‘You are worried about me? That’s nice,’ he sighed.

‘It’s not nice,’ she snapped. ‘How dare you lie there and flirt with me when you could be at death’s door? And all through your own stupidity. You’ve got to stop drinking so much, Stanislaw, and not push things so hard you damage your stumps to the point where you have to go without your prosthetics.’ She could feel the tears coming and was unable to stop them. ‘You’re killing yourself, Stan,’ she rasped. ‘Please, please stop it.’

He reached for her hand, his face lined with deep concern. ‘Please don’t cry. I cannot bear to see your tears.’

She snatched away her hand and swiped at her shaming tears. ‘Do you promise you’ll stop drinking so much and take things slower?’

He sat up in the bed and reached for her hands again to gently draw her towards him, his expression solemn. ‘I promise on the souls of my family that I will be sensible about my drinking and behave from this day on,’ he said. ‘But may I ask something of you, Danuta?’

She blinked away her tears. ‘Of course,’ she murmured.

‘Could you love me?’ he asked. ‘Could you love this broken man with no legs who can only be a burden to you, but who loves you with all his heart, all his soul and every fibre of his being?’

The tears streamed down her face and she nodded wordlessly as her own heart and soul reached out to him. ‘But only if you keep your promise to behave,’ she managed.

‘It is a promise to keep now I know we will be together someday.’ He didn’t attempt to kiss her, but drew her into his arms and held her so close she could feel his heart beating against her own.

In that moment Danuta knew she’d come home, and regardless of the trials ahead, she would love and treasure this man until her last breath.

Rita softly closed the door and looked up at Peter with a grin. ‘I told you there was something going on between those two,’ she whispered. ‘But I think we should keep this to ourselves for now, or Peggy will be planning a wedding before you can blink.’ She took his hand. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here and leave them to it. He doesn’t need our daily visit now.’

‘She’ll have a hard time of it keeping him in order,’ said Peter as they retraced their steps to the front door. ‘Stan can get wild at times.’

‘That’s what put him back in bed,’ said Rita. ‘But Danuta’s tough. She won’t stand any nonsense.’

They stood beneath the portico and watched the rain teeming down to form puddles on the driveway and gurgle through the drainpipes. ‘So, what are we going to do for the rest of the day, Pete?’ she asked, pulling on her leather gloves. ‘I don’t fancy riding about in this, and I can’t really face poor old Dad with his sad eyes and forced smiles.’