There was a strange kind of tightening in her stomach, but it barely registered on Victoria's consciousness as she sought for words to explain why it had been so important to see Linda that day. She just didn't know where to start, she thought helplessly.
'I…I had to see someone,' she said at last.
'Male or female?' It was a gruff bark, and she suddenly realised that along with his unquestionable worry there had been an element of something else—confusion, doubt, even jealousy?
She stared at him in absolute amazement 'Zac, I'm as big as a house,' she said blankly. 'You didn't think…?'
'I didn't know what to think,' he prevaricated angrily, but she had seen the look of fierce relief in his eyes before he could veil his glance, and it wrenched her heart. They were stupid—the pair of them, they were stupid, she thought tremblingly, before she qualified that with, But it's my fault He doesn't know where he stands or what to think.
'I went to see my father's mistress.' She sat down in one of the big soft easy chairs in front of the fire as she spoke; she was really feeling quite odd. 'There were things I had to ask her, things I needed to know. Zac, they loved each other. I mean they really loved each other, like…like us.'
'Us?' He had gone very still.
'I've been so stupid.' Tears pricked at her eyes but she blinked them away determinedly. She had to say it all; she couldn't break down now. 'I know that now. Because I do love you, more than anything else in all the world, and I can't live without you, Zac. I don't want to stay in a separate house to you, or for our child to divide its time between us. I…I know about the flat, about you paying for it for me—' And then, as the emotion she had felt when Coral had first told her overwhelmed her in a torrent of love and thankfulness and joy, her voice broke.
'Tory?' And then he was kneeling at her side, and kissing her in a way that took no account of her size, his voice incoherent as he punctuated the kisses with wild, tender murmurings until both their faces were damp, their tears mingling.
'Don't ever leave me again, Tory.' He drew back at last, his eyes naked with the agony he had felt then. 'I couldn't go through that again and remain sane.'
'I won't, I won't.' She traced the contours of his face with wondering hands, amazed at the release of contentment and peace that flooded her. 'Whatever happens in the future, whatever problems we have to face, we'll see them through together. I promise. No more running away. I know who I am now, Zac, for the first time ever.'
'There'll only ever be you, you know that, don't you?' Zac said softly, placing his hands over hers as she cupped his strong face in her fingers. 'You're everything to me, Tory. You have been from the first moment I laid eyes on you.'
'I know.' She smiled mistily. 'I really do know now.'
'Children will be wonderful, gifts from God, but if it had only been me and you to the end of our days that would have been enough for me.' He took her in his arms again, kissing her passionately as he remained kneeling at her side. 'I was determined I would wait for as long as it took to get you to believe in me; I had enough love for both of us. I would never have let you go,' he said with a fierce resolve that thrilled her.
'I know that too.' Her voice was faintly teasing as she added, 'No divorce, remember? The Harding name must not be soiled.'
'Ah…' His eyes narrowed slightly, his mouth twisting with wry humour. 'I
have a slight confession to make there. There has been a divorce in the illustrious Harding ancestry, more than one in fact But it was the only thing I could think of at the time.'
'Shame on you, Zac Harding,' Victoria said reprovingly.
'I never said I fight fair.' He smiled sexily. 'But I wanted to keep time on my side. I didn't have much else going for me.'
'Talking of time…' Victoria looked straight into his eyes, relishing the moment. 'That backache wasn't just backache. I'm sitting in a wet chair.'
'A wet…?'
She saw the dawning realisation in his face even before she said, her voice serene, 'The baby is on its way, Zac. My waters have broken.'
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The snow was inches thick when they stepped out into a transformed landscape of ethereal beauty some minutes later, but the tranquillity of the moment was quite ruined by Zac's loud and profuse swearing as he surveyed the blocked drive.
'It will be all right, don't worry.' Victoria smiled at him—loving him, needing him—but then, as the mild backache she had been experiencing all day switched to her stomach with dramatic intensity, inflicting the sort of pain she wouldn't wish on her worst enemy, she almost doubled up on the doorstep.
'Tory? Hell, Tory, what is it? What's happening?'
He was panicking. That thought registered through the overwhelming pain, and then, as the contraction subsided, she raised her head and looked into the horrified face of her husband. Although it didn't look like Zac. In fact she didn't think she had ever seen such sheer terror on a human face before. And then she realised. His mother. His mother had died giving birth to his little sister when he was ten years old, and at ten you could take in quite a lot. And it had been an early birth—like this one. He had his own wounds from the past that needed healing.
'I'm okay, this is perfectly natural.' She managed a fairly normal smile. 'You clear the drive so we can get out onto the main road; there's plenty of time.' Please, God, let there be plenty of time, she added in silent supplication.
'Sit in the car.' His voice was shaking but his face was Zac's again, and once he had established her in the front seat, draped in a blanket, she watched him clearing the drive like a man possessed as shovels of snow went in all directions.
The next contraction hit after only four minutes, and it took all Victoria's will-power to sit quietly and do her breathing exercises, rather than opening the car door and yelling for him to be quick. She was frightened and she wanted the safe, reassuring solidity of the hospital more than she would have thought possible.