If her tone hadn’t been so gentle, Gabriel would have worried that his mother had an agenda, but although she was a talented actress, he knew her too well for her to fool him. Aware that his grandmother wouldn’t mind him leaving them alone to muse over his recent announcement, he stood up.
‘Shall we?’ he asked.
‘That would be lovely,’ Daisy said, giving him a smile.
They walked hand in hand across the manicured lawn, past the long rose bed towards the steps where jasmine grew entwined with passionflower up over the granite wall. The delicate scent filled the air and he wondered if he could ever feel this happy again.
Daisy breathed in deeply. ‘For some reason this place reminds me of that hostel in H?i An that we stayed in briefly,’ she said. ‘I think it’s the pungent smell of these flowers.’
‘I had that feeling too,’ he admitted. The scents might be different, but being with Daisy again, on a warm evening and in love, took him back to those precioustimes where nothing else mattered.
He waited for her to go ahead of him down the steps and onto the soft sand. They kicked off their shoes and Gabriel placed them down on the sand. As they walked each stared out at the almost glass-like sea.
‘Poor Lydia.’ Daisy sighed. The sound was so heartfelt, so filled with emotion.
‘What’s the matter?’ It was extraordinary to see someone care so much for his grandmother. Usually it was only he who noticed how special she was.
‘Don’t you wonder about Lydia and Lorenzo wasting a lifetime of love by their falling out in the fifties? It’s tragic.’
He thought so too. ‘Who knows what they went through, or why neither of them tried to reconcile years ago. Maybe the hurt was too deep for her ever to forgive him properly.’ He stopped walking and held her from carrying on any further along the beach.
She turned to him, a frown on her pretty face. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I think that if nothing else you and I need to learn from Nan and Lorenzo. Nan has had a happy life, but it’s been filled with making others happy. I want us to live our lives. I don’t want to spend a second longer than I have to without you next to me.’
She smiled up at him, making words unnecessary. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his head down towards her and kissed him.
Gabriel held her tightly, losing himself in the sensation of her mouth on his. He wanted her so badly, but needed to take things slowly. He’d let her down and now he had to work hard to ensure she never had a reason to leave him again.
Something wet and cold brushed passed his leg, but he ignored it until Daisy shrieked and jumped back. He looked down to see a black Labrador shaking the sandy seawater from itscoat.
‘Carson, come here!’ shouted an angry voice. Gabriel and Daisy looked at the red-faced man carrying a tennis ball. ‘Sorry about that,’ he called to them. ‘Didn’t mean to disturb you.’
Gabriel bent down and patted the dog. ‘No problem,’ he said, wanting to reassure the man.
Daisy slipped her arm around Gabriel’s waist. ‘Lovely dog,’ she said. ‘Wet, though.’
The man laughed. ‘We’ll leave you to get on,’ he said, throwing the tennis ball in the opposite direction to distract the dog, who immediately bounded off across the beach in hot pursuit.
‘It seems we’re never going to get any privacy,’ Daisy said. ‘There’s always someone around.’
He was relieved to hear a need in her voice that matched his own. ‘Stay with me tonight,’ he said, before remembering that he was going to take things slowly. ‘We don’t have to do anything, I just want to sleep with you next to me again. I’ve missed the nights in Vietnam when we shared a bed.’
‘So have I,’ she said, looking up at him, a distinct glint in her blue eyes. ‘Although I hope you don’t have a small bed like those back then.’
‘Does that mean you will?’ he asked, barely daring to believe she’d agreed.
‘Yes,’ she said, pinching his waist lightly.
They walked a little further, each in their own thoughts. Gabriel wanted nothing more than to take her immediately back to his tower, lock the door and the rest of the world outside and lie with her in his arms. They had to return to his family first though and see how things were getting on between his mother and grandmother.
‘Won’t Lydia mind me staying overnight?’ she asked, a pink glow coming to her cheeks.
‘No. She never comes into the tower and has always respected my privacy. I’d have to rent my own place ifshe didn’t.’
Daisy considered what he’d said and seemed to relax a little. ‘We’d better go and see how they’re getting on,’ Daisy said eventually.
They arrived back at the garden, where they could see Lydia and Francesca still talking quietly. ‘They’re looking pretty civil,’ Gabriel joked, as he pushed his feet into his shoes. ‘Although they’re all actors, so they could be putting on a good show for our benefit.’
