His smile twisted. ‘I thought we would be in bed by now, loving each other, instead of which we’re sitting here in this crummy waiting room, and you’re tired and worried and we’re both miles away from where we should be, but I don’t care. I don’t care what happens as long as I’m with you.’
Tilly’s heart was beating so loudly by then that she was afraid it was going to burst right through her ribs. She so badly wanted to believe him…but how could she?
‘But look at me,’ she said helplessly. ‘I’m a mess! I’m fat and piggy-eyed and my hair’s a disaster and my dress is ruined!’
‘You’re not a mess,’ he said. ‘You’re beautiful.’
‘Don’t make fun of me!’
‘I’m not. God, Tilly, you have the self-confidence of a shrimp!’ said Campbell, sounding almost his old exasperated self. ‘Who cares if your dress is creased or your mascara’s run? You’re still gorgeous. Why won’t you believe me?’
‘Because…’ Tilly gestured helplessly.
‘Because that moron Olivier convinced you you weren’t thin enough or smart enough or perfectly groomed enough for him?’
‘I suppose so,’ she muttered.
‘And because your father made you think the same thing when you were just a little girl?’
‘Probably.’ She wouldn’t meet his eyes.
‘Come here,’ said Campbell, pulling her on to his lap and holding her firmly with one arm while his free hand smoothed her hair away from her face. ‘Do you remember that abseil?’
‘Yes,’ said Tilly cautiously, not quite ready to believe him, but wrapping her arms around his neck anyway. It seemed rude not to and, anyway, what else could she do with them when she was trapped on his lap like this?
‘You didn’t trust me then,’ he reminded her. ‘You begged me not to let you go.’
‘I was terrified!’
‘
‘No,’ she admitted.
‘Did I tell you you could make it to the top of that mountain?’
‘You did.’
‘And was I right?’
A smile tugged at Tilly’s mouth. ‘I see where you’re going with this,’ she told him.
‘Go on, admit it.’ He grinned. ‘I was right.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, you were right.’
‘I’m right about this, too,’ said Campbell, and his smile faded. ‘You’re gorgeous and sexy and warm and funny and I adore you and, if you’ll marry me, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy.’
And then, because talking didn’t seem to be getting him anywhere fast, he kissed her.
Tilly was lost the moment their lips met and she sank into him, giving back kiss for kiss, while happiness poured like liquid sunshine along her veins. ‘I love you,’ she confessed, mumbling between kisses. ‘I love you, I love you.’
‘At last!’ Campbell pretended to grumble, holding her hard against him. ‘I thought I was never going to get you to say it!
‘Do you promise not to let me go?’
‘I promise,’ he said gravely.
‘In that case, I will,’ she said, and he kissed her again.
‘It’s lucky you said that,’ Campbell said when he came up for air at last. He dug around in the inside pocket of his jacket. ‘I can give you this now.’
He produced a little box. ‘I promised you roses once if we got through the competition,’ he reminded her, ‘but I’m hoping you might like this instead.’
Tilly’s eyes widened, and he watched anxiously as she opened the box and drew a sharp gasp. Nestled in the velvet padding was a band of exquisite diamonds bracketing a deep, square-cut sapphire.
‘It’s the colour of your eyes,’ he said.
For a long moment Tilly couldn’t say anything. Her heart was too full to speak, and her eyes when she lifted them to his were shimmering with tears. ‘Campbell…’ was all she could manage.
The tears made Campbell nervous. ‘Maybe you would rather choose it yourself?’ he said hurriedly. ‘We can change it if you want.’
‘No.’ Tilly stopped him with a kiss. ‘It’s perfect,’ she told him with a shaky smile. ‘I’m only crying because I’m so happy.’
Campbell let himself relax a little. ‘Are you sure you like it?’
‘I love it…almost as much as I love you, in fact!’
‘Try it on.’ Picking up the ring, he made Tilly hold out her left hand.
‘I hope it’s not too small,’ she said, bracing herself for humiliation, but it slid on to her finger as if made for it. ‘Oh, Campbell, it’s beautiful,’ she told him, her eyes starry as she kissed him again. ‘Now I know you really
Campbell laughed with relief as he pulled her close. ‘It didn’t work out exactly as I’d planned, or we would be somewhere a lot more comfortable than this where I could make love to you the way I’ve been thinking about making love to you for the past three months.’
Tilly allowed herself a last kiss and slid off his knee. ‘In that case,’ she said, ‘I think we should go home.’
‘I was thinking I could give up my job in the States and come back here,’ said Campbell as they walked down the quiet hospital corridors. ‘I know you’re happy here in Allerby, and I could find another role somewhere round here.’
Tilly thought about it while they waited for a lift. ‘No,’ she decided eventually. ‘Not unless you have to find another job after missing that meeting!’
‘I’m not going to miss it,’ he said confidently. ‘I’ll get myself back there in time for it somehow, and then I’ll come back and be with you.’
‘I think I should go to you,’ said Tilly. ‘Harry and Seb have been going on at me to get out of my rut, so that’s what I’ll do,’ she said bravely. ‘I can make cakes in America as well as here.’
They walked hand in hand across the silent hospital grounds to where Campbell had left his car. ‘I’m nervous about the idea of a penthouse, though,’ she admitted. ‘I bet it’s immaculate.’
He smiled down at her. ‘We can buy a messy house if you like.’
‘It’s not the house, it’s the kind of life you live.’ Tilly hesitated, chewing her lip. ‘I think I might be losing my nerve already! We’re so different.’ She looked anxiously at him. ‘Do you really think if we get married we’ll live happily ever after?’
Campbell stopped and turned to face her. ‘I don’t know,’ he said honestly. ‘We’re bound to argue about stuff, and maybe things will be difficult sometimes, but we’ll have to work it out together.’
Pulling her in to him, he rested his cheek against her hair. ‘There are no guarantees, Tilly, but if you love me and I love you, and if we trust each other, I think we’ll make it. I know it’s a risk, but this time,’ he said, ‘we’re going over the cliff together.’
Tilly smiled as she remembered that first morning and how terrified she had been at the end of that rope. What was it she had said to him then? She pulled back slightly so she could put her arms around his neck and draw his head down for a kiss warm with promise.
‘Let’s get on with it then,’ she said.
Enveloped in a haze of delight, they were almost back at the house before they remembered the competition. Tilly switched on her phone to find a message from Suzy, the producer.
‘Oh,’ she said, and glanced at Campbell, hoping he wasn’t going to be too disappointed. ‘Apparently it was very close, but Roger and Leanne won in the end. There’s a message from Maggie, too…’
She listened closely, then closed the phone. ‘Maggie says she’s really sorry we didn’t win, but she wants to thank you for matching the winner’s cheque with a donation to the hospice.’
Reaching across, she laid a hand on his thigh and smiled. ‘That was generous of you.’
Campbell drew up outside Tilly’s house and switched off the engine. ‘For the record, I would have done it for Roger and Leanne’s charities as well if we’d won,’ he said with a shrug. ‘The competition was just to make the
