hands before dropping them back to her lap.
He shook his head. ‘You did save my brother… Dominic. What you did was for the right reasons. Me, I…’
‘Did exactly the same. I know how things were for you. I didn’t ask questions because I was caught up in our romance like the silly little seventeen-year-old I was. I’m not excusing what you did. But I believe nothing happened with Keith. And, with your mother and Luc… you were desperate and vulnerable,’ she said, looking up at him.
‘I have told the police, last night. I go there. They questioned me and I told them everything. It is only a matter of time before the men are caught and the news is all over the press,’ he stated, sighing.
‘Oh, Guy. I don’t know what to say,’ she told him.
‘Say you’re not so disgusted with me that you can bear to try again. Say that you love me.’
His heart was thumping against the wall of his chest. The chink of light had grown. He saw in her eyes that she was no longer fearful of him, no longer looking at him like he was ruined for her, a shadow of the man she loved.
‘I’ve always loved you. But this… you knowing this, about Luc… it has to change things. I have to confess too. To everyone. I broke the law. A thousand times over I expect,’ she responded, her voice shaking.
He shook his head with vigour. ‘Non.’
‘Dominic asks about his father every now and then. When there are shows at school or parent teacher evenings. He’ll go quiet for a time and then he’ll ask and every time I want the ground to open and swallow me. I never give him an answer. I say something lame like it hurts too much to speak about it and I’ll tell him when he’s older. Soon that isn’t going to wash. I don’t think it’s really washing now but he hates it when I cry. He’s had Chris to distract him for so long and…’
‘And now he has me,’ he told her. He cupped her face with his hand, pressed the pad of his thumb against her lips.
‘Perhaps we’re just not destined to be together, Guy. So many years have gone by, all wrapped up in so many lies,’ she said.
‘That is why we are meant to be together. Because we can get through anything. This is our chance, now everything is out in the open. My career is over, my reputation will be torn to shreds but if you say we can be together, with Dominic, as a family, then nothing else matters. Nothing.’
He held his breath. He could feel the small box pressing against the top of his thigh as he sat next to her, holding her hand. Was this the moment? Or was it too soon? There was so much forgiving to do.
Could she forgive him? Could she let him forgive her? All he had done was say nothing under pressure, been manipulated and made a misguided decision trying to get money for her, for their escape from La Baume. She had been at the forefront of his mind all the time. He hadn’t cheated on her. He had meant all those things he’d whispered to her when they’d made love.
She’d spent her whole life running from that day. Covering up what she’d done. Telling lie after lie to protect herself and Dominic. Could she finally stop running? Could she consider entering the first relationship she had ever entered since she’d left Guy, with Guy, based on nothing but the truth?
‘Marry me,’ he said, breaking into her train of thought.
She looked at the box he offered out to her. It was open and in it was the most exquisite ring she had ever set eyes on. A thick gold band and an enormous diamond reflected the light from the sun.
‘Marry me,’ he repeated. ‘I know after last night, with the police and the football club, I will not have that much to share with you. I do not know what the future will hold, but whatever there is, it is yours.’
She gazed into his eyes, feeling the depth of his love wash over her and she knew then, without one single doubt, he was and always had been, the only man for her.
‘I am nothing without you, Emma,’ he told her.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘The answer is yes.’
Chapter Sixty-Two
5 September 2005
Her dad had gone for coffee just after they’d boarded the ferry and she’d