Brought Together by Baby (21 page)

‘I love you, Holly, my darling,’ he told her, praying she would believe him. He drew in a shaky breath and laid his heart on the line once more. ‘I want us to be a family, to put the past behind us and make a happy life for us, Max and any other children. You said you felt something for me. Is that in the past tense?’

She shook her head, a shy smile curving her mouth, banishing the last of the shadows from her eyes and thawing any remaining ice inside him. ‘I love you, Gus…past, present and future. If you’ll let me.’

‘Only if you’ll let me love you back,’ he teased her, joy and relief blooming inside him. ‘What do you say? Will you marry me?’

‘Yes, please!’

Gus wasn’t sure he deserved to be this happy, but he’d been given a second chance and he was going to spend the rest of his life proving to Holly how much he loved her. They’d known so much hurt and loneliness these last months, but now they’d found each other again, and with Max, their miracle baby, they could look forward to a loving and happy future.

EPILOGUE

A
S HOLLY
carefully laid flowers on Julia’s grave the late August sunshine glinted off the simple but beautiful aquamarine stone set in the white-gold engagement ring Gus had so recently put on her finger. Her birthstone and, Gus insisted, the colour of her eyes.

He stood beside her, strong and supportive, Max cradled against his chest. They’d had a difficult, often painful journey, but they had come through it and were stronger for it, their love for each other winning out and unable to be denied. Despite all Julia had done.

‘Whatever else she did, she gave us Max,’ she whispered, hoping that, in death, her troubled sister had found the peace she’d never known in life.

Gus’s free arm came round her and she leaned into him. She loved him with every fibre of her being and she knew now that he was hers, that he had never been Julia’s in any way. Free of the lies, they could be a proper family.

‘Let her go. She can’t hurt us any more.’ Gus pressed a kiss to the top of her head before stepping back and taking her hand. ‘Come with me. I want to show you something.’

Curious, Holly let him lead her back to the car. As he settled Max in his safety seat she reflected on the last few busy days. Days which, amongst other things, had seen Ruth leave for her new life in Italy with Rico. She already missed her
friend, but gave thanks that Ruth and Gina were as happy with their respective partners, Rico and Seb, as she now was with Gus. Which left George, she reflected with a smile.

‘Oh, that look means trouble!’ Gus teased as he slid into the driver’s seat. ‘What have you been up to?’

Her smile widened to a grin. She wasn’t remotely repentant about her spot of matchmaking. One look at the delicious new consultant paediatrician who had begun work on the children’s ward had set her mind buzzing. And when she’d discovered he was looking for somewhere to stay, the card George had put on the staff noticeboard advertising rooms to rent had somehow found its way into Rafael’s pocket! George hadn’t seen him yet, because she was off work on an annual leave, but Holly wished she could see her friend’s face when they did meet.

Gus chuckled as she told him what she’d done. ‘Did you tell him George was a woman?’

‘Oops, I forgot that bit!’

‘Your mama is a very bad woman, Maxie,’ Gus advised their son solemnly.

Holly’s heart swelled with love and happiness. Gus switched on the car’s CD-player and the soft, haunting tones of the music he’d composed on the sax and which had so moved her began to play—a piece she now knew he’d composed and named for her.
Holly’s Lament
. Joy had replaced the heartache that had inspired it.

When Gus drew the car to a halt, it took a moment for reality to set in. ‘What are we doing here?’

Her breath caught as she looked out of the window at the house she loved so much—the one in which she had grown up; the one she had lost because of Julia. Her dream of getting it back had long since turned to dust. She frowned as Gus got out of the car and came round to open her door.

‘Gus?’

He took her hand and led her to stand on the wide pavement in the quiet, attractive road. Her eyes widened as she saw the ‘For Sale’ board fixed to the silver birch tree that stood in front of the house. A ‘Sold’ sign was pinned across it at a jaunty angle.

‘I know what this house means to you. When I found out it was for sale…well, it was destiny,’ he told her with a self-conscious smile. He placed a key in her palm. ‘This isn’t the real key—that will come in a few weeks, when we complete and move in. This is symbolic of my promise to you, of my gift to you—and to Max and me. A special home in which we can raise our family.’

Tears stung her eyes and she threw herself into his arms, laughing and crying at the same time. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, although the words seemed inadequate to express her feelings.

This special, wonderful man always surprised her, showing her in endless ways how much he loved her and what their family meant to him. She was the luckiest woman in the world and she wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

Instead she settled for kissing the man who had made her world complete, and with whom she anticipated living and loving for the rest of their days.

ISBN-13: 9781460377437

BROUGHT TOGETHER BY BABY

© Margaret McDonagh 2012

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