giving the orders. Sing with me, for this hope is ours and it’s time to claim it.’
Around them the voices rose, seeming to shimmer with the lights that glowed up high, to the star at the top of the tree, blazing against the darkness.
‘A new day dawns, a child is born.
Behold the shining star,’
‘Sing,’ he said. ‘Sing with me.
And suddenly she could do so, clinging to him for the strength only he could give her. Now and only now the words would come.
‘It leads us on to hope revived,
New day, new hope, new life’
It was there, the miracle she’d thought could never happen, rolling back the fear, setting her free, but only free as long as he was there.
She saw the question in his eyes and nodded as their voices rang out together.
‘For darkness flees the coming light,
And we are all reborn.’
‘Reborn,’ she whispered.
‘Does that mean you’ll marry me?’
‘Yes, I’ll marry you.’
From his pocket he took a small box containing a diamond ring, which he slipped onto her finger. She gasped. ‘That’s your mother’s.’
‘She gave it to me. She said her time for wearing it was over, but yours had just begun. It’s her way of welcoming you into the family, but also-I don’t know how to put it-’
‘She gave it to you, not Charlie. That’s her way of opening her heart to you again, saying you’re her son?’
‘Yes. It’s taken so long. I thought I was resigned, but I wasn’t. After all these years it has brought me more joy than I can say, and that’s another thing I owe to you. You brought us together and helped us understand each other. I could never give this ring to anyone but you, and you must promise me to wear it all your life.’
‘I’ll wear it as long as you want me to wear it.’
‘All your life,’ he repeated.
A vendor glided past them, waving a sprig of mistletoe. ‘Go on, buy it,’ he begged. ‘Then I can go home.’
Roscoe grabbed the first note he came to and proffered it without looking to see how large it was. The vendor’s eyes opened wide and he vanished quickly.
Slowly, Roscoe raised the mistletoe over her head.
‘Do you remember what you said to that fool who let you slip through his fingers?’ he asked.
‘“This is where you’re supposed to kiss me”,’ she recalled.
‘Very willingly,’ he said, lowering his mouth to hers for the first kiss of their engagement.
She kissed him back fervently, trying to tell him that she was entirely his, despite her fears. With his help she would conquer them and be everything he wanted. Nothing else mattered in her life.
Afterwards they hugged each other. Later there would be passion, but just now what mattered was the warmth and comfort they could bring each other. As her spirit soared she even managed a tiny laugh.
‘What is it?’ he asked, lifting her chin and gazing searchingly into her face.
‘That was a twenty pound note you gave him.’
‘If it had been a million pounds it wouldn’t have begun to be enough for what I’ve won tonight.’
As they finally walked away, arms entwined, she murmured, ‘
‘I don’t have to wish for them,’ Roscoe said. ‘You have given them to me already, and they will last for ever.’
They set the wedding date for soon after Christmas. It would take place in the church belonging to the graveyard where they had first met, where Pippa’s family lay in the grounds. The day before, they paid a visit together and went to look at the graves of Mark and Dee. Roscoe brushed the snow away, revealing the faces beneath, not just happy, but with a contentment that spoke of many years of successful marriage.
‘I’m glad they’ll be at our wedding,’ she said.
‘They’ll always be part of our lives,’ he agreed. ‘Because without them we’d never have met. Do you think your grandmother likes me?’
‘Oh, yes, I can tell from the way she’s looking at you.’
‘So can I.’
When she went to visit the other family graves he stayed behind to talk to Dee.
‘You’ve been such an influence in her life-and mine-that I want to know you better. Without you, she wouldn’t be who she is, and I wouldn’t be the happy man that I am. Thank you with all my heart.’
He stepped back.
‘I’ll see you both at the wedding tomorrow. I hope you enjoy it.’
He walked away to find the woman he adored more than life, and even now he had the sense that two pairs of eyes were following him. He smiled, happy in the knowledge, and resolved to tell Pippa all about it.
Lucy Gordon
Lucy Gordon cut her writing teeth on magazine journalism, interviewing many of the world’s most interesting men, including Warren Beatty, Charlton Heston and Roger Moore. She also camped out with lions in Africa and had many other unusual experiences, which have often provided the background for her books. Several years ago, while staying in Venice, she met a Venetian who proposed in two days. They have been married ever since. Naturally this has affected her writing, where romantic Italian men tend to feature strongly.
Two of her books have won a Romance Writers of America RITA® Award.
You can visit her website at www.lucy-gordon.com.
