Page 101 of The Cosy Seaside Chocolate Shop

She’d brought a pretty floral-patterned dress to put on that evening and she’d maybe have a shower – in the big shower made for two, she thought with a grin – and change into that later.

‘There’s something else.’ Max looked slightly nervous as he spoke.

‘Okay …’ She hoped it was good news. She didn’t want this gorgeous bubble to burst, not yet.

‘Follow me.’

There was a white-painted door with a small glass window inset at the far side of the room. She had spotted it earlier, but there was so much to take in with the room, she hadn’t really registered it much further. Max went first, turning the handle. The door led to a wooden-decked balcony area, right at the top of the hotel. They stepped out together. The view was stunning; they could see right across the arc of the bay and down the Northumberland coastline – the sea, the beach, the sky, the patchwork greens and golds of the summer fields.

‘Oh my!’ Em was lost for words after that. She couldn’t think of a more perfect spot. And she had Max beside her. A tear welled in her eye. Sometimes moments in life were just so beautiful they took your breath away.

She finally found her voice again and turned. ‘Max … it’s just beaut—’ Then her focus fell on the decking area itself. There was a fancy outdoor Jacuzzi, two wooden lounger chairs. She spotted an ice bucket, ready on a stand. Oh wow, he’d got a bottle of champagne organised for them. But the most jaw-dropping thing of all was that Max was no longer standing next to her. He was down on one knee, looking up at her.

He looked so gorgeous and earnest – and a little bit nervous. ‘Emma, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’

It was so perfect, the view of the bay, being here in Warkton, being here with Max. It was almost overwhelming.

Was this really happening? Never in her wildest dreams had she thought …

Max was still there, waiting for her response.

Was she ready to give up her soul once more? Was she ready to take that risk?

And the answer was there in her heart. ‘Yes.’ Her voice was loud and clear. ‘Yes!’

‘Woohoo!’ Max shouted out, then he spun her around in a whirl of love.

Later, they sat in the Jacuzzi with bubbles all around them from the whirlpool, bubbles popping in their flutes of champagne and bubbles of excitement surging within Emma. She could still hardly believe all this and yet here was Max beside her with the happiest grin.

They sipped champagne to celebrate their engagement. The ring he’d chosen was just stunning, a vivid green emerald with four tiny diamonds around it. He’d picked it to match the green of her eyes, he’d said. He thought she’d like something slightly unusual. And he was right. Luke had given her a beautiful, yet traditional, solitaire diamond ring. It was lovely to have something new and different. Something that was special to Max.

He turned to her, suddenly looking rather serious. ‘That day, when Adam told me … I had the ring with me there, ready. I hadn’t quite planned it out, but I was going to make it special for you that night. I thought with The Chocolate Shop at risk, if I asked you to marry me, you’d know at least that you’d always have my support. That I’d be there with you for the long run, whatever happened. And then …’

‘Oh Max, I’m so very sorry.’

‘That’s why I took it so hard.’

‘Oh …’ She felt so sad that she’d hurt him so much.

‘It’s okay now, honestly.’ He smiled at her, took her hand in the misty bubbles. ‘We made our way through it, Em. No more looking back. The here and now is what matters.’

‘Yes.’ And she snuggled up beside him in the warm bubbles, both looking out over the glorious view of the bay.

‘You’ve just made me the happiest man.’

She moved in to give him a very sensual kiss, full of love and silent promises never to hurt him again. To love him for him always.

Max pulled back after a lingeringly gorgeous while. ‘There’s something else, Em.’

Emma felt a tug inside. She hoped it was good news. All her life since what had happened to Luke she’d always waited for the but … the kick … the hammer blow. She couldn’t help it.

‘Now we’re engaged, we can’t go on spending all our time apart,’ Max started.

‘True.’ She began to relax a little.

‘If you’re okay with this,’ he continued, ‘I’d like to move into your place, here at The Chocolate Shop in Warkton.’

‘Really?’