A Night Owl Reviews Exclusive FREE Contemporary Romance. Free read
With a new life waiting for her in Canada, Natalie says goodbye to Matthew. When he tells her he loves her, her heart breaks. Surely, it's too late. The train is already leaving the station. Will Natalie make the right decision? Can love conquer all?
***
“Why, Natalie?” Matthew demanded as they waited for the train to slide into the station. “Why don’t you stay with me? I’ve just realised how much I care for you. I don’t want you to leave?” His brows drew together as he looked at her. He rubbed a hand through his dark brown hair in frustration.
Surely, Matthew could see that it was better this way. They’d made no commitments to one another. This had been planned months ago. A new life in Canada had been exactly what she’d needed six months ago, when her husband had divorced her for another, much younger woman. At the time it had kept her going. All the planning had helped her rebuild her life.
Then she’d met Matthew, and everything had changed. Only it was all too late. Her house had been sold, and her share of the contents shipped over to Canada. A new job and a new life awaited her.
As the train slowly drew into the station, Matthew touched her hand. The warmth of his skin caressing her fingertips sent her whole body reeling. An electric current chased along every nerve ending. No one else had ever made her feel like this, and she drew in a deep ragged breath to steady herself.
“I love you, Natalie. I want you to stay with me.”
“No.” She shook her head miserably. Why did he have to say those three beautiful words now? Just when she’d thought everything sorted. How would she be able to forget him now?
He pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. The barrier she held in check came tumbling down. “Don’t you see,” she begged, as the tears flowed freely on her cheeks. “I have to leave. Can’t you see I’m frightened of the future, and what might happen to us if I stay. I couldn’t bare to love, and then lose all over again.”
“Oh, Natalie.” He kissed her passionately once more, making her silent tears even more pronounced. Tenderly he wiped them away with his thumb. He looked deep into her eyes. “Don’t you know, love can conquer all our problems? When there is love, everything else becomes insignificant.”
She shook her head, as the final whistle blew on the platform. The shrill piercing noise felt exactly like the breaking of her heart. “Its too late, Matthew.” She pulled the carriage door shut, and the train lurched into life. The clatter and squeal of metal on metal jarred her nerves. Why hadn’t he told her sooner? Maybe then they’d have had time to work something out.
He kept pace with the train as it moved along the platform. Neither of them spoke, they just stared at each other with pain filled eyes.
When he ran out of platform he stood still, and she watched his outline diminish as the train sped further and further away from him. The wheels turning over and over in melodic rhythm.
He’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone.
The pain in her heart increased, until she thought it would burst.
He’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone’ he’s gone.
She realised that she loved him beyond anything she’d ever experienced in her whole life before.
He’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone.
Nothing compared to the torment she would now face without him. I love you too, clattered the train as it speeded up.
I love you too. I love you too. I love you too. I love you too.
The constant message paced rhythmically through her heart, as she found a seat, and gazed sadly out the window.
I love you too. I love you too. I love you too. I love you too.
****
It was almost dark when she returned to his house, and she became worried when she couldn’t find him. In the end his next door neighbour pointed to a public footpath on the other side of the lane. “He’s gone for a walk, love.”With mud splattered shoes she crossed a style into a neighbouring field. In her haste the sleeve of her jacket caught on a bramble and tore, but she didn’t care. Matthew needed to know how she felt. Barely time to catch her breath, she ran after the lonely man in the distance. “Matthew,” she called out after him.
In the end she’d almost drew level with him before he heard her. He turned, and smiled. A devastating smile that weakened her knees, and sent the blood pumping furiously through her veins. Then he looked at his watch, and raised a brow. “Aren’t you supposed to be on a flight to Canada right now?”
Natalie swallowed hard, and searched for the right words. In the end they all tumbled out. “Oh, Matthew. I got off at the next station. I had to come and tell you, that I-I love you too.” She closed her eyes briefly, before returning her gaze to his. “I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry? Why are you sorry?” He laughed, and stepped towards her. Taking her in his arms, he traced his fingers down her cheek. With his touch the merest of caresses against her skin, she melted contentedly into his embrace “You’ve made me so happy. I thought I’d lost you. Don’t you know how much I love you, Natalie?”
She shook her head, and tried to quell the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Why did such joy turn her into a nervous wreck?
“I love you this much,” he said, as he brushed his lips to hers in the sweetest of kisses. “And this much.” His kiss deepened, taking her to another world where all her past cares were cast aside.
“I love you too, Matthew. As soon as the train pulled from the station, I just knew I had to get off. I don’t want to go to Canada. Not without you.”
He kissed her again. “Marry me?” he asked eventually when they’d finally surfaced for air.
“Marry you?” Her heart somersaulted in her chest, and she kissed him back, feathering tiny caresses all over his face. “Oh, Matthew, yes, yes, yes. I didn’t know I could be so happy.”
He placed another kiss on her lips in answer. Then he said in that delicious baritone voice that she loved, “I told you love can conquer all.”
Visit Jan Bowles online at: http://www.janbowles.com
This is a work of fiction. All places, events and characters are crafted from the author’s imagination and any resemblance to currently alive or passed people and events are coincidental.
Title: Love Conquers All
Copyright © 2010 by Jan Bowles
Cover art by Tammie King (TammieKingWebDesign.com)
