A Marriage to Remember

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘Not to me,’ Adam cut in. ‘Not then. And not now. I want to know—’

  ‘What do you mean, “not now”?’ She gave him a startled look. Surely Adam had been involved with someone during the last three years? Hadn’t he…?

  ‘That isn’t important just now,’ he dismissed impatiently.

  ‘It is to me,’ she protested. Surely Adam couldn’t have been as celibate as she had for the last three years? It was incredible if he had…

  He nodded. ‘We’ll discuss it in a moment. Right now it’s more important that we talk about Sue Castle. What the hell was she doing in my hotel room that morning? I don’t—Wait a minute,’ he said slowly, some of the thunderous darkness leaving his brow. ‘I met her downstairs in the restaurant for breakfast, and while I was at the desk she went upstairs to collect our guitars from our rooms. Rooms, Magdalena. What time did you telephone?’

  ‘I don’t remember exactly.’ She stopped and thought for a moment. ‘But it was early. I hadn’t been able to sleep all night, and—I remember now. It was about seven-thirty,’ she recalled. ‘I waited until then so that I wouldn’t disturb your sleep. You had been working so hard, and rushing back to my parents’ house in between, and I—I wanted to leave you to sleep as long as I could.’ The shock she had felt when Sue had answered the telephone had never left her.

  ‘You wouldn’t have disturbed me, Magdalena, because I couldn’t sleep anyway!’ Adam told her ruefully. ‘I was awake all night worrying about you, whether or not you were okay. It was like a slap in the face when I got to your parents’ house and you told me you had spent all night thinking about our marriage and had decided it was over, that we had nothing left to give each other.’ He looked sad.

  She had said those things, but only because—‘Did you ever have an affair with Sue Castle?’

  Adam’s gaze locked unwaveringly with hers. ‘No.’

  ‘Oh, God…!’ She sank down into the chair, her legs suddenly feeling weak.

  Adam watched her, frowning darkly. ‘Do you believe me?’

  She looked up at him, her gaze as unwavering as his had been seconds ago. ‘Yes.’

  He let out a shaky sigh, coming down on his haunches beside her chair. ‘Is that the only reason you told me those things three years ago?’ he prompted huskily. ‘Is that why you told me to go?’

  The tears were threatening to fall once again. ‘Not—completely. It was everything,’ she choked as he looked at her questioningly. ‘I couldn’t walk, couldn’t have more children, wasn’t the person you had married…’

  ‘Our marriage vows said “in sickness and in health”, Magdalena.’ Adam took both her hands into the warm strength of his own. ‘I meant that when I said it. And I still mean it,’ he added softly. ‘I’ve kept our marriage vows, Magdalena. All of them,’ he added meaningfully.

  There hadn’t been anyone else in his life in the last three years!

  Maggi looked at him searchingly, couldn’t miss the complete commitment in his face. ‘But you never came back,’ she said in a small voice. ‘Not to see me. Or to see if I had changed my mind—’

  ‘Your father assured me that you hadn’t. Yes, I’ve kept in touch with Ted on and off for the last three years.’ He answered her unasked question. ‘He assured me you were still adamant you had made a mistake in marrying me, that you refused to even have my name mentioned in the house.’

  She had, but she hadn’t known—

  ‘I had no idea you spoke to my father,’ she said agitatedly. Her father had never mentioned it—never. Could this be the reason why her father had desperately wanted to talk to both of them when he was in hospital? Could it have been the strain of the secret he had kept from her that had caused his heart attack in the first place? Thinking back, she realised her father had begun to look ill from the time he’d known she had seen Adam at the music festival…

  ‘I wanted to know how you were, Magdalena,’ Adam told her gruffly.

  ‘And my refusal to talk about you was a self-defence mechanism,’ she burst out emotionally. ‘It hurt too much!’

  ‘It hurt me too, to know that your recovery was all the quicker without my presence,’ Adam remembered. ‘But I had to know you were getting better. I needed to know!’

  ‘Why?’ She held her breath, almost afraid of the answer but at the same time longing for it.

  ‘I hoped that once you were better—once you were well again…I intended seeing you—whether you wanted to see me again or not!’ His expression softened. ‘I know you think I’m arrogant and proud—Yes, you do,’ he murmured as she would have protested. ‘But where you’re concerned I’ve never had any pride. I love you, Magdalena. I’ve always loved you. I always will.’

  ‘Oh, Adam…!’ She buried her face in her hands, the tears falling unchecked now at the thought of what he must have gone through over the last three years. She had suffered herself, but nothing like this…! ‘I’ve made such a mess of things,’ she sobbed. ‘I thought you didn’t love me as I was, that you had found someone else, and I couldn’t bear the thought of that. For a while I think I even hated you,’ she admitted brokenly.

  ‘I’m sure you convinced your father that was exactly the way you felt,’ Adam acknowledged carefully. ‘He’s been so protective of you. But I know he felt sorry for me too, which was why he bothered with me at all. But he wasn’t about to let me near you. Although when he came to see me that day he seemed to think something had changed…’ He frowned. ‘Unfortunately, he collapsed before we could really talk properly.’

  Maggi swallowed hard—swallowed her own pride. It had brought her nothing but unhappiness these last three years! Because it was pride that had made her close her heart to this man, shut her eyes to the truth. She was the one who hadn’t been able to bear her inability to walk; it had been easier to reject Adam, exclude him from her life, than to face life with him with herself as a cripple.

  ‘My father had probably guessed…’ She cleared her throat, her voice thick with emotion. ‘He had probably realised that I had been lying all those years, that I still loved you. Because I do, Adam,’ she told him in a rush. ‘I love you very much. I always have. And I always will.’ She unabashedly echoed his own words.

  Adam had looked pained as she spoke, but now relief and love flooded unrestrained into his face. ‘Enough to marry me?’ he prompted.

  She gave a tearful smile. ‘We’re still married.’ Their decree absolute wouldn’t come through for several more weeks yet.

  ‘Will you marry me again, Magdalena?’ he persisted firmly. ‘“Love, honour—’”

  “‘And obey”?’ she cut in teasingly, still only half believing she was being given this second chance at happiness.

  ‘“And obey”!’ he echoed as he pulled her easily to her feet. ‘That way there won’t be a repeat of the last three years; I’ll just tell you to stay put in future, until we’ve sorted out whatever problem we might have! Not that I think we’ll have that many; I’ve always been easy to live with,’ he added wryly.

  Maggi gave a shaky laugh as she moved into his arms. ‘Perfect,’ she agreed.

  Adam gave a triumphant laugh before sweeping her close against him. ‘Only someone who really loved me could possibly say that!’ he murmured, before his mouth claimed hers.

  They shared the intensity of their love in that kiss, all the pent-up emotion of the last three years finally being allowed to fly free. It engulfed them both in flames so intense, they threatened to consume the pair of them.

  ‘I’m not letting you leave me again, Magdalena,’ Adam told her as she sat on his knee in the armchair. ‘Not even for a minute. You’ll stay here with me tonight, and tomorrow we’ll start making the arrangements to reaffirm our wedding vows. A new beginning, Magdalena.’

  ‘I’m not arguing,’ she pointed out gently, her head resting on his shoulder.

  ‘That makes a change,’ he muttered.

  She laughed softly. ‘Doesn’t it?’ She settled more comfortably into his a
rms. ‘This feels so good, Adam. We’ve been so at odds with each other for so long…!’ She snuggled into his neck, just enjoying the warmth and smell of him.

  ‘I think you should go ahead with the launch of your solo album, Magdalena,’ he told her gently. ‘I think you’ve earnt it.’

  ‘And afterwards?’

  ‘That’s up to you.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m not pushing for anything any more. I have you back in my life; that’s enough.’

  ‘I want to sing with you again, Adam. I want that very much,’ she said with feeling.

  His arms tightened. ‘We’ve really only ever needed each other, haven’t we, Magdalena?’

  She raised her head to look at him. ‘Does that mean you don’t want us to have children?’

  His expression darkened. ‘Despite how well adoption has turned out for Celia and Geoffrey, I don’t intend to push that option either. If it isn’t what you want.’

  ‘How about a child of our own?’ Once again she found she was holding her breath as she waited for his answer.

  His expression softened. ‘You know that isn’t possible.’

  ‘The doctors didn’t think it would be possible after the accident,’ she acknowledged. ‘The internal damage was quite extensive. But—they’ve monitored me really closely since that time, carried out tests, and—well, there’s a chance, they said—a remote chance. Don’t look like that, Adam,’ she said quickly as he began to frown again. ‘Celia told me how obsessive she became concerning having her own child. I’m not about to become like that. In fact, I—I could be pregnant already,’ she added shyly. ‘I—it’s been five weeks since we—and I haven’t—’

  ‘Magdalena, I’m your husband; I’m not unconversant with the monthly cycle of your body. I’m not unconversant with your body at all,’ he added teasingly. ‘Are you saying you haven’t had a period since the night we made love?’

  ‘Yes!’ She sat up, smiling at him glowingly. ‘I didn’t even realise until earlier this evening, when it suddenly occurred to me that maybe—just possibly—I might be pregnant, Adam!’ she said tremulously. ‘I just might!’

  ‘And if you are I’ll be ecstatic, Magdalena,’ he told her huskily. ‘But even if you aren’t I’m ecstatic anyway. All I’ve ever needed is you, to love you and to have you love me in return.’

  ‘I do. So much, Adam. So very much,’ she told him sincerely as their lips and bodies melded together in perfect harmony.

  And their love for each other overflowed the day their daughter was born, eight months later.

  * * * * *

  Now, read on for a tantalizing excerpt of Dani Collins’ next book,

  Beauty and Her One-Night Baby

  The first time Javiero Rodriguez sees CEO Scarlett Walker after their impassioned night together, she’s in labor with his baby! No matter how shocking the surprise, Javiero won’t let his son grow up in a broken home like he did.

  Scarlett’s worked hard for independence and she can’t accept empty vows. Yet the scars Javiero gained in a jaguar attack haven’t lessened the tycoon’s rugged appeal. Which means every day is a heated reminder of the pleasure they shared…and could share again!

  Read on for a glimpse of

  BEAUTY AND HER ONE-NIGHT BABY

  CHAPTER ONE

  HER WATER BROKE.

  Horrified, Scarlett Walker hoped that if she didn’t look it wouldn’t be true. She stared at the hook on the back of the stall door where her handbag hung and prayed she was wrong.

  She knew what had happened, though. There was no mistaking such an event and no, no, no. This was supposed to happen next week, at the island villa that had been her home for the last six years. Or last week, when she’d been sitting vigil at her employer’s bedside. Anytime but today.

  Not now.

  Please not now.

  It was a futile wish. In fact, she should have predicted this would happen. She had so many butterflies in her stomach they were knocking her baby clean out of her right before she walked into a boardroom to face a small but extremely volatile group of personalities—including the baby’s father.

  What would he say?

  She’d found Javiero Rodriguez dynamic and powerful and intimidating before she’d slept with him. For nine months she’d been dreading and anticipating the moment when she would finally face him again.

  Now she had to rush off to the hospital.

  Thanks a lot, baby, she thought with a fleck of ironic hysteria. She wouldn’t have to face any of them. Saved!

  But how was this her life?

  The Walker colors were shining brightly in her today. If there was a way to turn an everyday, natural occurrence into a trashy satire, the Walkers were there to make it happen. Scarlett wanted to sit back down on the toilet and cry her eyes out.

  No time for that, though. With a sob of desperation, she fumbled her phone from her handbag and texted her best friend, Kiara.

  My water broke. Help!

  She pulled up the skirt she had so recently wriggled into place over her hips. Only her maternity underwear and one shoe were wet. She wrangled herself out of the unflattering cotton knickers with the stretchy front panel and discarded them in the bin.

  Don’t need those anymore.

  Shakily, she left the stall long enough to wet a hand towel and grab a small stack of the folded ones off the shelf. Thank God it was empty in there. She edged back into the narrow stall and closed the door, then dropped the towels on the floor to blot up the puddle while she gave herself the quickest of bird baths.

  She had let her doctor’s “any day now” yesterday go in one ear and out the other. Had she really expected this baby would stay inside her forever?

  Kind of. She’d had so much going on that she hadn’t let herself think about anything other than ensuring her healthy pregnancy. She certainly hadn’t envisioned the moment when the baby would actually arrive—or how that event would unfold.

  Who had time for labor when she was facing a ton of work finalizing Niko’s burial arrangements and continuing to manage his estate? Then there was Kiara’s show in Paris. She had promised to help her with her artist’s statement and had somehow deluded herself into believing she could attend.

  Really, Scarlett? Due next week, yet planning to fly to Paris in three?

  Denial was a wonderful thing—until it stopped working. It was screeching to a halt while she stood on the hand towels, waiting for Kiara and deliberately avoiding thoughts about how Javiero would react to everything he would learn today.

  To this.

  Not for the first time, she tried to will herself back in time and make a different decision. She’d been processing her employer’s refusal of further treatment and frustrated with certain decisions he had made with regard to his errant sons. Maybe those two men didn’t deserve much consideration, given their mulish refusal to see their father in his last days, but Scarlett had been compelled to prod them one last time.

  Valentino Casale had never been cooperative with her so she hadn’t expected any better than the brush-off he’d given her. Javiero, however, possessed a more solid sense of family. A heart.

  At least, that was what she wanted to believe.

  Maybe it was wishful thinking on her part.

  What Javiero had in spades was a magnetism she had barely been able to resist the handful of times she’d met with him. It had taken everything in her to keep from betraying her reaction to him.

  He must have known. He was too smoldering and sophisticated and experienced to not know when a woman was swooning over him. Maybe he’d even privately laughed at her for it. Maybe that was why he’d made a move that day. He had probably sensed she’d mentally slept with him a thousand times and was dying to make it reality.

  She hadn’t expected it to happen, though. Not really. Seeing him at all had been a rare overstep on her part, moving beyond the tight constraints of her employer’s dictates and acting of her own volition. She was still trying to explain to herself how she’d been i
n Madrid at all, let alone how she had wound up in Javiero’s bed.

  A quiet sense of injustice had driven her. She knew that much. Had she also been affected on a basic level by Niko’s failing health? Had she longed to assert the beginnings of life to hold off the shadows closing in on the end of one?

  Or had it been as simple as a secretive yearning on her part to have a final connection with a man she would never have an excuse to see again once Niko was gone?

  She hadn’t expected Javiero to give her the time of day after his father’s death. As it was, he only tolerated her in deference to his mother. Javiero’s attitude toward Scarlett had always been…not hostile, but disparaging. He hadn’t liked that she worked for his father. He couldn’t respect her for it.

  She’d had no idea how he might react to her pregnancy. Perhaps she’d been in a bit of denial then, too, not expecting their passionate afternoon could change her life—or create one! By the time she had suspected and had it confirmed, though, she had not only desperately wanted this baby—she had seen a poetic sort of balancing of scales in her carrying Javiero’s child.

  Not that Niko had viewed it that way. He’d been a hard man. A nightmare to work for, actually, and suddenly cynical of her motives. They’d had an extremely rare disagreement when she told him—rare because, until then, Scarlett had made a career of acting on his command.

  You went behind my back, he had accused her.

  I told them you were dying because they deserved to know.

  She had stood by that decision even though he’d been angry at her for it.

  Surprisingly, her pushback had earned his grudging respect, proving her tough enough in his eyes to take control of his holdings. He’d added her baby to his will, too, ensuring Javiero’s child would inherit the half of his fortune that Javiero had declined.

  And life altering as this pregnancy was proving to be, she didn’t regret it. She patted her swollen belly, excited to meet him or her.

  Just. Not. Today.

  Where was Kiara?

  Into her ruminations a strange sensation accosted her. A faint, dull ache in her lower back grew more insistent. Tension wrapped outward until it squeezed across her middle.