A Secret, a Safari, a Second Chance

by Liz Fielding

  For a moment she was mesmerised by the rainbow flash of the diamond against her gritty hand and all she could think was that she really should have washed it first.

  ‘Rubies? For a redhead?’

  ‘The jeweller suggested emeralds but they seemed so cold. Rubies match your warmth, Eve, but if you’d prefer—’

  ‘No. It’s a bold choice, Kit. I love them.’

  ‘You will always be Red to me. I have carried the scent of vanilla with me, carried you with me wherever I was in the world.’

  ‘What...? How could you do that? You didn’t know who I was.’

  He reached for the battered leather backpack he always carried over one shoulder and from its depths he produced a small grey velvet elephant.

  Its back and head were faded and, where it had been held by small fingers, hugged in sleep, the lush velvet pile was rubbed away, but there were still places in the folds where the legs met the body and where, hidden from the light, you still could feel the richness of the fabric.

  ‘Ellie...’ She breathed the word.

  She looked so small in Kit’s large, callused hands, but as she reached out, not quite able to believe her eyes, he placed the toy in her hands and she carried her to her cheek, her eyes closed, remembering the moment her mother had given the elephant to her.

  ‘Where did you find her?’ she asked.

  ‘On the beach. It must have fallen out of your bag. Your Cinderella moment. It’s not a glass slipper, but then I doubt a glass slipper would have survived what this little elephant has been through.’

  ‘Not something you’d hug,’ she admitted. ‘But she’s so worn, not even good enough to donate to Goodwill. Most men would have tossed her into the nearest bin.’

  ‘She has the look of something long loved and I carried her with me all that summer so that when I found you, I could give it to you.’

  Because he was not most men. She’d felt how special he was when he’d come to sit with her on the beach because she looked lost and unhappy...

  ‘I only realised she was gone when I was in the departure lounge at the airport,’ she said. ‘It felt as if my mother had reached out from beyond the grave, so disappointed in me that she’d taken her back...’

  ‘No!’ He put his arms around her, drew her close. ‘No. If she did anything, she plucked it out of your bag, leaving it for me to find. It wasn’t a glass slipper, but it was all I had.’

  With her face buried in his shoulder, the steady thud of his heartbeat bringing her own back down until it was riding in tandem with his, smothered in the scent of his body, his clothes, she knew that this was just comfort.

  The beach all over again.

  But she clung on long after the threatened tears had evaporated, as long as she could without making a fool of herself.

  Eventually, though, she drew back. ‘Sorry. I...’ She shook her head. ‘It’s just a shabby toy. I can’t believe you’ve kept it all this time.’

  ‘A fairy-tale prince would have carried that glass shoe with him and never stopped looking until he found the girl the shoe fitted.’

  ‘By which time he would have a long white beard and she would be a wrinkled old crone. Real fairy tales tend to have a bitter twist to them,’ she said, but she was laughing. ‘Thankfully, you are no Prince Charming.’

  ‘And you are no Cinderella. But your Ellie and I have become very close.’

  ‘You really have carried her with you?’

  ‘The early settlers in the west kept a grab-and-run bag by the door. Each night they’d put in their family Bible, the spindle from their spinning wheel, those things that were precious to them, that couldn’t be replaced. Then they hung it on the door handle, ready to grab if there was fire, or an attack and they had to run for their lives and start again.’

  ‘And...’

  ‘This is my grab-and-run bag,’ he said. ‘The one that would go into the life raft with me if I had to abandon ship. It has been home to your little elephant since the day you left. She sailed around the world with me and we have kept each other safe.’

  Eve held Ellie against her face for a moment, breathing in the scent of leather, the sea, the vanilla scent that her mother wore. Then she offered it back to him.

  ‘Keep her. We all need something, someone to keep us safe. She is your mascot and my promise to you that wherever you go, Hannah will be here when you return.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘She is no longer lost and neither am I.’

  He took it and, holding it in one hand, he reached out and cradled her cheek with the other.

  ‘And you, Eve? Will you be here?’

  For a moment he waited, not forcing it, waiting for her to come to him. Just one kiss. She wanted it so much, and they were so close that she could feel the heat of his mouth. She leaned her cheek into his hand, closed her eyes...

  ‘Mama!’

  His hand slipped to the nape of her neck and he rested his forehead against hers. ‘You are never alone with a child,’ she said, a little shakily. Then she drew back a little, kissed his forehead and went to see what Hannah wanted.

  * * *

  Kit leaned his head back against the wall. Nearly. So very nearly, but, despite her initial resistance, she was not only wearing his ring but had given him her own most precious possession. And they had been a breath away from a kiss. And not just any kiss. The kiss.

  Today he had a daughter and a promise.

  Tomorrow anything could happen.

  * * *

  ‘Have you told your family?’

  ‘About Hannah?’ Kit shook his head. They were standing on the porch, he had to go, but he’d never wanted to stay anywhere so desperately in all his life.

  They’d had so little time and soon the world would crash in on them. He’d hoped that they would have been able to just sit and be together for a while. A few days, a week maybe, but he’d blown it.

  ‘I thought we needed a little time before we had to face my family, but this afternoon I walked into a jeweller’s in broad daylight.’

  ‘On a small island like Nantucket? What on earth were you thinking?’

  Eve was shaking her head, but smiling, and he took her hand, looked at the ring he’d placed on her finger. She’d taken it off to scrub away the dust, but she had put it back on.

  ‘The truth, Eve? I haven’t been thinking since you walked into the lodge with Peter Ngei and everything I’d been feeling since that morning made sense.’

  ‘I...’ She swallowed, for a moment floundering for a response. ‘I’ve told my godmother, Martha Adams, that you are Hannah’s father,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want her to hear it as gossip.’

  ‘I’m glad you did. I’ve known Martha all my life. She’s a friend of my grandmother.’

  ‘She won’t say anything, but she had already guessed. And your car has been parked here all day in full view of anyone passing. I doubt there’s another like it on the island.’

  ‘I haven’t exactly been discreet.’

  ‘You never meant to be,’ she said. ‘You don’t have to be.’

  ‘So tomorrow, when I buy a family car with a state-of-the-art child seat, and the news is all over social media before the ink is dry on the receipt, you won’t mind?’

  ‘Your family need to know before your mother starts getting phone calls,’ she said. ‘And there are some people I have to tell before it becomes island gossip. The sooner the better.’

  ‘Now?’ He produced a phone from his pocket but she covered it with her hand.

  ‘Face-to-face.’

  ‘And the wedding? I know it’s short notice, but we have someone who organises everything. I’ll get her to call you—’

  ‘Short notice? It’s crazy. Your family will think you’ve lost your mind. Or that I’ve got your arm twisted up behind your back.’

&nbs
p; ‘You could try.’

  ‘Metaphorically.’

  ‘No one forced me to do anything in my entire life, metaphorically or otherwise, but Nana’s room doesn’t scare me. If you’re going to insist on a long engagement, I can move in tomorrow.’

  ‘What? No!’

  ‘Then stop playing hard to get, Eve, or I’ll start demonstrating just how much I remember about you. So if you don’t want to disturb the neighbours...’ She gave an involuntary shiver, backing into the post supporting the porch roof. ‘So easy,’ he said, following her.

  ‘It’s just sex...’ Her voice was no more than a hoarse whisper as his fingers slid into her hair.

  ‘I know.’ His kiss was teasing, a slow touch-and-go that had her treacherous body crumbling against him, demanding more, but he was the one playing hard to get, his lips barely touching hers, his body a tormenting distance. ‘Fun, isn’t it?’

  Her only response was a low, desperate rumble in the back of her throat and for a moment he was with her, fingers tangled in her hair, his own raw need matching hers, lost in the depths of a shattering kiss that answered every midnight dream.

  They were both breathing heavily when he drew back.

  ‘Marry me, Eve. Once you have my ring on your finger, you can have all the fun you want.’

  ‘Marriage is more than sex.’ A final bid for common sense.

  ‘It’s a good start and we have a lifetime to work on the rest.’ He stepped back, putting clear air between them. ‘Be prepared to have my mother on your doorstep first thing tomorrow.’

  ‘No.’

  And beyond the teasing, she saw a flash of anguish as he raked his hand back through his hair. She still had her doubts but Martha had said this was ‘meant’.

  ‘Your father should be there, too,’ she said, ‘and since he can’t come to us right now, Hannah and I will come to you.’

  ‘You are...’ He shook his head and this time when he took her in his arms it was something else, his kiss all tenderness. Gratitude. ‘I should go.’

  ‘Kit...’

  Eve took a pen drive from her pocket. ‘This is yours.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘A memory stick.’ She leaned forward, kissed his cheek then stepped back inside and closed the door before she did something really stupid, like begging him to stay.

  She leaned back on the door, holding her breath until she heard him cross the gravel, not moving until the sound of his engine was just an echo in her head.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  KIT HAD SAT with his family that morning and told them about Eve and Hannah. His mother had wept, Laura had whooped, his father had been unreadable.

  Afterwards Brad had sought him out.

  ‘So that’s where you were the night I was arrested,’ he said. ‘Making babies with Eve.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Brad. I let you down.’

  ‘We both know I let myself down, Kit, but it’s easier to blame someone else. I’m glad you found her and your little girl.’

  For an awkward moment they just looked at one another, then they were hugging.

  ‘Hey, I’m an uncle,’ Brad said. ‘Can I tell Lucy?’

  ‘You like her? I mean really like her?’

  ‘Yes, I do. She’s a woman you can talk to. Are you really going to set up a boat design business with her?’

  ‘Have you a problem with that?’

  ‘Not if it means she’ll be staying here.’

  ‘Just...’

  ‘I’m not messing, Kit...’

  His voice trailed away as a car pulled into the drive. Eve climbed out and lifted Hannah from her car seat and she reached out to him.

  ‘Daddy!’

  He took her from Eve. ‘Do you want to meet your Uncle Brad?’ he asked.

  She looked over his shoulder and then back at him. ‘Okay.’

  ‘Eve, meet the brains of the family.’

  ‘Hello, Brad,’ she said, offering her hand.

  He held it, shaking his head. ‘My brother is one lucky man. As for you, young lady...’ he said, turning to Hannah. ‘Laura, but with red hair. You are going to be so much trouble.’

  He’d imagined a slightly stiff meeting in the drawing room with his mother, but she was down the porch steps with Laura at her heels, stopping short, a hand to her mouth as she saw Hannah.

  ‘Hannah Rose...’ She took one little hand and held it for a moment while they looked at one another. ‘You and I are going to have so much fun.’ Then she smiled at Eve. ‘Hello, Eve, I’m Barb and this is Laura, who is going to disappear right now so that we can get to know one another.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Laura said. ‘Mom isn’t going to grill you. She’s thrilled because it means Kit will be staying. Can I be a bridesmaid?’ She didn’t wait for Eve to answer before turning to him. ‘Who is going to be your best man, Kit?’

  ‘Brad,’ he said.

  She pulled a face. ‘Well, that’s no fun.’

  ‘Kit,’ his mother said, ‘your father is on the deck waiting to meet his granddaughter.’

  He took Eve’s hand, kissed her cheek before turning to his mother. ‘Do not show her baby photographs.’

  His father was sitting on the deck, a rug around his knees. His mother had searched out some of the wooden puzzles that they’d had as kids to help his father and there was one on a small table at his side.

  Kit put Hannah down and knelt beside her. ‘This was my puzzle when I was little,’ he said. ‘Grandpa’s hands aren’t working very well at the moment. Do you think you could help him put the pieces in the right place?’

  Hannah looked up at his dad, picked up a piece and showed it to him. ‘The chicken goes here...’

  They both watched her for a moment as she slotted the farmyard animals into place and then his dad looked up at him and he smiled.

  * * *

  ‘Your family were so kind to me, Kit,’ Eve said later, when they took Hannah home for a nap after a family lunch. ‘And you were such a cute baby.’

  He groaned, but was grinning. ‘Hannah and Dad were great together. She chatted to him the way she does, and he was so gentle with her. He managed to say Han, and when he put all the pieces in the puzzle she clapped.’

  ‘She’s had a lot to take in, but you’ve all given her space, let her take the lead, so she hasn’t felt overwhelmed.’

  ‘She is adorable. We are all at her feet. You have done an amazing job, Eve. Dad smiled at me for the first time in years and when I took his hand, he squeezed it.’

  ‘That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you.’

  ‘There are no words.’ He took her hands. ‘I swear I will do everything I can to make you happy, Eve.’

  She lifted a hand to his face, feeling the softness of his beard against her palm for a moment. ‘Marriage is a partnership, Kit. We both have to work at it.’

  ‘I can take a hint. I found some overalls—’

  He stopped as she raised herself on her toes and touched her lips to his.

  ‘Just working on it,’ she said and then, because he didn’t seem to know what to do next, ‘Are you okay about living here?’

  There was a plaintive miaow as Mungo, emerging from his hiding place in the airing cupboard, curled himself around Kit’s legs.

  ‘That cat votes stay,’ he said, and was rewarded with a purr when he bent to stroke him.

  ‘Even with the icky green bathroom?’ Eve said.

  ‘It’s nothing a coat of paint won’t fix.’ He looked up. ‘When Hannah’s had her nap we could go to the hardware store and pick out a colour.’

  ‘A deep pink would match the rosebuds on the bedroom wallpaper.’

  ‘About the flowers...’

  ‘You’re not keen?’ She grinned. ‘Better look at wallpaper samples, too. In fact, it might be easier to start
at the top and work down. Do you want the top floor as a studio space? It’s going to take a while to custom-build from scratch.’

  ‘Eve...’

  ‘Still working on it,’ she said.

  ‘Can I join in?’

  ‘Help yourself,’ she said, then felt her cheeks heat up as he grinned.

  ‘I was going to suggest that while we’re out we could call in at a dealership and choose a family car.’

  * * *

  The next day, Eve and Kit sat for a photograph that was issued by his agent with the announcement that Kit Merchant and Eve Bliss, who had a three-year-old daughter, were getting married in a private ceremony at the Merchant Resort in Nantucket. The media picked up on the fact he’d resigned as skipper for the racing season because his father had been seriously ill and connected the two events.

  Lifestyle magazines immediately offered a seven-figure sum for the exclusive rights to cover the wedding.

  Eve was horrified at the thought, but said, ‘The money could go to the opioid clinic.’

  ‘That is generous of you, but I’ll donate the money myself before submitting my family and friends to that kind of intrusion.’ He took out his phone and then looked at her. ‘Are you okay with that?’

  ‘Me?’

  ‘I’m setting up a trust for Hannah, but if we’re donating a million dollars to mark our wedding, you have a say.’

  ‘I am lost for words.’

  He grinned. ‘I’ll remember that if you ever get naggy.’

  * * *

  Kit might have imagined something small for the ceremony, but his mother and sister had other ideas. Fortunately, the Merchant wedding planner had everything under control. All Eve had to do was say yes.

  Invitations were dispatched to Nymba, to the group who’d supported Eve at Hannah’s birth, their family and Kit’s friends who were coming from all over the world.

  Laura and Lucy were both to be bridesmaids, along with Hannah and her cousins; Jason, bless his heart, flatly refused to be a page boy.

  All she had to do was choose a dress and she had Martha, Mary and Hannah eager to help her with that.