Chapter 13
It was hard to see through a mist of tears.
Bella blinked hard but the part of the garden that came into focus was the rose-covered summer house and, for a heartbeat, she was lying in Oliver’s arms again. Being made love to.
Being loved.
It would never happen again.
Bella stumbled as the image was blurred by fresh tears. He’d spelt it out, hadn’t he? He had been going to offer to marry her because it was the expected thing to do in his world. Maybe the reasons for the expectations for his parents to marry had been different but the result would be the same.
A far from perfect result.
But Oliver was still prepared to go through with it?
Well, she wasn’t.
No way.
Even if it broke Lady Dorothy’s heart not to have potentially her only grandchild in the family.
Bella stopped in her tracks for a moment, gulping in the fresh, ocean-tinged air. Controlling her tears, because it was stupid to go charging down the steps when she couldn’t see properly. She’d end up falling and everybody knew how dangerous that was for pregnant women.
She’d told Lady Dorothy that she could take care of this baby, and she could. Starting now.
‘Bib?’ The cat’s name came out as little more than a whisper. Bella took another deep breath and cleared her throat. ‘Bib? Where are you?’
Her voice was stronger now. She was stronger.
She could cope. When she found Bib, she would go back to Kate and Connor’s house and then she’d have time to really pull herself together and get her head around what the future held.
As much as she loved Lady Dorothy, she couldn’t keep working and living in the same house as Oliver.
They would manage. They’d managed just fine yesterday without her.
She couldn’t go home without Bib, though.
Kate might have been totally against having a fur child when the kitten had arrived in their lives, but Bella knew how much she loved her pet now.
Imagine coming home from a honeymoon to be told that Bib had been lost. Washed out to sea or attacked by a seagull or something.
The steps that led down the cliff to the almost private beach were steep but perfectly manageable. After about a dozen of them, Bella paused and called again and this time she heard something. A mewing sound that was definitely that of a cat, but it sounded nothing like Bib.
It was a miserable and frightened sound, and it struck such a chord with how Bella was feeling that her breath came out in a sob.
The sound was coming from somewhere further up the cliff, but Bella couldn’t see a fluffy grey shape anywhere.
Cautiously, she moved away from the steps onto a natural terrace that was supporting some shrubs around the base of an old Pohutukawa tree leaning out towards the sea at a precarious angle.
‘Bib? Come on, kitten. Where are you?’
And then Bella could finally pinpoint where the sad cry was coming from.
Bib must have raced up the trunk of the Pohutukawa tree and then out onto one of the branches on the far side that hung straight out from the cliff.
Maybe she’d looked down and seen the rocks on the beach far below and realised how much danger she was in.
There was no way Bella could climb up to fetch her.
The only option to save Bib would be to coax her back towards the solid main trunk of the tree, but that wasn’t going to be easy.
She could see the bottlebrush of a tail and the stiff posture of a terrified cat that wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry.
The roots of the tree were a twisted nest that seemed well anchored into the cliffside.
Carefully, Bella climbed over some of them.
If she could get close enough to the trunk, maybe Bib would respond to her calls.
The roots were certainly sturdy enough but what Bella hadn’t taken account of was the dry, crumbly soil between them.
Her foot went straight through what looked like a solid part of the ledge, and there was only air beneath it.
She lost her balance and found herself falling.
And she could hear her name being shouted.
‘Bella!’
* * *
Oliver’s heart stopped when he saw Bella falling.
It started again with a painful thump as he leapt down the final few steps to the level of that ledge, her name wrenched out of him in an agonised cry.
The dreadful fear was contained when he saw that Bella hadn’t fallen very far at all. She was caught between tree roots and was in no danger of falling to the rocks below. Instantly, the fear morphed into anger as he moved onto the ledge.
‘For God’s sake, Bella.’ He was careful enough to keep hold of the roots above his head with one hand, close enough to reach his other hand down to where she could grasp it.
He hauled her to her feet, more angry words pouring out.
‘You just couldn’t be bothered sticking to the steps?
Not adventurous enough for you? Too predictable?
Boring? What were you trying to do, anyway – find a shortcut down to the beach? ’
He knew he shouldn’t be shouting at her. He hated the way she was staring up at him, looking so terrified as he pulled her closer. But there was no way he could contain that fear and anger any longer.
‘You scared the hell out of me,’ he informed her as she got close enough for him to catch her with both hands. To pull her into his arms and back to the safety of the steps.
Bella was shaking like a leaf. And sobbing. All Oliver could do was sink down onto the wide step and hold her in his arms, cradled against his chest. He stroked her hair and asked questions that she was nowhere near ready to answer.
‘What were you doing?’
‘Have you hurt yourself?’
‘Are you getting any cramps or anything?’
Eventually, he felt the shaking subside and he heard Bella take a deeper breath.
‘I’m fine,’ she said, in a small voice.
* * *
She’d done it again, hadn’t she?
Done something stupid in front of Oliver.
No wonder he was angry, but why was he still holding her like this?
He’d been stroking her hair even, as though he really cared about her.
The stroking had stopped but Bella could feel a different kind of touch.
Oliver’s face pressed against her hair? It had to be, because she could feel the puff of his breath on her cheek.
And when she turned her head a little, his lips were right there.
And he was kissing her.
Kissing her with a passion that was barely under control. A tenderness that was laced with… fear?
‘I could have lost you,’ Oliver murmured between kisses. ‘You could have lost the baby.’
‘But you don’t want the baby.’ Bella had to pull back far enough to see his face. ‘My getting pregnant was an accident.’ She screwed her eyes shut. ‘No. It wasn’t an accident. It was me being stupid. Like I always am.’
‘No. You’re not stupid, Bella. Just… impetuous.’ Oliver was smiling at her. ‘It’s one of the things that makes us so different. One of the things I love about you so much.’
Love? Had the ‘L’ word just crossed Oliver Dawson’s lips?
Unbelievable. Maybe she had knocked her head without realising it.
It might be a good idea to change the subject before she really made an idiot of herself and told him about all the things she loved about him.
‘I was trying to rescue Bib,’ she told him. ‘She’s out there on the branch. See?’
Oliver seemed to have difficulty changing the direction of his gaze. Bib got no more than a brief glance.
‘She’s safe enough for the moment. Cats are very good at getting out of trees. They just need a bit of time to figure things out.’ Oliver was pressing his lips on Bella’s hair now. ‘Right now, it’s you I care about. Only you.’
Bella was staying very still in his arms. She hadn’t imagined it this time. If she didn’t move for a while, maybe it would start seeming real.
‘I was trying to tell you,’ Oliver said. ‘That’s why I told you about my parents, because I wanted you to understand that it was different for us. That I didn’t want to marry you just because other people might expect it.’
‘But… you said that we came from very different backgrounds.’
‘And we do. Thank goodness. And maybe some people will think it’s not a perfect match. Maybe that’s what you think too but… I’m in love with you, Bella. So much in love.’
There it was again. The ‘L’ word.
‘And maybe I’m just lucky that you were careless about contraception because now there’s a chance that you might consider marrying me.’
Bella was confused again. ‘Why wouldn’t I?’
‘Because I’m… stuffy. Boring and predictable.’ Oliver was smiling again as he tightened his hold on Bella. ‘Like the steps?’
‘You’re crazy,’ she told him. A smile was trying to break out on her face. She could feel it coming, her face muscles softening. Her heart singing. ‘I’d marry you if there was never going to be a baby.’
‘You would?’ The mix of surprise and delight in Oliver’s voice made Bella’s smile escape further.
‘Of course I would. I love you, Oliver. I have for ages. Ever since you smiled at me that time. That first day when I was looking after your mother.’
For a long, long moment, they simply gazed at each other. Basking in the kind of glow that only newly declared love could bring.
The gift of that love was the biggest joy Bella had ever received. She wanted to do something just as big for Oliver.
‘I promise I won’t do anything irresponsible again,’ she whispered.
Oliver simply smiled. ‘You are who you are, Bella, and I love you. Maybe my stuffiness will help keep you safe in the future. You will certainly keep reminding me how joyful life can be. What it feels like to be really alive.’
Bella’s smile couldn’t get any bigger. She could never feel any happier. This moment was absolutely perfect. Except…
Except poor Bib was still stuck in the tree.
Bella tore her gaze from that of the man who was going to become her husband and looked over her shoulder, up into the branches of the old tree. As she did so, she could hear the faint cry of an elderly woman’s voice coming from the garden well above the step she was sitting on with Oliver.
‘Bib? Bib-Bib-Bib? Come here at once, you naughty wee cat.’
Bella wasn’t the only one who’d heard the command.
Oliver was smiling. And Bib? The small, fluffy grey and white cat trotted along the thin branch until it got to the main trunk of the tree.
Then she turned herself around and shimmied down backwards until she reached ground level.
With barely a glance at the couple locked in each other’s arms, Bib scooted past, up the steps, towards the garden and Lady Dorothy.
Bella laughed. ‘She knows who she wants to get a cuddle from.’
‘So do I.’ Oliver’s arms tightened around Bella again.
She raised her face for another kiss but a tiny frown was creasing Oliver’s brow.
‘What about all the things you were dreaming of for your future, my love?’
‘Like what?’
‘A dozen kids?’
Bella grinned. ‘It’s a big house. We could fit in more than one, couldn’t we?’
Oliver laughed but then looked serious again.
‘The overseas travel?’
‘Aren’t we going to have a honeymoon?’
‘Of course. We could go anywhere you want. Where would you most want to go?’
‘Ooh… London,’ Bella said dreamily. ‘Barcelona. Paris.’ She kissed Oliver. ‘We could go dancing in Paris.’
Oliver made a face. ‘They do line dancing in Paris?’
Bella shook her head, laughing. ‘Tango,’ she told him. ‘That’s the only dance for Paris, I think. I’ll teach you.’
It was Oliver’s turn to kiss her. ‘It takes two to tango,’ he whispered.
‘Lucky we’ve got each other, then, isn’t it?’
Bella wanted to hold this moment forever.
To look into Oliver’s gorgeous brown eyes.
To have him looking at her like this.
With so much love.
‘There’s two of us,’ she added in a whisper.
Oliver’s gaze softened even more. ‘And there always will be,’ he said softly. ‘Always.’