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www.millsandboon.co.uk
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Dear Reader
About The Author
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Copyright
Dear Reader
This is the fourth and final story in my Dalverston Weddings series, and I have to admit to feeling a little sad now that I have reached the end. However, helping my hero and heroine discover how much they love one another was a real joy for me—even though it did come as a shock to them!
Rachel Mackenzie and Matthew Thompson have worked together for a number of years, and they have an excellent working relationship based on mutual respect and liking. However, when the wedding of their respective offspring is suddenly cancelled, they find themselves taking a long, hard look at their own feelings and are stunned when they realise that they are attracted to one another. Both are wary of rushing headlong into a situation they might come to regret, and agree that an affair seems like the ideal solution—but will it be enough for either of them?
I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I particularly loved planning the last scene, as it reminded me of my daughter’s wedding day. I spent many happy hours looking through all the photographs in the name of research!
Best wishes to you all
Jennifer
Jennifer Taylor lives in the north-west of England, in a small village surrounded by some really beautiful countryside. She has written for several different Mills & Boon® series in the past, but it wasn’t until she read her first Medical™ Romance that she truly found her niche. She was so captivated by these heart-warming stories that she set out to write them herself!
When she’s not writing, or doing research for her latest book, Jennifer’s hobbies include reading, gardening, travel, and chatting to friends both on and off-line. She is always delighted to hear from readers, so do visit her website at www.jennifer-taylor.com
Chapter One
HE MAY have been putting on a brave face all day but Rachel Mackenzie wasn’t deceived. It was no secret to those who knew him that Matthew Thompson adored his only daughter, Heather, so the fact that Heather had decided to cancel her own wedding and leave Dalverston was bound to have caused him a great deal of pain.
Rachel sighed as she followed Matt into his house because it was painful for her too. It had been her son, Ross, who had been due to marry Matt’s daughter that day and she couldn’t begin to imagine how devastated Ross must be feeling.
‘I don’t know about you but I could do with a drink.’ Matt led the way into the sitting room and went straight to the table under the window that held an array of bottles. Picking up a bottle of whisky, he glanced at her. ‘Will you join me, Rachel?’
‘All right, but just a small one.’ Rachel grimaced as she sank down onto the sofa. ‘I’m so exhausted that even a sip of alcohol will probably send me off to sleep.’
‘It’s been one heck of a day,’ Matt concurred, pouring two small measures of whisky into a pair of cut-glass tumblers. He handed one of the glasses to her then sat down with a sigh that spoke volumes about how he was feeling. Rachel studied him while she sipped her drink.
Normally, Matt was so full of energy that he appeared far younger than his actual age. He ran the busy general practice that served the people of Dalverston with a verve that few could emulate. However, today every one of his forty-eight years showed in the deep lines that were etched onto his handsome face.
At a little under six feet tall, with a powerful physique and thick black hair that was only just starting to turn silver at the temples, Matthew Thompson was a very attractive man. Rachel knew she wasn’t alone in thinking that either. Several of her friends, the married ones as well as the single, had remarked on it. In fact, she’d had a job to convince them that she wasn’t interested in Matt that way and saw him simply as a colleague and a friend.
It was a good job, too, she thought suddenly. Quite apart from the fact that she wasn’t interested in having a relationship with anyone at the moment, there was definitely no chance of it happening with Matt. The thought touched a nerve oddly enough and she cleared her throat, unsure why it should trouble her in any way.
‘I couldn’t believe it when you phoned and told me we had a major incident on our hands. I mean for it to happen today of all days…’ She tailed off, not needing to explain why today had been the worst day possible. Instead of celebrating their children’s marriage, they had spent a large part of the day dealing with the aftermath of a serious accident on the banks of the canal. Talk about bad timing wasn’t in it.
‘At least it provided a distraction.’ Matt grimaced when he realised how uncaring that must have sounded. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. A number of people were badly injured when that crane collapsed and I certainly wouldn’t have wished that on them.’
‘I know you wouldn’t, but you’re right, Matt. At least while we were treating them, it took our minds off this other problem,’ Rachel said quickly, not wanting him to feel bad about what he had said.
‘Exactly.’
He gave her a tight smile as he raised the glass to his lips. Rachel knew that he rarely drank alcohol, and never during the day, and it just seemed to prove how low he must be feeling. The thought caused her such intense pain that it surprised her. It was only natural that she should feel upset for Ross, but that didn’t explain why it was so painful to see the way Matt was suffering, did it?
Rachel wasn’t sure what to make of it all. In the end, she decided not to worry about it. Ross had attended the incident along with the rest of the staff from the surgery and she wanted to make sure that he had got home safely. She hunted her mobile phone out of her pocket and stood up. Matt looked up and she felt an odd little frisson run through her when their eyes met.
‘I just want to phone Ross and check he’s all right,’ she explained, trying to stem the shiver that was trickling so disturbingly down her spine. What bothered her most was that she couldn’t remember the last time something like this had happened. She kept too tight a rein on her emotions to let them misbehave this way, but obviously recent events had taken their toll.
She had been looking forward to this wedding so much, looking forward to the fact that from here on her son would have the woman he loved by his side to support him. Although she had never met anyone she had wanted to spend the rest of her life with, she believed in marriage, firmly believed that a happy marriage was a wonderful thing.
Was it disappointment that all her hopes for her son’s future had amounted to nothing that was making her feel so mixed up? she wondered suddenly. She certainly couldn’t remember feeling so emotionally raw before and that could explain the odd way she seemed to be behaving that day.
‘You do that while I make us some coffee.’ Matt put his glass on the table and stood up. He shrugged as he took Rachel’s glass from her and placed it next to his. ‘I don’t think alcohol is the answer somehow, do you?’
‘Probably not.’ Rachel summoned a smile as he passed her on his way to the kitchen, but she was aware that it was an effort to behave naturally. Knowing that she wasn’t in control of herself as she usually was worried her, too. She certainly didn’t want to make a fool of herself in front of Matt.
She sighed softly as she dialled Ross’s number. She and Matt had a very good relationship, she’d always thought. They trusted each other in work and enjoyed an easy camaraderie outside the surgery. Recently they had been spending a lot more time together as they had helped their respective offspring finalise the plans for their wedding and she had found herself enjoying his company too. Was that when she had become more aware of Matt as a man and not solely as a colleague? Had those hours they had spent together altered her perception of him?
The thought troubled her. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to make any adjustments to how she saw Matt. It seemed rather dangerous to alter the status quo, unpredictable, and if there was one thing Rachel didn’t handle well it was the unpredictable. She liked her life to have structure, lots of nice tidy compartments to file away both people and events so she knew how to deal with them.
She frowned. It didn’t sound a very appealing way of living, did it? Nevertheless, it had worked all these years for her and worked well too. Maybe this wedding had thrown her off course but she mustn’t allow it to affect her too much. Once she got over the shock of it being cancelled, hopefully her life would return to normal.
Matt plugged in the kettle then took a tin of ground coffee out of the freezer. He spooned some into the cafetière then stood staring into space while he waited for the water to heat. It was almost four in the afternoon and if the day had gone as planned, he should have been enjoying the reception now. He would have been gearing himself up for his speech, not that it would have been difficult as wishing Heather and Ross every happiness for their future together was something he had been looking forward to doing. He had been so sure that Heather had found her ideal partner but had it been wishful thinking on his part? Although Heather hadn’t said so, was he guilty of pushing her and Ross into this marriage?
Matt had a horrible feeling it might be true. He had been so pleased that Heather had found someone as reliable as Ross that he had overlooked the signs that the relationship maybe wasn’t what it should have been. He had put his desire for Heather to have security above everything else and he regretted it now. Deeply.
Maybe he had sworn that he would make sure their daughter was safe after Claire, his wife, had died, but Heather needed more than security. She needed love, laughter, fun, and he wasn’t sure if Ross could have provided her with all of those things.
The truth was there had always been that vital spark missing, now that he thought about it. That extra dimension needed to take a relationship up a level. He and Claire had had it and it was one of the reasons why he had never been able to imagine falling in love with anyone else. He didn’t think any other woman could light that spark inside him again.
‘Ross is back at home. He says he’s fine, but I’m sure he’s only saying that to stop me worrying.’
Rachel came into the kitchen. She gave a gusty sigh as she stared at her phone as though it should be able to tell her if her son was telling the truth, and Matt felt himself grow tense. He couldn’t see her face clearly with her head lowered like that so maybe that was why she appeared different all of a sudden, almost like a stranger.
She looked up and his heart gave the oddest little jolt as he found himself taking stock of the familiar yet strangely unfamiliar features—the elegant little nose, the softly rounded cheeks, the lusciously full lips now gnawed clean of any trace of lipstick. She’d had her hair done for the wedding and the soft chestnut curls looked so invitingly silky as they tumbled around her face that he longed to touch them, feel their softness against the palms of his hands, the tips of his fingers, so tempting and alluring…
He took a deep breath and stamped down hard on that thought. There would be no stroking of hair going on here!
‘Did Ross say if he’d heard from Heather?’ he asked instead, picking up the kettle. He poured the hot water into the pot and pressed down the plunger, quite forgetting to let the coffee brew first.
‘No. I didn’t ask him, to be honest. Sorry.’
Rachel’s pretty face filled with remorse and that odd feeling he’d had about her being a stranger immediately receded. Once again she was Rachel Mackenzie, a woman he liked and respected, and he breathed a little easier at finding himself back on familiar territory. It had been just a blip, he told himself as he took a couple of mugs out of the cupboard, a tiny aberration caused by the stresses of the day and definitely nothing to worry about.
‘It doesn’t matter. I’m sure Ross would have said if Heather had phoned him,’ he said soothingly, filling the mugs with coffee and frowning when he saw how insipid it looked. ‘This doesn’t look too good. I’ll make another pot.’
‘It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.’
Rachel picked up one of the mugs and carried it over to the table. Matt’s heart ached when he saw how upset she looked as she sat down. What had happened today had had a big effect on Rachel too and for some reason the thought upset him even more. It wasn’t fair that someone as kind and as gentle as Rachel was should have to suffer this way.
He went to join her, trying to find the right words that, hopefully, would make the situation easier for her. ‘I know how hard this must be for Ross but he’ll get through it, Rachel, you’ll see.’
‘Do you think so?’ She looked up and he could see tears brimming in her huge brown eyes. ‘I feel so helpless, Matt. Oh, I know Ross is a grown man and more than capable of running his own life, but he’s still my son and I love him dearly.’ The tears spilled over and trickled down her cheeks. ‘I just can’t bear to think of him hurting this way.’
‘I know. And I understand how you feel, really I do.’
Matt reached across the table and squeezed her hand. Her hand was so small that his seemed to engulf it and it surprised him how it made him feel—overwhelmed with tenderness and a need to protect her. He cleared his throat but he could hear the roughness in his voice even if Rachel couldn’t.
‘It’s a difficult time for both Heather and Ross but I’m sure they will work things out in the end.’
He withdrew his hand, unsure what was happening and why he felt this way. This was Rachel, he reminded himself, someone he had worked with for a number of years, a trusted colleague as well as a friend. However, the description no longer seemed to fit as accurately as it had done in the past; there seemed to be an extra dimension to Rachel he had never noticed before.
He frowned because that wasn’t quite true. If he was honest, his view of her had been changing for a while now. They had spent a lot of time together in recent months planning for the wedding and he had found himself looking forward to it too. She wasn’t just a colleague and a friend any longer. He was very much aware that she was a woman as well and a very attractive woman too.
The thought stunned him. For the first time since his wife had died Matt realised that he was aware of another woman’s femininity and he couldn’t believe that the feelings he had believed long dead were very much alive. His whole body suffused with heat all of a sudden because he was powerless to stop what was happening. When he looked at Rachel, sitting here at his table, what he saw, first and foremost, was a woman he wanted to put his arms around. A woman he wanted to make love to.
Chapter Two
‘SORRY. I know this is just as difficult for you as it is for me, Matt.’
Rachel plucked a tissue out of her pocket and wiped her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was to make the situation even more stressful for Matt.
‘There’s nothing to apologise for,’ Matt said swiftly, and she looked at him in dismay when she realised how strange he sounded. It wasn’t that he sounded angry or even upset, just…odd.
‘Are you all right?’ she asked anxiously, leaning forward so she could get a better look at his face. It was early December and the nights soon drew in at this time of the year. They hadn’t switched on any lights and Matt’s face was in shadow, making it difficult for her to see his expression clearly.
‘Yes. Just a bit shaken by what’s happened, I suppose,’ he replied, and she was relieved to hear him sounding more like he usually did this time.
‘You and me both. I was stunned when Ross told me this morning the wedding had been called off.’ She gave a little sigh. ‘I still find it hard to understand why it’s happened, if I’m honest. I always thought he and Heather were a perfect match, didn’t you?’
‘Ye-es.’
Rachel frowned when Matt seemed to hesitate. ‘That sounded almost as though you had your doubts. Did you?’
‘Not before this happened, no. However, now I’m not so sure.’
He stood up and switched on the light then sat down again. Rachel could see a glimmer of some emotion in his green eyes that she found it difficult to interpret.
‘You don’t think their marriage would have worked?’ she said slowly, struggling to digest the idea.
‘The honest answer is that I don’t know any more. I thought they were ideally suited too, but I was thinking about it while I was making the coffee and I realised there was always something missing, that spark which makes a relationship truly special.’
‘Do you really think so?’ she said in surprise.
‘Yes, I do. I only wish I’d realised it sooner. I wouldn’t have pushed them into getting married then.’
‘You didn’t push them, Matt!’ she exclaimed. ‘It was their decision and it had nothing to do with you or anyone else for that matter.’
‘I wish I could believe that but I have a horrible feeling that I’m more than partly responsible for this mess.’
‘Rubbish!’ She glared at him when he looked at her in surprise. ‘I’m sorry but that’s exactly what it is—complete and utter rubbish. They’re both old enough to know their own minds. It wouldn’t have mattered a jot what you thought.’
‘Let’s hope you’re right.’ He gave her a quick smile although Rachel could tell that he wasn’t convinced. Matt obviously blamed himself for what had happened and that must make the situation even more difficult for him.
There was little she could say to persuade him otherwise, however, so she let the matter drop, talking about what had happened down by the canal instead. They had treated at least a dozen people who had been injured in the accident and it was always useful to compare notes after the event. It was only when Rachel heard the hall clock strike the hour that she realised it was time she left.
‘I’d better be off,’ she announced, standing up.
‘I’ll run you home,’ Matt offered straight away, following her into the hall. He had collected her in his car along with the rest of the team from the surgery and ferried them to the site of the accident, which was why Rachel didn’t have her own car with her. However, as she lived only a ten-minute walk away she immediately protested.
‘There’s no need, Matt. I can easily walk home from here. There’s no point dragging you out of the house.’
‘No, it’s dark outside and I don’t want you walking down that lane on your own.’ He took his coat off the hallstand before she could protest any further and she gave in. There was no point making an issue out of it, was there?
It took them a bare five minutes to drive to her home. She had bought the cottage when she had moved to Dalverston and had spent a lot of time and effort restoring it over the last few years. She had always loved the cottage’s quirkiness and its sense of history, not to mention its location, backing onto the river. However, she had to admit that the sight of the darkened windows made her heart sink a little as they drew up outside.
Normally it didn’t bother her that she lived on her own. She’d had Ross while she was still in her teens, getting pregnant the first time she had slept with her boyfriend. Ross’s father had been just a year older than her, far too young to want to accept responsibility for the child he had fathered.
With her parents’ help, Rachel had brought Ross up, working hard to give them both a good life. Getting through medical school had taken a huge amount of determination with a young child to care for but she had succeeded and it had got easier as Ross had grown older. However, one thing she had never factored into her busy life was time for a proper relationship.
She’d had a couple of affairs over the years, and still dated occasionally, but that was all. Although the few men she had been involved with had appeared perfect on paper, she had never been tempted to commit to a long-term relationship with any of them. Quite frankly, she hadn’t had any inclination to fall in love with all its attendant pitfalls, especially not after her first disastrous experience. She had been perfectly happy with her life the way it was…
Or so she had thought.
Rachel’s breath caught as the doubts slid into her mind. She had everything she had ever dreamed of having, a job she loved, a son she adored, a comfortable home, so what on earth could be missing? Surely she didn’t wish that she had someone to come home to, someone who would be waiting for her with a smile and a hug?
‘Here we are, then. Want me to come in with you and check everything’s all right?’
Matt’s voice mingled with her thoughts and Rachel had the craziest urge to shout, Yes, please! Please come in with me. Please stay and talk to me, share this evening and maybe share other evenings with me too, but she managed to stop herself in time. If she took the first step down that route, who knew where she would end up? The thought scared her.
‘No, it’s fine,’ she said, hoping he couldn’t hear the panic in her voice.
‘Sure?’ He stared at the darkened windows and frowned. ‘I don’t like to think of you going into an empty house on your own.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ Rachel said firmly, as much for her own benefit as his. She grasped the doorhandle, ready to get out of the car, then stopped when he suddenly leant across the seat and kissed her gently on the cheek. His lips were cool from the night air and she shivered when she felt them brush her skin, hastily blanking out the thought of how good it would feel if he kissed her properly on the mouth.
‘Take care, Rachel. It’s been a tough day for all of us. If you need someone to talk to, you know where I am.’
‘I…um…thank you.’
Rachel scrambled out of the car and almost ran up the path to the front door. Her hands were shaking so hard that it took her a moment to fit the key into the lock. Stepping into the tiny vestibule, she switched on the porch light then turned and waved. Matt gave a toot on his horn and drove away, his taillights rapidly disappearing into the darkness, but it was several minutes before she closed the door and went inside.
She stood there in the hall, deliberately drinking in the peace and quiet of her home in the hope that it would calm her, but for some reason the magic didn’t work that night. Instead of peace all she felt was loneliness, instead of soothing quiet, emptiness, and she bit her lip. She had thought she was happy with her lot but all of a sudden she was aware of all that she lacked. She may have a fulfilling job, good friends, a son she adored, but she needed more.
She needed someone to love her and hold her in the night. Someone she could love and hold onto too, but was it too late for that? She was forty-six years old and it seemed crazy to be wishing for more than she had, more than might be good for her. Did she really want to risk falling in love at this point in her life, always supposing she met someone to fall in love with. Suitable men weren’t exactly thick on the ground.