Kissed at Midnight (21 page)

His legs vanished through
the gap and she remained staring at the spot where he’d been. Her heart pounded
so deafeningly in her ears that not even the cries around her could penetrate
properly. Sweat pricked on her neck and she shoved her hat from its askew
position on her head and flung it aside before unbuttoning her jacket and
removing her gloves and abandoning them too.

She waited.

His head popped back through
the window and she issued a sigh of relief. Worry bit into his features and the
blood still trickled down his cheek. He leaned over the frame to reach for her.

“Take my hand.”

Ivy gulped and stood on the
arm of the chair to stretch up to him. His warm hand curled around hers, strong
and sure.

“Now grab the strap.” She
did as she was told and curled a hand around the strap. He locked his gaze with
hers. “This might hurt your arm a little. Let the strap take some of your
weight.”

Grip tight on the leather,
she nodded and he began to ease her up. She saw his muscles strain against his
shirt as he lifted her and her shoulder ached from the exertion. The strap bit
into her palm and she held back a cry when he pulled her that bit higher. She
glanced down and pressed her feet to the luggage rack to ease some of the
pressure on her arm. 

When she was close enough to
the edge, she gripped the window frame and felt the slight prick of glass. She
nearly released her hand but August’s sweat-tinged brow and firm gaze forced
her to hold on. With his help, she was eased up onto the side of the train.

He helped her over so she
was sitting just under the broken window and he glanced around. On his hands
and knees, he shuffled around the windows to what had once been the top of the
train. He peered over the edge and darted a worried glance at the end where the
tender was.

Ivy couldn’t tell what had
happened but all of the carriages were on their side and smoke billowed from
the head of the wreckage. A light breeze blew across her and debris scattered
the countryside. She spotted other people climbing from the carriages as well
as some hurrying away from the site.

“Come here.” He offered her
a hand and she followed suit, shuffling on her hands and knees until she was by
his side. Her skirts hindered her progress but she was determined to make it to
him. “I’ll have to lower you down,” he told her, gripping her hand once more.

“I can jump.” She realised
her teeth were chattering as she spoke.

“It will damage your knees
and you’d certainly break an ankle. Lie down and I’ll ease you over.”

“What about you?”

He fixed her with a look. “I’ll
be fine. When you reach the ground, run. I don’t want you anywhere near this
wreckage. Don’t wait. Just run. I’ll be right behind you.”

“But—”

“Ivy.” His tone brokered no argument
and she nodded.

Flat on her stomach, she
gripped his hands and he lowered her down the curving roof of the train. The rough
texture of the grey roof scraped her arms through the torn sleeve of her gown.
She glanced up at him before he released her less than a foot from the ground.

Ivy remembered his words and
her silent promise and began to run away from the wreckage. Around her people
stumbled about, dazed and confused. Not far ahead, vehicles had come to a stop
on the road and it looked as though help was arriving. Thank goodness.

A prickling sensation
crawled along her skin and she paused. Before she could turn to wonder at it, a
boom ricocheted through the air. Sparks flew past her and she fell to her feet.
It took her several moments to realise what had happened—the tender had
exploded. Flames flickered from the end of the train.

Her throat felt as though
someone had tied a noose around her neck. She pushed away from the grass and
peered through the smoke that billowed about.

“August,” she cried but the
sound was lost to the horror of the situation. She came to standing, her knees
shaking and threatening to give way, but she had to find August. He wasn’t
still on the train, was he? He couldn’t be. He just couldn’t.

Ivy peered through the smoke
and began to make her way back towards the wreckage. She called his name again.
And again, her voice growing more harsh and desperate each time.

Other people had already
begun approaching the train. Ladders were propped up on the side and she saw
passengers being helped down. Then someone stumbled forwards and clamped their
hands around her arms. She released a huge sob and collapsed against him.

“Ivy, I told you to run.”

“I did.” She gripped his
shirt and burrowed her head against him. “But I came back.”

He led her farther away from
the devastation, his arm wrapped around her, keeping her pinned to his side.

“What happened?”

“A boiler explosion by the
looks of it. Some idiot probably turned the safety valve too tight.” He shook
his head. “You shouldn’t even have been on the bloody train,” he said. “You
should have been going to your audition.”

She shook her head and
twisted in his hold to face him. The blood on his forehead had dried but a
sheen of sweat and dirt covered his face. She longed for a handkerchief to wipe
it away but her reticule had been abandoned along with her jacket.

“I was meant to be here,
with you, August,” she told him as firmly as she could manage. “I love you.”

He stared at her for several
moments. She wondered if he had perhaps hit his head harder then she’d
realised. Then he gripped her arms and drew her to him for a hard, desperate
kiss. If anyone saw, she doubted they’d care. And all she cared about was that
he was alive.

August drew back and shook
his head. “It won’t work.”

“Why will it not?”

“I want you to be my wife. I
can’t have anything less from you. But you must sing. I won’t hold you back
from that.”

“You do not have to.”

“How will it work?” The
uncertainty in his gaze stretched her heart. She’d never seen him uncertain
about anything. But she was certain enough for both of them.

“We will make it work.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

“August, you’ve built things
no other man has. You’ve triumphed when others said you’d fail. You can do anything.”

A grin began to split his
face. He rested his forehead against hers. “Ivy, you are the most courageous
creature I have ever met. And, God help me, I believe you. You make a man think
he is capable of anything.”

“Does that mean...?” She
swallowed and gripped his shirt so tight she thought she heard the seams rip.

“That means I want you for
my wife, my sweets. I love you.”

For once Ivy had no response
ready. It wasn’t possible to put the warm bubble of happiness bursting through
her into words. Thankfully August prevented her from having to say anything by
sealing his mouth across hers and kissing her in the most fierce, heart-melting
kiss she’d ever experienced.

Epilogue

Ivy tapped her fingers against the arm of the chair as
the train pulled into the station. She suppressed a yawn and smiled at the
woman opposite. The young lady had been staring at her for most of the journey
but Ivy was used to being stared at by now. Her face was often in the
newspapers and on posters so it happened.

As the train drew to a halt
in a squeal of metal on metal, a hiss of steam billowed out around them and Ivy
stared eagerly out of the window, searching the platform. The usual nerves
thrummed in her stomach—riding on trains without August always did that to her
now. It wasn’t easy to forget the day the train had exploded, but August had
done a fine job of replacing frightening memories with wonderful ones—just as
he had helped her get over her stage fright.

When she stood, the woman in
lavender opposite offered a smile. “Excuse me but are you Mrs Ivy Avery?”

Ivy nodded and smiled. “I
am.”

“Oh goodness, I heard you
sing in London. You were wonderful.”

“Thank you.” Compliments
never failed to warm her heart no matter how many times she’d heard them.

“I hope to hear you again
one day soon. Will you be performing in Manchester?”

“Not for a while,” she
admitted. She had no performances booked for at least the next year. She
couldn’t wait to tell August. “Perhaps next year.”

Ivy couldn’t say for sure
however.

“Oh I do hope so,” the woman
answered before a gentleman pulled open the train door and motioned for them to
go first.

Ivy alighted from the
carriage and scanned the waiting crowds. The station was busy, crammed with
luggage and people. But there, not far from the entrance gate stood the pair
she’d been looking for. She couldn’t see Elsie properly over the crowds but
August’s wide shoulders and commanding presence drew her to him like a beacon.

He flashed her a grin when
he spotted her. Hand to her hat, she made her way through the people and burst
out on the other side, practically tumbling into his arms. He caught her with
one hand and chuckled.

“I’m glad you’re eager to
see me.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips and released her so she could drop
a kiss to Elsie’s cheek. “Let us get in the carriage.”

He scooped up Elsie and took
Ivy’s hand to lead them out to the street before bundling them into a closed
carriage. August settled next to her while Elsie contented herself with sitting
opposite them and swinging her legs.

“Did you sing beautifully,
Mama?” the five-year-old asked.

“Of course. When do I not?”

“When you’re in the bath,”
Elsie replied matter-of-factly.

Ivy couldn’t help but laugh
and August curled a hand around hers to draw it into his lap. “August, she
certainly has your honesty.”

“That she does. Did all go
well?”

“Yes, but I am tired and I
missed you.”

“We missed you too.”

“Mrs Cartwright says she
misses you the most because she has to look after me,” Elsie put in.

August groaned and pinched
the bridge of his nose. “That is because Mrs Cartwright is the grumpiest woman
you’ll ever meet, Elsie.”

Ivy tapped August’s arm and
gave him a reprimanding look.

“She’s not really,” the
little girl put in. “She just pretends to be.”

She couldn’t help but grin.
“There, see, even Elsie has the measure of her.”

“Your mother stayed for a
week too. She cannot seem to stay away.”

Ivy nodded. She couldn’t say
she was completely reconciled with her parents but her mother seemed to be
trying to make up for her mistakes by lavishing attention on Elsie.

Her husband brought her
gloved fingers to his lips. “I missed you the most.” He leaned in towards her
and his breath teased her ear. Nibbling ever so briefly and ever so teasingly,
he whispered, “especially in my bed.”

Heat rushed into her cheeks
and surely she had to be cherry red even with her dark skin. But, in truth, she
could not wait to have August to herself. It had been a long month.

She twisted in her seat and
secured him with a sincere gaze. He narrowed his in response.

“What is it, Ivy?”

Oh, he knew her so well. In
the past four years of marriage, August Avery had never failed to decipher his
wife’s moods. She could never keep a secret from him for long.

“I won’t be performing or
going away again for a while.”

“But I thought you were due
to travel to Paris in the summer.”

“I was but I cancelled it.”

“I hope you didn’t do that
for us. You know I would never ask you to sacrifice anything for us.”

He was right. He wouldn’t
and he never had. He never even made her feel guilty for leaving them. But she
was beginning to miss them so—even more than usual—and each trip away seemed
harder and harder. Yet she knew she wouldn’t even have been able to do what she
had done without them both. Knowing she had their support made meeting all
these important people and performing at the great opera halls and palaces that
much easier.

“I won’t be performing for a
least another nine months, August.”

He scowled. “You will miss
the Grandbury gathering too then. You perform every year.”

Her lips curved. For a smart
man, he could be terribly silly. “August, please listen. Not for at least nine
months.”

Realisation seeped into
those beautiful blue eyes. The creases around them deepened and her chest felt
too full.

“You’re...?”

“Yes. We’re going to have
baby,” she whispered the last part. Elsie would be told soon enough but she
didn’t want her feeling like she would be replaced. They’d have to spoil the astute
little girl before making the announcement.

A flash of something came
across August’s face. For a man undaunted by very little, there was a slight
hint of anxiousness behind his expression. And just as he had become adept at
reading her, she understood his worry. She tightened her grip on his hand.

“All will be well. We have
managed thus far and we’ll continue to. I will not be going anywhere for a
while and I don’t plan to perform nearly as much after.”

“Are you sure?”

Ivy leaned into his side and
he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Here, pressed against his firm chest,
she had everything she needed. Singing fulfilled her in so many ways as an individual
but with August, Elsie and their new baby on the way, she strongly suspected
she wouldn’t be nearly so eager to perform. August had given her the
opportunity to sing and pursue her dream and he’d also given the opportunity
for love, affection and a family.

Lifting her head, she
pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’m sure. I love you.”

“I love you.” He held her
tightly to his side and she heard a content sigh issue from his lips.

She smiled to herself. She
would forever be grateful for the day she turned up on the wrong doorstep.

THE END

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