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Hannah nodded. 'Yes. I think that would help. If he comes through this, I want to persuade him to go ahead with some sort of counselling. Before the accident, just before the accident, he said that he thought the drinking was in part to do with his working away so much. He felt isolated, and because he had been away so long, he never felt that he had a place where he really belonged.' She grimaced. 'That sounds odd, but I think I know what he meant. I think he meant that he didn't fit in, and I need to show him that he has a home with Jamie and me.' She smiled. 'He said that we should marry.'

Sarah's mouth curved. 'I hope it works out for you. You don't have to rush into anything, though. Take your time, and work things out first.'

They talked for a while longer, and then Sarah prepared to leave. 'I should get back to work,' she said. 'I've another hour to do before my shift ends. I'll kiss Jamie for you, and I'll bring him to see you tomorrow.'

The hour passed quickly enough, but when Sarah was getting ready to go home Mark came and found her. 'I wondered if I could come by your father's house tonight and drop something off?' he said. 'It's to do with work. Would that be all right, or do you have plans for this evening?'

Sarah couldn't imagine what he wanted to bring with him that was to do with work, unless it was some files that he needed to go over with her. It was an unusual request, but she had told him that she wanted to stay on in A and E, and perhaps it was to do with that.

She said, 'I was actually planning on going to the cottage this evening. Jamie is having a sleepover at a friend's house, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to go and sort a few things out at my place. Since Hannah has been in hospital, I've hardly been back there. It's been easier to stay with Jamie and Kingston at my dad's house. You could come over to me there, if you like.'

'That suits me. Shall we say around eight o'clock?'

'That'll be fine.'

She went home and made preparations for Jamie to go to stay with his friend. 'Do you want to take some toys with you, Jamie?' she asked.

He nodded, and she said, 'You'd better go and sort them out, then, and I'll put them in a bag for you.'

'All right.' He jumped down from the sofa, where he had been playing with his toy soldiers, and hopped and skipped to the door, singing a little tune to himself as he went.

Sarah watched him. Then she turned to her father, who had just come in from the garden, and said with a smile, 'He's a happy little soul today, isn't he? Do you think it's because he is going to stay with Robert?'

'Could be,' her father said, 'but, then, it might be because he went to see his dad at the hospital. I took him there after I finished my afternoon surgery.'

'I remember you said that you might do that, if you had the time. Did the visit go well?'

Her father smiled. 'It went remarkably well, actually. Jamie had been chatting away the whole time, without expecting any response from his dad, and then he decided to tell him about the clay pot he had made for him. The thing is, Ryan suddenly said, "I know.'"

Sarah stared at him. 'You're joking?'

Her father shook his head. 'I'm not.'

Jamie bounced back into the room just then. 'I didn't believe Daddy,' he said. 'So I said to him, "All right, then, what colour is it?'" He chuckled. 'Daddy said, "Sunshine yellow.'"

Jamie waved his hands in the air, palms uppermost, as though he was asking a question. 'How could he know that? And Daddy didn't even sit up,' he exclaimed. 'Grandad says that's really good, though. He says Daddy's going to get better, like Mummy.'

Sarah was open-mouthed. She looked from Jamie to her father. 'That is such good news. That's wonderful.'

Jamie skipped out of the room once more, and she heard him banging up the stairs to his room. 'No wonder he's so cheerful,' she said.

'Things are looking up,' her father agreed. He glanced at her as she folded Jamie's pyjamas and put them into a little overnight case. 'Did you say that you were going to your cottage tonight? Only I thought I might go and visit some friends later on, seeing that Jamie is going to be away for the night. We were planning to play cards. I'll probably be back quite late, but I'll see that Kingston's settled down before I leave.'

'That's fine. You go and enjoy yourself. I've one or two things to do back at my place—a good scoot round with the vacuum cleaner, for one thing, and a bit of dusting.'

She didn't mention that Mark would be paying her a visit. She wasn't at all sure what that was all about. Even so, she couldn't quell the little bubble of excitement that started up in her. He had wanted her to have faith in herself, and he had held her close and that had to be good.

* * *

By the time eight o'clock came around she had finished tidying up at the cottage, and she was pleased that she had put everything in good order. Then the doubts began to creep in.

Mark was so used to his parents' grand house, and his own place was perfection itself—what on earth had she been thinking of when she had invited him to this little rabbit hutch?

The doorbell rang, and she hurriedly checked her hair in the mirror and smoothed down imaginary creases in her skirt. Her hair was wild as usual, but it was too late to do anything more with it. She was nervous, wanting to see him yet afraid because she was yearning for something that was probably impossible. She worked with him, that was all. What made her think that his kisses meant anything more than a sweet flirtation?

He looked wonderful, in casual chinos and a pale-coloured linen shirt. He was carrying a box, a fairly large box, and she frowned, wondering how many files it held. Did he really expect to work this evening? A frisson of disappointment washed through her.

'I've made some coffee,' she said, showing him into the sitting room. 'I thought it would be more comfortable in here. Do you want to sit down?' She waved a hand towards the sofa, and hoped that her nervousness didn't show. She didn't know why she was so keyed up.

'Thanks,' he said. 'Come and sit down next to me.' He reached for her and tugged her down beside him. 'I brought you something.' He handed her the box. 'Open it.'

Puzzled, she looked from him to the box. 'Is this the work that you were talking about?' She hesitated. 'Do we have to start work straight away?'

He gave a crooked smile. 'I think I might have misled you just a little,' he said. 'This is sort of to do with work. Open it, and let me know what you think.'

She pulled at the thin ribbon that tied up the box, and he helped her when she struggled to remove it. His fingers brushed hers, and the spark of contact burned a path along the full length of her arm and made her glance at him fleetingly. Heat ran along her cheekbones.

Finally, she managed to lift the cover off the box, and she saw layers of tissue paper. 'What is it?' she asked. Cautiously, she pulled back the layers, and there, nestled among the tissue, was the most beautiful dress that she had ever seen. It was made of a soft fabric, shot through with strands that glistened faintly, and there were thin little straps and a skirt that ended with a flourish of filmy layers of the same beautiful fabric. She looked up at him, her eyes widening. 'I don't understand,' she said. 'Why have you bought this for me?'

'I wanted to say that I was sorry for putting you through all that trauma this last weekend. I wanted to make up for the fact that you lost your own lovely dress when you were saving the little girl. I wanted to give you this before now, but I wasn't sure how you would react.' He looked at her searchingly. 'Do you like it?'

'It's beautiful,' she said. She looked into his eyes. 'You didn't have to do this, you know...but I think it's lovely, the most beautiful dress I've ever seen. Thank you.'

He gently took it from her and laid it over the arm of the sofa. He pushed the box away, and then he took hold of her hands in his and he said, 'I know that this is probably the wrong time—your sister is ill, and you have the worry of looking after little Jamie—but I want you to know—I need you to know—that I love you. I've loved you for a long, long time.'

She blinked. 'Do you mean it?' She held her breath, afraid that this was all a dream. 'Did I imagine what you said?'

'I mean it. I love you. I was so afraid that I might lose you. It was bad enough that I thought you might go to Owen, but when I thought that I might have pushed you away, I was in a terrible state. I really thought I had gone too far. It's made me realise that I need to tell you exactly how I feel about you, Sarah. I love you. Is there just a chance that you might feel the same way about me?'

She reached up and touched his face with her fingertips. 'I didn't believe that this could happen,' she whispered. 'I thought that our lives were so far apart that we could never be together.' She frowned. 'It was over between me and Owen a long, long time ago. You must believe that. There was never a possibility that I would be going to him.'

She ran her fingers lightly over his cheekbones, along the length of his jaw, exploring the contours of his face as though she would memorise them. 'I do love you, Mark, but I don't think love can work for you and me. My life is so different to yours. You've been used to so much wealth, your background is so different to mine—and your parents must think I'm a terrible person after what happened at their house. It would never work out between us, would it?'

He laughed. 'My parents think you're adorable,' he said. 'They even have a soft spot for Kingston, despite what he did to the flower-beds.' He kissed her, a soft, coaxing kiss that made her want to snuggle up and lose herself in him. 'We're just a normal family, you know. We may be privileged in that we have money and all the comforts that it brings, but we're ordinary human beings and we want the same things as everyone else, to be able to love and care for our own.'

He drew her to him and kissed her once more, tenderly exploring the softness of her lips. 'I want to share my life with you,' he murmured huskily. 'I don't want to go through all the uncertainty and heartache any longer. It's killing me.'

He looked into her eyes. 'Will you marry me, Sarah? Will you be my wife?'

'I will,' she whispered. She pulled in a long, shaky breath. 'I'll love you for ever.'

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, making her senses swirl and driving every thought from her head. 'You've just made me the happiest man on earth,' he said huskily. He smiled. 'I think a summer wedding would be good, don't you? Shall we say around two months from now?'

'That sounds good to me,' she murmured, her body meshing with his, her soft lips parting for his kiss.