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‘Carrie…’ He raised himself up and put a hand to her neck and pressed his forehead to hers. ‘You must not blame yourself. None of what happened to her is your fault. You have put your life on hold to raise her and to save her. She is nineteen now, yes? The same age you were when you became her guardian. You have given her all the support and help you can, you have avenged her against the monster who first steered her on this awful path. You can do no more. I heard you say to Violet that she has to forgive herself. You must do the same and forgive yourself too.’ Kissing her forehead, he moved back and rubbed his thumbs under her eyes.
The motion made her remember the make-up she must have ruined with all her tears and she let out a cry. ‘Your cousin’s wedding!’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘It does. We need to go.’
His brow furrowed and he stared intently into her eyes. ‘Do you feel able to? I can make an excuse if you would rather stay.’
‘No. They are expecting us.’ She blew a long breath out and gave a wobbly smile. ‘We have a wedding announcement of our own to make. You would look very strange doing it without your fiancée by your side.’
‘Are you sure?’
How could she be anything but sure? She would do whatever was needed to kill the whispers against Andreas’s business and his reputation. That was a mess of her making, no one else’s.
Andreas was a good man who had put his life on hold for his family, just as she had for her family. A good, generous man who didn’t deserve to have his reputation smeared by rumours and innuendoes. He deserved to spend the rest of his life living it with the freedom he’d had denied him for so long, and in six months he would be able to do just that. He could hop from country to country as he pleased, for work and pleasure, however he saw fit. He could drink Scotch in a palm-lined bar until the sun came up, he could bed all the women he wanted without worrying about being a bad influence on an impressionable teenager…
A hot red pain pulsed in the centre of her brain at this thought and she slammed her palm to her forehead.
‘Are you okay?’
She heard the concern in his voice and quickly forced a smile.
Where had that pain come from?
‘Yes, I’m fine. Just imagining how badly my face needs repairing from all those ugly tears.’
He stroked her cheek. ‘Your tears are not ugly and your face just needs a clean.’
‘Give me five minutes.’
He nodded and got to his feet before helping her to her own. Then he took her head in his hands and kissed her. It was gentle and fleeting but with so much tenderness in it that for one awful moment she thought she might cry again.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ANDREAS’S DRIVER JOINED the procession of cars lining up to enter the church’s car park. There seemed to be some issue with one of the cars—an engine failure if Andreas was to guess correctly—and nothing was moving.
He could see his parents and niece standing at the front, chatting happily with the dozens of other guests. Both his parents had many siblings so family weddings were always large, noisy affairs.
Carrie was looking out of the window at the exuberant greetings taking place too. ‘Why did you buy a holiday home in the Seychelles rather than closer to your family?’ she asked, turning to face him with a wrinkle in her forehead. ‘The way you speak of them—you clearly adore them.’
He looked down at their entwined fingers then back to her face. She’d cleaned herself up and put on only a little make-up. Her eyes were still a little red but he doubted anyone else would notice. She still looked ravishing in her long, off-the-shoulder cream silk dress with subtle blue leaf prints.
‘I wanted a bolt-hole away from them all,’ he admitted. ‘My parents only like to travel short distances. The Seychelles is too far for them.’
And he’d thought he was done with family.
Not done done, just his time for some distance whenever he wanted to escape but…
‘I was preparing myself for my freedom. I have been planning it for two years now, since Natalia told me she was going to medical school and I could see my freedom from responsibility waving a flag at me.’
His heart-rate began to accelerate, blood racing to his head, staring from Carrie to his family, his family to Carrie, Carrie to his family.
His father had just whispered something in his mother’s ear, lovingly squeezing her seventy-four-year-old waist.
Andreas thought of the longevity of their marriage, and all they had been through, all the ups and downs, all the highs and lows.
Why had he thought having the freedom to see and do whatever he liked was better than having someone he loved to share all the experiences with?
