Dead to Me (42 page)

Authors: Lesley Pearse

She raced home on her bike, standing up on the pedals on the hills, straining to get to him.

Wheeling her bike in through the gate, she let it drop on to the lawn and rushed round the side of the house.

He was there in the garden, sitting in a deckchair talking to Wilby. He looked round on hearing her, jumped to his feet and smiled.

‘It’s been a long day waiting for you to come home,’ he said, holding out his hands to her.

Wilby got up and said something about getting the supper.

Just the touch of Miller’s hands on Verity’s made her feel they didn’t need explanations, promises or anything else. Those duck-egg-blue eyes were twinkling the way they always had back in Weardale Road before the war began. His generous, soft mouth was just waiting to be kissed, and it was she who moved in first.

Nothing had ever felt so sweet or so perfect. A kiss that said the past was over and gone, taking all the hurts with it. Now they had a lifetime ahead of them to share.

She wanted him, body and soul.

‘I love you, Verity,’ he whispered when they came up for air. ‘I think I did from the moment you gave me that apple, when we first met, because I felt faint.’

‘You mean you fainted at the sight of me?’ she teased.

He laughed. ‘It’s been a long, winding road, hasn’t it? Maybe if I’d kissed you then, we could have shortened it?’

‘Maybe, but I doubt I’d have been quite so certain of you then as I am now. You once said that the garden you
created in Lee Park was love made visible. Seeing you digging in that church rubble yesterday, and the way you were with the boys when we found them, that was love made visible to me. I do love you, Miller, and I think I always did too.’

‘But now is our time?’ he asked.

She nodded. ‘I think so! We’ve got the rest of the war to go through, no one knows how or when it will end, or what life will be like afterwards. But that won’t seem half so scary, if you’ll promise to be there with me.’

‘Even if I can’t be with you in body all the time, I promise I’ll be there in spirit, and we’ll plan together for a future when I’ll be at your side for ever.’

Verity looked into his eyes and saw utter sincerity. It had been a long, winding road, but worth every mile of it to find true happiness and peace at last.