Just Friends to Just Married?

She started to sob. She couldn’t help it, and Duc moved, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

‘I love this place,’ she said between sniffs as she laid her hand on his chest. ‘But I love this place because it’s got you in it. It is you. Everywhere I look I’m reminded of you. I couldn’t be here if you weren’t. You drive me crazy, do you know that? You kissed me in the kitchen and then pulled away. Do you know what that did to me? What that did to my heart? I thought it might break in two.’

He kissed her head. ‘I’m sorry, Viv. I was mixed up. I thought I’d crossed a line and ruined everything between us. I thought you’d hate me.’

Her hand thumped against his chest. ‘How can I hate you when I love you, stupid? The guy who’s been my everything for the last ten years. The one person I’m honest with and tell all my dark family secrets.’ She fingered the chain at her throat.

‘The one man to buy me jewellery just because it matched my eyes. And when you kissed me...you turned my world upside down. A kiss between friends isn’t supposed to feel like that. Isn’t supposed to steal the breath from your throat and turn your legs to jelly. Isn’t supposed to leave your heart racing so much you can’t sleep at night.’ Her fingers were brushing the skin at the base of his neck. He looked down at her with those dark eyes. She could see the sparkle. Feel the sizzle in the air between them again.

She moved her fingers more slowly. ‘And this? This electricity that constantly buzzes between us? How are we ever supposed to get any work done in future? How will any patients ever get seen if we both work here?’

She couldn’t help the teasing tone in her voice. Her heart was so full she couldn’t breathe again. Duc loved her. He said he loved her. Could the world ever be this perfect?

He changed position, tilting her chin up to his. ‘So, this is us. This is really us.’

It was like he was just making sure.

She nodded.

But he kept going as a sexy smile appeared on his face. ‘No pulling back. No changing minds?’

‘No pulling back, no changing minds,’ she repeated with a smile on her face, then she sighed as he jumped off the bed and headed to the doorway. ‘Duc, are you ever going to kiss me? Or am I going to have to die waiting?’

‘Oh, I’m going to kiss you, I’m just making sure we’ll not be disturbed.’ He smiled as he turned the lock on the door and joined her back on the bed. He slid his arms around her waist. ‘Now, where were we?’

‘Right here,’ she said as her lips touched his.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Six months later

‘PUSH, LIEN. PUSH!’

It was the middle of the night. But no one at May M?n hospital currently cared what time of day it was.

The corridor outside the delivery room was practically full. This was their first official May M?n baby, created by two doctors who worked there, delivered by staff who loved them both.

Duc was pacing outside. Lien’s parents were sitting impatiently on two chairs, watching for every swing of the door. Several of the nurses had lined the corridor. Two of the visiting doctors who were officially on duty tonight were watching the whole scene with amusement.

They’d even started to serve snacks while they waited.

Every now and then Viv stuck her head outside with an instruction for someone and they all held their breaths, letting them go in frustration when she still didn’t bring the news they were all waiting for.

Ron was the most amused of all. There was a coloured chart at the nurses’ station with guesses for date, time, sex, birth weight and name. ‘Is it always going to be this much fun?’ he said as he walked past.

For a few minutes there was silence. Then came a loud cry.

* * *

A cheer erupted from outside as Baby Lennox announced her arrival to the world. Viv cleaned off her face, did a few quick checks and placed baby on Lien’s chest.

Lien wrinkled her nose as she lay back against the pillows, exhausted. ‘Tell me they aren’t high-fiving out there.’

Viv and Ron laughed together. ‘It’s been a closely fought contest. Three staff were watching the clock, hoping they’d win the bet.’

Lien shook her head as she stared at her brand-new daughter. ‘Wow,’ she breathed. Then she looked at Joe. He hadn’t taken his eyes off his daughter from the second she’d been born. ‘I’m not doing that again.’

Viv and Ron looked at each other. ‘That’s what they all say,’ they said in unison.

Lien smiled. ‘I mean it.’

Viv nodded. ‘So do they. It doesn’t mean that in two years’ time I won’t see you again.’

Ron grinned. ‘Well, I’m delighted. Do we have a name for our latest arrival?’

Joe sighed. ‘Nope. We both agreed we would give Regan the final say, and since we didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl, he said he was keeping his name a secret.’

Ron let out the biggest laugh of all. ‘Yes! I can’t wait.’ He stood up. ‘We were talking about his favourite superhero the other day so hold on, folks, who knows what we’ll get?’

Five minutes later Lien and the baby were settled, and Viv had cleaned up the room for visitors, meaning the rest of the hospital could visit.

Duc shook hands with Joe and gave Lien a kiss on the cheek after admiring the baby, and waved to Viv to come outside.

Viv left things in the hands of Melody, the other midwife, and walked outside with him to sit on the grass for five minutes.

It was cooler outside, and once he’d wrapped an arm around her shoulder she leaned against him.

‘Ooh, I’m knackered. You need to make me some tea.’

His breathing was slow and steady. She could actually stay in this position all night. They sometimes sat outside for a short spell at night, just to watch the stars.

It took her a few moments to notice something unusual. ‘Hey? What’s happened to the trees?’

‘What do you mean?’

She sat upright. ‘What’s with the twinkling lights?’

Someone had strung little white lights between the trees to the left of the bungalows. They’d put a memorial bench under the trees a few months ago for Khiem and Hoa.

‘Oh, those lights,’ said Duc, as he stood up and held his hand out towards her.

She smiled but wrinkled her brow in curiosity as he led her towards the bench. They watched as Joe crossed the grass behind them, ducking into his own bungalow to collect Regan and let him meet his new sister.

Viv sat down on the bench and looked up at the lights. ‘They really do add a little magic to the place, don’t they? We should have thought of these before. And maybe, at Christmastime, we can change them for another colour?’

She looked to her right, expecting Duc to be beside her, but he’d vanished.

‘Duc?’

‘Right here.’

He was kneeling on the grass in front of her.

She let out a little gasp and pulled both hands up to her mouth.

He smiled. ‘Timing is everything.’

He took her hands in his. ‘Viv, the last six months have been the best of my life. You’re my partner in crime and the love of my life. I can’t imagine spending a minute of this life without having you by my side. I can’t imagine a day when you don’t shout at me in your crazy Scottish accent or fight me for a bit of chocolate. Let’s not wait. It’s been too long already.’

He pulled out the glittering emerald-and-diamond ring that had belonged to his mother. ‘You know that my mum and dad loved you.’ He glanced upwards. ‘Somehow I know that right now they’re up there, smiling down on us and telling me to hurry up.’ He shot her a wary look. ‘If you want something else, I’ll buy you something else. But my mum always told me she hoped I’d find someone to love, like she loved Dad. And maybe she already knew who

that would be. So, what do you say, Vivienne Kerr, crazy Scot number one, will you be my wife, for ever and ever?’

Her hands were shaking, but that didn’t stop her holding out her finger so he could slip the emerald-and-diamond ring onto it. She touched his cheek. ‘Duc Nguyen, I got so lucky the day I met you. I can’t imagine what might have happened if you hadn’t been there to give me a hug in the sluice that day. You’ve stolen my heart, and you’ve given me something I couldn’t ever have found without you—a home. And the ring? I love it. I’m honoured. So, yes! Tell the world that, yes, I’ll be your wife.’

Duc swept her up into his arms and spun her around but when her feet touched the ground she took a step back for a second until she found his hand.

She linked their pinkies together and looked up into his eyes. ‘For ever,’ she whispered.