Italian Doctor, Dream Proposal by Margaret McDonagh

Author:Margaret McDonagh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Harlequin

CHAPTER EIGHT

HOLDING her mug in both hands, Gina leaned back on the sofa with a contented sigh. ‘I won’t believe the fairy tale is real until Seb and I are finally married. We seem to have been planning the wedding for ever, and at times I never thought the day would arrive. Now it’sjust hours away and I’m too buzzed and excited to sleep! I so hope nothing goes wrong. What if Seb doesn’t turn up?’ She bit her lip, momentary anxiety replacing the dreamy smile that was usually present on her face.

‘Nothing is going to go wrong,’ Ruth insisted firmly.

‘And of course Seb is going to turn up!’ Holly added with equal vehemence. ‘He’s madly in love with you.’

It was late on Friday night and Maria, Gina’s grandmother, had long since gone to bed. Gina, Holly and herself should follow suit in preparation for an early start in the morning, Ruth admitted, but none of them had felt sleepy. Dressed in pyjamas, and savouring mugs of hot chocolate, they were curled on up one of the huge soft and squishy sofas in the living room of the large town house Seb had bought earlier in the year, Gina’s tiny cottage proving too small and lacking privacy. Set back from the road, and secluded from its neighbours, the town house had a self-contained, ground-floor apartment for Maria, as well as a big garden and a priceless view of the loch and the hills rising behind it.

Their dog, Montgomery, was asleep in front of the log fire, his paws twitching as he chased rabbits in his dreams. The cosy atmosphere would never have affected her before, Ruth acknowledged, looking at her two friends with affection, emotion bringing a lump to her throat. Before…That was how everything was now divided. Before Rico and after Rico.

Being with him had breached some inner dam, cracking open the protective wall she had long used to shield herself from more hurt and rejection. Rico had taught her how to feel, and now she was exposed, with nothing to hide behind, and she was uncharacteristically emotional. She was also envious of Gina. Not that she begrudged her friend a single thing—Gina deserved all the happiness in the world. But the last few days had made Ruth realise how much was missing from her life and how desperately she wanted to be loved and cherished, too…by Rico.

The apparent hopelessness of that dream hit her anew. It had been a strain to keep up her front this evening, not to allow thoughts of Rico and her inner turmoil to burst free. With much of the talk being about Gina’s sexy and devoted Italian husband-to-be, the contrasts were all too apparent, making her own situation hurt even more. It was a constant ache, gnawing away inside her. Closing her eyes, she sipped her drink, trying to shore up her shaky defences.

‘I couldn’t think of getting married without my two best friends beside me,’ Gina said now, threatening Ruth’s tenuous grasp on her self-control.

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