LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

one not in a suit, still looked handsome in his chef’s whites. “I want to find the perfect recipe for beef wellington and I’m willing to put in weeks of practice. Is anyone willing to be my taste tester? I warn you, it’s going to be a lot of fun…”

      Amory raised a brow. “Oh sorry, darling, but I’ve signed up to be Aunt Bessie’s new taste tester. And I might be a little busy fulfilling my own resolution – to buy every kitten-heeled Jimmy Choo I can get my hands on. It’s such a hard life.”

      “You, Clio?” she said, turning to me.

      “I…” I froze as all eyes were on me, worried I’d blurt out something about Kai.

      “OK. We’ll come back to you. What about you Kai?”

      Kai blushed and averted his eyes.

      “You two are useless,” Amory remarked, turning on her six-inch heels and sauntering off into the crowd as the mixologist gestured for her help. Guests were clinking glasses, and some were locking lips under doorways laced with mistletoe.

      Micah and Isla were called away by guests, but Micah paused before he left and whispered to me, “When you know, you know.” He was referring to his marriage proposal, and I gave him a quick squeeze.

      We’d been through a lot, Micah and me. Sometimes we’d been there for each other, and sometimes we hadn’t, but now he’d found the perfect girl. One who loved him unconditionally, who didn’t take him for granted, who didn’t stomp all over his dreams. He’d known she was the one from the moment he saw her, and I’d been there and caught the moment Cupid’s arrow had struck his heart. When you know, you know, he’d said. And I couldn’t help thinking his sentiment applied to me too. Hadn’t I known it the first time Kai had jumped from the cab of his truck?

      I had recognized him, yet I hadn’t met him before, or something primal had happened, because the world had got brighter, music had sounded sweeter, laughter had come quicker, and all of that paled when he wasn’t here. And I couldn’t let that happen again.

      Shuffling on our feet, we tried to talk, but the music had been turned up and I soon found myself pulled back to the party – ensuring everyone’s champagne flutes were filled to the brim and bidding farewell to a few guests as they left, slightly wobblier than when they’d arrived. I grinned when I saw Kai get strong-armed into dancing with a foxy seventy-something-year-old who wouldn’t take no for answer.

      Hours later, the party was winding down; women carried their heels and men had shrugged off their coats. The last partygoers were sitting around drinking the rest of the champagne. The party had been a roaring success but it wasn’t quite over yet. By the photo booth Timothy stood with Vanessa, his assistant. They had their heads bent conspiratorially and, before I could avert my eyes, they kissed, and I smiled, glad Tim would find his own happy ever after, because he deserved someone to love. All they’d needed was a very gentle hint and they’d realized… Love was so simple for some.

      “Go,” Amory said, tapping me on the butt.

      “Go where?”

      She pointed to where Kai was standing outside on the deck, fairy lights twinkling above him, his hands deep in his pockets. He cut a fine figure standing under the moonlight with soft snowflakes drifting down.

      I gave Amory’s hand a squeeze and went to him.

      Sensing my presence he turned and gave me a heart-melting smile. I smiled back; I couldn’t help it – even if Kai was about to break my heart and announce he was off again, being around him just made me feel lighter.

      “Clio, I’ve been heartsick at the thought of leaving…”

      I couldn’t speak. I just stared at him, my hand tingling in his. Eventually I managed to nod.

      “When I wake up,” he whispered, “I’m thinking of you. When I sleep you inhabit my dreams. Your smile, your laugh, the way you cry to Bonnie Tyler when you think no one can hear…” He tailed off and a smile crept onto his face.

       Oh God.

      “Your ability to burn toast, and blame the toaster, the way people flock to be in your spotlight. I’ve been so torn about everything, not wanting to appear like the lost soul I was. How do I say how I feel without putting any more pressure on you?”

      “What do you mean, Kai?” My breath caught. What pressure?

      “You know, when I found out I was adopted I ran, took my things, cursed them all and got lost in the biggest country I could find. And now I see that for what it was. Without knowing the truth, without reconciling the past, I wouldn’t have found you. I would still be in Australia catching waves, and building other people’s houses, but missing something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.”

      “So…?” Was this goodbye?

      “It was you, Clio. That’s what’s been missing from my life. And now I see I had to make sense of the past to be able to live for the future. And I hope that future will be with you. Here.”

      “You’re staying at Cedarwood?” My legs were like jelly, but I fought the urge to stumble into his arms. It was all too good to be true. I was sure it was a dream and any minute I’d wake up. But I needed real words this time, real answers, not just the press of his lips against mine.

      “If you’ll have me. I told my boss I wasn’t coming back. Leaving you would be like someone turning off the sun, and I just want you to know, you’ve changed me, made me whole again, and even if you don’t feel the same way, I will always love you for that. For what I know can be…”

      “I can’t believe you’re really going to stay.” I grinned, while my heart thrummed so hard I was sure he could hear it.

      “For the last month I’ve been trying to find a building job closer to Evergreen so I could be near you. Just on the off-chance, in case you had the same feelings for me.”

      “But wasn’t it obvious how I felt?” Golly, I was clearly useless at expressing myself to him. “I told you! I kissed you, I made it quite clear, didn’t I?”

      “Well, there was Tim calling every three minutes, and with your history and all… I wasn’t sure if you meant it. And I had to get myself together, first, before I admitted it to you. Then there was my parents, my job. I had to be sure I was in the right space and was making the right choice by you, Clio. And if you’d have chosen Tim, then I would have respected that. But the last thing I wanted was to admit how I felt about you and have you tell me you loved someone else. And I had to make peace with who I was, and who I want to be. Which is here, with you, for as long as you’ll have me.”

      “Tim is just a friend, but how did you even know it was an issue?” Before the words left my mouth, I knew.

      “Amory,” he said, laughing. For once I wouldn’t scold her about sharing my secrets. “She told me you weren’t interested in Tim like that because you were head over heels in love with me.” That minx!

      “Head over heels? Well, I guess I am.”

      My pulse raced, and I wanted to pinch myself to make sure this was real. That the blue-eyed Australian boy in front of me was really staying at the lodge, because he wanted to be with me. I was the girl Amory had dubbed icy heart – but Kai had proven a heart could be thawed, it just took the right person. It took Kai. A man who’d managed to sweep me off my feet with his sensitive soul, his zest for life, and his passion. “I hope you stay for ever, Kai.”

      “I’m not going anywhere, Clio. I promise you that.”

      He lifted my chin and pulled me in for a swoon-worthy kiss, and while I still felt dizzy with desire for him, I also felt something else, something like hope and the promise of for ever. Right here, in the place we all felt at home.

       Epilogue

Скачать книгу