New Year, New Man. Laura Iding

couldn’t stop thinking about the moment she’d fallen off that ledge. Couldn’t stop reliving the fear, and the split-second realisation that her life was about to be over.

      It made one reassess things, facing death like that. Made one see what was important, and what wasn’t. Made one more prepared to take a risk or two.

      ‘Here’s the tea,’ Nick said as he came into the bathroom.

      Sarah was lying back in a very deep, deliciously warm bath, her pink bikini still on. Nick, however, was still naked.

      ‘Do you think you could put something on?’ she said to him when he handed her the tea. Sarah knew she would find it difficult to talk to a naked Nick.

      And she did want to talk to him. Sensibly and truthfully.

      Nick pulled a towel off a nearby rail and tied it around his hips.

      ‘This do?’ he asked her.

      ‘Yes, thank you. No, please don’t leave. I…I have something I want to say to you.’

      Nick crossed his arms and leant against the far wall whilst Sarah lifted the mug to her lips and swallowed, grimacing at the excessive sweetness. Finally, she put the mug down and locked eyes with him.

      ‘I’ve decided I don’t want to go home tomorrow.’

      His eyes flickered momentarily. ‘And why’s that, Sarah?’

      ‘I love you, Nick. I’ve always loved you. You were quite right about why I came here with you. I had this romantic dream that if we spent quality time together, you would discover that you loved me back. And then there was the ultimate fantasy of your asking me to marry you.’

      Now he did move, his arms uncrossing as he levered himself away from the wall, his high forehead drawing into a frown. ‘Sarah, I—’

      ‘No, no, let me finish, please, Nick.’

      ‘Very well.’

      ‘You may have been right about my reasons for coming here with you. But you were wrong when you accused me of using sex to try to get what I wanted. Not once have I said yes to you sexually with that agenda in mind. I love it when you make love to me. I’ve never experienced anything like it before in my life. I can’t describe how I feel when you’re inside me. I don’t want to walk away from that pleasure, Nick. So if you still want me, I’d like to stay. I…I promise I won’t put on any more insanely jealous turns. I just want to be with you, Nick,’ she finished, a huge lump having formed in her throat during her brave little speech. ‘Please…I…’

      When her eyes filled with tears, Nick couldn’t stand it any longer. How could his sending her away be the best thing for her? Or him? Seeing her like this was killing him.

      ‘Don’t cry,’ he choked out as he fell to his knees by the bath. ‘Please don’t cry.’

      ‘I’m sorry,’ she sobbed. ‘It’s just…I…I love you so much.’

      His hands reached out to cup her lovely face. ‘And I love you, my darling.’

      She gasped, her eyes widening.

      ‘I knew it tonight when I thought I’d lost you. I love you, Sarah. And I do want to marry you.’

      Her eyes carried shock, and scepticism. ‘You…you don’t mean that. You can’t. You always said…’

      ‘I know what I always said. I thought I wasn’t good enough for you.’

      ‘Oh, Nick. That’s just so not true.’

      ‘Yes, it is,’ he insisted. ‘But if you will trust me with your life I vow that I will do my best never to hurt you, or let you or your father down. I will be faithful only to you. I will love you and protect you. And I will love and protect our children.’

      Her already shocked eyes rounded further. ‘You’re prepared to have children?’

      ‘I’ll have your children, my darling, because I know that any shortcomings I have as a father will be more than made up for by your brilliance as a mother.’

      ‘You…you shouldn’t say such sweet things to me,’ she cried.

      ‘Why not? I mean them.’

      Her tear-filled eyes searched his. ‘You do mean them, don’t you?’

      ‘I surely do.’

      ‘I…I don’t know what to say.’

      ‘Yes to marrying me would be a good start.’

      ‘Oh, yes,’ she said, and he kissed her. When his mouth lifted she was smiling.

      ‘I’m glad to see I was right,’ she said.

      ‘About what?’ Nick asked.

      ‘The heroine in a romance never dies.’

       EPILOGUE

      ‘DON’T you think people might think it’s odd,’ Flora said, ‘having a sixty-one-year-old bridesmaid?’

      ‘Who cares what people think?’ Sarah countered. ‘Besides, you look absolutely beautiful.’ She did, too. A few weeks of healthy eating and exercising had done wonders. So did her new blonde hair. Flora looked ten years younger.

      ‘Not as beautiful as the bride,’ Flora returned with a warm smile. ‘I’m so happy for you and Nick, love. If ever a couple were made for each other it’s you two. Ray would have been very pleased. Pleased about the baby, too.’

      ‘I think so,’ Sarah said, beaming with happiness.

      She’d forgotten to take the Pill the morning after that traumatic night on Happy Island, and had fallen pregnant. At first she’d been a bit nervous about Nick’s reaction, but he’d been absolutely thrilled.

      It seemed mother nature knew what she was doing.

      Now here she was, almost four months pregnant, about to marry the father of her baby and the only man she’d ever loved. She was not, however, a super-rich heiress. The day before her twenty-fifth birthday, she’d discussed her feelings over her inheritance with Nick and decided to do what he’d once said her father should have done in the first place: give all the money to charity.

      So she had, dividing up the many millions in the estate between various charities that supported the poor and the needy.

      Of course, she wasn’t exactly broke. She still owned Goldmine, which was worth a conservative twenty million. Not that she would ever sell it. And then there were the royalties from Outback Bride, which would continue to flow in, the movie having been re-released after the worldwide success of its sequel. Nick had been so right about that tear-jerker ending.

      Generally speaking, however, Nick would be the main provider for their family, an excellent source of motivation for him to keep working hard and feeling good about himself. Sarah vowed to never forget that underneath her husband’s façade of confidence lay a damaged child who constantly needed the healing power of love. Her love.

      A loud knock on her bedroom door was accompanied by a familiar voice. ‘Time for the bride to make an appearance downstairs. We don’t want the groom thinking things, do we?’

      Sarah was smiling as she opened the door.

      ‘Wow!’ Derek said, looking her up and down. ‘It’s at moments like these I wish I weren’t gay. And I’m not just talking about the bride.’

      ‘Oh, go on with you,’ Flora said, but with a big grin on her face.

      Derek had become a frequent visitor to Goldmine, with Nick even warming to him. Derek had been delighted—and touched—when Sarah had asked him to give her away.

      ‘OK,