over again—only this time she is the one doing the walking away.’
‘Of course she is,’ Molly replied in a totally matter-of-fact voice as she strolled onto the balcony. ‘You can tell me not to interfere, but from what I’ve seen Kate loves you. She knows that she can’t make a life with you without impacting your work as the new King or her family back in England. She’s scared, Simon. Scared of losing you but also scared of what staying would mean.’
Then Molly smiled and added in a low voice, ‘Every King needs his Queen. It’s time to put all that expensive education to good use and come up with a plan. And it had better be a good one.’
Simon smiled back with a self-dismissive snort, then paused and nodded sharply towards Molly. ‘You’re right. It is time to get creative. And I have an idea. It’s going to take a lot of work, and I am going to need your help to see it through.’ And then he hit Molly with one of his killer smiles. ‘This conference is not over yet.’
CHAPTER NINE
COMPARED to the green and lush world where she had spent the last two days, visiting dedicated and under-resourced project volunteers, the hard surfaces of the airport seemed a cold and unwelcome place.
Passengers of all shapes and sizes were shoving and pushing their way forward, trying to find the correct check-in desk for their flight or meeting up with friends and family.
She had never felt so startlingly bereft and alone.
The lights were too bright, and the clattering sounds of people and equipment and aircraft seemed deafening inside her head, creating a whirlwind of crashing sound.
She perched on the very end of a hard metal mesh bench, already crowded with several families and their assorted luggage, and hugged her precious suitcase even closer while she waited for her check-in desk to open. She was late, and the gate was later. But she had left it right until the very last minute before leaving for the airport. Hoping against hope that Simon would call her on her cell phone.
But he had not called. Why should he? She had made it clear that she did not see any future with him in Africa, and this was where his heart was now—not the rolling chalk hills of cold and green Hampshire, England.
Simon was gone. She had pushed him away with logic and common sense and practicalities. All because she had been too cowardly to fight against convention and persuade Simon and the wonderful, generous people she had met over the past few days that she and her family could have a new home here.
That had been a few short days ago—but not any more.
Ghana had worked its magic on her.
As she’d tossed and turned in the stifling hot village accommodation she had been offered so generously by the project team, her mind had constantly come back time and again to Simon’s challenge.
Perhaps Simon was right and this was a place where she could create a new life?
The more she thought about it, the more options seemed to spring up. Molly had emailed her details of the latest communication software the company were rolling out to the field operations and it was certainly impressive. The more she considered what her life would be like in the next five years, the more she wondered if living and working with Simon in Ghana could become a reality. Could she work part-time in Ghana and England? Andy had managed it for years. But could her family cope with that?
A single telephone call had been all that was needed. It had lasted hours, and probably cost the company more than she wanted to think about, but at the end of it both Tom and Gemma had agreed that her happiness was all they wanted. Gemma would love her to be home now and again, but she had always adored Simon, and any chance of a trip to Africa was a brilliant bonus—especially now that he was going to be a king.
She had never loved her family more.
To say that Andy had been thrilled that she wanted to apply for his job would be the understatement of the year! In fact she’d had to rein him back and talk job-share and part-time. But that was next week’s problem.
Anything to stop her heart melting at the memory of Simon’s tender kisses.
Simon had always been her prince, and now he was going to be a real king, with his