The doorbell rang and she climbed off the bed and walked over to the window. Perhaps someone from the village wanted her for something. She almost hoped that it might be a problem which required her immediate attention.
Peering out, she jumped back in horror. Jack’s car was parked outside in the lane. Maybe he’d brought Ellie back to renew some acquaintance he’d made here and decided to pop in. Didn’t he know he couldn’t just do that?
Cass watched the front path and saw him stand away from the door, scanning the front of the house. He was alone, and suddenly fear clutched at her heart. Why would he come here without Ellie on a Sunday morning?
She raced downstairs, sliding her feet into her wellingtons when she realised they were the only footwear she had in the hallway. Then she flung open the door.
‘Jack...?’
He was making his way back up the path and he turned. Cass’s stomach almost did a somersault as suddenly she realised that she hadn’t remembered the warmth of his eyes at all. They’d always been so much better in reality.
‘What’s the matter? Where’s Ellie?’ Surely the only thing that could bring him here alone was if there was some kind of trouble.
‘At Sarah’s.’ He paused for a moment and then strode back along the path towards her. ‘May I come in?’
The temptation to slam the door in his face fought with the need to look at him just a little longer, and lost by a whisker. And she’d opened the door now. Not letting him in would betray the fact that she cared one way or the other.
She stood back from the door in silence and he nodded, wiping his feet and walking into the hall.
‘Wow. Quite a difference from last time I saw this.’
Presumably he was referring to the new plaster and skirting boards, and the scrubbed floorboards. All Cass could think about was that the last time he’d been here they’d had something, and now there was nothing.
‘It’s been hard work.’
‘I imagine so.’ He seemed a little jumpy. As if there was a point to all of this and he was working himself up to it.
‘What do you want, Jack?’
He turned his gaze on her, warm enough to melt chocolate. ‘I’ve come for you, princess.’
* * *
No. No! What had made him think that he could do this? Leave Ellie with Sarah and pop back for a day spent in bed. Who did he think she was?
‘Out.’ She glared at him, hoping he’d go before she changed her mind. Her body had just caught on to the idea and was beginning to like it.
‘Cass, wait. Can we talk about this?’
‘There’s nothing to talk about. You can’t just drop in whenever you’ve got a free moment and you think you might like to warm your feet in my bed.’
Reproach flashed in his eyes. ‘It’s not like that.’
‘Okay then, friends with benefits, whatever you want to call it. I’m not interested.’
‘Neither am I. Cass, can we sit down...?’
‘There’s nowhere to sit. The kitchen’s full of cupboards, and there’s no furniture in the sitting room.’ And she wasn’t going to take him upstairs to her bedroom.
He rolled his eyes. ‘Then we’ll do it here.’
‘No, we won’t. Whatever it is.’
Suddenly he was too close. His lips just an inch away. Cass felt tears begin to roll down her cheeks. ‘Jack, stop it. Please...’
‘I don’t want sex...’
‘Stop it!’ Didn’t he know that friendship was just as much out of the question? She couldn’t bear it.
‘I want to marry you.’
Suddenly the air began to swim in front of her, distorting everything else. She felt her knees begin to buckle...
* * *
Jack managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Stupid. Stupid. He shouldn’t have just come out with it like that but he was so afraid that Cass was going to throw him out before he got a chance to say it. He settled her in his arms and carried her upstairs, kicking open the nearest door and finding a room stacked with furniture. The other door revealed a large sunny bedroom with light oak furniture and white lace bedlinen.
She was already stirring in his arms and her fingers clutched at his shoulders when he walked over to the bed with her. ‘Boots... Jack...’
‘Okay. Just relax; I’ll take them off.’ The room was meticulously clean and tidy, and Jack knew that Cass would probably kill him if he let her wellingtons soil the bed. Sitting her down, he pulled her boots off and then guided her back on to the pillows.
His finger found the pulse in her neck. Strong, even if it was a little fast. His was probably faster.
‘I’m all right.’
‘I dare say you are. Stay down for a minute.’
She opened her eyes and their pale blue earnestness made his heart lurch. ‘I must have just...’
‘Have you been eating?’ She’d felt light in his arms, and now that she was lying on her back he could see the line of her hips through the thin fabric of her skirt.
‘I...’ Her face took on a look of grudging contrition. ‘I was putting the kitchen cabinets together last night and didn’t stop for supper. I haven’t got around to breakfast yet...’
‘And so you fainted.’ Jack decided not to touch on the immediate reason in case she did it again. He got to his feet. ‘Stay there.’
‘I’m okay. Really. Just a bit embarrassed.’
Not half as embarrassed as he was, for being such an idiot as to just drop a marriage proposal on her, right out of the blue. But now wasn’t the time to mention that, not until she’d had something to eat.
‘Stay there.’
‘But...’
‘No buts, Cass. If you move, I’ll... Just don’t move.’ He tried to put as much authority as he could into his words before he hurried downstairs to the kitchen.
* * *
Cass could hear the banging of cupboard doors downstairs. Jack had asked her to marry him?
Maybe she’d got it wrong. Maybe he’d done it on impulse and was regretting it now. Or maybe he’d meant it, and she’d had to go and spoil the moment by fainting. It was her own stupid fault, but the constant hunger for Jack seemed to have overwhelmed everything lately, even hunger for food.
He appeared in the doorway, a glass of milk in one hand and a plate with a couple of croissants in the other. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he waited for her to sit up before he put the plate on to her lap.
‘Feeling better?’
‘Yes, much. What were you going to say to me?’
‘Eat first.’
How was she going to eat with the words she thought Jack had said bursting in her head like fireworks? She picked up one of the croissants and put it down again.
‘I can’t.’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘Try. C’mon, Cass, I know you can do it.’
‘I can’t. Really. Jack...’ Please let this be what she thought it was. Please...
He flashed her a grin. ‘I’m glad you can’t wait. Don’t think I can either.’
‘Then get on with it! I’m feeling a little nervous.’
He chuckled. ‘Good. I’m feeling a bit nervous too.’ Jack picked her hand up from her lap, kissing her fingers, and she nodded him on.
‘Cass, you taught me how to believe. And I believe in you. There’s only one choice and I’ve made it. I love you and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. We’ll take everything else as it comes, face it together.’
It was everything she wanted to hear. There was only one more question and she had to ask it now, before happiness chipped away at her resolve. ‘Are you sure you could be happy? If I couldn’t give you children?’
‘Wrong question.’ He shook his head, smiling. ‘If we can’t have children toget
her, then I can still be very happy. This is how sure I am...’
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small box. When he opened it Cass clapped her hand to her mouth. The ring inside was beautiful, two diamonds twisted together in a gold setting.
‘You’re the only woman I’m ever going to want, Cass. You and Ellie are the only family I’m ever going to need. The only question is whether that’s enough for you.’
‘Me? Are you joking?’ He was offering her the whole world and he wanted to know if it was enough?
His mouth curved into a smile. ‘I’ll let you know when I’m joking.’ He snapped the box shut again and put it back in his pocket.
‘Hey! Don’t I get to look at it a bit more?’
‘I thought you might like to think about it for a while.’
‘Jack, ask me again. Please, I know my answer.’
He nodded. He knew her answer too. It had always been this way with Jack. Friends, lovers—they were like two pieces of a jigsaw that fitted perfectly.
He sat on the bed, holding her hands between his. ‘Will you marry me, Cass?’
‘Yes, Jack. I’ll marry you.’
He took the ring out of the box, slipping it on to her finger.
* * *
They’d talked for hours, lying together on the bed, side by side. He’d told her his dreams and she’d told him hers. And all of those dreams began slowly to morph into plans.
He was so happy. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted off him, not just the weight of the last months, when he’d struggled to cope without Cass, but the weight of years.
‘You want something more to eat?’ Jack doubted it. In his remorse at seeing her so thin, he’d raided the kitchen again and she’d worked her way through two sandwiches, a banana and a pot of yoghurt.
‘No. I... Were you serious when you said you didn’t want sex?’ The tone of Cass’s voice intimated that she was pretty sure he hadn’t been.
‘I only want sex under certain conditions.’ Her eyebrows shot up and Jack couldn’t help smiling.
‘Really? Well, you can’t just leave me guessing. What conditions?’
‘To show how much I love you. To celebrate with you, comfort you, be your companion.’ He leaned in to kiss her lightly on the lips, his body burning with need. ‘I’m not going to rule out cheap thrills...’
‘I like the sound of cheap thrills. Would it be quicker to tell me what you don’t want?’
‘Yeah, much.’ He eased his leg between her knees. ‘I don’t want you to be worrying about what time of the month it is, or whether your temperature’s just spiked. I want you to see me, Cass. Only me.’
Neither of them had been able to deny that they wanted a child together, but they’d agreed that what they already had was enough. Now was the time to test that out, whether Cass could really leave her own past behind and risk all her broken dreams against what they had now.
‘I’d really like that...’ She gave him a dazzling smile. ‘No expectations, then?’
He wouldn’t go quite that far. ‘Yeah, I’ve got expectations. That thing you do... The one that drives me crazy...’
‘Which thing is that?’
‘Every single one of them. All I see is you, sweetheart.’
‘And all I see is you.’
She wound her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. Then she whispered in his ear, ‘Take your clothes off...’
EPILOGUE
JACK FELT AS if he’d been sitting here for hours, although in truth it was probably only ten minutes. He looked around, towards the entrance of the church, and Mimi elbowed him in the ribs. ‘Do that again and I’ll be having words with you, Jack.’
‘You’re supposed to be looking after me, not haranguing me.’ Jack had asked Rafe to be his best man and he’d refused, telling him that Mimi was the one he’d crewed an ambulance with for seven years. So convention had been thrown to the wind and both Mimi and Rafe sat beside him.
‘She won’t be late.’ Rafe leaned over. ‘Cass is never late.’
‘She’s already late.’
‘No, she isn’t.’ Mimi looked at her watch. ‘She’s got another two minutes to go. If you don’t stop this, so help me, Jack, I’m going to sedate you.’
A sound at the other end of the aisle. There seemed to be some activity in the porch, and suddenly Ellie appeared. It was the second time in six months that she’d been a bridesmaid and, after the petal-throwing debacle at Rafe and Mimi’s wedding, Cass had decided that a sparkly wand might go with the pretty pink dress that Ellie had helped pick for herself.
Ellie waved the wand at the assembled company. Their families, their friends and half the village had turned out and squashed themselves into the church at Holme. Every head turned and the organist struck up the wedding march. This time Ellie didn’t take fright and started to walk up the aisle, a look of intense concentration on her face.
Then Jack saw her. She had flowers in her hair and her dress fell in soft folds from an embroidered bodice, emphasising the fluidity of her movements. As Cass walked slowly towards him, her hand resting lightly on her father’s arm, he was transfixed.
‘Stand up, will you?’ Mimi hissed the words in his ear, kicking him. Jack wondered whether his legs would be able to support him. Cass was the most beautiful woman in the world and she’d come here to be his wife.
‘You’ve got the rings?’ He turned to Rafe in a sudden panic.
‘Of course we have.’ Rafe propelled him to his feet and Cass smiled at him. And suddenly everything was not only all right; it was touched with more joy than Jack could ever have imagined one man could stand.
* * *
She’d made her vows and he’d made his. As they stepped out of the church and into the spring sunshine, a firefighters’ guard of honour stood to attention. Miss Palmer was on the station commander’s arm and Ellie capered around, swishing her wand. Everyone trooped across to the village green, where two huge interconnecting marquees had been erected, one to accommodate the buffet and the other for dancing.
Jack was by her side all the way, through the speeches, the cutting of the cake, the excited congratulations. Her soulmate. The hero who had saved her and brought her to a place where she was completely happy.
‘Do you have a date yet? For moving in?’ Martin beamed at Jack.
‘A couple of months, we hope. We’re taking our time and doing it properly.’
Both Jack and Ellie loved the house down by the river, and Holme was a good place for Ellie to grow up. They’d chosen the new decorations together and when Jack sold his place there would be cash to build a second storey on to the existing extension if they wanted. Cass found Jack’s hand and felt his fingers close around hers.
‘And I saw the new wall,’ Sue chipped in. ‘So, no more repeats of last year.’
‘It wasn’t all bad. Look what I found washed up on my doorstep.’ Cass squeezed Jack’s hand and he chuckled.
There was one more thing to be done. Jack had made her feel so happy, so loved, that she’d almost forgotten about monthly cycles and calendars. Until last week. She’d been to the doctor and taken a pregnancy test, just to be sure before she went on her honeymoon.
She’d run all the way home to tell him, stopping just yards from the house. He’d told her that he wanted to marry her without knowing what the future held and she couldn’t deprive him of the chance to make that ultimate commitment.
Jack led her on to the dance floor. The weather was warm enough for the walls of the marquee to be removed, leaving just a high domed canopy, strung with lights over their heads. When their first dance was over, other couples started to fill the dance floor.
She felt Jack’s chest heave in a long contented sigh and she smiled up at him. ‘Happy?’
�
��I don’t think it’s possible to be any happier.’
She laughed. ‘Sure about that?’
‘Positive.’
She stretched up, whispering in his ear.
* * *
Mimi was watching the couples on the dance floor as suddenly Jack lifted Cass up, swinging her round. Then he set her back on to her feet again, hugging her tight as tears streamed down his face.
‘Look.’ She nudged Rafe. ‘I don’t suppose there’s a bit more synchronicity going on, is there...?’ It had become a joke between the two couples that Jack had set eyes on Cass at pretty much the same moment that Mimi had seen Rafe again.
Rafe thought for a moment. ‘No. I don’t.’
‘Why not? It makes perfect sense.’
‘But what are the odds, Mimi? Seriously. It would be wonderful, but...’ His gaze wandered over to where Jack was still hugging Cass.
‘Trust me, Rafe. Jack’s got that same dazed expression on his face as you had last week, when I told you I was pregnant.’
‘Really? I didn’t look that bad, did I?’
Mimi stood on her toes so she could whisper in his ear. ‘You were worse. And much more handsome.’
Rafe chuckled. ‘Thank you. Would you like to dance?’
‘I’d love to dance.’
* * * * *
If you missed the first story in the STRANDED IN HIS ARMS duet look out for
RESCUED BY DR RAFE
And if you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Annie Claydon
DISCOVERING DR RILEY
THE DOCTOR SHE’D NEVER FORGET
DARING TO DATE HER EX
SNOWBOUND WITH THE SURGEON
All available now!
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Saved by the Single Dad Page 17