Page 72 of The Midwife's Marriage Proposal (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 3)

And that was her fault, of course.

She’d rejected him repeatedly. What reason had she ever given him to believe that he could change her mind?

Realizing with a lurch of horror and embarrassment that everyone in the room was suddenly staring at her, she gave a start and glanced towards Tom, wondering what he’d said to make all eyes suddenly settle on hers with speculation.

His blue eyes gleamed with amusement. ‘As I was saying,’ he continued smoothly, ‘one of my duties as best man is to formally thank the bridesmaids and tell them that they look beautiful. So I’ll start with my sister. Bryony. You look great. Even if you can’t walk in the shoes.’

There was a ripple of laughter around the room and then his gaze focused on Sally.

The silence stretched on and on until gradually the people in the room started to look at each other with puzzled expressions, wondering what was happening.

When he finally spoke, his voice was for everyone but his eyes were only for her.

‘And now I want to tell you something about Sally, apart from the fact that she looks great in her dress. Most of you probably know that I ended my relationship with Sally seven years ago.’ His voice was slightly hoarse and he cleared his throat, totally indifferent to the sudden rapt attention of everyone in the room. ‘What you probably don’t know is that I’ve regretted it every day since. I thought she was too young to settle down. I was wrong. I thought that she needed space. I was wrong. I thought that I knew better than she did what she needed, and I was wrong about that, too.’

There was total silence in the room and Sally felt a few eyes turn in her direction but her own gaze was still locked on Tom’s.

An odd smile played around his firm mouth. ‘I was wrong about a lot of things. But most of all I was wrong about how much she meant to me. By the time I discovered that she meant everything, it was too late because I’d already damaged our relationship. Perhaps beyond repair.’ He took a deep breath and finally dragged his gaze away from Sally and looked at his audience. ‘You’re probably asking yourselves why I’m admitting this in public. I’m going to tell you why. This is a small community and every time Sally and I look at each other someone decides that we should be back together. So I’m doing this in public, once and for all, so that everyone can know what the score is.’

Sally’s heart was thumping so hard that she thought she might pass out.

His blue eyes were warm on hers. ‘Sally—it’s traditional for the best man to give the bridesmaid a gift. Will you come here, please?’

Her legs shaking, she somehow got to her feet and managed to walk the few paces towards him.

He held out a tiny box.

‘This is my gift to you, Sally.’ He spoke clearly, so that everyone in the room could hear what he was saying. ‘I love you. I will always love you and while there is still breath in my body I will always be here for you. I want you to marry me. And I’m asking you in public whether our relationship is beyond repair. Last time I made the decision for both of us and I was wrong. Now I’m asking you to make the decision for yourself. Will you marry me?’

Her hands were shaking so much that she couldn’t open the box. He took it gently from her and flipped open the lid with a finger.

A gorgeous emerald, the exact colour of her dress, gleamed in a diamond setting and she gasped.

‘Oh, Tom!’

He stepped closer still, lowered his voice, and this time his words were only for her. ‘I love you, angel, with all my heart. Marry me and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that you can trust me.’

He lifted the ring out of its box and there was an agonized silence while everyone looked at Sally expectantly.

The hush in the room was almost deafening.

‘I love you, too.’ Her voice was little more than a whisper but he caught the words and a satisfied smile spread across his handsome face.

‘In that case, Sally soon-to-be-Hunter, you’d better wear that ring.’

As soon as they saw him sliding the ring onto her finger, there were loud cheers and catcalls and shrieks of, ‘You may kiss the bridesmaid.’

Tom did as he was ordered and Sally melted against h

im, feeling his mouth on hers.

Then she remembered where she was and pulled away, glancing around self-consciously.

‘This is Oliver and Helen’s wedding.’

Helen was by her side, clutching her arm in delight and excitement. ‘Oh, don’t apologize! That was the nicest wedding speech I’ve ever heard,’ she said dreamily, mopping the tears from her eyes, ‘and absolutely no one has fallen asleep.’

‘It suited me, too,’ Oliver muttered, reaching for his champagne. ‘Better than all those dull stories about my drunken student days.’

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