The Billionaire's Christmas Wish Page 15

  An icy hand closed over his throat as he realized his daughter spoke the truth. Maddy did make him happy. Happier than he’d been in a long time.

  “How about if I try?”

  “Do you promise to try really hard, Daddy?”

  “Yes, Ivy. I promise.”

  * * *

  He’d wandered the city, going from one hotel to another. There had been no one with the name of Madison Archer at any of those he’d checked. He was almost out of time. And almost out of hope. It was Christmas Eve and in trying to track down Maddy he hadn’t had time to buy any of the other gifts on that list. Because he had a feeling that there was only one present that really mattered to his daughter.

  I’ll tell you when to worry.

  “I don’t mind telling you, I’m worried. Worried I won’t find her. Worried my daughter will have her hopes crushed. Worried that even if I do find her, she’ll laugh in my face.”

  Theo had no idea if he was talking to God or to the jolly old gift-giver himself, but maybe it was both.

  He looked up and spotted King’s College. The carol service was today. He glanced at his watch. It was close to the time, actually. He hadn’t had any luck in finding her and he was out of ideas at the moment, so he may as well go in and rest for a while and enjoy the service. Maybe something would come to him during it. If the worst came to the worst he could ring her hospital in the States and see if they had a revised return date for her.

  Making his way to the door, he showed his ticket and went in. There was still half an hour before the service started so he glanced around the pews, looking for a likely spot. His eyes passed over a woman who had hair that looked remarkably like...

  He took a step closer. It was the same length, the same sexy waves cascading down her back. And the way the light caught those highlights...

  He walked up to the pew and looked past a few other people who were seated there as well. Shock pulsed through him. It was Maddy. She was staring down at the order of service, then reached up to quickly brush something from her left eye.

  Tears?

  His heart threatened to break in two. He made his way down the pew, apologizing for having to squeeze past the others who were already seated there.

  He reached her and sat next to her.

  She glanced over and her eyes widened. “Theo?”

  “Mind if I join you?”

  “Well... Um... I guess not.”

  The chapel grew silent as the service was about to begin, and he hadn’t had a chance to say any of the things he wanted to say. But he’d found her. Somehow. It was a first step. He just hoped she would listen to what he had to say when the service ended.

  “Can I talk to you after this?”

  “About what?”

  He produced the notebook from his pocket. “I may need help with one or two of the items on this list.”

  Her eyes met his. “I was going to give that to you, and then we kind of got caught up in...”

  “Yes. We did.” He reached and took her hand, relieved when she didn’t immediately jerk away from him. “Will you hear me out afterwards?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “We always have a choice. But I hope you’ll let me explain a few things.”

  A plaintive voice in the group of robed choristers sang the opening words of the first carol. And, like the magic that Ivy had talked about, Maddy’s fingers tightened around his.

  He wanted to sit here with her forever, but all too soon the service ended and people began to rise from their seats to leave. He’d been here year after year, but he couldn’t remember when he’d enjoyed it more. Maybe it was because of the woman seated next to him. She’d healed Ivy and if all went well, she might very well heal his heart. If not...well, that particular organ would never be the same.

  “Can we walk?”

  “Okay.”

  They left the chapel and walked back to the front of King’s College, facing Market Square. Theo found them a small bench a short distance away.

  He turned toward her. “First I want to say I’m sorry for how I acted after that night at the hotel.”

  “Okay.”

  It was the second time she’d used that word to answer. Maybe he’d better up his game.

  “I haven’t felt like that with a woman in...well, ever.”

  Her head tilted. “Not even Hope?”

  He thought back over the years. Yes, he and Hope had shared some wonderful memories, but it wasn’t the same. What he’d felt for her was packed away in a box and had been for a long time. “What I feel for you is different from what Hope and I shared.”

  “What you feel?”

  “I love you, Maddy. I’m not sure when it happened, but it did.”

  Instead of looking relieved, she frowned. “Is this because of what Ivy said the other day at the hospital?”

  It took him a moment to figure out what she was talking about.

  “You think I’m telling you this because Ivy said she wanted you to be her mother?”

  “Are you?”

  “No. I would give my daughter the world if I could, but I would never ask someone to marry me just to give her a mum.”

  Her mouth opened and then closed. “Did you say...?”

  “Yes. I said ask someone to marry me.” He took both of her hands in his. “What I said is true, Maddy. I love you. And if you feel even a smidgen of love for me, I want to walk down that aisle with you the same way that Alice and Marco did this past Saturday.”

  Before she could say anything, he went on. “The one thing that can guarantee that I’ll like Christmas again, that is if I can spend the rest of them with you and Ivy. And then you, when she’s all grown up. Thank you for saving her. And thank you for saving me. For making me realize I’ve been wearing a funeral shroud that wasn’t mine to wear. I belong here...among the living. And I want to spend the rest of that living...with you.”

  She didn’t say anything for a long moment. Was he too late?

  He cupped her chin. “Maddy?”

  “I’m afraid to believe any of this is real. It’s like magic. I was sitting in that chapel thinking about you, and suddenly you were there.”

  “It is magic. Ivy told me I had to want it or the magic wouldn’t happen.”

  “What magic?”

  “The magic of love.” His hand slid up to touch her face. “I do want it, Maddy. I hope you do as well.”

  Her eyes closed, and for a horrible second he thought she was going to turn him down. To get up and walk away and leave him sitting there alone on the bench.

  Then they reopened and what he saw shining from the green depths gave him hope like he’d never had before. “Yes, I do want it. I love you too. That night after the hotel, I thought you were feeling guilty, like you’d cheated on Hope. And I already knew that I loved you. It just about killed me. And the way you looked at me in Ivy’s room when she said she wished I was her...”

  “I was embarrassed that she’d put you in that kind of a spot. I tried to get up to follow you, but I got tangled up in the bed and almost fell out of it, trying to get free. By the time I reached the corridor you were gone. And when I checked at your apartment the next day, you’d already moved out.” He leaned down and kissed her. “I was so afraid I’d never find you again.”

  “I think that’s why I haven’t bought my ticket back to the States yet. I was going to call yesterday. And then today. Only I didn’t. I finally decided as I was sitting in the chapel that I was going to go back to the hospital and have it out with you before buying it.”

  “Then let’s have it out. Will you marry me?” He toyed with her ring finger before lifting her hand and kissing that spot.

  “Yes, Theo. I will.”

  Their lips met, softly, gently and then with growing passion. By the time they pulled back, Theo�
��s blood was pounding in his ears. “I think we’d better go back before I do something that will get us both arrested.”

  “Go back?”

  “To the hospital to see Ivy, first of all. And then maybe back to my office. Have I ever told you that my couch there is very comfortable?”

  “I’ve slept on that couch so I think we’re in agreement as to its comfort.”

  He smiled and rose from the bench, tugging her up with him. “I mean it’s very comfortable. It’s also large enough for two people.”

  “Theo! Are you suggesting we do something indecent on that couch?”

  “I’m suggesting it’s the closest place that I know of.”

  “Definitely closer than my hotel room.”

  When she told him the name of it, he laughed. “That is one of the few places I didn’t check.”

  “You looked for me?”

  “Yes. I spent a good part of today checking hotel rooms and airline flights. It was like you’d vanished into thin air. I half suspected you were an angel sent to rescue Ivy and me.”

  “Angels don’t do indecent things on office couches.”

  “They don’t?”

  “No. But then again I am no angel. I’m a woman in love.”

  She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Oh, Theo, look at the lights.”

  The Christmas lights were glowing with hope and the promise of a new year and a new start. Out of nowhere, light snow began to fall, soft flakes drifting into her hair. “They’re beautiful.”

  “What was it Ivy said to you?”

  “She said you have to believe, or the magic won’t happen.”

  She reached up to kiss him and then regarded the snow, which was beginning to come down harder.

  “I believe, Theo. So let the magic begin.”

  EPILOGUE

  THEO HAD HIS purple stethoscope and Hope had her new picture frame. It seemed that Maddy had secretly purchased the frame the day they’d shopped for wedding apparel for Marco and Alice’s ceremony. Most of the other items from his daughter’s wish list had been bought in a mad dash after the carol service yesterday afternoon. Those had been opened in Ivy’s hospital room early this morning. All except for two special items, one of which was waiting at home with Judy and the other was hidden in a very special place.

  Nestled close to him, as the hospital pulled out all the stops for Christmas Day, was Maddy. He could barely believe she’d agreed to stay in England and work through things with him. He was the luckiest guy on the planet. At least he hoped he would be, very soon.

  He squeezed her hand as Father Christmas made his way to the center of a circle of young patients and opened his red sack. Reaching in, he fished out the first of the presents. Ivy was in that crowd of kids, her eyes bright with wonder.

  “Ho-ho-ho!” The red-suited character set his bag on the floor with a thump. “I think we have something here for Grant Williamson.” He handed the wrapped parcel to Evie, whose fingers lingered over his for a second longer than necessary.

  “Wait,” Maddy whispered in Theo’s ear, her breath warm and silky. “Is that...?”

  “Ryan? Yes, but don’t tell.” He pressed his cheek to hers, uncaring that some of the staff members were looking at them in open speculation.

  It didn’t matter. All around them were couples, new and old, who were celebrating the day: Ryan and Evie, Finn and Naomi, and across the room from them were Alice and Marco—not here in person, since they’d already arrived in Italy, but they were watching the festivities live via computer. A magic swirled in the air that had nothing to do with Christmas presents or the snow-covered landscape that glimmered just outside the window.

  It was love.

  Theo could barely believe he’d found Maddy at that carol service. To go from the depths of despair to a joy greater than anything he could imagine boggled his mind and made his heart sing.

  Gifts continued to be passed around the room and opened with much laughter and delight. It was wonderful to see their patients—some of whom were quite ill—smile. Ryan would visit those who couldn’t leave their rooms and hopefully spread a little happiness to them as well. It was amazing how love could heal.

  It had healed him. And Ivy.

  “Do you think you could put Hope’s picture somewhere other than your office?”

  “Sorry?” He glanced down at Maddy as Santa fished for another present.

  “It should be where Ivy can see it and grow up knowing how much her mother loved her.”

  A strange pressure formed behind his eyes. Maddy hadn’t known that kind of love. But if she would let him, he would spend the rest of his life showing her what it meant to be loved as an adult. “I’ll find a good place for it. Thank you.”

  She leaned against him, and any lingering tension seemed to drain from her body.

  “Ivy Hawkwood, it’s your turn.”

  The sound of his daughter’s name made him put his arm around Maddy. “Here we go.”

  Evie knelt in front of his daughter, who was a few feet away from them. She handed the girl a plain white envelope.

  He could almost feel Ivy’s confusion. Everyone else had received a festively wrapped box. Since he hadn’t been sure this would actually happen, there’d been no time to wrap it. Judy had snapped a picture and sent it to his phone. Theo had barely been able to print it and get it to Ryan before his friend had gone off to dress in his costume.

  Everything Maddy had promised had come to pass. She’d pinpointed Ivy’s problem and had put his daughter on the fast track to a normal life.

  Only because they’d made love, she’d insisted. If her legs hadn’t fallen asleep, she might not have thought of the fistula. At least not right away.

  He had no doubts, however, that she would have figured it out with or without that clue.

  “She’s going to love it,” Maddy said.

  “I hope so.”

  Ivy ripped open the envelope and the photo fluttered to the floor. Picking it up, she stared at it for a second or two. Then she whirled around to face them. “Is this...? Is this...?”

  When Theo nodded, her eyes widened and she snatched the picture to her chest. “He looks just like Doodle!”

  The therapy dog had made a huge impression on Ivy. He remembered wondering how smart it was to let her get attached to him. But he’d come to realize that sometimes you just had to take a chance and trust fate.

  “She is the same color, but she’s a toy poodle so she won’t get quite as big as Doodle.” He reached down and tweaked the photo. “But with her curly coat, I thought she’d be a good reminder. She’s at home with Judy.”

  “Oh, Daddy, thank you so much! I can’t wait to see her!” She leaped up and hugged them both.

  “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

  “That’s brilliant,” said Evie as she stood. She paused then raised her brows in question. “But I know something even more brilliant. May I?”

  Theo nodded. “I think this is the perfect time.” The perfect time to trust fate—at least he hoped it was.

  Ryan reached an arm deep into his bag, soon finding what he was looking for.

  “I have one item left.”

  Maddy glanced at the group and Theo knew exactly what she was thinking. Everyone had already received a gift.

  “Madison Archer.”

  Evie carried the tiny present over to them, but instead of handing it directly to Maddy she handed it to him. “I’ll let you do the honors.”

  Maybe he should have waited to do this in private, where he wouldn’t be publicly crushed if she turned him down.

  She wouldn’t, would she? She’d told him she loved him. He needed to trust that she’d been telling the truth.

  Turning the present over in his hands, he found the taped tab and quickly unwrapped it, revealing a small velvet box.<
br />
  “Oh, Theo...”

  There was no room to kneel with the crowd around them, so he settled for snapping the box open to reveal a diamond ring. He had done some scrambling of his own last night and had called in a favor from a friend—the owner of a local jewelry store who’d reopened his shop just for him.

  “I want to be with you. Not just today. Not just tomorrow. But always. Will you marry me?”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. For a long tense minute the room was quiet. Then a muffled “Yes” rose to his ears.

  “Stupendo!” Marco’s exclamation was the first to break the silence, his fist raised in triumph. “Congratulations, you two.”

  Finn came over, echoing Marco’s sentiment. “It couldn’t have happened to a better couple,” he said, while Naomi caught Maddy up in a tight hug. More and more people filed over to offer their congratulations, the sincerity of their smiles obliterating any hint of awkwardness.

  By the time things died down enough for him to actually put the ring on his soon-to-be bride’s finger, people were moving to the other side of the room, where tables of refreshments had been laid out. Soon it was only him, Maddy and Ivy in their little corner.

  His daughter handed him the notebook that had started it all. “What about my last wish?”

  Theo smiled, taking the book from her and opening it to the first page. By now he had it memorized. “Which one? I think they’ve all been answered.”

  “There’s still one left.”

  It seemed like an eternity since he’d watched Maddy pocket that notebook and wondered what secrets it contained. Now he knew.

  He took a pen from his pocket and checked off the bullet point next to Puppy. “How about that?”

  “No, not that one.” She grinned, but there was a slight quaver of uncertainty in her voice.

  “I know which one you mean. And, yes, it’s been answered too.”

  With that, he checked off Make Daddy love Christmas. While he was at it, he circled the key word in that phrase, kissing his daughter’s head and sending her off after something to eat.

  “Finally. I thought I would never get you to myself.” He set the notebook down.