Mediterranean Rescue by Laura MacDonald

Author:Laura MacDonald
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-09-09T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

CLAIRE went to visit her father in Portsmouth. A visit was long overdue and in the end it seemed the perfect arrangement—the combination of a period of enforced recuperation following a couple of counselling sessions and the opportunity to spend some uninterrupted family time.

In recent years, following the death of his wife and his own retirement from his job with the Ministry of Defence, Claire’s father, Tom, had lived with his unmarried sister Marjorie in a bungalow on the outskirts of the naval town, which had been home since Claire’s childhood. They were both delighted to see Claire and when she was forced to give a reason for her impromptu visit they set about spoiling her and making her stay as pleasant as they could.

Once she had recounted the story of what had happened in Italy little more was said about it and her days were spent lazing in the garden, on trips out to lunch or on long walks on the beach with her father’s dog, Bosun.

Gradually the images of what had happened in Italy, which had been razor sharp in her mind, began to blur slightly at the edges and even the intense, heightened emotion she had felt for Dominic began to recede and take its place in her memory. She began to recognise that what she had felt for him had most probably been a reaction to circumstances.

In the first place, the initial attraction between them had been fuelled by the magic of Italy itself and the exhilaration of a holiday situation. What had followed had changed everything and determined the course of events—the drama, the heightened tension of the life-and-death situation and the fact that she and Dominic had been thrown so closely together in taking leading roles in caring for their companions.

As all this became clear Claire felt herself begin to relax and to let go. She would never see Dominic again. She knew that, just as she knew that eventually she would have to put all thoughts of what had happened between them right out of her mind and get on with the rest of her life.

It wasn’t going to be easy. She faced that fact on one of her early morning walks with Bosun across an endless expanse of hard wet sand as black-headed gulls wheeled and dipped above her, their plaintive cries mingling with the sounds of shipping in the Solent. Dominic had had a profound effect on her and what they had shared had shaken her to the very depths of her being, not least because she’d never experienced it before, not with Mike or with anyone else. But the fact that it was over eventually helped her to concentrate her mind. Mike loved her, she was pretty sure of that. He sometimes had rather a detached way of showing it but deep down she knew he cared for her. No one knew what had taken place between herself and Dominic and Mike wasn’t likely to ever hear about it.

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