English Doctor, Italian Bride by Carol Marinelli

Author:Carol Marinelli [Marinelli, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781426830297
Google: Y8uf0E15cwsC
Amazon: B001UFP5XG
Goodreads: 6379694
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2008-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

‘He’s had a great day.’ She and Hugh were washing up, Bonita staring out beyond the dark window to the pergola. She watched her father sitting on the cane couch with his family, heard the laughter and chatter drift back into the home. ‘He doesn’t even seem tired.’

‘He’s been looking forward to this.’ Hugh’s eyes followed her gaze.

‘Maybe it was what he needed,’ Bonita said. ‘Maybe this will give him a bit of a second wind…’ Her voice trailed off, waiting, hoping, desperate for Hugh agree, for him to ignore the fact that despite the copious food, despite Luigi making a token effort at carving the lamb, he hadn’t eaten a single thing. ‘Maybe he’ll pick up a bit! Now that he’s—’

‘Bonny.’ Hugh stopped her there. ‘Your dad’s not going to get better.’

‘You don’t know that.’

‘I do know that,’ Hugh said firmly, ‘and so do you.’

‘Can’t I just have one nice day?’

‘You’ve had a nice day,’ Hugh pointed out. ‘Have you told him?’

‘Told him what?’

‘Everything you want to.’

‘Such as?’

‘That you love him?’

Clutching the stem of the wineglass she was washing, for a moment she thought she might snap it. ‘I don’t have to tell him. Dad knows that I love him.’

‘Have you told him, though?’ Hugh pushed.

‘I think so.’ She was washing up quickly now, sloshing the glasses in the soapy water and trying very hard not to think about it—trying very hard indeed. It was easier in many ways to focus instead on Hugh. ‘Did you?’ She watched his hand pause as he picked up a draining plate. ‘Your dad was dying when you went back to England. Did you tell him you loved him?’

‘I tried.’ Hugh shrugged. ‘You know, when I went back home, I really wanted things to be different. I’d seen how your family worked and I had this idea that if we just…’ He shook his head. ‘I tried to tell him, but it was way too late, we just didn’t have those sort of conversations, we had never had them.’

‘Never?’ He gave a brief shake of his head, and for the first time Bonita delved. So many times she’d wondered about his past, had heard bits and pieces from her brothers and parents, but it had never seemed appropriate to ask…

Till now.

‘What about when your mum was alive?’ She held her breath after she’d voiced her question—this was one of the first conversations they’d had without barbs and she was loath to end it by probing too deep, yet it felt right to ask. It felt right to know a little more about the man who consumed her. And instead of holding back, as he usually did, Hugh actually opened up.

‘I guess.’ He gave a sort of half-laugh. ‘It’s funny you ask because before I came back here I was boxing things up, sorting things out, and I came across some photos. I actually recognised Mum. It was my father who looked completely different from the man I remember.’

‘In what way?’ Bonita asked. ‘Younger?’

‘Happier.’ Hugh shrugged.

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