The Surgeon's Convenient Fiancée (Medical Romance) (22 page)

‘Did Shay tell you he wants to marry me?’ she finally found the courage to say, knowing that the others were making too much noise for Shay to hear her pose the question.

‘Oh, yes,’ Antonia said. ‘I think that would be good for him. He’s a good man. I get the impression that you would be good for each other. His downfall is that he doesn’t know how to balance his life. He chose the wrong woman in me, because I’m self-centred. I want a lot of things for myself, and I’m
not willing to compromise beyond a certain point. I admit it freely. Don’t let that happen to you, if you decide to marry him. After all, you’re a long time dead.’

‘I want to have children,’ Deirdre found herself saying to this woman who was a stranger to her, this woman who had rejected the man she herself wanted. ‘Three or four.’ Oh, do you? Her alter-ego asked the question. That was something she had not discussed fully with Shay.

Antonia nodded. ‘A proper family,’ she said, so that Deirdre looked at her closely, seeming to hear a touch of wistfulness and regret in the other woman’s voice.

The waiter came then with his notepad, and Deirdre ordered a generic meal, not bothering to peruse the menu exhaustively as her mind was churning and most of the print meant nothing to her.

‘I’ve chosen the wine,’ Shay said to her, no doubt noting her somewhat bewildered expression, she thought with a sudden desire to laugh hysterically. Her fear of meeting Antonia, thinking she might be snooty, had not
been justified. Shay’s ex-wife was probably more up-front than she was herself.

The food came relatively quickly, and as they ate Shay smiled at her from time to time, as though from a distance, aware as he was that Antonia had targeted her, so to speak. Hardly aware of what she was eating, Deirdre munched her way through her food, while the three young people chatted and laughed with abandon, as though they were unaware of any vibes between the adults.

When the first course had ended and they were waiting for dessert, Mark said, ‘Can everyone listen, please? I have something to say that affects all of us.’ He was shy and decisive at the same time as he turned to his mother. ‘I love you, Mum. I’m very happy you’re back and that you’ll be living part of the time here, but I want you to know…and everyone to know…that I love Deirdre as well, and you two, Mungo and Fleur…and Dad. I think it’s all come clear to me.’

He paused to take a drink of water, while the others at the table were silent, not moving, their eyes on him, Deirdre felt tears prick her eyes and she pressed her lips together hard
to stop them trembling. Out of the mouths of babes…

‘Maybe we can work something out,’ Mark went on, sounding mature beyond his years, ‘so that we can all see each other when we want to…find a way to be together. I’m fed up with being away a lot of the time from people I want to have in my life.’

‘That sounds fair enough,’ Antonia said, after a silence that was one of respect for Mark.

‘Good for you, Mark,’ Shay said. ‘I’m proud of you, in more ways than one.’

A slow blush of pleasure coloured Mark’s face, while Mungo and Fleur smiled at him. Deirdre had the feeling that the ball was in her court as she blinked away tears. With all of them working together for something good, surely it would happen.

When dinner was over and they made their way to their cars, Deirdre found herself walking with Shay, behind the others. When he gripped her hand, she did not pull away.

‘For someone who doesn’t trust love,’ she said quietly, ‘your son obviously loves you.’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I thought he handled all that
very well. I didn’t know what he was going to say, only that he wanted to say something.’

‘He did handle it well,’ she agreed, her voice husky with the need to cry. The feel of Shay’s warm hand on hers added to the feeling. More than anything in the world, she wanted to be with him, wanted them to belong to each other. ‘What you don’t trust is your own love. Is that right? Or mine? Well, I think I’m a one-man woman.’

‘Still waters run deep?’ he said, giving her hand a squeeze. ‘I guess I sensed that when I first met you.’

Mark got into a car with his mother, after saying goodbye.

‘I’d like to talk to you,’ Shay said to Deirdre. ‘May I come to your place? I don’t think it can wait any longer. I’ll follow you in my car.’

She nodded, not trusting her voice. For the first time in a long time she felt that things were, maybe, going to be all right. There were a lot of practicalities to iron out, but the main hurdle seemed to have been vaulted. ‘I…like your wife,’ she managed to get out, as she unlocked the door of her car.

‘She’s a nice person,’ he agreed. ‘I expect she told you that she’s very focused on herself, but not in a selfish way. She knows what she wants and goes for it…and doesn’t see why she shouldn’t get it. She gets it herself, she doesn’t expect anyone else to get it for her. And she’s not my wife…keep that in mind.’

‘I’m very different, I think,’ she said. ‘Perhaps I don’t focus on myself enough.’

‘Of course you’re different. That’s what’s so great about you. You call yourself a home body…well, I admire that. You know your priorities and you have the courage to be what you want to be…a good mother, a good person.’

‘Do I?’ she said, surprised. ‘You make me sound as though I’ve got it all together, when a lot of the time I feel as though I’m made up of a lot of loose ends.’

He laughed. ‘That’s normal,’ he said. ‘You manage very well.’

‘Hey, Dee,’ Mungo interrupted, ‘are you expecting us to walk home, or what?’

‘Get in,’ she said, pulling open the car door, smiling at them, wanting to hug them and
Shay as well. This is my family, she thought, people I love.

Shay was right behind them when she parked her car in the short driveway of her parents’ home.

‘Hey, kids,’ Shay called to them, ‘you go on inside while I talk to Deirdre out here in private.’

‘OK,’ Fleur said, with great alacrity, as though she sensed that something momentous was about to happen. ‘It’s pretty cold out here.’

‘We’ll keep each other warm,’ he said.

When the kids were inside and the door closed, Shay took her hand and drew her under the shelter of the covered porch.

‘Will you marry me?’ he said, a shadowy figure looking down at her. ‘It bears repeating.’

‘I…’ She wanted to shout ‘Yes!’, but somehow the surge of emotion took away her voice.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. ‘It so happens,’ he said, ‘that I would be marrying the person I love, and would love the person I marry—the best of both worlds.’

Deirdre took the short step forward that would bring her up close to Shay and put her head against his chest. His arms closed around her. ‘I love you,’ he said. ‘I like you and I love you.’

She closed her eyes, unable to speak.

‘Shall I go now?’ he said.

‘Stay,’ she whispered, ‘please…’

* * * * *

ISBN-13: 9781460377642

The Surgeon’s Convenient Fiancée

Copyright © 2015 by Rebecca Lang

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