by Lesley Eames
‘I did and they’re in here.’ He patted his pack. ‘I haven’t had time to buy gifts to give in return, though. Except for one gift, which I’ve been carrying close to my heart for a while.’
He dug under his greatcoat to the breast pocket of his uniform and pulled out a small leather pouch. Opening the drawstring, he tipped something wrapped in fabric into the palm of his hand. Unfolding it, he revealed a ring. A solitaire diamond on a gold band.
Lily’s stomach lurched. There could be no doubt about it now. Luke loved Hélène. He held the ring up to the sky. ‘I chose a diamond because it’s like a star. I carried it with me all this time to remind myself of the brightest star in my firmament and the future I want to enjoy with her. I used to kiss the ring because I couldn’t kiss her. It gave me comfort. Something to live for in those dark days in the trenches.’
Lily had to say something but what? How it was possible for a heart to hurt so much?
‘Weren’t you afraid of losing it?’
‘I kept a note with it in case I fell.’ He tugged a piece of paper out of the pouch and offered it to Lily.
She leaned away, horrified at the thought of reading a tribute to Hélène. ‘I don’t think I should read anything so personal.’
‘I suppose it is rather personal. I’ll read it then. In the event of my death I wish this ring to be forwarded to the girl I love.’
Lily got to her feet. ‘It’s cold. We should be getting back.’
‘I haven’t finished.’
‘I think you’ve read enough.’ She set off down the path.
‘That girl is Lily Tomkins,’ he read.
A thrill of shock stopped Lily in her tracks. She turned slowly, searching Luke’s face to try to make sense of what she’d heard. ‘But I thought… I understood…’
‘Hélène?’
Lily nodded.
Luke grimaced. ‘It was obvious from the stiff way you wrote about her that she’d been making mischief. Hélène’s father was my father’s friend. He came to France and we met when I had a week in rest camp. Hélène came too and I took the opportunity to tell her about you. I’ve long known she has a partiality for me despite every discouragement on my part and I thought I was doing her a kindness by letting her know my heart belonged to you. It never crossed my mind that she’d go to London with the intention of driving a wedge between us.’
‘She made it sound as though you shared an understanding, but wouldn’t turn it into a commitment until you’d returned from the war safe and sound.’
‘I’d told you I couldn’t commit until I’d returned.’
‘I thought it was your way of letting me down. I thought you’d got the idea from having already said it to her.’
‘It was the other way round. Hélène knew I’d said it only to you, but obviously she used it to try to turn you against me.’
Doubtless to leave the field clear for her.
Luke smiled and held out a hand to invite Lily to return to the bench. Lily sat, her heart beating crazily.
‘I’m in agony here,’ Luke said then.
‘Agony? Are you hurt?’ She turned on the bench, searching him for signs of injury.
‘I don’t mean physical agony. But I’ve just bared my soul to you, Lily. I’ve told you I love you. How do you feel about me?’
Didn’t he know? Could he not see it, sense it, feel it? ‘I love you, of course.’
He breathed out slowly. ‘Thank God!’
‘I just never dreamt that…’ She gestured to the ring. ‘So soon!’
‘We’ve known each other for more than a year, Lily.’
‘But we’ve spent most of that time apart.’
‘My feelings for you date from the first day we met and they’ve been growing ever since. We might not have spent much time together but we’ve spent long enough for me to know you’re the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. And we’ve written often. Letters that have spoken from one soul to another. So…’
He moved off the bench and got down on one knee. ‘Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’
She laughed at the deliciousness of life. ‘Nothing could make me happier.’
‘Nor me,’ Luke said, grinning, and he slipped the ring onto her finger.
‘It fits!’ she said.
‘That’s because I’ve looked at your dainty fingers often and imagined this moment. I’ve spent many an hour thinking of the future we might share too.’ He sat beside her on the bench again. ‘I’d like us to buy the bakery and tea room when Mr Bax is ready to sell them. Not with any intention of forcing him out, though. He could stay on as baker if he liked, choosing how many hours he worked and continuing to train the boy, Frankie, you’ve mentioned in your letters. If Frankie would like to stay on as well.’
‘I’m sure he would.’
‘I’ve got ideas for developing the tea room but only with your approval. The chocolate shop has a big room upstairs that sits right next to the tea room. If we knock both rooms together, we could expand into tea dances and perhaps evening entertainment too. Mark my words, Lily. The end of the war will rush in a new era. People are weary of misery. They’ll want joy.’
‘It’s a wonderful idea,’ Lily said, already excited about the new challenge.
‘We’ll have to look at the costs,’ Luke cautioned. ‘We’ll have to speak to the bank about a loan as well, but—’
‘I have some money.’ Lily told him about the Hastings house.
‘How incredibly kind of Hilda and Marion,’ Luke said. ‘I imagine nothing would please them more than for their gift to help you and your tea room.’
‘True. Do you think we might ask Artie to do the building work?’
‘Of course.’
Lily glowed with pleasure. ‘We’re all happy now,’ Lily said. ‘Except for Hélène.’
‘I could never have made Hélène happy because I neither love her nor share her taste for grandness,’ Luke said. ‘Now she knows I’m out of reach she’ll soon find someone else. She isn’t the sort of woman to sit at home pining, especially as I suspect her feelings for me are more about wanting me than loving me.’
Lily nodded thoughtfully then smiled. ‘Let’s go home. The others will be wondering where I am and I can’t wait to see their faces when you walk in beside me. I can’t wait for you to meet Artie either. You’ll like each other, I’m sure.’
‘I’m sure too, but there’s something more urgent that requires our attention before we go home.’
He looked at her with darkening eyes that made Lily blush with pleasure. And with that they moved together for a kiss.
Acknowledgements
Heartfelt thanks are due to my lovely readers, my super agent, Kate Nash, and to everyone at Team Aria who has helped with this book including my wonderful editor, Rhea Kurien, my copy editor Dushi Horti, my proofreader Jay Dixon, my cover designer Cherie Chapman and Marketing manager, Vicky Joss. You’re all fabulous.
About the Author
Born in Manchester but currently living in Hertfordshire, LESLEY EAMES’ career has included law and charity fundraising. She is now devoting her time to her own writing and to teaching creative writing to others. In addition to selling almost 90 short stories to the women’s magazine market, Lesley has won the Festival of Romance’s New Talent Award and the Romantic Novelists’ Associations Elizabeth Goudge Cup.
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