Soon an ambulance came screeching and wailing up the drive. Ariston saw his sisters and Maria crowd onto the villa’s portico as he carried Lucette towards the vehicle. A paramedic came out to help her onto a stretcher."Ariston ! " Iris cried, and he shook his head.He promised, "I’ll call you," and then climbed into the ambulance with Lucette .She looked so vulnerable, lying there on the stretcher, her eyes huge and dark in her pale face, and she scrabbled for his hand, her fingers fragile and icy in his as the paramedic took her vitals and then asked Ariston what had happened.Ariston gave the details as clearly and evenly as he could; he could feel Lucette clinging to his hand, her breath coming in little pants as she tried to control her panic.Dear God, he prayed, let nothing happen to the baby.The next half-hour was a blur as the ambulance took them to the hospital in Amfissa and then to an examination room in the A&E. A doctor, brisk and purposeful, came in with an ultra
When Lucette awoke, the room was dark, and panic doused her in an icy wave. She struggled upright, one hand going to her middle, curving over the reassuring bump even as the remnants of the nightmare she’d been having clung to her consciousness.‘Ariston —’‘I’m here.’In the darkness, she couldn’t see him, but she felt his hand come and close over hers. Even so, she couldn’t stop shivering.‘I had the most awful dream.’ Her voice was choked and her throat closed. She’d dreamt about Annelise—something she hadn’t done in a very long time. ‘It was so terrible.’‘It was just a dream, Lucette ,’ Ariston said, his voice soft and steady. ‘It wasn’t real. Everything’s all right. The baby’s all right.’She nodded and gulped, wanting and needing to believe him and yet not quite able to do so. The dream had been real once upon a time. She’d relived the worst memory she'd had in her nightmare, and she was afraid of it happening again. But Ariston couldn’t understand that because she hadn’t to
Her body went tense and she turned to stare blindly out of the window."What are you not telling me?" Ariston asked, his voice quiet but insistent. ‘Because there’s something.’‘It doesn’t matter.’"It does matter. It matters because in the hospital you were terrified—’"Of course I was!" She turned to look at him. ‘Ariston , I was afraid I was losing my baby.’"Our baby," he corrected quietly, and Lucette bit her lip. Don’t shut me out, Lucette .’She turned back to the window without replying, and they drove in silence all the way back to the Linard estate. ******When they arrived at the villa, Ariston helped Lucette out of the car, one hand on her elbow as he guided her inside.Iris, Zoe, and Maria all met them in the foyer."You’re all right?" Zoe asked, her face pinched with anxiety.Lucette said, smiling as Maria muttered a thanksgiving prayer and crossed herself."I’m going to get Lucette upstairs," Ariston cut across his sisters’ anxious chatter. It’s been an incredib
‘After he left, my mother's life went very much downhill.’She lapsed into silence then, because she did not want to tell him how grim it had been. The sheltered housing, the stints in various homeless shelters, the weeks when she’d been taken away from her mother and sent from one foster home to another Some of them had been good, some of them mediocre, and some of them had been very bad. But always, in the end, she’d been brought back to her mother to try again, having promised she’d stay clean, and for a few days, sometimes a few weeks, she had.Life during those periods had been normal, if fragile, and sometimes Lucette would begin to believe it was going to be okay this time. Then she’d come home from school to find her mother strung out, or manically high, the promises all broken, and the whole cycle would start once more.Until Annelise But she really didn’t want to talk about Annelise.‘Lucette ?’ Ariston prompted Ariston softly. "Tell me more. If she couldn’t care for you,
She bowed her head, the memory and the pain and the guilt rushing through her.It was my fault, Ariston . It was entirely my fault she died.'She’d never said those words aloud—never even admitted her guilt to herself. And saying it now made her feel both empty and unbearably full at the same time. She bowed her head and tried to will back the tears.Oh, Lucette .’ Ariston ’s arms came around her and he pulled her towards him, her cheek against his chest. I’m so, so sorry.’He didn’t speak for a moment, and she simply rested there, listening to the steady thud of his heart, letting the grief subside.It wasn’t your fault, you know. You were twelve. You never should have had to bear that kind of responsibility.’I wasn’t a child. And it was my fault. If I’d gone to the hospital earlier, they could have given her antibiotics. brought her fever down. Maybe she’d have been taken away, but she’d still be alive.’ She spoke flatly, dully, knowing it was the truth and that nothing Ariston co
In the days after Lucette told him about her childhood, Ariston found himself going over what she’d said and connecting the dots that before had seemed no more than a scattered, random design of inexplicable behaviour.He was starting to understand why Lucette had decided to marry for the sake of their child.After a childhood like hers, he could see how the stability of a family life was something she would want to provide for her child...even if they didn’t love each other.Except that basis was one Ariston realised he could no longer assume. Did he love Lucette ? Could he love her? He certainly admired her resilience, her strength of spirit, and her devotion to their unborn child. He was still deeply attracted to her, God knew. And if he let himself...if he stopped guarding his heart the way he suspected Lucette was guarding hers...Could this businesslike marriage become something more? Did he even want that? Lucette had rejected him once. He understood why now, but it didn’
"It’s not Christmas yet," Lucette protested, even as she felt a tremulous thrill of excitement.‘It’s after midnight.’ Ariston sat cross-legged on the thick rug in front of the fire and patted the space next to him. We’ll open it together, so we can see at the same time.Lucette said, and a little bit awkwardly, because of her growing bump, sat next to him on the rug.Wordlessly, they opened the envelope, their fingers brushing as they withdrew the single slip of paper and read the single sentence in English the technician had written there.It’s a...boy!‘A boy...’ Lucette repeated, wonderingly.She felt jolted, almost unsettled. She’d been excited to find out the sex of their baby, but now that she knew, it made things more real and less real at the same time.She put both hands on her bump. ‘A son. We’re going to have a son.’ She glanced at Ariston , who looked as gobsmacked as she felt. "Are you happy?"I’m...overjoyed.’ He put one hand over hers, on top of her bump. "What abo
Afterwards, they lay tangled together on the rug, warm and sated, their breathing only just starting to slow."Thank goodness Maria didn’t come down for a glass of warm milk..." Ariston said.Lucette stiffened. ‘She wouldn't?’"She is known to on occasion. It helps her sleep.’ He kissed the top of her head. But don’t worry. No one came. Except you, that is.’She laughed softly and snuggled up against him. "And you.""Most certainly. And that, I have to say, was a long time to wait.‘There wasn’t...’ She hesitated, not wanting to spoil the mood but needing to know. ‘There wasn’t anyone else? Since...?’"No one," Ariston told her firmly. "No one but you for over two years now, Lucette ."And there was no one but you for me, Ariston . Do you believe me?’‘Yes.’He spoke with such certainty that she relaxed once more into his embrace. Just asking the question had made her tense.They lay there in a comfortable silence, as the sweat cooled on their bodies and the fire cast its shadows,