Melting the Argentine Doctor's Heart / Small Town Marriage Miracle (37 page)

‘Agreed!’

He gave a whoop of laughter as he planted a kiss on her mouth then put the car into gear. They headed back to the surgery and it felt to Emma as though they were floating on a cloud of happiness rather than doing anything as mundane as driving. Daniel refused to let her help him take evening surgery and dispatched her straight to the house with orders to put her feet up until he got back. Emma didn’t protest because she wasn’t sure she was in a fit state to be seeing patients while she was functioning at this level of euphoria.

She let herself into the house and waited for Daniel to return, knowing what would happen when he did, and it was just as she had expected. They made love to each other with a joy and intensity that brought tears to both their eyes.

‘I love you, my sweet Emma,’ Daniel told her as he
held her against his heart. ‘I want to be with you for ever, if you’ll let me.’

‘It’s what I want too,’ she told him honestly. ‘Although I’m not sure about the logistics of it, with you working in London and me in Scotland.’

‘Trivialities,’ he assured her airily. ‘We have far more important things to worry about, like when we’re getting married.’

‘Married?’ She sat up straight and stared at him.

‘Married!’

‘Uh-huh.’ He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her slowly, grinning wickedly when he heard her moan. ‘That’s what couples do when they’re in love. They get married and live happily ever after.’

‘So this is a proposal, is it?’ she said when she could summon enough breath to speak.

‘I suppose it is.’ He suddenly rolled to his feet and knelt by the side of the bed, smiling up at her as he took her hand. ‘I’d better do it properly so there’s no mistake. Will you, Emma Roberts, do me the honour of becoming my wife?’

‘Yes,’ she whispered then repeated it much louder so there would be no mistake about her answer either. ‘Yes, I will!’

Three months later …

E
MMA
stepped in front of the mirror and studied her reflection. It was her wedding day and she wanted everything to be perfect, even though it had been a rush to get things organised in such a short space of time. Now she smiled as she took stock of the dress she had chosen.

Made from pure silk in the palest shade of cream, it fell in soft folds to the floor. The cream rosebuds that the hairdresser had pinned into her hair that morning exactly matched the colour of the fabric. More rosebuds had been hand-tied to form a posy which she would carry up the aisle. She knew she looked her best and hoped that Daniel would think so too. They had waited so long for this day to come and she wanted it to be special, a celebration of their love for each other.

A knock on the bedroom door heralded the arrival of her aunt. Both her aunt and her uncle had been thrilled when she and Daniel had announced that they were getting married. It appeared that they had known all along how she had felt about Daniel five years ago. Although
he would never admit it, Emma suspected that her uncle had been doing a bit of matchmaking when he had asked Daniel to cover for him.

It had been Uncle Jim who had suggested that Daniel should think about becoming a partner in the practice, an offer which Daniel had eagerly accepted, much to Emma’s delight. It had solved the problem of where they should live as once they returned from honeymoon, she would be taking up a new surgical post at the local hospital. She and Daniel would start their married life in Avondale, where they had first met and fallen in love.

‘Your uncle sent me upstairs to check if you were ready,’ her aunt informed her, taking a tissue out of her bag. ‘You look beautiful, Emma, really beautiful.’

‘Thank you.’ Emma gave her aunt a hug then smiled at her. ‘Shall we go? I don’t want to keep Daniel waiting.’

There was quite a crowd gathered outside the local church when they drew up a short time later. Emma smiled when she spotted Alistair Grant, who was acting as one of the ushers. The source of his problems had been traced to the old chemical drums Harold Dawson had used to block access to the wind farm. Environmental services had visited Niths Farm and removed a number of other drums containing hazardous liquids. It was good to know that the community she was going to be a part of once more was no longer at risk.

The organist struck up ‘The Wedding March’ as they stepped inside the porch and her uncle gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. ‘All set, my dear?’

‘Yes.’

Emma took a deep breath as they set off down the aisle but the moment she saw Daniel waiting in front of the altar her nerves disappeared. Here was the man she loved, the man she wanted to spend her life with. From this moment on they would be together for ever.

Daniel felt his heart turn over as he watched Emma walking towards him. It was as though every hope and dream he’d ever had had crystallised into this one moment. She stopped beside him and he saw the love in her eyes when she turned to look at him and knew she could see the same emotion in his. They loved each other. They trusted each other. They were meant to be together.

Taking her hand, he made himself a promise that no matter what happened in the future nothing would spoil what they had. Maybe he had been afraid in the past but he wasn’t afraid any longer. He loved Emma and she loved him. They had everything they needed to guarantee a wonderful life together.