To Mend a Broken Heart (26 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

I ring the doorbell and wait. It’s a cold night even though it’s the middle of June and I’m looking forward to getting inside in the warm. I see Daniel’s shadow come towards the door and seconds later he is standing before me. He’s dressed in blue, my favourite colour on him. He smiles and holds out his hand for me. I take it and he pulls me to him, wrapping me in his strong arms.

“I’ve missed you.” he breathes into my hair.

“I’ve missed you too. How have you been?”

“I’ve been okay, how was your trip?” he steps back, taking me with him and closing the door.

“It was stressful. But we got everything sorted for work, so now I can relax and enjoy being back with you.”

Daniel holds out his arms and I walk into them, needing the comfort I will find in them so much right now. I notice then that he has music playing. I look up at his face and smile.

“You have music on.”

“I do.” he grins at me.

“Any reason?”

“I was just in the mood. Come into the lounge, dinner is almost ready and there is an
obscenely
expensive red wine just waiting for us to drink it.” he kisses my forehead and leads us both into the lounge.

There are candles everywhere and a lamp on in the corner, the room is aglow with golden light and it looks beautiful. I look over to the fireplace, my eyes drawn, like always, to the handprints that grace his wall. I notice something there that wasn’t there the last time I was here a few days ago. I walk a little closer and pick up the photo frame that sits under the handprints, on the other side to the framed photo of Daniel and Poppy.

“When did you get this done?” I turn and look at him.

“I did it this week while you were away. It’s time to have you here, Katie.” he tells me, wrapping his arms around me from behind.

“It’s a beautiful photo of us. Ginny really is good at taking photos.” I smile and run my finger over the glass.

“It’s easy to take a photo of a subject that is as breathtakingly beautiful as you are.”

“You’re right, you are.” I grin as he kisses my neck.

“You’re talking rubbish, Katie.”

“Did you say something about an
obscenely
expensive red wine waiting to be consumed?”

“I might have.”

“Well, don’t keep me waiting, Mr Lambert, I’m parched.”

“Then you really should have some water, I’ll just get you some.”

“Don’t even think about it!” I growl playfully, pushing him back onto the sofa and climbing on top of him.

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” he murmurs right before he kisses me.

“I’ve missed you too.” I murmur back. When I feel his hands slip under my jumper and caress the sensitive skin of my lower back I shudder and press myself to him a little more.

“Do you want dinner? Or do you want me to carry you upstairs and show you how much I missed you?” I feel his smile against my lips and I smile too.

“I really want dinner.” I grin back.

“Really?” he pulls back and frowns at me.

“I haven’t eaten since I left Manchester, I’m wasting away here!”

He reaches under my jumper again and brushes his thumbs over my hip bones, then his hands travel over my stomach and around to my back before coming to rest on my bottom. His eyebrows shoot up and he grins naughtily at me.

“Wasting away? You feel just perfect to me.”

“I still need to eat. We’ll be really quick.
Then
you can show me.”

“You know, even if I wanted to argue with you, I couldn’t,” he leans in and kisses me, “You make it absolutely impossible.”

My stomach decides to growl then, as if it’s proving a point that I really do need to eat. Daniel laughs at me and lifts me off of him and onto the sofa. As he goes to get up, I pull him to me, laying back on the sofa.

“You know I love you in blue?”

“I
do
know you love me in blue, it’s why I wore it today.”

“It makes your eyes seem impossibly blue. And it just… suits you. I love you in blue. Always wear blue.”

“Okay. Always in blue. No other colours.”

“No… Dinner?”

“Dinner.” he nods.

I watch him walk into the kitchen and smile. I’m always trying to remind myself that happiness isn’t something I should take for granted. I’m always waiting for something to happen, something to stop this feeling of being happy. I try not to let it hold me back, but there is that little part of me that keeps whispering it could end any minute. I get up and follow Daniel into the kitchen, he has his back to me as he checks on something in the oven. The kitchen smells delicious and my hungry stomach growls in approval. I step behind him and wrap my arms around him, he relaxes into my touch and rests a hand over mine.

“The chicken is ready, the potatoes just need a little longer.” he tells me.

“Can I have that glass of wine then?” I ask cheekily.

“Absolutely.” he turns and sweeps me into his arms as another song begins to play.

Daniel moves us around the kitchen, gracefully. I bring my hands up and around his neck as his hands come to rest on my hips.
Kodaline
surrounds us, a band we discovered together. I feel that familiar warmth around me that comes with being in Daniel’s presence.

“Katie, I love you so much,” he whispers, “Can you feel that?” he takes my hand and presses it against his beating heart.

“Your heartbeat?”

“My heartbeat. The very heart you made beat again when you came into my life.”

“I didn’t do anything, Daniel.” I smile shyly.

“Katie you did
everything
. You helped me
live
again, I was merely existing before you. I cannot be without you, Katie. I want to be with you forever, forever and a day. And I’m not entirely sure that will be long enough.”

“I want to be with you too, Daniel.”

“I want to be by your side, I want to be the one you turn to, the one who picks you up if you fall, the one to dry your tears when you’re sad, the one you laugh with. I want to be your everything, because you are mine.”

“You are, Daniel. You are.” I bring my hand up to his face and run one finger over his eyebrows, down between his eyes and over his nose, tracing the perfect lines of his lips.

“I want to marry you, Katie. I want to be your husband and I want you to be my wife. I want to have children with you, I want to be the father of your children… I want you to be the mother of mine.”

His words take me by surprise. Tears prick my eyes and I suddenly feel cold and shivery. He doesn't say anything else, he just looks at me. Those blue eyes rooting me to the spot like always.

“Yes,” I whisper, “Yes, Daniel.”

“Oh, Katie,” he whispers, a tear in his eyes too, “I love you. I love you so much. You are my heart, soul and reason for living, you know that don’t you?”

I press my lips to his and go limp in his arms. He holds me to him and kisses me like I am the very air he needs to breathe. When he pulls back, both our faces are wet and there is a smile so bright on his face it lights the room, I’m pretty sure it can be seen from the moon.

“I love you, Mr Lambert. I’ll love you everyday like I have from the very first day I met you.”

“And you’ll be
Mrs Lambert
.” he smiles shyly.

“I’ll be Mrs Lambert.” I smile back.

“I have something for you.” he kisses me once more than steps back and disappears into the lounge.

My heart beat is racing, and my palms are a little sweaty.
I am engaged.
To Daniel. I’m going to marry my best friend, the man who has been there for me through so much, so many bad and dark days. The man who showed me I could be happy again, I could love again, and I loved him so much.

“I picked it out myself, I spent all day looking for the perfect ring while you were away,” he is holding a small box in his hand, “I’ve wanted to propose to you for weeks, I knew you were the one the first day we met. It has taken all of my self control not to rush it, to rush you. But I can’t wait any longer.”

He drops to one knee and rests his head on my stomach. Then he pulls back and looks up at me from under those impossibly long eyelashes. His blue eyes full of so much emotion and love, I start to shake.

“My life before Poppy was insignificant. My life after Poppy was horrifying. Then you came into my life and everything was warm and light again. You gave my life meaning, you gave me a purpose. I began to breathe again. I never want to be without you, Katie. Will you marry me?”

He opens the lid of the box and I actually gasp and tumble to my knees. Inside is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. It’s a sapphire ring, right in the centre of the band is the bluest sapphire. All along the band diamonds sparkle at me and when I look at Daniel, the blue is there in his eyes too.

“It’s beautiful, Daniel.” I whisper, tears running freely down my cheeks.

“It’s yours, of course it’s beautiful.” he whispers back.

“Thank you. Not for this, but for giving me my life back, for showing me I could love again, and I love you with everything I am.”

He takes my hand in his, bringing it up to his lips and pressing a gentle kiss on the soft skin there. There is still a mark from Richard’s rings, he slides the ring onto my finger then kisses that too, before he pulls me to him and kisses me. He kisses me with so much passion I lose all the air in my lungs and I forget to breathe.

“I will treasure and love you forever, Katie.”

“And I’ll do the same. Forever and a day.” I smile tearily, quoting his words back to him.

“And even longer than that.” he smiles.

* * *

I set the table and look over at Daniel in the kitchen. The lights are giving him a golden halo, his head down while he works away, creating a meal I know will be incredible. He sings softly along to the song playing with a smile on his face. I feel the smile on my face and the warmth wash over me like always. Being with Daniel is so easy, it’s everything else that can be difficult. The last few months have tried and tested us both, there were moments approaching Richard's anniversary that I thought we wouldn't make it, but Daniel fought for us when I wasn't able to yet desperately wanted to. Daniel held on to us with both hands and refused to let go regardless of how bumpy the road had gotten and I am so thankful he did.

Tonight we are going to tell Ginny and Ryan that we’re engaged. It’s been three days since the happy event and we’re both desperate to tell them. We'd immersed ourselves in each other for the past three days, dreaming up ideas of how we want our wedding to be. Talk also turned to living arrangements, where I want to live, in my house or here with Daniel. I'd taken time to think it through, but I know in my heart, living in my house will never work. Richard is there, in every corner, every seat, every room. We lived together there, we chose the paint, we picked out the curtains, the rugs everything together and his ghost can be felt in every room of that house, less than it was, but he’s still there.

Living in Daniel's house means a fresh start, the only person that has lived with Daniel here is Poppy and she is a welcome addition to our relationship. It’s incredible to me just how much I love her, I never had the honour and privilege of meeting Daniel’s daughter, but how he speaks about her, the many photos he has of her and the videos he bravely shared with me make me feel like I know her and that is precious to me. I must be staring as Daniel smiles at me and shakes his head before walking over to me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

“You're staring again.” He chuckles.

“I can't help it. You're just that gorgeous.” I grin at him.

“Only to you.” He smiles shyly.

“No,” I shake my head, “Not just to me. I've watched women stare at you, Daniel. Whether you can see it or choose to admit it, you're ridiculously handsome and every female on the planet would kill to have you.”

“Well, you're the one I choose. You're the one my heart beats for. You're the one I adore and worship and love beyond anything. So let them stare, it's all they will ever get to do,” he reaches for my left hand that’s now home to his engagement ring, “And this proves it.” His eyes darken as his lips touch my ring.

“It does, but it's you that needs a ring to ward off all those women.”

“And I'll have one soon. And you will place it on my finger and nothing will ever remove it. Once it's on, I'll never ever take it off.”

“Should that turn me on like it does?” I groan, pressing myself into him.

“Does it turn you on?” he asks, his voice laced with need.

“It does. It really, really does.”

“I love that it makes you feel like that, because my ring on your finger, it turns me on in ways I never thought it would.”

We press our lips together, our tongues sneaking into each others mouths. My hands come up to grip the longer hair at the back of his head and his hands come to rest on my bottom, pulling me closer, pressing his obvious need in to me. Just when I'm about to beg him to take me upstairs and make love to me, the doorbell goes. I groan and pull back.