A Bride Worth Waiting For by Caroline Anderson

Author:Caroline Anderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

‘LOOK—I’m really sorry.’

Michael looked up at Vicky and his heart ached for her.

‘It’s OK, Vicky.’

‘No. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I can’t believe I did—’

He gave a grunt of laughter. ‘I had a moment’s doubt, I must say. Followed by the urge to rip your head off, but what would that achieve? And then I sat down and thought about what you must be feeling—what you’re going through at the moment, you and Kate, and it all made much more sense.’

She shook her head. ‘It’s not about Dad.’

‘I know. It’s about Annie, and what she means to you, and preserving the status quo. And suddenly a man appears in her life and the status quo is threatened. And my guess is you panicked, just like I did when my mother died. My father had been an invalid for years, and whether it was the strain of looking after him or just one of those crazy things, she got cancer.’

‘Oh, God, I’m sorry. I know how that feels. How old were you?’

‘Eighteen. She died when I was twenty, and he couldn’t go on without her. By the time I was twenty-one I’d lost them both. I don’t know if he died of a broken heart or because of his old injuries—he’d been a bomb disposal officer, and got caught in a chemical blast—but whatever, he only lasted months after she died, and I didn’t know what the hell was going to happen to me.

‘I was at university, the family home had to be packed up and sorted out, and without my godparents I think I would have lost it. As it was I joined the army and ended up in the SAS. Dangerous and messy and exactly what I needed, but my godparents were always there for me, like a safety net, in case it all went wrong. And they still are. And the fact that the house isn’t there any more, and I can’t just go home and go up to the bedroom I used as a child, somehow doesn’t matter. I’ve got my own life now, as you will, and just because Annie needs to move on with her life doesn’t mean she won’t be there for you, just as my godparents are there for me. She loves you to bits, you know. Nothing’s going to change that.’

Her eyes were sparkling, filling with tears, and as he watched one welled over and slid down her cheek.

‘I just miss them both. I don’t think I’ll ever get over losing Mum. I was only twelve. You shouldn’t lose your Mum when you’re twelve. And then when Dad died last year—it wasn’t exactly a surprise, you know, but—’ She broke off, shrugged, and he reached out a hand and squeezed her shoulder gently.

‘I know. It’s always a shock. Even when you know, even when you’re expecting it, there’s always that last breath, and then they’re gone. And that’s never going to be easy to accept, even when you can see a mile off that it’s coming.

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