So now she knew why he had wanted to die, why he had had no fight. She smoothed the bitterness away from his face. 'I didn't come to you because I didn't know you were ill,' she told him. 'Nothing would have kept me away if I'd known.'
'But you------'
She shook her head. 'I didn't know, Rafe, please believe that. You believed Celia had written to me, but she hadn't. She admitted to me last Sunday that she hadn't written because she didn't think I had a right to know.'
He gave a harsh laugh. 'Didn't think you had the right! She knew I loved you, that I wanted you beside me, and she denied me the peace of mind she knew you could give me.’
‘She did what she thought best.' In this moment of her own happiness Hazel could afford to be generous.
'Best for whom? Certainly not for me. All this rime I've believed you turned your back on me when I most needed you, and yet you didn't even know. I must have come as something of a shock to you. God, I could strangle Celia for what she's done to us!'
'You didn't come as a shock to me,' she assured him. 'Your scars have never bothered me, you just thought they did. I really did feel shy that night we were down here—blowing out the candle had nothing to do- with hiding your scars. I wanted to be with you but it had been so long, I felt embarrassed.'
He gave a throaty chuckle. 'You didn't feel embarrassed just now, you were shameless.'
Hazel blushed. 'That was because I knew you loved me. Stop teasing me!'
He held her tightly against him. 'You're adorable,' he whispered.
'Rafe,' she asked suddenly, 'what does Janine Clarke mean to you?'
'Jealous, my love?' He looked surprised.
'Yes.'
'You have no need to be. Janine has been a very good friend to me this last year, but that's all she has been.'
'You—you seemed so close. She even telephoned you just now.'
'Was that why you walked out?'
She nodded. 'I couldn't stay and listen to you arranging to meet her again.’
'We weren't arranging to meet. Janine's gone away for a few days, she wanted to know if the surprise dinner party had been a success.'
'But you seem to think such a lot of her, and you did go to her that night you sat up with me. I saw you entering the house the next morning, remember? And you did tell me she'd seen your scars—all of them,' she added accusingly.
'Firstly, I was not coming from Janine's that morning. I'd been here for a couple of hours. I've spent a lot of time here since you went to America, living over our night together'until I almost went insane.'
So that was-the reason the cabin was so habitable! 'And the scars?'
He smiled teasingly. 'You really are jealous, aren't you? Janine saw the scars when I was in hospital. Once the first healing had begun the injuries had to be exposed to the air. I hardly had any clothes on most of the time.'
'I don't like the sound of that,' she pouted. 'All those nurses fussing over you!'
'I wasn't exactly in any condition to make a pass at them.'
'With your prowess I would have thought you capable of making a pass at any time.'
'I think you deserve punishment for that.' He proceeded to exact a very satisfying punishment on her, one that took several minutes. 'You can be very sure of me, Hazel. It only needed that cable from you to throw my ordered existence into a turmoil. I went to pieces for a few days, that's why there was such a build-up of work when you arrived. I visited Janine so often because she's known from the first how I felt about you, she was the only person I could talk to about you.'
'You told her about me?'
'Only that I loved you. That's all she needed to know.'
'I saw you kiss her—at least, her hand,' she told him.
Rafe nodded. 'By the pool. It was just a gesture. She's a very good listener. She'd just been hearing once again how much I loved you.'
'You mean I fell over that lounger for nothing?' she demanded.
He laughed at her outrage. 'If that was the reason you did it, yes.'
She snuggled against him. 'I'm glad you didn't have an affair with her. I like her.'
'Good. She's a nice person.’ He moved so that .he was bending over her. 'Now let's not talk about anyone else, let's just concentrate on us. Where would you like to go for your honeymoon?'
'Here?'
'Here? But it's------'
'Just perfect. Oh, please, Rafe! We could be completely alone here, we could swim, sunbathe, make love,’ her voice deepened on the last. 'Make love most of all.'
‘You make it sound very tempting,' he murmured against her throat.
‘Oh, it will be,' she held her mouth up invitingly. 'And it starts right now.'
'Show me.'
'I intend to.'