Page 58 of Welcome to the Cornish Country Hospital

‘Does it involve belly-dancing IT guys?’ Even if nothing Gwen or Connie were trying to do helped, she was so touched that they wanted to try. And the image of Craig from IT performing an Egyptian figure eight was giving her a reason to smile, even in the midst of worrying where she was going to be living, or working, in the very near future.

‘Sadly, no belly dancing of any sort, but it might just solve one of your problems.’ Connie was already reaching for her phone from her bag. ‘You’ve helped me more than I could ever repay you for, but I want to try. And the fact that having you around means Charlie might be more likely to stay is just an added bonus.’

‘You’re all so lovely.’ Danni took a sip of her coffee so that she didn’t have to meet anyone’s eye, and they wouldn’t be able to see how much hope was reflected in hers. She didn’t want to leave Port Kara, and she didn’t want Charlie to either. But the chances of stopping both of those things from happening felt almost non-existent.

* * *

It came as no surprise to Danni that Gwen was the first person to complete her mission impossible.

‘It’s all sorted.’ She’d come into A&E on the pretence of delivering a coffee order, and had all but dragged Danni into one of the cubicles. ‘Craig’s done what he needed to do and you’re in the clear.’

‘But I’ve already had an acknowledgement from HR about my resignation.’ Danni had wanted to scream when she got the email at the start of her shift, and she’d barely been able to think about anything else since.

‘If you check your emails again, I think you’ll find an apology from them for their error in responding to what was clearly a computer virus.’

‘Okay, you’ve really lost me now.’

‘I told Craig what you’d done in the hope he could get the email back, but it had already been opened.’ Gwen had leant in closer still. ‘So he suggested he replicate the email, but made it look like it was being sent from every senior doctor and surgeon in the hospital, with exactly the same wording you used. Then he went down to HR and told them there’d been a report of a potential virus targeting hospitals, and that he’d put up some new security to stop any more getting through, but they might have already had some. Apparently the head of HR almost wept with relief, because she thought she was going to have to try and replace all the senior doctors and that there’d be a big scandal about staff turnover at St Piran’s. All of which meant she was only too happy to accept the story.’

‘That’s brilliant – scary, but brilliant.’ Danni hugged Gwen and had been tempted to lift her off the ground and spin her in a circle. ‘I can’t thank you enough. Just don’t ever go into the business of becoming an evil genius, because you’d be far too good at it.’

‘I won’t, as long as you promise not to do anything that stupid again. Especially for the sake of someone like Lucas.’

‘I promise.’ Danni had celebrated the news with the coffee Gwen had delivered, and a slice of the cake Aidan had brought in to mark the fact that the day after would be his birthday.

‘Drinks tonight.’ Aidan had made it sound like a statement, rather than a question, but she’d been more than happy to accept, despite the fact that she’d worked a nightshift and had promised to meet Charlie for a walk when she finished work. She could grab a couple of hours of sleep after that and still make Aidan’s drinks. She didn’t want to miss an excuse to celebrate with the colleagues who had quickly become friends, and she definitely didn’t want to miss the chance to spend time with Charlie, because that was running out far too fast.

‘You look like the sort of photograph that should be on the front cover of book, staring out to sea like that.’ Charlie reached her side before she even spotted him. ‘The beautiful heroine, awaiting the return of her lover from a long voyage. Something like that.’

‘It’s probably best you stick to children’s fiction.’ She laughed as he pretended to look offended. ‘I was looking out for Trevor. I just want to know if he’s okay, now that he’s having to fend for himself. I can’t believe seal pups get left by the mothers so early.’

‘I’ve got a feeling Trevor will be fine, but talking of me sticking to children’s fiction, I wanted to make sure you never forgot him. Or me. So I’ve been working on this.’ Charlie handed her some papers. ‘Don’t worry if a sudden gust of wind rips them out of your hands; I scanned the originals to send to my editor for feedback. This is just a print-off. I didn’t want us to end up having to dive into the water to try and retrieve them, like we’re in a Richard Curtis movie, although I’ve got to admit I am hoping it might help me wangle one of his happy endings.’

‘Oh Charlie, this is beautiful.’ Danni traced a finger over one of the sketches, depicting Trevor on the rocks, with the dogs running along the clifftop above him.

‘It’s about two best friends, Maggie and Brenda, who teach a lonely seal pup all about kindness and the power of friendship. It’s a theme that’s always popular with the age group I write for, and thankfully my editor is really happy with it.’ Charlie reached out and pushed a strand of Danni’s hair that had been caught by the wind away from her face. ‘But what’s even more important to me, is whether you like it.’

‘I love it.’

‘Then why do you look as if you’re about to burst into tears?’

‘Because I think I might love you too.’ Danni hadn’t planned to say anything. It was too soon, too crazy and she’d already messed so much up. But staring at the draft pages in front of her, she didn’t have a shred of doubt that Charlie was everything she thought he was. He personified the kindness he’d spoken about, and he was the most open, genuine person she’d ever met. All of that made it impossible not to love him, and as it turned out, just as impossible to keep quiet about it.

‘Well, that is good news.’ Charlie grinned, the dimple that made her smile every time she spotted it putting in an appearance. ‘Because I’ve persuaded Mum and Dad to move down to Cornwall, on the basis of the sliver of hope I had that you might feel even a tiny bit as much for me as I’ve felt about you from the first day we met. When I spoke to Connie and Richard about it, I told them people would think I was crazy when I said I’d been in love with you from the start, but they wouldn’t have it. I don’t know, maybe it’s because of what happened to them: nearly losing each other twice because they weren’t honest about how they felt. But they told me I’d always regret it if I didn’t tell you. But I never thought in a million years you’d say it first.’

‘If you tell anyone that, you know I’m going to deny it.’ She laughed again and he slid his arm around her waist, pulling her close and crushing the copied pages between them.

‘Oh, I’m planning on telling anyone who’ll listen. Guys like me aren’t lucky enough to get girls like you, so I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops.’

‘I’m the lucky one.’ Danni had made the first move once by telling Charlie she loved him, and she had no intention of holding back any more, or waiting for him to kiss her. Pressing her lips against his, she felt his body respond and the whole world seemed to fade away, until an alert on her phone made Brenda start to howl.

‘Whoever that is interrupting the best moment of my entire life, they’d better have a good reason.’ Charlie was smiling despite his words, and, at that moment, he looked like someone who would find it impossible not to smile. Which was exactly how Danni felt.

‘It’s a text from Esther, asking me if I’ll go on her honeymoon with her. It was too late to get her money back and apparently the resort prides itself on catering for soulmates, so she can’t think of anyone she’d rather go with.’

‘I hated seeing you so unhappy.’ Charlie gently traced his fingers down the length of her arm. ‘I’m so glad the two of you have sorted everything out.’

‘Me too and it means I won’t need to worry about being homeless for a couple of weeks. After that I’ll need to figure something out, until I get the cottage back.’

‘Richard has told me to stay on for as long as I like and you’re welcome to stay, but I know it probably feels too soon. But Connie had already persuaded him to free up one of the other cottages for you. If you want it, we can be neighbours, as long as that’s still not too much pressure. God, why am I so bad at this?’ Charlie stumbling over his words in his desperation to get things right just made Danni even more certain than ever about him. Some people wanted the mean and moody type, who played games and kept you on your toes, or pretended to be something they weren’t. But she’d been there and done that. Now she knew exactly what she wanted, and it was Charlie.

‘If the offer is still open for me to stay with you, then you can definitely count me and Brenda in.’

‘Really?’ When Charlie put his arms around her again, it felt so right, like coming home with a future that promised to be filled with the people she loved most and she couldn’t wait for the next chapter to start.