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‘Does Anya like the tent?’
Something about the way he looked around gave Raina an inkling that he might have had a hand in all this. ‘Did you do this, Alistair?’
‘Um...yes. I did.’ Suddenly he puffed out a breath. ‘I wanted to do something for Anya so I took the liberty of asking Gabriel for his help...’
She’d get to Gabriel later. He and Clara had clearly been in on a subterfuge and she’d let them know that she knew. But remembering the delight on Anya’s face when she’d seen the tent, she couldn’t find it in her heart to blame them for it.
But she had questions. Important ones.
‘You did all of it?’
‘Not quite. Clara iced the cake, because I made a complete mess of it.’ He pointed to the cake, which had pink sparkly frosting and an icing-sugar castle on it. ‘She came with me to check the unicorn out as well.’
‘Wait... Alistair, are you telling me you made a cake?’ That would be a first. ‘I thought you were at a conference in Scotland this week.’
He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. ‘We sent someone else, and I took the week off. And, yes, unlikely as it might seem, I made a cake.’
It was make or break time. Raina could either send him away now or she could ask.
Asking probably wouldn’t do any good. It would only break her heart again. But if there was a one in a million chance, Raina knew that she had no option but to take it. Before she had a chance to think about it any more, she found herself walking towards him.
‘Why did you do all this, Alistair?’
‘You told me that I could be whoever I wanted to be. That it was my choice, and I had to own it.’ He grinned suddenly. ‘This is who I want to be.’
Raina felt herself begin to tremble. ‘Couldn’t you just have said so?’
He shook his head. ‘No, I don’t think that would have been enough. I had to prove that I could do it. To myself and then to you.’
A lump formed in her throat. Raina was so used to thinking of Alistair as everything she wanted and couldn’t have. But if he could change, then she could too.
‘It’s beautiful, Alistair. And doing it all yourself...’ Tears formed in her eyes. ‘No one could have done any better than this. If you ever had to prove yourself to me, you’ve done it.’
* * *
He had proved himself. A week of hard work wasn’t all that unusual, but getting to grips with what would delight a four-year-old had been more puzzling. Clara had finally brushed away his questions, reminding him that he’d been a child once, and telling him to just get in contact with that much-neglected part of his psyche.
It had hurt, a lot more than he’d expected. Making the cake had been simpler than he’d thought, just a matter of buying the ingredients and following the recipe carefully. But he’d sat in the kitchen, inspecting its progress through the glass door of the oven, and tears had rolled down his face. His father would never have considered that the cost of time, instead of money, was a reasonable bargain.
‘It’s been an interesting week. And, yes, I did prove it to myself.’ He’d left a part of himself behind as well. The part that was bound by his own childhood. And as he’d turned away from that, he’d seen a future that was lit by all the possibilities he’d thought were lost to him.
‘Thank you, Alistair. It’s perfect.’
‘There’s something else, Raina.’
‘Yes, I’ve heard all about the unicorn...’
‘No, not the unicorn. I love you and I know you love me.’
She flushed suddenly, staring at him. For a moment Alistair wondered if he’d been wrong and had built a castle out of sand, but something in her eyes told him that he was right.
‘Raina, you told Gabriel that you hated me. I know you, you don’t hate anyone. You’d only say that if someone you loved hurt you. And I know that I did hurt you, very badly.’
‘Yes...you did.’
‘I’m sorry for that, Raina. And I know I’ll have to work to win you back, but I love you. I’ve always loved you, and that’s never going to change.’
Tears welled in her eyes, and Alistair saw all the pain. And all the love. Suddenly Raina threw her arms around his neck.
