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‘Yes, but not my old place—why should you two have to move? I’ll move down here and we’ll get a new place. A home of our own.’
‘You’re leaving Silvertrees?’
She should be more circumspect but she couldn’t stop a tiny balloon of elation floating up inside her, lifting some of the darkest fears about this recent rejection episode.
‘You said to me a month ago that this is where you love to be.’ Max nodded. ‘Your family is here, you and Imogen have ties here. I don’t have ties up there. It’s just a job. I can find a job anywhere. So we find a house you love near your brother and Annie, and we start a new life together as a proper family.’
‘But you still intend that I should give up my career?’
‘Actually, no. Sally told me about a centre she visits down here, with a whole new set of kids just desperate for someone like you to believe in them, fight for them. I spoke to one of the board members on the drive down. We need a proper meeting to hammer out the details but they’ve been hoping to approach you for quite a while. They also know of me by reputation and would be more than happy to welcome me as their new go-to paediatric plastic surgeon.’
‘Working together?’ She couldn’t seem to process what he was telling her.
‘Side by side, whenever you needed me.’
It all sounded too good to be true. And yet it was true. Max was here, and he was offering all she’d ever wanted. And more.
‘You would do that for me? For Imogen?’
‘I would. And for me. I realised that I don’t give half as much back as you do, and it’s time I started.’
‘You’ve got it all figured out, haven’t you?’ Evie marvelled.
‘Pretty much. There’s just one thing left.’
She didn’t realise what he was doing until she felt the cool metal sliding over her finger. The ring was stunning, a classic grain-cut solitaire diamond ring set in a platinum band with alternate diamonds and rubies set into each shoulder.
‘I never make promises I can’t keep. So believe me when I promise I’ll love you until the day I die. Marry me, Evie?’
Looking up into his face, she realised how real it was. No more secrets, No more lies. Just the promise of love and support and a future with the man she loved.
A long, long future. She was determined of that.
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‘Yes,’ she whispered with a throaty chuckle, unable to resist teasing him. ‘And I promise to love you until the day you die, too.’
‘Minx.’ He grinned against her lips as he slid his hands into her hair to draw her into an intense, toe-curling kiss.
EPILOGUE
‘NICE MEDAL. SNAP!’ Max teased as Evie ran towards him, brandishing her newest necklace and with her space blanket billowing out behind her like a cape.
‘His and hers?’ She arched her eyebrows in amusement.
‘Quite.’ He laughed. ‘You looked fantastic coming over that finishing line, by the way.’
‘Thanks, I was just glad the whole thing was over. I don’t think I could have raced another metre. But this finishers’ medal makes it all worthwhile, even if I am somewhere around five hundredth according to the race officials.’
‘Yeah, well, never mind the four hundred and ninety-nine. How many of them are former transplant recipients?’ Max snorted dismissively. He was immensely proud of his wife and, judging by the beam on her face, she felt just as proud of herself. ‘Besides, I heard that over one thousand competitors started this year, so you’ve beaten over half of them.’
‘True,’ chuckled Evie. ‘So, I got Annie’s right kidney round a half-mile swim, a seventeen-mile bike ride and a five-mile run in one hour and fifty-nine minutes. How’s her left kidney doing?’
‘This is your first triathlon, ever, and still you’re so damn competitive.’ He dropped a kiss on her nose.
‘Mmm-hmm. It’s also my transplant’s five-year anniversary, with no rejection episodes since that initial blip.’ She snuggled against his chest before pulling her head back excitedly. ‘I’m feeling incredible. So, about Annie’s other kidney?’
‘I actually don’t know, sorry,’ he relented. ‘I haven’t seen your brother since the last changeover points where he was waiting for Annie, but I think he said she was about fifteen minutes behind you at that point, and you know you’re a faster runner than she is.’
