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She stared at him in amazement and shock. ‘You’ve sold your business?’ David Ellington was a mogul billionaire.
‘Lock, stock and barrel,’ he said cheerfully, taking a gulp of wine. ‘I should have been with you the day of the accident instead of chasing my tail over some damn crisis or other. It was a wake-up call—a terrifying one. I vowed the night of the accident that if you pulled through I’d reassess what was important in my life. So I did. It didn’t take much thought.’
Melody was horrified. His empire was hard-won. He had built it up brick by brick and she knew he was immensely proud of what he had achieved. ‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ she whispered. ‘Can’t you change your mind?’
‘Too late.’ He smiled at her. ‘And it’s exactly what I should have done. You confirmed that yourself yesterday. You told me you needed to make a new life, separate from the hectic entertainment business we’ve been involved in, something that would cut out the excess of parties and other functions that took up so much of our ti
me. Independently of you I had come to the same conclusion. It would have happened sooner or later once we’d decided to start a family. The accident merely precipitated things. You were right when you said there were too many people wanting a piece of me, but wrong when you thought you were just one of them. That was never true, however you felt. I didn’t feel it was the moment to tell you I’d sold up yesterday—there were other things to sort out first. But when I said to you I could give it all up and walk away without a backward glance or any regret, it was because I had done exactly that. My world was never the business or the contacts I’d made or the power games. Not after I had met you. You are my world, Dee. We’ve spoken about a family but if the children didn’t come along for whatever reason I would still consider myself blessed among men. You’re my sun, moon and stars. The centre of my universe.’
He touched her stricken face gently, stroking down her cheek and round her full lips with the tip of his finger. ‘I’m glad it’s gone, Dee. Truly. It was a stage of my life which was enjoyable while it happened, but I want to move on with you. It’s also made us a great deal of money,’ he added with male satisfaction. ‘More than enough for us to do anything we want for the rest of our lives.’
She could still hardly take it in that he had actually walked away from his empire. But if he had told her instead that he intended to sell she would have thought he didn’t mean it, she realised now. Was that why he’d made it a fait accompli? She would have felt guilty, felt he was only doing it for her, and would have attempted to persuade him they could go on as they had been. Maybe he knew her better than she knew herself? On second thought there was no maybe about it.
‘Thank you,’ she murmured softly.
Suddenly she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted. No more premières and red carpets and first-night parties. No more relentless rounds of functions and shows and receptions where you couldn’t wear the same dress twice or the knives would be out—always in the back. Of course some of the social occasions they’d attended had been fun, and overall she had enjoyed herself and relished being on Zeke’s arm as his wife, but the accident had changed something independent of the damage to her legs, and she wouldn’t have wanted to step onto the merry-go-round again. And now she didn’t have to. But at a huge cost to Zeke.
‘What will you do?’ she asked him tremulously, not knowing if she wanted to laugh or cry. He wasn’t the kind of man who could sit and do nothing.
‘Again, let me qualify,’ he said, settling her more comfortably in the circle of his arms. ‘This all has to fit in with what I see as my main job of being a husband and father, okay?’ He waited for her nod before continuing, ‘I have a couple of ideas, and they could run alongside the treatment programme your doctors and I have worked out, which will take one day out of the week every week for some time but could result in practically full mobility after six months or so, and excellent long-term prospects. There’s a Swiss doctor I’ve got on board who specialises in your sort of injuries—there’s no one to beat him, not even in the States—and he’s confident you’ll be walking normally by this time next year.’
She half lifted herself on one elbow and kissed him with single-minded intensity and sweetness. Just knowing he was ready to stand and fight with her was everything, and whether she regained all she’d lost didn’t matter so much now.
Zeke lifted strands of her hair and twined them round his fingers as he kissed her back just as strongly, and then he dropped a kiss on the end of her nose as he drew back a little. ‘First idea,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘We look for suitable premises and open a drama school for under-privileged youngsters. It would be the real McCoy, for kids from nine or ten upwards, so we’d need to employ teachers for the normal subjects as well as those specialising in drama and dance and so on. It could be a boarding school for those who wanted it, and a home 365 days of the year for others who need it. Children who have been kicked from pillar to post, kids in the care system or in dysfunctional homes. They’d all have to have a leaning towards acting or singing or dancing, but once they were with us they’d be there until they chose to leave. And the home part of the place would be exactly that—not an institution. A place of security and unconditional support.’
The sort of place he would have longed for as a confused and troubled boy, Melody thought, her understanding causing her to swallow the lump in her throat. Oh, Zeke, Zeke.
‘Of course you’d be in charge of the drama side—the hiring of staff and so on—and I thought you might want to be hands-on teaching dance? We’d need an establishment with plenty of grounds for a swimming pool, tennis court and so on, and a house separate from the school for us would be essential. I’ve no real idea of the mechanics of it all, but I know people who could make it happen as long as the funding was in place.’
‘And we could afford to do that?’ she asked softly.
Zeke smiled. ‘Several times over, sweetheart.’ He guided her glass of wine to her lips and took a sip of his own before he went on, ‘There are other options, of course. You might like to travel for a year or two once your treatment is over—a world tour, staying over for as long as you like if a particular place takes your fancy. Or we could run our own theatre? Something in that line? Or you could run a traditional dancing establishment?’
Melody came straight back to the idea that had fired her imagination. ‘This drama school—wouldn’t it be a huge undertaking to do it properly?’
‘Massive,’ he agreed. ‘The dance side would involve performance, choreography, management and dance theatre, including the history of dance and related arts, aesthetics and critical studies, production, music accompaniment and composition, and that’s without the drama side. Acting, directing, technical aspects, backstage crafts and writing for the stage would all be necessary, along with practical theatre.’
He paused for breath and Melody stared at him in wonder. ‘You’ve really looked into this, haven’t you?’
Zeke nodded. ‘It would be a total life change, Dee. But one which would fit with family life if it was done properly. We would afford to get the best folk for the children on board, people of like mind, and I thought—’ He stopped abruptly and she saw a muscle clench in his square jaw.
‘You thought?’ she pressed quietly.
‘We could make a difference. Not to every child, perhaps—I am a realist—but for the ones we give direction and purpose to it would be worth it. But it’s only an idea.’
She buried her face in his neck for a moment, overwhelmed at the turn their lives had taken. This was perfect, so utterly perfect. And only Zeke could have thought of it.
‘Dee?’ His voice carried a note of anxiety. ‘You don’t have to say anything until you’ve thought about it. It’s a big deal—’
She stopped him by winding her arms around his middle as she lifted her face to his. ‘I love you, I love you,’ she said, over and over again so he would know. ‘And I can’t think of anything better. Think of it, Zeke. Children who have nothing, given a foundation and a pride in the gift they have. Do you really think we can do it? Provide them with a home and hope?’
‘Of course.’ The words were pronounced emphatically, a declaration, and she knew in that moment he would make it happen.
She reached up and placed her mouth on his. It wasn’t often she made the first move, and his reaction was immediate and fierce as he crushed her into him, kissing her with a hunger that touched her to the core. He kissed her for a long time as they murmured incoherent words of love, drawing strength from each other. ‘I can do anything with you by my side, but without you I’m nothing,’ he muttered desperately. ‘Never leave me like you did this morning—without a word, a goodbye. I thought I’d lost you. I need you, sweetheart. You’ve got no idea how much.’
‘I think I have, because I need you every bit as much,’ she whispered brokenly. ‘I’ve been so miserable. Not because of the accident and knowing I’d never dance again, but because I thought I had to let you go. You’re my world, my existence.’
He gave a choked laugh. ‘So we’ve both been tearing ourselves apart because we love each other?’
