Harlequin Medical Romance December 2015, Box Set 1 of 2 (47 page)

He didn't say a word as he let her go. Molly sank down onto a chair as he walked along the hall and let himself out of the house, fighting against the urge to run after him. She had to trust him to see this through to the end, no matter how hard it proved to be. Screwing up her eyes, she made a wish that everything would turn out the way she hoped it would. It was Christmas, after all—only good things should happen at this time of the year. But, no matter how hard she tried to cling to that thought, she couldn't stave off the feeling of dread that swept through her. If Sean didn't find the closure he needed then this might be the end for them.

* * *

There was no sign of Sean when Molly went into work that night. She had spent the remainder of the afternoon hoping he would phone her but there had been no word from him. She could only assume that he had done what he had intended to do, but it was impossible not to fear the worst. When he appeared some ten minutes after his shift should have started, he looked drawn and grey.

Molly was in the process of taking a case history from an elderly woman who had fainted while having tea with her family. Both her daughters were there and, as they each wanted to have their say about what had happened to their mother, Molly had no choice other than to sit there and listen to them. Nevertheless, she was painfully aware that Sean avoided looking her way as he led his first patient to Cubicles.

She finally sorted out the family and left them in a cubicle while she went to find Steph. It sounded like a severe case of indigestion to her but it wasn't her call and she would leave it to Steph to make the final decision.

Sean was sitting at the computer, updating his patient's notes, and he barely glanced at her. Molly bit her lip but she couldn't face the thought of having to wait any longer to hear what had happened.

‘How did you get on?' she said quietly. ‘Did you speak to Claire's parents?'

‘Yes.' His tone was clipped, not an encouraging sign at all.

‘So what happened?' she began then stopped when Jason came over to ask if she would help him with a patient who was refusing to have a booster Tetanus shot.

Molly could hardly refuse, so once she had spoken to Steph she went and sorted out the problem, by which time Sean had disappeared into Resus to deal with a man who had suffered a heart attack. By the time he had finished, she was busily stitching up a woman who had had an accident with a carving knife and cut her hand. And so it went on. Each time Sean was free, she was busy. There was no chance to talk to him, not that he gave any sign that he wanted to talk to her. In fact, it appeared that talking to her was the last thing on his mind and she could only draw her own conclusions from it. Sean had changed his mind and the sooner she accepted that it was over between them, the better.

* * *

Sean knew that Molly was desperate to talk to him but he needed time to get everything straight in his head. What he had learned that day had rocked his world. It was only when he saw how drawn Molly looked as she signed out that he realised he had to speak to her. The last thing he wanted was Molly thinking that he had changed his mind about them.

‘Can we talk?' he said softly, going over to her.

‘If you're sure you want to.' Her eyes met his and he inwardly winced when he saw the hurt they held.

‘I am.'

He slid his hand under her elbow, ignoring the curious looks they were attracting from the rest of the staff. Let them think what they liked—it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was Molly and making sure that she knew how much he loved her. Maybe his world had been rocked but nothing could change that.

The thought helped to relieve some of the shock he had felt ever since he had spoken to both his and Claire's parents. He led her to the car and helped her inside then bent and looked into her eyes. ‘I just want to say that what happened today doesn't change a thing. I love you, Molly. And I want to be with you for ever.'

‘But?' She gave a hoarse little laugh. ‘There has to be a “but” tagged onto the end of that statement.'

‘There isn't.' He leant into the car and kissed the tip of her nose. ‘I love you and there are no “buts” attached to how I feel either.'

‘Then why have you been avoiding me all night long? And don't say that you haven't because we both know it's true. You have done your best not to have to speak to me, Sean, haven't you?'

‘Yes, I have,' he admitted. ‘And I'm sorry.' He closed the door and walked round to the driver's side, although he didn't immediately start the engine. ‘However, I was told something today that I never expected to hear. I needed to get it straight in my own head before I spoke to you.'

‘Why? What did they tell you?'

‘That Claire had been having an affair with someone she worked with and that the baby might not have been mine after all.'

‘What?' Molly stared at him in shock, and he grimaced.

‘I know. I was stunned too. I still am. I had no idea that Claire was seeing someone else. Crazy, isn't it?'

He started the engine and drove out of the car park, feeling echoes of the shock he had had that afternoon spreading through him once more. Surely he should have suspected that something had been going on, he thought as he headed along the bypass. Especially when he and Claire had kept arguing all the time. He sighed because it was easy to paint a very different picture of events with the benefit of hindsight. However, the truth was that he had never imagined for a second that Claire had been seeing someone else. He had been far too bound up in making a success of his career to focus on his relationship. He glanced at Molly and felt his heart well up with love. It was a mistake he would never make again.

* * *

By tacit consent, they didn't discuss the subject any more until they were back in Molly's house. Molly had needed a bit of time herself to absorb what Sean had told her. She led the way into the sitting room and sank down onto the sofa, wondering what to say to him. It must have been a terrible experience to discover that the woman he had loved so much had been unfaithful to him. Her heart ached at the thought.

‘I'm so sorry, Sean,' she said gently as he dropped down into a chair. ‘It must have been such a shock for you to hear that. What I don't understand is why your parents, or Claire's, didn't tell you the truth before now. I take it that they knew, so why did they keep it a secret for all these years?'

‘Basically because they didn't want to hurt me any more. Both my and Claire's parents decided that it would be better if they didn't tell me immediately after Claire died. And, of course, the longer it went on, the harder it became to tell me the truth.' He shook his head. ‘In a weird sort of a way, I can understand their logic but to have let it go on for so long...'

He stopped as though words had failed him, which they probably had. Molly touched his hand, wanting him to know that she was here for him. It was heart-rending to imagine what he must be going through. ‘So how do you feel now that you know?' she said softly.

‘I'm not sure, to be honest. Shocked, I suppose. Amazed that I never even suspected what was going on. And sad too, because Claire didn't feel able to tell me herself.'

‘It must have been awful for you, Sean. I'm so sorry.'

‘It wasn't pleasant and if I'd learned the truth even a couple of years ago then I would have been devastated. However, although I do feel shocked because it's completely altered my view of the past, I can see now that if Claire and I had got married then it would never have worked.'

‘Really?' Molly exclaimed in surprise.

‘Yes.' He captured her hand and raised it to his lips, dropping a gentle kiss on her knuckles. ‘I loved Claire very much but I was never
in love
with her. We had grown up together and we were fond of one another, but love? No. It wasn't that. Not as I now understand it. Maybe she'd realised that too and that is why she had an affair. She sensed that what we had together wasn't the real thing.'

‘Are you sure?' Molly had to swallow the knot in her throat. ‘You've had a shock, Sean—you've already admitted that. So how can you be sure that your judgement hasn't been affected by it?'

‘It's quite simple.' He smiled at her, his face filled with so much love that her heart started to race. ‘I know how I feel about you, my darling, and it's very different from how I felt about Claire. I'm in love with you, mind, body and soul, and it is a world removed from anything I have ever felt before.' He stood up and drew her to her feet, enfolding her in his arms and holding her so close that she could feel his heart beating in time with hers.

‘It's such a relief that everything is finally out in the open and I don't have this guilty secret burning a hole inside me any more. It means I can now move on, or I can do if you will agree to move on with me, Molly. Will you? Will you take a chance on me, let me love you and care for you for ever and ever?'

‘For only as long as that?' she said teasingly.

‘How about from here to eternity?' he suggested and then grimaced. ‘Sorry! That's the most hackneyed line I could have come up with!'

‘Don't you believe it.' She nestled against him, her heart overflowing with happiness. ‘Funnily enough, it sounds absolutely perfect to me.'

Lifting her face, she kissed him, wanting to put the seal on their happiness. Maybe she had stopped believing in happy endings but she had been wrong to do so. She had her very own happy ending right here, although not just an ending but a beginning as well. The beginning of a wonderful new life, loving and living with Sean.

‘I love you,' she whispered.

‘And I love you too. So very, very much.'

Christmas Eve, one year later...

‘Come on, sweetheart, you're nearly there! Just one more push and you'll do it.'

‘You want to try pushing,' Molly muttered, screwing up her face as another contraction began. She clung tight hold of Sean's hand as she worked through it, her heart lifting when a second later she heard the tiny cry of a newborn baby. ‘What is it—a boy or a girl?' she demanded, lifting herself up on her elbows.

‘A boy—a beautiful, perfect little boy,' Sean told her, his deep voice choked with tears. Bending, he kissed her cheek. ‘Thank you so much, my love. I didn't think I could be any happier since we got married but I was wrong. Having you and now our son is like having all my dreams come true.'

‘Mine too,' she told him, smiling into his eyes.

They had married in the spring, shortly after Molly had discovered that she was pregnant. Sean was surprisingly old-fashioned about such things and had wanted their baby to be born into a traditional family setting. Everyone had been delighted, Sean's parents and hers—even Claire's parents had sent them a card on their wedding day. It felt as though everyone had moved on and now, with a new baby to celebrate, the future looked rosier than ever.

‘So what are we going to call him?' Sean handed the squalling infant to her, perching on the edge of the bed so he could examine his new son's tiny fingers and toes. ‘We've changed our minds so many times that I can't remember what we finally decided on.'

Molly laughed. ‘It was Sam for a boy, but would you mind if we changed it?'

‘Again?' Sean rolled his eyes. ‘What to this time?'

‘Joseph. It just seems fitting for the time of year, don't you think?'

‘Mary and Joseph and the Nativity, you mean?' He nodded. ‘Yes, I like it. Joseph Fitzgerald. It has a definite ring to it.'

He picked up the baby's hand and solemnly shook it. ‘Welcome to the family, young Joseph. I know that you are going to be very happy because you have the best mum in the whole wide world.'

‘And the best dad too,' Molly added, dropping a kiss on the baby's downy head.

* * * * *

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