The Australian's Bride. Alison Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ not going. He’s stuck here for days and days. He’s really cross.’

      ‘He’s worried about his patients back in Sydney, that’s all.’

      ‘He’s always worried about his stupid patients.’ Stella’s head hung as she picked at a small stain on her T-shirt. ‘He never worries about me.’

      ‘Not true,’ Susie repeated. She gave Stella a gentle nudge. ‘He was really worried the other night when you shut yourself in the bathroom.’

      ‘He didn’t even want to talk to me before.’ Stella’s voice was a low mutter that Susie had to strain to hear over the noise of the children around them. ‘He’s been on his phone all morning.’

      ‘So he’s probably finished making all the arrangements he needs to for not getting home on time. I bet he’d love to spend the afternoon just with you.’

      Stella shook her head. ‘He didn’t even look at me before. Not really. I was just being a nuisance and I don’t want to go back to the cabin.’

      ‘Hmm.’ Susie remembered the way Alex had dismissed her as a nuisance on that first meeting. How small and insignificant it had made her feel. ‘What if I thought of a way that would make him really notice you?’

      Stella’s suspicious glance was hardly a surprise. It had been Susie’s idea that she dress up in her new clothes to impress her father when he arrived, and look how that had backfired. But this idea was much better. Susie leaned over to whisper in Stella’s ear.

      The girl shook her head again. ‘I can’t do that.’

      ‘You could,’ Susie encouraged. ‘I know you could.’

      Stella thought about it for a minute. Then she sighed in acquiescence. ‘Will you come with me? In case I can’t?’

      ‘Sure.’ Susie was smiling, already anticipating results. ‘Let’s go, Star.’

      Alex was still on the cabin veranda. An open laptop sat on the table in front of him and he was talking on his mobile phone, his gaze sightlessly encompassing the broad, gently sloping track that led towards the camp complex.

      Susie stayed near a large tree at the bottom of the slope but she was only half-hidden. She needed to watch to make sure Stella didn’t get into difficulties and lose her confidence as she walked—without her crutches— towards her father.

      The moment Alex became aware of what he was seeing was obvious. He became very, very still. The conversation he was having was abruptly terminated, the phone slowly put down and abandoned. Alex sat, riveted by what he was watching. Poised to rush in and offer assistance if necessary but holding back—willing the miracle to continue.

      Which was exactly how Susie was feeling. The grip on Stella’s crutches became loose as her palms got sweaty. The tight feeling in her chest was what reminded Susie to breathe. From either end she and Alex were walking every slow, measured step right along with Stella.

      Susie could see the limp but she could also see every correction for balance.

      ‘Go, Star,’ she murmured aloud. ‘You can do it.’

      She could feel the tension in Stella’s body as she concentrated hard on her task. Being a gentle uphill slope was helping. It would have been much harder going downhill. But there were steps at the end of her journey to get to the veranda. They had only practised steps once. Would Stella risk undermining her triumph by attempting something that could be too difficult?

      Stella’s face was hidden but, from behind, the angle of the girl’s head suggested that her gaze was firmly on her father. She certainly had his undivided attention. He was half standing now, and even from this distance Susie could see the play of emotion on his face.

      Amazement.

      Pride.

      Love.

      It was impossible to swallow past the lump in her throat as Susie watched Stella reach the steps and barely hesitate. The grip on the handrail was tight but only one- sided. Would Stella remember which foot to lift first? Could she transfer her weight and lift her prosthesis and then position it well enough to transfer her balance?

      Yes.

      One slow step. And then another. It took for ever to get to the top but Alex, bless him, didn’t step forward to offer help and break the spell. He stood, his face raw with emotion, his arms held wide to welcome his daughter.

      Susie could barely see the embrace through her tears. She turned away to give them a few moments’ privacy then she followed the route Stella had taken. Her reasoning for intruding was that Stella would need her crutches back, but the reality was that she wanted to share the moment.

      More than that. She may be drawn to these two people for very different reasons but the pull from both father and daughter was way too powerful to resist.

      It didn’t seem like an intrusion once she reached the veranda.

      ‘I did it, Susie! I did it!’ Stella pulled herself from her father’s arms to hug Susie.

      ‘I knew you could.’ Susie returned the fierce hug and this time she didn’t bother to try and blink back her tears. A big fat one trickled past her nose. ‘I’m so proud of you, hon.’

      As proud as her father was?

      Susie glanced up to share the pride and was unsurprised to see an identical tear to her own rolling down Alex’s cheek. He seemed oblivious, reaching out to touch Stella’s back as she hugged Susie. Connecting the three of them, his gaze still on his daughter.

      On Susie.

      And that was when she fell completely into the moment. Into an equal share of what felt like a victory. The first steps—literally—into a future that was, finally, full of hope.

      In a flash of insight Susie could feel everything Alex had been through in the last couple of years. The pain and despair. She could feel the power of the love this man had for his child. The need to protect, the pain of not being able to shield her from suffering and the fierce determination to make things as good as they could possibly be from now on.

      A tiny moment of time in her life. Just one of millions of heartbeats, but it was enough.

      Enough for Susie to know that she loved this man. That the strength of how he felt about his daughter was mirrored by how she could feel about him.

      No, not ‘could’.

      Did.

      It was true. You could fall in love with the speed of a lightning bolt and you could know, with absolute certainty, that this was it. That this person was the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.

      Did Alex feel any of this? Was it possible to feel such a connection if each side wasn’t completely in tune with the other?

      This wasn’t the time to seek an answer. This was Stella’s moment, but if even a part of the love she could СКАЧАТЬ