Kissing Maggie Silver (24 page)

When they finally broke away Maggie’s mouth was plump and moist with desire.
Ruairi’s clear hazel eyes darkened to the color of peat as he gazed down at her. Then he smiled.

“I’ll take that as a yes then,” he said.

* * *

It was almost dark when they reached the cottage and Maggie was the first one to notice there were no lights on. Anxiously she turned to Ruairi.

“Your mother would normally have switched on the kitchen light by now, and pulled the curtains in the sitting room. Do you think she’s all right?”

“She’s probably having a nap or watching the television or something,” he told her, but nevertheless he lengthened his stride
until Maggie had to run to keep up with him.

When they pushed open the kitchen door all was silent.
Worried more than she cared to say, Maggie switched on the light.

“Where do you think she is?” she asked Ruairi, her voice shaking slightly.

But he was already unfolding a note that was propped against the kettle. Maggie watched his face as he scanned it, sure something was dreadfully wrong, and so she was startled when he started to laugh in big, hearty guffaws that rang across the cozy kitchen. Then he thrust the note at her.

Maggie stared at it in disbelief. It was short and very much to the point.

Gone to Italy.
Back in 10 days.

Love to you both xx

P.S. Casserole in oven just needs reheating.

When Ruairi had finally stopped chuckling he gathered Maggie into his arms. “Things have certainly changed around here while I’ve been away. My Mother now surfs the internet and organizes foreign holidays without any help from me, and I have a fiancée who is a children’s author and illustrator. What happened?”

“We both grew up and learned to be brave,” Maggie told him with a smile.
Then she gave a cry of indignation.

“Whatever is the matter now?” Ruairi pulled her hands away from her face, concern deep in his eyes.

“Now I’m not going travelling on my own anymore, no-one in my family will ever believe I’ve grown up enough to run my own life. They will always see me as tag-along Maggie, with you looking after me the same as you did when I was small.”

“No they won’t,” he said.
“Besides I can think of a lot of things you can do to prove you are very grown up indeed.”

And when Maggie looked up at him, her eyes full of questions, he bent down and whispered in her ear.
Then he laughed at the blush that suffused her face, swung her up into his arms, and headed towards the stairs.

Epilogue

“Come on. There are far more important things to do than unpack,” Ruairi pulled Maggie away from her suitcase and propelled her towards the open door.

She started to protest. Then she saw the expression in his eyes and decided against it.
Whatever Ruairi wanted to do, it was obviously very important to him. She put her hand into his and followed him outside.

He led her away from the square cabin with the tin roof that was to be their home for the next six months, and on down a sandy path to the sea.
When they stepped onto the beach she gazed about her with delight. The bright moon revealed a wide stretch of silver sand with a backdrop of tufted dunes. Dunes that she knew hid the burrows of the tiny blue penguins Ruairi was filming for his documentary: the penguins who were also going to feature in her next book.

She was filled with a huge sense of excitement as she thought about
the three-book contract she’d signed with her publisher a few days before travelling to New Zealand.

“I can hardly bear to wait until tomorrow,” she told him.
“There is so much I want to see, and do. So many things I want to draw.”

He smiled down at her.
“There’s plenty of time for all of that. Don’t rush into tomorrow when there is still the best of today.”

Then he pulled her down beside him and made her lie back on the sand.
She stared up at him, her eyes and hair striped silver by the moonlight, her lips slightly parted. She was used to Ruairi now and she welcomed his sudden passions, his lack of convention. She was so secure in his love that she knew she would be able to cope when he had to go away, and she was so full of love for him that she was prepared to follow him to the ends of the earth if necessary.

He kissed her slowly and thoroughly and then, to her surprise, he rolled away from her.
“Now look up,” he said.

She t
ilted her head so she could gaze up at the southern sky, and when she saw the huge nebula of the Milky Way surrounded by the glitter of millions and trillions of stars, unexpected tears trickled down her cheeks.

“It’s so beautiful Ruairi. It looks like it might have looked when earth was dawning,” she told him.

Hearing her echo his own unspoken thoughts he felt an immense sense of gratitude. Marrying Maggie had made him whole. She was his other half; the part of him he hadn’t realized was missing until it was almost too late. He leaned across and kissed away her tears. And after that they lay there for a long, long time, fingers and hearts entwined.

The E
nd

About the Author

Born and brought up in the south of England, Sheila has lived and worked in the UK all her life. She had several books published in the 1980s, but then a busy job and family life got in the way and she stopped writing fiction for more than 20 years. Now that she has time to write again she identifies with the author Ray Bradbury, who said, ‘First, find out what your hero wants. Then just follow him.’ Plot, Chapter outlines, characterization; she knows all the rules and faithfully follows them each time she starts to write a new book…then her hero takes over...

Lucky enough to have done a lot of travelling she also frequently sets her stories in exotic places so, as her website says, reading her books is a ‘ticket to romance.’

Sheila’s earlier books were published under the pseudonym Anne Beverley. Now she is considerably older and no long shy, she writes under her own name. She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted on her website at
http://sheilaclaydon.com
where all her books are listed, and where she also writes a blog.

Also by Sheila Claydon from Books We Love:

Cabin Fever

Reluctant Date

Double Fault

Pathway to Tomorrow (Book 1 of a Trilogy)

Books We Love Special
Edition – Sheila Claydon (a trio of Sheila’s books)

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the Publisher 

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