The Midwife and the Millionaire (13 page)

Levi looked down at her. ‘So you'll keep me on the straight and narrow?' He gestured to the gorge below them. ‘Even away from your beloved Kimberleys?'

She shrugged. Suddenly home wasn't home if Levi wasn't there. ‘We can visit.'

Levi barely dared to believe he wasn't going to lose her. Sophie's beautiful face turned up at him, so sincere and open and honest and shining with love. How had
he been this blessed? His throat tightened and he pulled her close and held her against his heart as the world receded. His Sophie. His heart. His love. The other stuff they'd work out.

S
OPHIE
gazed around at the guests at their wedding, an unlikely mix of smiling faces, as the setting sun dusted the rugged ranges in the distance a glowing and loving lilac. Loving like the vows she and Levi had exchanged above the stunning gorge at Xanadu and glowing like the look in her new husband's eyes.

She smiled at her friends—the sun-frocked women, and their sun-browned men in best Akubras and polished boots—and Levi's friends in the sprinkling of suits and designer dresses, and the way the two groups melded with much gaiety under the leafless branches of the giant boab.

A tree that had grown more bulbous over the thousand years it had stood under a blue Kimberley sky and watched each turn of fortune this grand old homestead had seen since it had been built by her great-grandfather and lost for two generations. Now her and Levi's children, and maybe Smiley and Odette's children,
would visit, and one day those growing children would learn to love their heritage.

The cries of sulphur-crested cockatoos filled the late-afternoon air and she lifted her head to allow the noise to soak into her memory as she inhaled the delicate aroma of the frangipani called Kimberley Gold in her bouquet. The heady scent enveloped the wedding party better than any designer fragrance yet to be fashioned by man.

She'd be fine in the city. Beside her stood Levi, her husband, so tall and straight and gazing down at her with such a look of pride and love in his dark blue eyes the tears pricked behind the mascara that Odette had insisted she wear, and she had to force her fingers not to rub her eyes.

He must have seen the glitter she tried to hide because his thumb gently rubbed her palm in comfort. Already he knew what she was thinking, and magically the tears receded as his fingers entwined through hers. He looked down at the impressive pink Kimberley diamond ring they'd chosen from the mine and she tutted as she followed his gaze. ‘You have too much money.'

He smiled. ‘Would you like me to give it all away?' The words were spoken lightly but the look in his eyes assured her he was deadly serious, and her heart thumped at the lengths this man would go to make her happy.

She blinked back more tears, refusing to weep even tears of joy on her wedding day. ‘I could help you.' She smiled up at him. ‘There's lots of things I'd like to improve around here.'
Even if I'm not here to see them
, she thought, with barely any regret.

He hugged her to him. ‘I can see I've taken on an expensive wife.' She felt his arm around her, so strong and sure of their love, and the truth was there to see. This was home. In Levi's arms. Not Xanadu, not busy Sydney, or wherever his work took him—anywhere was home as long as she had Levi by her side.

 

The small plane—Levi had declined the helicopter with a smiling glance at his new wife—flew out the next morning, and with his hand in hers Sophie watched the brown earth pass beneath her with no regrets. The timeless mountains and steep-sided gorges would be there for ever. Xanadu would stand watch over the land until she returned.

Now she could look to the future and new adventures with the man she trusted with all her heart.

That night in Sydney they dined at an exclusive restaurant overlooking Sydney Harbour and Sophie could see why Levi loved it.

‘This used to be my favourite place to eat,' Levi said as he gazed around at the panoramic harbour views and then back at his wife. Then he looked down at his plate and somehow she knew he was thinking of their bush-tucker walk through the hot bush. ‘You've broadened my palate.'

‘Do they serve grubs here?' she teased, and stretched her hand out across the fine white tablecloth to his. A frisson of magic passed between them and curved her lips in that persistent secret smile she'd had since last
night. How could she not have known what had awaited her in Levi's arms? Yet what could have prepared her for the experience Levi had created as he'd shown her the meaning of giving and taking in all that love had to offer. Still her skin tingled and quivered as even a fleeting touch like this brought back memories and sensations she'd never imagined, and their rings glinted as their fingers entwined.

His eyes smouldered and she felt her belly kick. ‘You're blushing, my wife,' he teased.

Sophie fanned herself. ‘Must be the food.'

‘Strange, how the food is the last thing I'm thinking of. For you I would even eat a witchetty grub.'

Thank goodness this restaurant was discreet but she needed to change the subject before her wicked husband said something even more outrageous. Sophie poked at the delicacies he'd ordered for her. ‘I won't ask you if you don't make me eat that oyster.'

He laughed and took the morsel from her plate. ‘I've something better for you.' She frowned as he reached into the pocket of his suit and withdrew a long white envelope.

Thick and embossed, he placed it in her hand with such an air of expectation she frowned.

‘To my darling wife with love.' For a fleeting moment the weight of the paper sent an echo of mistrust and dread left from her dealings with Brad, but she banished it easily with her unswerving knowledge of Levi's love. Now what had he thought up?

She frowned down at the envelope and then back at him. ‘What's this?' She weighed it in her hand and the thickness of paper folded had her intrigued.

‘Open it.'

She tried, but it was sealed and stubborn, and Levi smiled as he handed her a knife to slit the edge. She glanced across at him. Whatever it was, he was enjoying this. Finally the envelope opened and she eased the thick wad of paper out and unfolded it.

It couldn't be! Her eyes widened as she moistened suddenly dry lips.

‘A million acres?' She looked at him again and his blue eyes danced with amusement and love. ‘You can't give me a million acres for a wedding present.'

He sat back to enjoy the view more. ‘Why not?'

‘It's too much.' She looked up at him. Not sure how he'd take the next thought. ‘I'd want to give Smiley half.'

He grinned. Well pleased with himself. ‘I thought you'd say that, but he's agreed to be bought out.'

She frowned. ‘Xanadu needs managing. We're living in Sydney.'

He raised his brows. ‘Perhaps we should only live in Sydney six months of the year.'

He was enjoying this. Stringing her along. But she couldn't help the excitement that grew with each tumbled thought. ‘And where will we be the rest of the time?'

‘Guess.' He lifted her hand and ran his fingers along
the soft skin before he gently, and so reverently that her face flamed, kissed her wrist. ‘Let's spend that money you said I should give away.'

‘By buying out Smiley?'

He shook his head and kissed her again and she watched the gooseflesh rise on her arms. She wished he wouldn't do that now because concentration was hard and she wanted to understand.

‘By buying an outback eye clinic. The Sophie Pearson Mobile Eye Clinic, in fact.' He smiled. ‘You'll be pleased to know it's made quite a dent in our wealth.'

She shook her head, overwhelmed by his vision, but he hadn't finished. ‘I thought, if you agree, we'd travel north and visit out-flung camps and missions during the dry, from May till October, and work together.'

She saw the passion in his eyes. The chance to do good work. She felt the tears well at her own fortune in finding a man she could be so proud of.

She tilted her head and she'd bet there was the same excitement shining from her own eyes that she could see in his. ‘Of course, we'll need a base to work from and Xanadu fits the bill perfectly.'

She struggled to hold back her tears as she tried to take in the vision he'd created. ‘Funny that.'

‘And should you become otherwise engaged—' he glanced wickedly down at her narrow waist ‘—I can hire an assistant while you wait at home with our family, at Xanadu.'

He'd done this for her. ‘You've thought of everything.'

His eyes darkened and she blushed right down to her toes and in all the places he'd discovered last night. ‘And if we have children they will grow to love both homes.'

The warmth he created just by looking at her expanded until she could feel herself glow. ‘You really have thought of everything.'

‘I just follow the rule.' He leaned across and kissed her lips. ‘Always tell the truth. And the truth is, I will love my darling wife for ever and ever.'