His Perfect Bride? (17 page)

It had been every bit as amazing as before. If not better.

I can’t let her go
.

But he still wasn’t sure if she was his to keep.

They lay in each other’s arms, content. Neither saying what they truly needed to say. Both knowing that this might be the last time they were together.

* * *

Elizabeth Love’s house sat centrally in a square plot, surrounded by sheds and aviaries and outdoor hutches, all filled with animals of various kinds. Loose chickens and ducks roamed the gardens.

The gate to the garden path hung limply and rusting, off to one side. As the snow had now melted somewhat the ground beneath was starting to be seen—thick mud, almost black, but by the front door a cornucopia of clay pots held flowering snowdrops and crocus.

Lula smiled at Olly nervously and then took a step forward and rapped on the door. Some old flaking paint fell off at her touch, revealing the
ancient, grey wood beneath, whilst the free-ranging chickens scratched at her feet.

The sun was shining and there was warmth in its gaze. Finally, it seemed, the snow would soon be gone.

Lula waited, Olly standing a little behind her. There’d been no awkwardness since last night. After she and Olly had made love they’d cuddled before the fire for a while, until she’d realised she needed to go home before Patrick came back and found them naked in his lounge! She’d dressed quickly and kissed him goodbye.

It had been fun to share that time with him, but that was all it could be. At least that was what she kept telling herself. It had been hard to leave his warm, strong arms. Difficult to walk away from him. They’d grown so close over the last few days together.

But that was all it was. Two adults who were good friends and occasionally had sex. That was all. No strings, no demands from either side. Friends with benefits. If it ended tomorrow and they just stayed as friends after that there’d be no recriminations from either side. She hoped he felt the same way. She’d indicated nothing else, even if she hadn’t said it out loud. And he knew she never stayed anywhere for longer than a few months. That she always moved on. That she
always sought something new. He had to know that was how it was going to end.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the door was opened by a small woman. She had dark hair, slightly tinted with grey at the front, and large brown eyes. She wore a comfortable, hard-wearing flannel shirt with jeans, boots and no make-up.

Lula smiled a greeting, then faltered as the sunlight caught on the silver necklace that hung at the woman’s throat. It was the same as the necklace that Lula wore. The one she’d been left with by her mother.

The woman blinked at the bright sun, looking at them both enquiringly. ‘Yes?’

Lula’s voice caught in her throat. ‘Miss Love?’

‘Yes?’

‘I’m Dr Chance, and this is Dr James from the local surgery. May we come in for a moment and talk to you?’

‘What about? I’m busy.’ Elizabeth’s harsh response was clipped and fast.

Lula looked at the hard lines on this woman’s face and saw a lifetime of heartache. ‘It’s a private matter.’

‘I’m sure I have nothing worth discussing…’

The woman went to shut the door and Lula just stood there, but Olly stepped forward, jutting
his boot into the doorway, his broad, square hand pressed against the door.

‘It’s about your daughter, Miss Love.’

The woman flinched visibly, staring at them both, then her eyes flicked to Lula, assessing her. Her gaze softened.

Lula stood there, letting her look, wondering what she was thinking. Wondering whether she’d guessed yet who she was. Whether she saw the similarities. Elizabeth Love had the same eyes as her.

‘You’d better come in.’ She stepped away and disappeared down a dark hall that was overflowing with piles of stuff.

Lula had seen television programmes about hoarders before, and though this house wasn’t as bad as some of them she could tell that this woman didn’t like to let things go. It was cluttered, and it wasn’t very clean, but there was organisation here—and a love for animals that was clear for anyone to see.

Elizabeth indicated for them to sit down on the cat-covered sofa opposite, then sat herself, fidgeting and twisting the tails of her shirt in her fingertips. ‘Well?’

Lula swallowed hard. She’d found her. This
had
to be her mother! ‘We’re here to talk about a baby girl who was left abandoned on a beach many years ago.’

‘I see.’ She didn’t meet their eyes, but kept her gaze cast down upon the floor.

‘I was that baby, and I’ve been looking for my mother. I have reason to believe that…that you are her.’

Elizabeth glanced at her then, her cheeks flushed, her eyes glazed with tears. ‘You’re Louise?’

Lula nodded, a lump in her own throat.

‘My baby?’

She couldn’t help it. Tears began. ‘I am.’

‘Oh…!’

Elizabeth stood up and pulled Lula into her arms, squeezing her tight against her, but then, sensing that Lula felt uncomfortable, she let her go. She stared at her instead, taking her in. Every tiny inch. Then she turned and began to pace the room, sniffing and clearing her throat, then stopping to look at her and pace some more, before she sat down again, suddenly stilled.

‘I’ve thought of you
every day
.’

‘What happened?’ Lula looked at her through tear-glazed eyes. ‘What made you leave me on the beach?’

Elizabeth got up once again, but this time settled down on the couch next to Lula. Tentatively she reached out and took Lula’s hand in her own, gulping as she did so.

‘So many things…so many hurtful things… I’ve hoped for this day for so long!’

Lula squeezed her fingers back and glanced at Olly, who was smiling at the pair of them. He indicated that he would step outside and leave them alone.

She appreciated his gesture. She and Elizabeth had a lot to talk about.

* * *

As Olly stood in the cluttered kitchen, trying to hunt down some clean mugs to use for some tea, he couldn’t help but stand for a moment and imagine how Lula must currently be feeling.

She had to be overjoyed. Didn’t she? As well as sad that she’d found her mother but had lost so much time with her? That circumstances had split them apart?

Would circumstances split Lula and himself? She’d made no commitment to stay.

Despite his strong feelings for her, he couldn’t help but compare her to Rachel. Not physically. They were nothing alike. Rachel had been the conservative-looking woman of his ‘list’, and he’d imposed his own expectations on her. She’d turned out to be nothing like the woman he’d expected her to be.

Lula was nothing like the woman on his list. She had some of those qualities he craved, but she was right. He wanted marriage in his future, and
children at some point. Lula couldn’t give him that. Nor would she commit to him. She’d said so.

But commitment was what he wanted. Love was what he needed. There didn’t have to be children. Not right away. And there were things they could do these days…it might still be possible…

Olly sighed. Was he trying to persuade himself or Lula?

He slammed the kettle down and leaned against the kitchen counter, his head hanging low.

Why couldn’t she be perfect?

Lula could be perfect. She’d come into his world and completely turned it upside down and he loved it! Loved
her
.

He looked up and through the dirty kitchen window, out into the garden beyond. There were large runs out there and he could see foxes inside. Wild animals within cages and runs. They shouldn’t be there. They shouldn’t be caged. They needed to be free.

Like Lula
.

She was the biggest free spirit he’d ever met. He couldn’t snare her with his demands for love and marriage and children. She couldn’t give him any of that, and look what had happened when he’d tried it with Rachel.

It had all gone pear-shaped and Rachel had left him—hating him, never wanting to see him again.

He couldn’t bear the idea of that happening to him and Lula. Just thinking about it almost ripped him in two.

The milk in the fridge smelt a bit dodgy, and he had no idea if the old bag of sugar was in date. Elizabeth Love needed to look after herself a bit better. The animals she cared for lived in better conditions than she did.

But perhaps she’d left herself in limbo after she’d had to give Lula away?

He could only imagine how it might feel to give her up…

* * *

It turned out that Lula’s mother had fallen in love with an older boy whom she’d idolised. This boy, however, sensing her naivety, had slept with her and then discarded her when he’d got what he wanted. He’d then made sure everyone knew how
easy
Elizabeth had been. A few months later she’d discovered she was pregnant—just as she’d started college.

Unable to tell her parents, she’d hidden the pregnancy and given birth alone, then taken a bus to the seaside. Seeing a family that looked kind and caring, she’d left Lula in their beach hut and got back on the bus with a broken heart.

Hurt and betrayed, she had retreated into her own shell. Learning that it was easier to deal with animals rather than people, she had taken a
course in veterinary nursing and, as soon as she’d been able to afford it, had moved out of her parents’ home and started the animal rescue centre.

For all her adult life she’d looked after recovering birds, or hedgehogs, or kittens, or whatever was brought to her door, dumped and abandoned, shunning people. She’d lived this way, adopting and caring for strays and injured wildlife. And every day she’d thought of the baby she’d left behind at a beach and hoped that one day she’d find her.

‘Did she look for you?’ Olly asked in the car on their drive back home.

‘She said she tried, but the bureaucracy and red tape were suffocating and trying to track me down through the foster system was hard. Once I’d been adopted by the Chances she lost all trace.’

Olly laid his hand on hers as she drove. ‘I’m glad you’ve found each other.’

She nodded quickly. ‘Me, too.’

The snow was turning quickly to slush, and as she drove through the lanes they could hear it splashing to the side of the road into bramble-covered ditches, revealing bright blades of grass that had been covered for too long. The sunlight glinted off the wet road and they had to shield their eyes.

When she pulled up outside Moonrose Cottage Lula did so with a big sigh.

‘So what happens now?’ he asked.

‘How do you mean?’

‘Well, you’ve found your mum. You’ve got roots now. History. A family tree. The search is over.’

‘Well, just because we’ve found each other it doesn’t mean we’re suddenly going to live in each other’s pockets. We’ll take it slowly. Life will continue.’

He took a deep breath. ‘Does this change your plans about staying in Atlee Wold? You don’t
have
to be a locum, you know—you could be a permanent member of staff.’ He smiled, his eyes full of hope.

She didn’t want to be blunt. Nor did she want to hurt him. So she sidestepped the question. ‘We’ll see.’

They both got out of the car and he wandered onto the path. ‘I’m going to walk back. Get some exercise. I’ll see you this afternoon?’

She nodded. ‘Sure.’

He leaned in to kiss her then, but she closed her eyes resolutely. ‘See you later.’

‘Alligator…’

She smiled and watched him walk away. Then the smile slowly disappeared from her face until she was frowning.

It had been a morning of ups and downs. She was thrilled to have finally found her mother, but had Olly read more into their relationship?
Had
he?

Perhaps I need to be more clear with him about where this is going?

Inside the cottage, she flipped open her computer and began to look for locum posts. Away from Atlee Wold. Away from Olly. Before he got too attached.

CHAPTER EIGHT

F
OR A FEW WEEKS
they were busy at the surgery. The winter weather had set off a string of appointments and everyone, it seemed, had a chest infection.

Lula had begun working on her own and she enjoyed the freedom it gave her to get to know the patients herself, without Olly there. But they went out on house calls together, so that Lula could learn her way around and get to know some of those who couldn’t make it into the surgery, either due to ill health or the fact that they had no transport and lived on the outskirts of the village.

Patrick and Olly invited her over for a meal occasionally, and they had a few enjoyable evenings together. One night Patrick had fallen asleep in his chair and she and Olly had spent a lovely hour talking quietly in front of the fire, playing cards and, yes, she had to admit it: they’d held hands and kissed.

The next morning she had reprimanded herself.

I shouldn’t be encouraging him!

But it was hard. Olly was just so…
so right for her!
And that was hard to resist when you were a young single woman, despite what she kept telling herself.

Would it matter if I let this develop?

Yes
, she told herself,
it would
. It was known in the village that Olly was in the market for a possible future wife. He’d look at all relationships for their long-term value.

That wasn’t what Lula was there for. Whatever they had between them, it had to be short-term fun only—no strings, no obligations.

Which would hurt him. And she didn’t want to do that.

Lula liked him much too much to want to hurt him.

She’d tried keeping her distance from Olly, but it was difficult. He’d become such a close friend to her, and it was hard to resist his charming smile and his loving arms. There were a few more nights that she spent in his bed, and each time she found herself craving more and more of him. She hated herself every time she tore away from his embrace to go back to Moonrose.

Olly made their relationship seem so easy. But on her own she was troubled by how involved she was becoming, knowing she would have to break his heart.