Sally Wentworth - To Have And To Hold

‘I’m owed a day’s holiday,’ Alix pointed out, but determined to have the day off no matter what.

‘That’s OK, Alix. Your work is always up to date. Is it——?’ He broke off as there was a brief rap on the door and Todd Weston walked in.

‘Hi there. Sorry to interrupt.’ He glanced towards Alix and smiled in recognition. ‘Ah, the girl with a boy’s name. Alex, isn’t it?’

‘You’re close. It’s Alix,’ she corrected him.

‘Nice to see you again. How are you?’

‘Fine, thank you.’

His eyes settled on her face and he grinned. ‘Yes, I can see you are.’ He looked towards the head of department. ‘Is there some problem?’

‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘Alix just came to ask for tomorrow off. I was just going to ask her if it was something special?’

He was rewarded with the most dazzling smile. ‘Oh, yes, it most certainly is.’

Both men laughed at her enthusiasm, and Todd said, ‘I wonder if I can guess what it is.’

Alix flushed a little but shook her head and wouldn’t explain.

The department head said, ‘OK, Alix, off you go. See you Monday.’

‘Yes. Thank you. Goodbye, Mr Weston.’

‘So long, Alix.’

As soon as she was out of the office, Alix rushed to catch the tube and then the train, willing them to go faster and yet faster, her thoughts flying ahead of her.

It was still only half-past four when Alix ran into the house, hugged her mother in excitement, then ran upstairs to spend the next two and a half hours getting ready. Weeks ago she had found the perfect outfit to wear tonight: black silk evening trousers, a beaded black strapless top, and a loose shirt with silver flecks to go over the top. Alix put them on and felt really glamorous. Her hair she wore long and as straight as it would go with so much natural curl in it, and she wore more makeup than she usually did at home. She added some new expensive French perfume, examined herself anxiously in the mirror, then glowed with satisfaction, knowing she looked good.

Both the families had always been so close that it didn’t occur to anyone that Alix might feel a little shy at meeting Rhys again in these new circumstances. It didn’t even occur to Alix until they were walking along the road to Rhys’s house. But when they had parted they had been merely long-term friends; now they were engaged to be married. She suddenly longed to be alone when she met him, to have time to be at ease with him again. But with parents as close as hers, Alix didn’t stand a chance. They were walking along, chatting happily together, wondering how long Rhys would be at home this time, how long in England.

When they reached the door Alix hung back, terribly unsure of herself. Was she supposed to rush into Rhys’s arms, to kiss him and call him darling in front of them all? She couldn’t do it, not when everything was so new, not when she hadn’t yet been alone with him as his fiancée. She didn’t know how to act towards him, how she was supposed to behave. Alix wanted to turn and run but Uncle David had opened the door and was ushering them in.

‘Rhys is in the sitting-room.’

They all looked at her expectantly, but Alix knew an uncharacteristic moment of panic and couldn’t move.

‘Alix?’ her father said questioningly.

But then suddenly it was all right because Rhys came out into the hall. He glanced at her, but turned first to her mother and father to greet them and receive their congratulations. Then he quite firmly showed the others into the sitting-room and shut the door so that they were alone. The shyness lasted for a moment longer until Rhys raised his eyebrow and said, ‘Had second thoughts?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Then come here, idiot.’ And he spread his arms.

She ran into them and he held her close, then looked down at her teasingly. ‘Hello, urchin.’

He kissed her, then, a most satisfactory kiss that left her head in a whirl and made her give a long sigh of discovery when he lifted his head. ‘I have been waiting for that for so long.’

He grinned. ‘Well, I’m home now.’

But she hadn’t meant that; Alix meant that she had been waiting for her body to feel this aching need when she was close to him, for awakening womanhood. But she put the thought aside for later, and smiled back at him, her eyes alight with happiness.

‘Come on, we have to face them some time.’

Taking her hand, Rhys led her into the sitting-room, to be confronted by their parents with raised glasses of champagne. ‘To Rhys and Alix! Congratulations, darlings.’

Then there were kisses all around, they were given champagne and Rhys raised his glass in a silent toast to her. Alix knew she was grinning like an idiot but couldn’t help it. It was a moment of the most supreme happiness, to be surrounded by those she loved and who loved her, and to know that her dream had come true and she was to spend the rest of her life with the man she had always wanted. Once, during the course of the evening, when they were all seated round the table, laughing and talking, for a strange moment she felt detached from it, as if she was an onlooker, and the silly thought came into her mind that it was all too good to be true. Someone spoke to her, she blinked and shook off the unwelcome thought, promptly forgot it as she leant forward to reply.

A lot of the talk of course was about the wedding and where they would live. ‘You must buy a house near here,’ both mothers insisted.

‘There’s plenty of time,’ Rhys said in casual protest. ‘We’re not even officially engaged yet.’

‘So when is the announcement to be made?’ her father asked.

Rhys looked amused. ‘Loading up your shotgun, John?’

He had never called her parents aunt and uncle, he had always seemed too old for that; to him they were John and Valerie, and he spoke to them as equals. Alix thought about calling his parents by their Christian names only but knew that she never would; they were a different generation and that relationship was firmly fixed with the titles she had used for as long as she could remember.

‘I’ll phone the announcement through to the newspapers tomorrow,’ Rhys was saying. ‘Have it come out on Monday. Then you’ll be able to tell everyone,’ he said to the two mothers in amusement.

‘My God, just think of the telephone bills,’ his father sighed.

It was like that all through dinner and the evening that followed—light, happy. Alix helped to clear the table and when they went back into the sitting-room found that the others had tactfully left her a space beside Rhys on one of the settees. She would probably have sat next to him if their relationship was as it used to be, would probably have frowned mightily if anyone else had taken the place. But, now that she had the right to be beside him, Alix again felt shy and blushed rosily when Rhys put a casual but possessive arm across her shoulders. Tentatively she reached her hand up to hold his, found it held in a strong grip. Alix glanced at her mother and Aunt Jo and found that both women were looking at them with moist, sentimental smiles on their faces, making Alix quickly look away in case she got maudlin, too.

When they left to go home, Rhys again took control, saying as he helped her on with her coat,’ ‘Alix and I are going to take a walk.’

The street was dark and empty. Rhys put his arm round her and walked her down through the village to an open meadow that they had often gone to when they were young: to lie in the long grass and read, to practice tennis shots, for Rhys to teach her about natural history. A place that had long and good memories for them both. He lifted her over the fence, then leaned against it and pulled her to him. This time his kiss wasn’t just adult, it was sensuously intimate. He arched her body against his, letting her feel its hardness against her length and his shoulders hunched as his kiss deepened with passion.