‘Look, I’ll call Nick. I’ll sort out a locum and go back to Penhally to get someone to dogsit Bramble and then I’ll follow you straight out to Contarini. You don’t have to face this on your own. I’ll be there beside you.’
She swallowed hard, hating herself for being a liar and a fraud and hurting the man she loved. ‘You are a good man, Dragan. I really don’t deserve you.’
‘Of course you do. Come with me and we’ll sort out my tickets.’
‘No, Dragan. I have to…’ She dragged in a breath. ‘I appreciate your offer, but I have to stand on my own two feet.’
‘Sometimes,’ he said with a sigh, ‘I wish you weren’t quite so independent. But I hope you know you can lean on me—that I’ll never let you down.’
Oh, Dio. How could she do this? ‘Dragan, I need to tell you—’
‘Later,’ he said, pressing a finger lightly against her lips. ‘Don’t worry about whatever it is. Everything will work out OK in the end. You have a flight to catch.’
And she hated herself even more for letting him talk her out of telling him. This was important. And the longer she left it, the more hurt he was going to be when she finally told him.
Please, please, don’t let this be too much for him. Don’t let it make him walk away from her. Don’t let her lose him.
‘You know you can call me any time,’ he reminded her. ‘Even if it’s three in the morning, it doesn’t matter—if you need me, just ring me.’
‘I’m not going to disturb your sleep. But thank you. It helps to know you’re there.’ Her face was white. ‘I love you with all my heart, Dragan.’
He stroked her face. ‘Are you scared of flying, or something?’
Or something. ‘I just want you to know that I love you.’
He smiled. ‘I know. Just as I love you. And we’re going to make that promise to each other in front of everyone the day you walk down the aisle to me.’
If he still wanted to marry her, once he knew the truth about her. ‘Tell Reverend Kenner I’m sorry I couldn’t make our meeting,’ she said.
‘He’ll understand.’ Dragan paused. ‘Look—I won’t ring you because it might be awkward timing for you. But call me when you can, OK?’
‘I will.’ She’d call him the second she got to Contarini.
And she’d tell him she loved him.
And she’d tell him what she was going home to. Exactly who she was.
‘I love you. Ti amo. Volim te,’ he added.
‘I love you, too,’ she whispered. ‘Siempre. Always.’
Dragan watched her as she walked through the scanner. All clear.
And then she was gone.
The way she’d kissed him goodbye had almost made it feel as if it was goodbye for ever. He pushed the thought away. Of course it wasn’t. She’d be back in a few days. And maybe then he’d be able to take the sadness from her eyes, make her realise just how much she was loved. That it didn’t matter if she didn’t fit into her family, because she had him and their future children—and they’d be all the family she needed.
He drove home in complete silence. Parked in the road outside his cottage, lifted Bramble out, and let them both in. He had enough time to have a cup of coffee, make a fuss of the dog and change into a suit for morning surgery, and then it was time for work.
And right now Melinda would be on her way to London.
He walked over to the surgery. The village seemed to be busier than usual—clearly the tourist season had started early this year. Quite a few people had cameras. Well, Penhally Bay was picturesque, with the smattering of pagan memorials in the surrounding countryside, the wreck of the seventeenthcentury Spanish treasure ship Corazón del Oro and the smugglers’ caves, and the cliffs overhanging the Atlantic. Maybe these people were all from some camera club and they’d come to find inspiration for a competition or something.
‘Morning, Dragan,’ Hazel, the practice manager, said as he walked in.
‘Morning, Hazel.’ He smiled at her and headed for his consulting room. He’d just settled in when there was a rap at the door and Nick—as usual, without waiting to be asked—opened the door.
‘Quick word,’ he said—more of a statement than a question.
‘Sure.’ Dragan gestured to the chair next to his desk.
‘We need to think about locums,’ Nick said.
So now would definitely not be a good time to say he needed leave for a few days. Dragan carefully kept his expression neutral. ‘We could do with a long-term one to keep us going through the summer. I know Adam’s here now and he’s taken over Marco’s list, but we still need cover for Lucy while she’s on maternity leave,’ he said. And maybe longer, if Lucy decided she wanted a break before returning to medicine. ‘We can just about manage for now, but we’ll really need someone to help us next month when the tourists start arriving.’
‘Good point. I’ll get Hazel onto it,’ Nick said. ‘I did call to see you yesterday, but you were out. Interesting neighbour you have.’
‘Cruella De Vil, you mean?’ Dragan said before he could stop himself.
Nick’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘I thought she was rather fun, actually. We went out for dinner last night.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Dragan gave him a polite smile. Natalie or Natasha—or whatever her name was—wasn’t his idea of fun. Nick was lonely, and Dragan could understand that, but why bother going out with someone so shallow when he could find himself someone genuine and warm? Someone more like…well, more like Kate, Dragan thought, the midwife who’d been their practice manager before Hazel had taken over.
‘I’ll see you later, then,’ Nick said, and to Dragan’s relief the senior partner left him to see his first patient.
Dragan just about managed to keep his mind on his work during the morning. But the second his last patient left his consulting room, he grabbed his mobile phone and checked it for messages.
There were two—both from Melinda.
In London. Love you. M.
Napoli. Love you. M.
It wasn’t until after he’d finished his house calls that he had the text he’d really been waiting for.
Contarini. Love you. Call you soon. Something I need to tell you. M. xx
Something she needed to tell him? He frowned. She’d tried to tell him something earlier, but he’d told her it could wait. Well, whatever it was, it probably wasn’t as bad as she thought. Things often seemed worse than they really were after you’d just had bad news.
Although he was itching to call her, see how see was, he kept the desire under control. The last thing she needed was for him to ring her in the middle of something awkward. And at least he had something positive to do that evening. Knowing that Reverend Kenner liked dogs, Dragan was perfectly comfortable taking Bramble with him for a walk along the harbour down to the rectory, next to the church. Though it was with some relief that he passed Nick’s house and saw that the senior partner’s car wasn’t there. He was probably out somewhere with that atrocious woman—which was a good thing. Then Nick wouldn’t be asking just why Dragan was calling in on Reverend Kenner, who wasn’t on his patient list. Until Melinda was back and wearing his ring, Dragan wasn’t ready to discuss his plans with anyone else.
‘Ah, Dragan. You’ve brought Bramble with you.’ Reverend Kenner bent down to pat the dog. ‘How’s her leg?’
‘This