The Perfect Husband (28 page)

His eyes were nearly swollen shut and the
parts of his body that weren’t swaddled in bandages were covered in
dark bruises. Tears sprang to her eyes and she held her hand up to
her mouth in an effort to hold back a sob.

“Oh, Ben! My baby! My poor little baby
boy!”

“He looks a little worse for wear, but I can
assure you, we’re all happy with how the surgery went.”

Isobel turned and stared at the doctor who’d
followed Ben into the room. Belatedly, she held out her hand. “I’m
Isobel Donnelly, Ben’s mom.”

“And I’m Beau Barrington,” the surgeon
replied.

“The best neurosurgeon around,” Mason added.
“We’re so lucky he was on call.”

Doctor Barrington held out his hand to Mason
and shook it. “Mason Alexander, it’s been awhile. It’s good to see
you again.”

Mason nodded and turned to Isobel. “Beau and
I went to med school together. He and I and one of my cousins made
a good team.”

Beau chuckled. “Oh, those were the good old
days. If only we’d known how tough it was going to be when we
graduated college and set foot in a real hospital.”

“You’ve done very well for yourself, Beau,”
Mason replied. “You have a formidable reputation. We’re so grateful
you were available to operate on Ben.”

Beau acknowledged Mason’s praise with a
modest shrug. “I did what any one of us would have done.”

“You saved his life,” Isobel said, her voice
trembling. Beau tilted his head and nodded slightly in
agreement.

“It was a little tricky there for a while.
He’d suffered a subarachnoid bleed. We managed to find the source
of the bleeding and got the flow to stop. He’ll spend a day or two
in the intensive care unit where we can keep a close eye on him. He
still has a little swelling on the brain.”

Isobel gasped and her heart beat faster. Her
little boy wasn’t out of the woods yet. Beau saw her distress and
hurried to reassure her.

“I can tell you’re imagining the worst and
it was pretty bad when we first examined him, but we’re confident
we stemmed the bleeding. The damage to the brain itself was
minimal. Once the swelling goes down, we anticipate he’ll make a
full recovery.”

“How long will he remain unconscious?” Mason
asked quietly, coming to stand close to Isobel’s side.

“It’s hard to tell,” Beau replied.
“Hopefully once the swelling subsides, he’ll wake up and be almost
as good as new. He’ll be sore for a while and the two broken legs
will slow him down, but all that’s temporary, we hope.”

Isobel tried to take comfort from his
optimism, but the truth was, her little boy was still very sick.
She wanted to curl up in a corner and cry her heart out and wallow
in her guilt. Once again, Mason showed his support by thanking the
doctor and then steering her away, in the direction Ben had been
taken.

“Come and say hello to your son,” Mason
said. “It will comfort him to hear your voice. Talk to him and tell
him how cool it’s going to be watching him get around in a
wheelchair. With Sophie on a pair of crutches, we’re going to have
some fun for a while. It’s lucky there’s an elevator in my
building.”

Isobel focused on Mason’s chatter and was
grateful for it. She knew he was doing his best to take her mind
off the trauma of the past few hours and help her concentrate on
the positive. Besides, what he said was true. There were plenty of
studies that showed coma patients responded to external stimuli and
many had later reported hearing the conversations of their loved
ones during the time they lay unconscious.

“Yes, of course. I-I can’t wait to give him
a kiss and say hello.”

Mason stared down at her and all of a
sudden, dragged her in close. He squeezed her so tightly it almost
hurt. She clung to him, drawing strength from his solid presence.
She lifted her head and he met her lips with a soft and tender
kiss.

“I love you, Isobel West. Don’t forget
it.”

“I love you, too, Mason. And thank you. For
everything.”

“For better or worse,” he murmured. “Like I
said, I’m here for the long haul.”

Twelve months later

Dear Diary,

With the passage of time comes healing and
with healing comes the hope that some day things will be normal and
happy again. You have given me that gift of hope, dear Mason and
I’ll love you for it forever.

For so many years, there was nothing but
darkness and needles of icy cold rain. My tears would flow in time
with the water that fell from the sky, scorching me with their
pain.

But now when it rains, I see the beauty of a
rainstorm and my tears are nowhere to be found. The air is
cleansed, along with my soul and when the storm is done, I see the
sunshine. Beyond it, I look for that rainbow and for the first time
in a long time, I can see it.

Within the arches of bright color, I see
life, I see love; I see hope. I see my smiling reflection and the
happy faces of my children and I am reminded that I have finally
returned to the place where I belong. With you by my side, I have
returned to the land of the living.

* * *

Isobel didn’t think there was anything she
loved better than the sound of her children squealing with
laughter. The fact that Mason was the cause of their frivolity made
it all the more special. She pulled her light jacket closer around
her to ward off the chill that drifted off the ice rink, all the
way over to where she sat in the stands.

“Come on, Mommy! Come and join us!” Sophie
squealed as Mason twirled her around the ice, taking care to hold
her tight.

Isobel smiled and shook her head, content to
watch from the sidelines. “You guys go ahead. You look like you’re
having a lot of fun. I’m happy to sit here and take photos.” She
raised the camera she held in her lap and snapped off a few more
shots. Ben skated close and threw a pose. Isobel couldn’t help but
laugh.

He’d recovered well from his injuries and
she thanked God every day for bringing her little boy through. As
far as anyone could tell, there were no lasting effects, at least
not physical ones. Both children were still seeing a therapist
regularly to ensure their mental status achieved the same level of
health as their bodies, and the regular updates Isobel received
from their doctor were positive.

Mason skated over with Sophie in his arms
and climbed off the icy surface of the rink. Sitting down beside
Isobel, he attended to the little girl’s skates. A moment later,
they clattered to the floor and he smiled at her.

“You did great out there, Soph. We’ll make a
skater out of you yet!”

She giggled back at him. “It’s easy to skate
when I’m up on your shoulders. It feels like I’m flying way up in
the sky.”

Mason pulled her in against his side and
kissed the top of her head. Isobel’s heart melted at the
demonstration of love he gave so freely to her children. The kids
weren’t the only recipients of his love. As if reading her
thoughts, he looked over Sophie’s head and his gaze tangled with
hers. Her pulse jumped, like it always did when he was near.

“Thank you,” she said softly, her eyes
filling up.

“For what?”

“For everything; for being you.”

“Why the tears?” he asked, reaching over to
gently wipe the moisture from her cheeks.

“They’re happy tears. My emotions are all
over the place at the moment.”

“Any reason in particular?”

She blushed and ducked her head. She reached
for her handbag on the seat beside her and pulled an envelope out
of it. In silence, she handed it to him.

He took the envelope without hesitation and
opened it. Tugging out the single sheet of paper, he scanned its
contents. Eventually, he looked up at her, his eyes full of
understanding.

“Your divorce papers came through.”

“Yes.”

“It’s a big moment. I remember when mine
arrived.”

“I can’t believe it’s been more than twelve
months since I walked out on Nigel. It’s incredible how quickly
time passes when you’re happy.”

“And in love,” Mason added, giving her a
wink. He smiled his beautiful smile and she went warm and gooey all
over. Even after a year, she still reacted to him that way. She
didn’t ever want to stop feeling like she did right there and
then.

She thought of Nigel and felt sad. He was
serving six years for dangerous acts causing grievous bodily harm,
stalking and a string of other offenses. She believed justice had
been served, but she still couldn’t help feeling sad about the way
his life had turned out. She only hoped that he’d learned his
lesson and that when he was eventually released, he’d accept she’d
moved on and he’d go forward without her in his life.

She was also relieved the circumstances of
the accident and their history of domestic violence had been
considered and she hadn’t been charged for her part in the
accident. After everything they’d been through, it would have been
awful to have to front up to a court of law and answer for her
actions.

Thankfully, the police had investigated her
story and several witnesses had come forward, including the kindly
stranger who’d given her a ride to the hospital. Isobel hadn’t
forgotten what the woman had said and she still had the woman’s
business card tucked into the side pocket of her purse.

When the time was ready, she’d join the
crusade to bring an end to domestic violence. Too many women left
it too late and were murdered or permanently maimed. She couldn’t
help but feel relieved and immensely grateful she hadn’t been one
of those.

“Now you’re a single woman again, I guess we
ought to celebrate.”

Mason’s statement brought her out of her sad
musings and she managed a smile. “We should. What did you have in
mind?”

“Ice cream!” Ben shouted, making his way
over to where they sat.

“Yay! Ice cream!” Sophie echoed with a
grin.

Mason nodded. “Ice cream sounds good and
we’ll definitely get to it later. Right now, I have something else
in mind.” He turned back to Isobel, his expression suddenly
serious.

A wave of nerves tightened her stomach. She
looked at him with curiosity, wondering what had caused his change
of mood. As if sensing her confusion, he reached over and took her
hand.

“I love you so much, Isobel West and I love
your children, too. You can’t know how happy you make me feel.”

“You make me happy, too, Mason. Happier than
I ever dreamed,” she said softly, meaning every word of it.

He squeezed her hand. “There’s only one
thing that would make me happier.”

Surprise shot through her and she shook her
head with a laugh. “How did you know? I should have guessed with
you being a doctor, you’d take notice of these things.”

Mason frowned. “What things? What are you
talking about?”

“The baby, of course!”

“The baby?”

“Yes! I’m pregnant!”

Shock flooded his features and all of a
sudden, Isobel realized the tiny new life growing inside her was
the last thing he’d been thinking about. The shock on his face was
replaced with disbelief and he shook his head back and forth.

“You’re pregnant? I don’t believe it!
How?”

Her smile faded and she couldn’t help but
wonder if he was pleased. He loved Ben and Sophie like his own, but
they’d never discussed having their own children. She shrugged.

“I’m not sure. I was still on the pill when
I found out. I guess your swimmers were more determined than either
of us. Sometimes it can happen.”

Mason’s smile grew wider. “Absolutely! I
need to thank those little swimmers of mine.”

“So, you’re happy about it?”

He drew her in close beside him and pressed
a warm kiss upon her lips. “
Happy?
Happy doesn’t even come
close, but I’d be happier still if you’d agree to be my wife.”

This time, it was her turn to be shocked.
“Are you…proposing to me?”

“Yes, it’s what I was about to do before you
interrupted and dropped your big news. I even asked Ben and Sophie
a few weeks ago what they thought of the idea.”

Isobel turned to her children, fresh tears
threatening. “Is it true? Did Mason ask you what you thought about
the two of us getting married?”

“Yes!” they shouted in chorus, their smiles
wide and bright.

“And what did you say?” Mason asked.

“We said yes!” Ben announced, still grinning
madly.

Isobel turned back to Mason, who had gotten
down on one knee. In his hand, he held a beautiful emerald ring. It
was surrounded by diamonds. She gasped in surprise.

“You already have the ring?”

He grinned, unabashed. “I’ve been carrying
it around for weeks. I knew your divorce would become final any day
and I wanted to be prepared. As soon as you became available, I
wanted to claim you for my own. So, what do you say? Isobel West,
will you marry me?”

All the love and joy she felt for him welled
up inside her. This time, she couldn’t hold her tears back. “Yes!”
she gasped. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” She held his head between her hands
and pressed kisses all over his face. She’d never felt more
loved.

How had she gotten so lucky?
From the
darkest depths of despair and pain, like a phoenix, she’d risen
from the ashes. She’d claimed back her life and protected her
children and she’d done it all with the love and support of the man
sat by her side.

“I love you, Mason Alexander. I’ll love you
until the day I die.”

He kissed her softly, tenderly, and she felt
the love he had for her in his heart all the way down to her
soul.

“You’re my life, my everything, Belle. I
love you with all that I am and all that I have and I will until
the end of time.”