‘Gabe!’ she called from the entrance hall. There was no answer, then she heard footsteps up above her. She ran upstairs towards his room, her heart pounding.

She could not un-love Gabe, just as she couldn’t un-love Ryan.

They both deserved second chances. Would Gabe give her another chance too?

Chapter Forty-Two

Gabe stared at the wild woman in his bedroom. Her face was scarlet, and she was out of breath, but she looked gorgeous to him.

She seemed transfixed by the shirts he was holding. ‘W-what are you d-doing? Don’t say you were leaving without telling me.’

He held onto the pile. ‘Well … I don’t know if it’s worth me staying here.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’ve given you time and space. I want to stay, but not without you,’ he said, finding his heart pounding too, and all he’d done was fold a few clothes.

She stepped into the room. ‘I want you to stay. I want it more than anything else in the world. I love you, for God’s sake, but I don’t know how you can be happy here.’

Love. He didn’t dare dwell on that word in case he lost it completely. ‘Simple. Because you’re here,’ he said, laying the clothes on the bed as if they were thistledown, ready to fly away into the air if he moved too quickly or suddenly. ‘Do you need another reason?’

‘But … the removal van—’

‘Has brought more of my stuff from London. Sam, I’m unpacking, not leaving. I’m here to stay.’

She looked around her then at him, her eyes full of the fire he’d always loved. ‘Oh my God, you devil, Gabe Mathias. I saw the van and I thought … and you let me think you were going.’

‘I didn’t actually lie.’ He smiled, hoping he hadn’t made a huge mistake with his tiny deception. She met him by the bed and he almost lost it again. He reached up to touch her cheek, feeling the softness – the fragility under the strength – and noticing the dark circles under her eyes. She’d had a rough few days, a rough eleven years, a rough life that she’d faced and weathered like a Porthmellow storm. ‘You asked me not to keep anything from you again. Then here’s the truth. I love you and I always have loved you.’

‘Me too.’

‘Sam.’ He gathered her to him and rested his hands lightly on her waist, half afraid she might change her mind and take flight. ‘You’re here.’ He was every bit as astonished as he sounded.