Downsizing (40 page)

“
What the—”

“
You look surprised, but you must
have suspected something when I asked to see him and not
you.”

“
Well no, but I—” He left the
sentence hanging, floundering as he tried to find the right words
to cover his relief.

“
But you hoped for a miracle.” She
smiled again, but the gesture only made her look sadder. “We’ve
talked all about it for hours, and it’s what we both want. He’s
sold his father’s house and is also going to sell his share of the
business. Then there’ll be enough money for us to be together
always without him having to work, unless he wants to. But I doubt
that he will,” she added, her face breaking into a happy smile,
“because he wants to dedicate his time to making sure I get
better.”

“
Where will you go?”

“
I want to go to the Caribbean,
somewhere warm.” She shuddered. “I hate English
winters.”

“
Are you sure?”

“
He loves me, Noah, in a way that
you never could no matter what I did, and he’ll take good care of
me. All the reasons why I didn’t want to marry him don’t exist
anymore. He’s not nearly as stuck in his ways as I thought he was,
he’s as keen to travel as I am, and I know we can be happy together
if we work at it.”

Noah was so relieved that it took him a moment
to realize that she hadn’t mentioned the children. He did so
himself, tentatively.

“
Keep them with you and Maxine,”
she said. “I’ve had to face up to truth while I’ve been in here.
I’m not cut out to be a mother, and I suspect the kids know it. It
would be better for them to be with you.”

“
And Josh?”

“
Especially Josh. I don’t want to
share Graham with anyone.” She smiled a tight smile, her expression
surprisingly resolute. “I’ve told you, I’m selfish, but at least
now it’s an official diagnosis and I can admit to it without
feeling guilty. Not that I ever did feel particularly guilty about
it, but you know what I mean.” She finally looked him square in the
eye. “It’s a symptom of my illness, and so I’m not to
blame.”

“
All right, if you’re
sure.”

“
I’m sure, Noah. Go back to Maxine
and be happy. I never should have taken you away from her in the
first place.” She stood and reached up to kiss his cheek. “Please
try and make her understand how sorry I am.”

Epilogue

Noah made Maxine jump when he opened the door
to the room she was working in and kissed the end of her
paint-splattered nose.

“
You’ve got more on you than you
have on the walls,” he said, laughing.

“
Well, if I was marrying a man who
spent less time going to high-powered meetings and wasn’t too high
and mighty to get his hands dirty nowadays,” she said, raking his
superbly cut charcoal-gray suit with her eyes, “then perhaps I’d
get some help around here. Or perhaps,” she mused, swishing a
loaded paint-brush menacingly in his direction, “it’s just that the
man I’m marrying tomorrow is a bit jaded about having another
child, seeing as how he’s already got three?”

Noah took the brush from her hand and pulled
her into his arms, the slight swell of her stomach as their bodies
collided the only indication that she was three-months pregnant. “I
want us to have a dozen.”

“
Only because you enjoy making
them.”

He tilted his head to one side as though
considering the matter. “Well, there is that, I suppose, but I want
this one to be a girl who looks just like you.”

“
What, even the paint-splattered
nose?”

“
Well…” He held her at arm’s
length as he considered that one too. “Perhaps not that. Anyway,
what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off with Rachel, getting
beauty treatments or doing whatever brides and their matrons of
honor are supposed to do the day before their wedding?”

“
Are you implying that I need any
help in that respect?”

“
Well, I guess we’re back to the
paint splatters again.”

“
Noah, I’m warning you!” Before
she could pick up the paint brush again, he swept her off her feet
and carried her, as she protested half-heartedly, into their
bedroom.

“
Come on,” he said, his voice
suddenly thick with passion. “Amy’s out with Sally, and we’ve got
an hour before she picks the boys up from school.”

It was two years since Graham and Cassie had
gone off on their travels. The children received sporadic cards
from exotic locations, but she seldom remembered their birthdays.
For their part, they never mentioned her at all and had adjusted to
having Maxine as a substitute mother without any outward signs of
distress.

Noah had sold the house he’d shared with
Cassie and purchased one of the Edwardian places he’d lusted after
when he’d been younger. Maxine was putting the finishing touches to
the nursery, feeling it was important to get the task done before
their registry office wedding tomorrow. Or rather she had been,
before Noah came home early and distracted her.

Greg had bought Graham’s share of the
business, and the two college friends now worked together,
bickering amicably about legal issues in much the same way as they
had at Jesus. Greg and Paul had purchased a cottage together in The
New Forest, and Greg happily made the daily commute. Any lingering
doubts about Paul’s constancy had been resolved, and Greg made the
ultimate commitment, truly believing he’d found what he’d been
looking for at last.

“
I can hardly believe that I’ll
actually be Mrs. Fenwick by this time tomorrow,” Maxine said
dreamily, reluctant to emerge from the rarefied stratosphere Noah
had transported her to with his creative love-making.

“
I hope you’re not thinking of
opting out.”

“
No, but I hope my pregnancy won’t
show too much and ruin the pictures.”

“
It won’t matter if it does show.
Pregnant women are beautiful, especially when it’s me that’s
impregnated them,” he added, adroitly avoiding the pillow Maxine
aimed at his head.

“
That’s easy for you to say. But
you realize I’ll be horribly fat again, don’t you?”

“
No you won’t. Anyway, I didn’t
think you were horrible when you were fat before.”

“
No, I suppose you’re one of the
few who didn’t.” She leaned across and kissed him. “Under the
circumstances it’s very generous of Charles and Madeleine to host
the reception for us tomorrow.”

“
Well, Charles and I have always
got along well, and Madeleine still feels guilty about what Cassie
did to me. Besides, she adores me now,” he said, grinning. “And she
has to stay on my good side or she’d never see her
grandchildren.”

“
You wouldn’t deny them to
her!”

He twitched her nose. “You’re right. I
wouldn’t.”

She snuggled comfortably into his arms. “Are
days allowed to be this good, Noah?” she asked. “I can’t help
worrying that something will happen to spoil it all.”

“
You think this is
good?”

She nodded and received a searing kiss by way
of reward.

“
Stick with me, kid, you ain’t
seen nothing yet.”

Maxine was about to make a scathing reply when
she heard the front door open.

“
Oh hell!” She leapt up, feeling
guilty. There was something decadent about being caught in bed in
the middle of the day. “I’d completely forgotten that the boys were
getting out early this afternoon.”

“
Too late to do anything about it
now,” Noah said, amused as he pulled his wife-to-be back into bed,
threw her a T-shirt to put on, and pulled the sheet up to his
waist.

What sounded like a small army thundered up
the stairs and barged into their room without bothering to knock.
Not appearing to find it the slightest bit strange that Noah and
Maxine were in bed in the middle of the afternoon, three small
forms plus a spiky-haired dog landed on top of them in a series of
light thuds, limbs flying in all directions as they fought for the
positions closest to their parents. One of them was bestowing
lavish kisses and bashing unwary faces with the whip-like action of
his tail. It was unsafe to assume Spike was the culprit.

“
Mummy, Billy’s squashing me!”
Amy, bright and inquisitive at two and a half, was adored and
indulged by the entire family.

Maxine gently removed Billy’s offending leg
from the small of Amy’s back. Being called Mummy by Noah’s youngest
child still gave her a thrill.

“
Will you be our Mum for real
after you marry Dad tomorrow?” Billy asked.

“
Would you like me to be? Is that
what you’d like to call me?”

Noah reached for her hand and squeezed it as
they waited for Billy’s reply, understanding how much it would mean
to her if he said yes.

“
Yes.” Josh answered for his
brother without hesitation. “You’re our Mum. I can barely remember
what our real one looks like anymore. You care about us, and
anyway, you’re much more fun to be with.”

With tears in her eyes, Maxine hugged and
kissed each child in turn, before falling back into the circle of
Noah’s arms and bestowing a kiss upon him as well. This was her
family now. They all loved and needed her in their different ways.
She reveled in their dependence upon her, even if she did sometimes
doubt whether she had enough years left on this earth to adequately
demonstrate how much she loved each of them in return.

The End

Acknowledgments

My thanks to everyone at Musa Publishing for
your expertise and dedication. In particular to my editor, Angela,
for persuading me to her point of view. You were right!

About the Author

I’m a Brit, now dividing my time between
Andorra and Florida. I write historical and contemporary romance
and a series of marine crime novels. I love all animals and when
not writing I enjoy reading other people’s books, walking miles
with my dog, savouring decent wine and generally making the most
out of life.

www.wendysoliman.com