Brides of Penhally Bay - Vol 2. Kate Hardy

for you.’

      ‘Me, too.’

      ‘Let’s go home,’ he said softly.

      ‘Home?’

      ‘To hell with the papers. They can print what they like. You and the baby are the only ones who matter. Before you went back to Contarini, we were planning to move in together. Get married. So let’s do it.’

      ‘You still want to marry me?’

      ‘I never stopped wanting to marry you,’ he said softly. ‘But I tried to do the right thing. To let you go back to Contarini so you weren’t cut off from your family.’

      ‘They chose to do that anyway.’ She closed her eyes.

      ‘We can sort it out. Because I’m on your side,’ he reminded her.

      ‘My mother—’

      ‘Will be fine. She’ll be reconciled with us. I have a plan.’ He stroked her hair. ‘Your official dating scan is…when?’

      ‘Wednesday.’

      ‘And your next time off is…?’

      ‘The weekend after.’

      ‘Mine, too,’ he said. ‘I’ll book Bramble in with Lizzie and we’ll fly over to Contarini. Pay your family a visit. I think it’s time your mother discovered that family is more important than duty. And, faced with you and a certain photograph, I think she’ll soften.’

      Fear tricked down Melinda’s spine. ‘What if she doesn’t?’

      ‘She will. Trust me.’

      ‘Because you’re a doctor?’

      He laughed. ‘Or so the saying goes. Sve ce biti okej. Everything will be OK,’ he translated. ‘And we’ve got a wedding to plan. Last Saturday of April.’

      Her eyes went wide. ‘You what?’

      ‘Unless you’ve talked to Reverend Kenner to call it all off, the wedding’s booked for the last Saturday in April.’ He smiled wryly. ‘That’s the one thing I didn’t think to do. Speak to the vicar to say it wasn’t going to happen any more. I suppose subconsciously I still hoped it would work out.’

      ‘It’s going to work out. Because I’m never, ever going to keep anything from you again.’

      ‘No?’

      ‘No.’