Found: A Father For Her Child Part 19

Ignatius glared. 'You're refusing to come?'

'No. I'll be there all right. And so will Carrie and so will Dana. You get one chance, Father. One. If you so much as raise the subject of my career or Veronica, I will never come to dinner again. Ever. My days for tolerating your speeches, of keeping the peace, of taking the easy road are over.'

For a moment Ignatius turned redder and Carrie thought he was going to explode. But then she saw a light dawning. Ignatius was taking it in-the determination in his son's eyes, the firm grip Charlie had on her, their apparent solidarity. Her pulse hammered madly in her throat. Was Charlie just using her to get to his old man?

'Very well. Of course we would be delighted to have guests on Sunday.'

Carrie wasn't fooled. It was said too stiffly. But she was playing some bizarre part here where she hadn't been given the lines so she decided gracious acceptance was the way to go.

'Thank you, Dr Wentworth,' Carrie murmured.

Ignatius managed a sniff and a quick nod in Carrie's direction before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

It took a few seconds but then Carrie sagged against Charlie, the tension seeping out of her shoulders as the door shut. 'Well, that was-'

Charlie cut her off with a kiss. His lips were urgent and hard against her mouth and she opened up to him with greedy fervour. It had only been days but it had felt like a year. His kiss was hot and hungry and she grabbed hold of his shirt as her world shifted on its axis.

'G.o.d, I've missed you,' he muttered, pulling away to rain kisses on her face and down her neck.

'Oh, Charlie,' she whispered against his mouth, before he obliterated all words, all thoughts with another mind-scrambling kiss. She knew she shouldn't be complicating their separation any further, but it had been too long.

Charlie wanted to kiss her for ever. Go on for ever, but he knew there had to be words first. Talk first then kiss her. Never stop kissing her.

He pulled away reluctantly. 'I reckon, apart from me, you're the only person I've ever seen stand up to my old man like that.'

Carrie shrugged. 'He was belittling the man I loved.'

The words kind of tumbled out unchecked. And she didn't regret them. She had reacted to Ignatius Wentworth the same way she would have reacted to someone attacking Dana. Like a mother bear protecting her cub. She couldn't believe that Charlie's father was so blind.

'Love?' Charlie's world stopped. Surely she wouldn't jest about something this serious?

They looked at each other for a few moments. Carrie nodded. What the h.e.l.l. It was out now. And she hadn't dropped dead or turned into a pillar of salt. If she was truly going to turn her back on this, she had to know how he felt for once and all.

'Thank G.o.d!' He drew her into a fierce hug. 'I love you, too.'

She pulled away, hardly able to believe her ears. Hardly daring to believe. She shook her head. After two years Rupert still hadn't loved her. 'You...you do? But this is so fast.'

He chuckled. Her whiskey gaze was muddy. Confused. And then he kissed her mouth and was gratified to feel her instant surrender, her pliant lips beneath his causing heat to pool in his groin.

'I've learnt the hard way that life's short and things can happen that you don't expect. Thanks to you, I made up my mind recently to start living my life again. And every cell in my body tells me that includes you.'

'What about Veronica?'

'I told you-Veronica is my past. I haven't loved her for a long time. I certainly never liked her very much. You're the woman for me. The only woman for me.'

'But your father...'

'My father may be a brilliant thoracic surgeon with an unsurpa.s.sed international reputation, but he's also a bigoted fool. If my father likes her so much, he can marry her. All I want is you. I promise you, Carrie, we'll never have to see my family, my father again. I'll never let him hurt you or Dana.'

And how would that make her feel? How could she ask that of him? To choose between his family and her? How long would their relationship last if she caused a rift between him and his family? Family was sacred-she only had to look around the centre to know that.

'I would never ask you to do that,' she said vehemently.

He shrugged, dropping his hands. 'I wouldn't worry. It's a fairly loose a.s.sociation as it is. I haven't felt like I belonged in my family for a long time. That's why I enjoyed spending time with you and Dana. You two are what a family should be. I want that for me. For us.'

Carrie looked up into his eyes, not daring to hope that things could be this perfect. 'Are you sure, Charlie? I know this has been a big problem for you.'

He nodded. 'I'm sure. Am I scared? Yes. Am I worried that I'll screw up? Yes. But every time I look into Dana's eyes there's this trust there. It's like she knows I can do it. You know? And, frankly, life without you, both of you, scares me more.'

Her hands crept up to cradle his face. His stubble grazed erotically against her palms. 'This is important, Charlie. Your father was right-you'll be taking on another man's child. Can you handle that?'

Charlie shook his head. On this he was definite. 'Dana's never been another man's child. She's been yours. She's one hundred per cent Douglas. And if you let me and you're willing to show me how to do it right, I'd like her to be mine also.'

Carrie nodded, tears blurring her eyes. 'Anything.'

Charlie smiled. 'Everything's going to be all right now. You, me and Dana. We're going to be all right now.'

Carrie swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked back tears. 'I love you, Charlie. Thank you. For everything.'

The words were bliss to his ears. Charlie knew that life was going to be perfect. 'I didn't do anything.'

'Oh, yes, you did. You gave me back my life. You helped me see the doctor inside that was dying to come out, and you gave Dana the one thing she wants most.'

He kissed her on the tip of her nose. 'A life supply of ding rolls?'

Carrie laughed. 'A daddy.'

Charlie kissed her full on the mouth. 'And you gave me a chance to be a father. A proper father. You gave me Dana. And the centre. That sounds like a fairly good trade to me.'

Carrie nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck. 'Should we shake on it?'

'I think we can do better than that. I think we should seal it with a kiss.'

Carrie smiled as his lips descended and hoped all their future agreements were sealed so delightfully.

EPILOGUE.

'COME on, Grandpa Iggy.' Dana grabbed Ignatius Wentworth's hand and pulled insistently.

'Where are we going?' he grouched good-naturedly.

'Up the front,' Dana said, her voice leaving the eminent surgeon in no doubt who was in charge. 'Charlie's giving a speech.'

'Oh, right, then, lead the way.'

Carrie watched her daughter bring her grandfather closer to the front. She squeezed Charlie's hand. His entire family was sitting in the front row, looking expectantly at him. Dana had been determinedly bringing Ignatius and the rest of the Wentworths together for the last eighteen months. It had been gratifying, seeing the changes in his family and knowing that she and Dana had been responsible.

'Break a leg,' she whispered to her husband.

Charlie looked down into his wife's s.e.xy gaze as he pulled at the uncomfortable tightness of his tie. 'I don't think you're supposed to say that to a doctor.'

Carrie smiled and straightened the tie for the third time. 'You'll be fine. You deserve this moment in the spotlight. This is your dream. Your vision.'

Charlie looked out over the crowd. It was an eclectic mix. Politicians rubbed shoulders with prost.i.tutes. State government dignitaries sat alongside homeless kids. Police officers mixed with lawyers. Socialites circulated with journalists and missionaries.

And right in front was his family. Charlie still couldn't believe that in eighteen months a small child and a determined woman could have orchestrated such change. But they had. Carrie had been dogged, unwavering in her campaign to win his family over. To bring them all together as one.

Looking at his father now, he couldn't believe it was the same man he'd known for the last thirty-odd years. He was engrossed in conversation with a beribboned Dana, who was sitting on his lap, looking for all the world like she'd been a Wentworth from her conception. If Charlie hadn't seen the transformation with his own eyes, he'd have never believed it.

'I couldn't have done this without your help.' He glanced at Dana and his father. 'Any of it.'

'Your father's big fat cheque helped also.'

He chuckled. 'That's not what I meant.'

She winked. 'I know. Don't worry, I plan to hit you for a pay rise when I return to work after my maternity leave.'

He dropped a brief hard kiss on her lips as the director of the hospital board introduced him. His hand rested at her now non-existent waist and he could feel the swell of her belly where his baby grew larger every day. How could he have ever got this lucky?

Charlie took the podium to thunderous applause and a blast of wolf-whistles from the more colourful elements of the crowd.

'It is with great pleasure that I stand before you today at the opening of the new Valley Drop-In Centre. And may I say it's about time.'

ISBN: 978-1-4268-1142-5.

end.