Shelley nodded. ‘He said you might not want to talk to him but he looks so forlorn I had to come check with you.’
; ‘He’s right. I don’t want to go near him.’ She wanted to rush at him, wind her arms around his waist and never let go.
‘This the father of your babies?’
It’d become impossible to keep her pregnancy a secret here when she was being sick so often. ‘Yes.’
‘Then what are you waiting for? Give the guy a chance to say whatever’s making him look like he ate rotten fish for breakfast.’
That description did not bring a pretty picture to Alesha’s mind, but it did trip the guilt button. Shoving herself up off the edge of the bed, she growled, ‘All right, then. Just to shut you up, you understand?’
Shelley surprised her by wrapping her arms around her. ‘You’ve been miserable for days. I’m thinking the other side of that coin is standing out in our lounge, hat in hand, waiting for you. Give yourself and your babies a break. Take a chance on whatever it is he’s come to offer.’
How she wanted that. More than anything. As long as it came loaded with love.
‘Are you up for bicycle shopping and a family dinner?’ A sombre smile highlighted Kristof’s mouth. It didn’t quite reach the sad eyes. Make that a sorry gaze. ‘It’s my goddaughter’s birthday and I promised her a bike. Today I realised she needs to choose it, not old man Uncle Kristof.’
Goddaughter? He did have people close to him that he loved. Alesha looked closer. There was a struggle going on over his face. He hadn’t thought to share the experience with the girl. Until now. There was love in his eyes when he mentioned the child, love he hadn’t been able to share or acknowledge out loud? What had changed? Not anything to do with her and their babies, surely? ‘You’d pick a plain-coloured one while she’ll want fairies or out-of-world creatures.’
‘You’re onto it. Want to come and watch me forget how I like being in charge of everything?’
Did she? Yes, but where would it lead? To more heartbreak? Or a settling-down time between them so they could start over on planning the future? Guess there was only one way to find out. ‘Give me a minute to put my face on and grab my bag.’ Only now did Alesha remember she hadn’t bothered with make-up this morning, thinking no one would see her.
‘You don’t need any of that stuff on your skin. It’s beautiful as it is.’ If he hadn’t sounded so genuine she’d have laughed in his face and told him to go find another woman to cajole. Ah, no, she wouldn’t.
‘Without make-up I feel naked.’ She smiled when his eyes widened. ‘Don’t go there. We’ve got a bike to shop for.’
But as she smoothed make-up over her face her smile faded. What was this about? He didn’t need her to go shopping with him and his goddaughter. So why was she being included in the trip to the mall? Hope rose. She squashed it. It came back stronger. This was going to end badly.
Or really, really well.
Out in the lounge she nodded to Kristof. ‘Let’s go,’ she said as she held her breath.
Out on the street, he pinged the locks open then placed his hands on her shoulders to draw her close. ‘I’m so sorry, Alesha. I struggle with letting those nearest and dearest know how I feel. My mother has suffered because of that. I was brought up in the stiff-upper-lip brigade. My father never showed us much love, though I believe he loved me. He probably loved Mum in his own way, not totally and solely, but enough to be furious when she left him.’ He paused and looked skyward. His Adam’s apple bobbed. Then he locked those beautiful eyes on her. ‘What I’m trying to say...’ Swallow. ‘I want to tell you that I love you. I’ve taken for ever to come round to believing it, but it is true. I love you with all my heart, Alesha Milligan. Will you share my life? Raise our babies together in a loving way?’
She gasped. Her head was light. While behind her ribs there was a lot of pounding going on. Kristof loved her? As she loved him? Looking into those blue-grey eyes she saw nothing but love, genuine, deep love—for her. Oh, my. She gasped again. Was this really happening to her? Had she finally found what she’d been looking for all her life? She loved him so much, and this love was like nothing she’d thought possible. It meant everything, was all-encompassing.
He cleared his throat. ‘Alesha?’ Fear tripped through his gaze.
‘Kristof, I’m—’ She stopped. About to say sorry, which he’d have taken the wrong way. ‘Yes,’ she said quickly to dispel his fear. He had put his heart on the line without knowing how she really felt. It was probably obvious, written all over her face when she wasn’t disagreeing with him. Kristof needed to hear those words as much as she had. Rising on her toes and placing a hand on his cheek, she answered, ‘I love you, Kristof. It’s the for ever kind of love. The “dealing with everything that life throws at us” love.’
Relief and love rose in his eyes. ‘I know there are lots of things still to work out.’
‘I think we’ve just made that easier.’ She smiled with everything that was in her heart before her mouth found his.
Kristof pulled her close, his hands holding her waist, his mouth owning hers. ‘I love you so much it hurts,’ he growled against her lips.
‘I like that.’ She kissed him back.
As the kiss deepened, Alesha sank in closer and closer to that hard, caring, sexy body of her man, and let her heart believe what it had heard, felt everything right itself inside.
Hey, babies, looks like we’ve got ourselves a loving future.
Kristof pulled back only enough to stare into her eyes. ‘So will you marry me now? For love and family and all the wonderful things we both want?’
A phone ringing broke into the moment. Annoyance and humour warred on his face as his hand shoved into his pocket.
‘Yes,’ Alesha said. ‘I will marry you.’
His hand hesitated as he leaned in for another kiss. ‘Thank you. You’ve just made me the happiest man ever.’
‘You’d better answer that call. It could be important.’ As happiness expanded throughout she couldn’t even find the smallest grudge against whoever had interrupted her most important moment. If she let that happen she’d never be fully happy.
‘Hey, Katie, we’re on our way to pick you up. I’m running late but it is for the best reason. See you in a little while, okay?’ Kristof listened to his goddaughter with love in his eyes.
Love for Katie? For her? For both of them? What did it matter? He had more than enough to go around, and now that he recognised it there’d be more where he found that. Alesha snuggled against her man and waited for him to finish the call. They were going out, on a date that included a little girl, and later to a dinner with Kristof’s friends. Yes, it was all coming together nicely.
* * *
On the way back to Kristof’s home late that night Alesha was suddenly enveloped with sadness and a fierce longing for everything to be made right in her life. Possibly she was asking too much but she had to try.
‘What’s up?’ Kristof asked as he parked in the garage.
See? The man could read her too easily. ‘I need to tell my parents we’re getting married.’
He turned and took her hands in his. ‘You do. And if you don’t get the reaction you’re obviously hoping for, then remember I’m here, that I’ll love you more than enough for everyone.’
Right then her heart melted, the last little doubt that he might not love her enough for long enough dissolving into the pool lying behind her ribs. ‘I know.’
The follow-up kiss was tender, filled with love, and with the acceptance they had finally got it right. What one week could do to change her life was beyond description.
When they went inside Kristof led her to the lounge and sat down on the couch, pulling her onto his thighs. ‘My father was my hero when I was growing up. He could do no wrong, and when my mother was sad, or angry with him, I blamed her for not loving him enough, blamed her for their marriage bust-up.’ He swallowed hard. ‘Then my father died and the truth came out. He’d cheated on her throughout their
marriage. A lot of what he’d taught me about being a man was a lie.’
Now she understood those dark moments. ‘You feel guilty for how you treated your mother.’
Kristof nodded. ‘I married someone like my father in the fidelity stakes. That undermined my ability to believe in my feelings, my love. Which is why I became so focused on medicine where I knew I was good and couldn’t be hurt by other people taking advantage of my feelings.’
‘Pull the other one, Kristof. You think all those weeks you’ve spent helping out at the Croatian children’s home wasn’t about showing how you felt for your mother?’
His smile, when it came, was the most relaxed and happy he’d ever given her. ‘Now I understand why I love you so much. There’s no hiding anything from you.’ He kissed her, which led to making love on the couch, and then heading for the bedroom to fall asleep in each other’s arms.
As her eyes drooped shut Alesha whispered, ‘I never knew I could be so happy. I love you.’
EPILOGUE
EIGHT WEEKS LATER Alesha walked up the pathway of the beautifully manicured gardens to the wedding venue.
Katie proudly strode ahead, a basket of rose petals in her hands, ready to sprinkle across the lawn right up to the marriage celebrant.
Alesha gripped a small bunch of peonies, the rose-pink colour lovely against her cream wedding gown that fitted tight over her breasts, and gathered over the babies tucked inside. Her face was split wide with a smile solely for the man who’d given her so much already. Yet tears streamed down her cheeks. Seemed that once she’d learned to cry she couldn’t unlearn it.
She walked alone, but she wasn’t alone. The people who mattered the most were here, smiling and rejoicing in her and Kristof’s occasion. Cherry and Shelley had offered to walk her up the short path, but she’d declined. She didn’t want to be given away—by anyone. She was going to Kristof, to be his wife and partner and lover. She was not giving herself to him to the point she didn’t recognise herself again.