No Matter What (157 page)

Work offers for movies had piled up in her absence and, even at the age of forty-two, offers of modelling work and advertising campaigns were still flooding in. But she and JJ were concentrating on filming episodes of ‘Covert One’, where her character was now a regular, and she was more than happy with that for the time being.
 
She was working in
L.A.
, close to home, right next to her husband, and it was all she wanted right now.

Re-taking their vows, despite the fact they’d only been married for a few months, was something else they’d wanted to do to signal that new start, that new beginning, and
India
couldn’t think of a better place to do it than
Las Vegas
, in one of Vince and Charley’s beautiful Hotels.
 
She wanted to marry her amazing husband all over again and look forward to their future together.
 
A future they so very nearly hadn’t had.

She turned around as JJ came out of the bathroom, a white towel wrapped around his waist, his incredible toned and tanned body making her heart skip a beat. He was so handsome, so perfect in
India
’s eyes and she loved him like she could never explain.
 

He smiled at her, coming over to her and gently running his hand over the curve of her hips, down over her thigh.

“Everything ok?” he asked, resting his forehead against hers.

She nodded, resting her hand on his hip, pushing the towel down slightly so she touched his skin.
 
He felt soft and damp and fresh out of the shower and she kissed him slowly, letting her fingers stroke his skin as she pushed him closer against her.
 
She still couldn’t quite believe that he was hers.
 
There were times, especially over the last few weeks, when all she’d wanted to do was just look at him.

She started to pull gently at the towel around his waist, biting down on her bottom lip.
 
“Have we got time?”

He smiled, his fingers now gently stroking her breasts, making her gasp out loud.
 
“We’ve always got time.”
 
He started kissing the base of her throat as she threw her head back, pulling the towel away from him completely.
 
“Always.”

He pushed her gently down onto the bed, slowly stripping her naked as he covered her body in tiny, beautiful kisses.
 
He was driving her crazy, sending her to that heaven only he could get her to and she just closed her eyes and let him take her there.
 
She had her beautiful man back where he belonged.
 
He was back in her life, back in her bed, back in her body.
 
And, as he lay beside her, his fingers touching her in those special, secret places, his breath warm on her skin as he slowly moved inside her, she knew this was where she was meant to be.
 
And there was nothing, almost nothing, that could make her want to leave.

***

The room the ceremony was taking place in was bathed in candlelight, a beautiful glow filling the room as people mingled and talked and waited for
India
and JJ to arrive.

From the corner of the room Vince watched as Charley ran around after their gorgeous daughter Lily, and Ellie -
India
and JJ’s just as gorgeous little girl.
 
The younger of the two was still a little unsteady on her feet and he couldn’t help smiling as he watched his own slightly older daughter helping Ellie to stay upright as she toddled about all over the place.
 
She really did look the image of her father, with JJ’s dark hair, his eyes, his smile.
 

Vince loved being a dad.
 
At first the prospect had terrified him but the second he’d laid eyes on his baby daughter it had all fallen into place.
 
His businesses, his hotels, his new restaurant in
Beverly Hills
, it was all an achievement.
 
They were all a success.
 
Everything Vince Maine touched turned to gold.
 
But his biggest achievement, his biggest and most important success was his family.
 
Charley and Lily.
 
They’d given him something he’d never thought he’d needed but now he knew he needed more than anything.
 
Love and security.
 
That feeling of belonging.
 
He loved his girls with a fierce intensity.
 
They were worth more to him than all the money in the world.
 
They were his life, and when he thought about what JJ had gone through, almost losing
India
, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like because if that had been Charley, Vince knew he would have gone crazy.
 
He wasn’t sure he’d have been able to cope.
 
What had happened with
India
had made everything clearer.
 
It had put everything into perspective.
 
Life was too short, and you never knew when it was all going to be taken away from you.

Charley looked over at Vince and smiled.
 
He really was her dream come true, her knight in shining armour.
 
He’d arrived at a time in her life when she’d really needed someone like him, and since she’d been with Vince it was almost as though all the crap that had gone on before had never happened.
 
It was as though she’d been a completely different person living a completely different life back then.
 
Her real life had only begun when Vince Maine had walked into it.
 
She loved him so much, and he’d given her Lily, their beautiful, incredible daughter who Charley loved beyond belief.
 
She couldn’t believe her life was so perfect right now but every day she thanked God it was.
 
Because it could have been so different.

She turned and checked that the girls were ok before walking over to Vince, straightening his tie and kissing him quickly.

“What do you reckon then?” she smiled, slipping her arms around his neck. “Are you thinking the same as me?”

He smiled too, pulling her closer, kissing the tip of her nose, which always made her giggle.
 
“It’ll be hard.
 
Saying goodbye to Vegas.”

“We’re not saying goodbye, Vince.
 
We’re only moving to
L.A.
for heaven’s sake.
 
None of this is going to go away.
 
It just means you’re going to have to let go and put someone else in charge now and again.
 
It just means you aren’t going to be living on-site anymore, that’s all.
 
Not all the time, anyway.
 
We’ve got the restaurant in
Beverly Hills
now; and I can open my Salon ...”

“And I get that the fantastic Ranch in
California
that I’ve always wanted.”

Charley laughed.
 
“Yes.
 
You get the Ranch you’ve always wanted.
 
Oh, go on, Vince.
 
Say we’ll do it.
 
Lily would love living on a Ranch!
 
We can teach her to ride horses; she’ll have all that space …”

“Ok.
 
Ok!”
 
Vince said, laughing too.
 
He’d already made his mind up anyway.
 
Infact, he’d already seen the perfect location for Charley’s new venture – her own Hair and Beauty Salon – and the perfect Ranch for their new Californian home.
 
“Let’s do it.”

Charley let out a little squeal, hugging him tight.
 
Vince knew it was going to be the best move they’d ever made.
 
They were about to begin the next chapter in their lives and he, for one, couldn’t wait to get started.

***

Ray Foster scooped up his eighteen month old niece and smiled at her.
 
She was like a beautiful baby angel, but then, when you had the genes of India Walsh – one of the most beautiful women in the world – and JJ Foster – certainly one of the most handsome men around, even Ray couldn’t deny that – then you couldn’t really be anything other than beautiful.

His brother was a very lucky man, but at least now Ray was certain that JJ knew that.
 
The events of the past few months had shaken everyone and nothing was really the same anymore.
 
Even he was re-thinking his life and where it went from here.
 
He had a lot of work in the
U.K.
and he liked it over there, it was his home, after all.
 
But he’d grown quite attached to
America
too, and the work offers over here were starting to mount.
 
He had a chance to make his name better known in The States.
 
There was a TV show in the offing, and a couple of movie roles he was being put up for that he quite liked the sound of.
 
And being over here meant he was closer to the family he’d been apart from for too long.
 
He loved his baby niece, he loved being an uncle.
 
And then there was
India
.
 
There was always going to be
India
.

He looked at Ellie as she laid her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes and snuggling into him, and that’s when he knew it was what he had to do.
 
 
He’d made the decision he’d been thinking over for a few weeks now.
 
He was going to make
Los Angeles
his permanent home.
 
Ray Foster was moving to
America
.

***

Bobby and Miguel had been married for just over a month and Bobby Castle knew he’d found the Puerto Rican man of his dreams.
 
He was still in that Honeymoon period and, after the trauma and despair of the last few months, life was now good.
 
It was more than good.

Since he’d started working for India Walsh there’d certainly been no shortage of excitement, but the past few months had shaken Bobby quite badly and made him realise one thing - he never wanted to work for anyone else ever again.
 
He loved
India
.
 
He was like a member of her family and she’d always treat him like that, always loved him and respected him and he’d never wanted anything other than to be with her.
 
She was like a best friend, a little sister, a shoulder to cry on and a heaven sent angel all in one.
 
To have almost lost her had terrified him more than he’d cared to admit to anyone.
 
Even Miguel.
 
And that’s when he’d known what he’d really known all along.
 
India Walsh was too much a part of his life for him to ever let her go.
 
He wanted a contract for life with that lady.
 
And
she
needed
him
, he knew that. She needed him to sort out her crazy, complicated life because she’d told him she’d fall apart without him.
 
Well, that was never going to happen because he was going nowhere.
 
His life was sorted and he couldn’t think of anywhere else he wanted to be.
  
Miguel was now a cocktail maker to the stars, in demand at celebrity parties all over
Hollywood
, and he and Bobby had their own beautiful home in the Hollywood Hills not too far from
India
and JJ.
 
Everything was perfect, and as long as Bobby Castle was about, there was no reason at all for any of that to change.

***

Reece watched his grandson as he ran about the room, smiling and talking excitedly to his new step-mum, Layla Boyd.
 
And a few months ago who’d have thought that
that
would have happened?
 
Certainly not Reece.
 
But so much had changed since
India
’s accident.

Reece closed his eyes for a second, trying to erase the images still imprinted in his mind of his daughter lying battered and broken in that huge hospital bed.
 
To look at her now, so happy and beautiful with her handsome husband, it just seemed unreal that anyone could have come out of that like they had.

He opened his eyes and smiled as Martha sat down next to him.
 
His wonderful Martha.
 
She’d stuck by him through everything, loving
India
like her own daughter and worshipping the grandchildren they couldn’t live without now.
 
She was an incredible woman and Reece thanked God every day for bringing her into his life. Because without her he doubted he’d have been able to cope with everything that had gone on.