, this was awkward. ‘Might be a bit of bad language, which wouldn’t be great for the twins.’ Still Candy said nothing and so he told her the real deal. ‘There’s also a very strict no-girlfriends-or-wives agreement, which I have, over the years, enforced on my friends several times. I’d never be able to live it down if I asked to bring you.’
He watched a little smile play on her lips.
‘However,’ he said quickly, ‘I would think, given I’d be going away with friends for a couple of weeks now and then and leaving you, that you might need to escape with your girlfriends for a holiday every now and then, and I’d look after the twins and however many others we have...’
‘Oh, I think I could agree to that.’ Candy smiled and she looked at him, a man so happy in himself he wasn’t looking for the other half. It had just turned out that she happened to be it. ‘I love you, even without the twins, you do know that.’
‘Why isn’t there anything written about me on your list, then?’ Steele asked, loving the way she blushed.
‘I tried to write a letter.’
‘Show me.’
‘That’s so unfair.’
‘I need to know you love me, Candy,’ he teased, and held out his hand.
It was so embarrassing as he sat there and read how crazy she was about him and then he started to laugh.
‘“Friends with benefits.” I’m sorry, Candy, this might be insensitive but if I’m having a friend with benefits then I want the blonde, leggy Candy. Not the heavily pregnant with twins one—that’s husband stuff.’ He looked at her. ‘Marry me?’
‘Honestly?’
‘Honestly,’ he said, his heart thumping in his chest.
‘I want to be with you but I’ve never wanted to get married,’ Candy admitted. ‘I just don’t want the big white wedding that my parents would insist on. I don’t want to be standing there in a fluffy white dress pregnant with twins...’
‘And you’d have to say your name out loud in a packed church,’ he pointed out. ‘And I’m a divorced heathen...’ Then he smiled. ‘We’re in Hawaii, Candy. We can be married tomorrow, if that’s what you want. I know it will upset your parents but I think they will be pleased as well.’
She started to smile.
‘Is that a yes?’ he checked. ‘I’m starting to get worried here.’
‘It’s a very big yes,’ she said. ‘But won’t your parents be disappointed to miss it?’ Candy asked. After all, he was their only child.
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘and I’ll be tempted to point out that they missed most of my milestone events growing up, but I shan’t do that, of course. They’ll soon get over it, especially when they hear about the twins.’
They were back at the villa, all their lists checked and sorted. She loved their honesty, how they just spoke and worked it all out. ‘We dealt with that very maturely.’ Candy grinned in delight as she congratulated them.
‘Oh, I can assure you that I don’t feel very mature today,’ Steele said. ‘In fact, I want to do something very immature.’
He handed her the phone with a text from Annie, asking him if he’d had a think about her suggestion.
‘This came through when I landed,’ Steele explained. ‘Can I?’
‘Go on.’ She smiled and watched as he started to type out a text.
There’s nothing to think about or discuss. I am in Hawaii with Candy and we’re about to get married. She’s pregnant with twins, which means that she’s very moody and volatile at the moment, so it’s probably better that you don’t text again. Regards, Steele.
He hit ‘send’ and with that he let go of the past and moved into the glorious future.
‘You lied to me, though,’ she said as they stepped into the villa and he took her in his arms.
‘Never.’
‘Yes, you did,’ Candy said, and wrapped her hands around his neck. ‘You said that the money you gave me had been lying around for five years, but it was only printed two years ago.’
Steele merely smiled at being caught. ‘That’s because I didn’t want you worrying about taking food from your babies’ mouths as you looked at that fantastic, sexy sarong.’ He stroked her thick nipples through the fabric, and then he ran a tender hand over her stomach and his hand told her how sexy the changes were to him.
His kiss told her that too.
Her fabulous sarong dropped to the floor and Steele undressed with rapid ease.
The only thing missing from her perfect holiday had been her perfect man and now here he was, making love to her.
The doubts, the hesitation about whether or not he should intrude on her time here, were put to rest as he entered her. She wrapped herself around him, moved her body with his and held nothing back.
‘I love you so much,’ Candy said as she started to come.
No question, no hesitation, they both knew how precious the love they had was. Steele felt the roundness of her stomach press into his and he wanted to say he loved her back but she dragged him in so deep that all he could do was moan.
‘I love you too,’ he said afterwards as they lay there.
‘You’ve still got red toenails.’ She smiled as she looked at his feet next to hers.
‘I was too embarrassed to buy nail-varnish remover,’ he said. ‘We’ll need it if we’re getting married on the beach.’
‘Or not.’
‘Oh, no.’ Steele shook his head. ‘We’re getting it filmed for our families and a photo for Macey. I don’t want everyone wondering if I’m secretly wearing your underwear.’
‘Are we going to live in Kent?’ Candy asked.
‘We are,’ Steele said. ‘My offer’s been accepted for that house. I wanted to ask you to marry me there,’ he said. ‘My plan was to do that when we looked through the house, except you chose not to come in.’
‘You were going to ask me then?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But I didn’t want to rush you.’
‘So you gave me an extra five days?’
‘I couldn’t wait any longer,’ Steele said, and then kissed the top of her head. ‘So let’s go and get the licence and get married so that the honeymoon can begin.’
It already had.
EPILOGUE
IT WAS, FOR CANDY, who had never wanted her own wedding, the perfect one.
It was, for Steele, who had sworn he would never marry again, the best wedding ever too.
Steele opted for sunset, though he didn’t tell her why.
They walked to the beach together and stood, their bare feet caressed by the silky sand, Candy nervous, excited and all the things he made her feel as she faced him.
‘Aloha,’ he said, and she smiled. It was very hard to believe, after all their little teases about her holiday, that he was here with her and that this was their wedding.
‘Aloha,’ Candy said, grateful when he took her shaking hands.
The air smelt of coconut and frangipani. She was wearing a single flower in her hair. The breeze whipped her hair from her face and moulded Candy’s dress to her soft curves. She had chosen a
pale blue chiffon that was very simple and tied beneath her bust. He wore a linen suit, which was the colour of damp sand, and a white shirt and no nail varnish. He took her breath away and made her smile just as he had the moment they’d met.
She could hear the roar of the waves as they crashed onto the shore and then hissed back out to sea, leaving the sand as smooth, clean and pristine as their beckoning future.
As the huge crimson sun sank slowly into the sea the service started. They had decided on traditional vows—timeless and classic. She looked right at him as he placed the simple gold band they had chosen on her finger and Candy felt a soft shiver run through her as she heard the gorgeous, deep voice that had come into her life less than a month ago now vow to be with her for ever. ‘With this ring I thee wed. With my body I thee worship.’
Then it was Candy’s turn and her voice was very clear when she promised the same.
The sun had set, bamboo tiki torches lit the beach and the celebrant told them they were husband and wife.
‘You may kiss your bride.’
Steele did and his kiss was long and lingering and then he moved his mouth to her ear. ‘I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,’ he said.
To hear those heartfelt words from Steele meant everything to Candy.
‘I’m the happiest I’ve ever been too,’ she agreed.
That was how they made each other feel.
With the service over and the documents signed, they walked hand in hand along the beach towards their villa with the waves lapping at their toes.
It was done, she was married and it was exactly as she’d wanted it to be, but as she saw the photographer taking down his equipment, even though they’d had the service filmed Candy felt a niggle of guilt that she had denied her parents this day.
Back in their suite she was determined to push the thought aside, but having again kissed his bride he pulled back and asked for her parents’ number. ‘You’ll feel better when you’ve told them,’ he said. ‘You know you will.’
‘They’ll freak,’ Candy said. ‘I don’t want to spoil today...’ But she gave him the number and lay there with her eyes closed as a deep calm voice, one that was very used to dealing with upset, stubborn, set-in-their-ways people, introduced himself and told her father that he was a doctor who worked alongside Candy.
Baby Twins to Bind Them (Mills & Boon Medical) Page 14