‘I don’t know,’ she said. She could tell by his face that her words had dashed his hopes. ‘There’s still the question of distance. I have to admit I was jealous and insecure about you spending so much time in Cheshire. In being close to Lucinda. I realise of course, now, that there’s nothing between you, but, while you were away, I let those insecurities get the better of me.’
‘I can understand that. The photography school is something I really wanted to do, but I think I made a mistake in setting it up in Manchester. I should have done it here instead, then all this would never have happened.’
‘But you did it to be closer to Ben. You want to spend more time with him and I totally get that.’
‘I did and I do. But I also don’t want to lose you. Which is why I’ve decided that, if you’ll give me a second chance, I’ll find someone to take over the running of the school and I’ll spend more time here. I might even set up another school here. I’ll stillspend time with Ben, and hopefully you’ll join me, but I want to be wherever you are. For the moment that’s here, so that’s where I want to be.’
His sacrifice pulled at her heart. To give up spending time with his son showed how deeply he loved her.
‘I don’t want you to do that,’ she said slowly.
His face fell and instantly he was by her side, beseeching her. ‘But Anna, I—’
‘Let me finish.’ She held his face between her hands. ‘I don’t want you to make that sacrifice. I don’t want you to give up spending time with your son to be with me. That’s not fair on either of you and I would never want to be the cause of that.’ She paused. ‘So I’ll come to you.’
‘To Cheshire?’
‘To Cheshire.’ Her heart lifted at his smile.
‘But what about your work, your family, your life? I don’t want you to sacrifice that for me either.’
‘I’m not. I’m glad I did the exhibitions, and I’m glad they were a success, but being with Eva, surviving that blast, well, it’s made me want to give something back. To make a difference. I want to help you run the school. I want to give people the chance that you gave me. Yes, I still do want to pursue the photography but it needs to be more meaningful, and I don’t know what that is yet. As for my family, Harry will be off to university next month and Jack, well, who knows where he’s going to be for the time being, and Dad has met someone.’
‘He has? And how do you feel about that?’
‘It’s a bit strange, but he’s been on his own a long time and, as long as whoever it is makes him happy, then that’s fine with me. And besides, I’ll still need to come here some of the time so I’ll get to see him.’
‘And you’ll do that for me?’
‘I’m not just doing it for you. I’m doing it for me too. But . . .’ She paused. ‘I’d like us to create our own life in Cheshire. I don’t want to be expected to be part of Lucinda’s crowd.’
Daniel laughed. ‘Neither do I! I promise you, things will be different from now on. We’ll build our own life. Together.’
‘I’d like that very much.’
She leaned in and he kissed her. Gently at first, but with increasing passion. It was a kiss she hoped would last for ever.
Epilogue
Anna paused on the threshold to the London gallery and took a deep breath. Daniel put his arm round her in reassurance. ‘There’s no need to be nervous — the pair of you are going to blow them away. And you look gorgeous.’
‘Thank you.’ The deep red dress she’d bought for the occasion clung to her curves and she knew she looked good in it. She’d also had her hair and make-up professionally done. She’d learned over the last twelve months that, if she was going to be photographed, she was going to make sure she looked her best. ‘At least this one isn’t all down to me.’
In the six months since Anna’s move to Cheshire, Eva had made a remarkable recovery. She’d regained her mobility, thanks to her prosthetic limb, and was living life to the full. Whenever Anna had been back in London they’d met up, and Anna had documented everything she needed for Eva’s book. As they had discussed many months ago, the book signing would take place along with an exhibition of Anna’s photographs, managed by the indomitable Charlotte.
‘You’ve done all the hard work,’ Daniel said. ‘Now all you have to do is relax and bathe in the glory.’
Instantly her mind slipped back to her last exhibition when she hadn’t bathed in the glory but had been left dripping in champagne. She just hoped tonight didn’t hold any unexpected surprises, at least not of the unsavoury kind.
‘You know I’m not very good at that, and you also know my past history with exhibitions.’
Daniel laughed. ‘Yes, but a lot has changed since then, so we’ll just have to hope that it’s third time lucky tonight.’
He was right. A lot had happened in the last six months. She’d been hesitant at first about the move north, but she could honestly say that she’d never been happier. It had beena relief to settle into family life with Daniel and Ben, and to be out of the limelight. Her camera was still her constant companion whenever she went walkabout. She, Daniel and Ben often took trips so that she could photograph the landscape, usually in competition with Ben, who was developing his love for photography too. But in helping Daniel set up the photography school, she’d realised where her real love lay, and that was in teaching. She loved it when new students came in, with lots of enthusiasm and ambition but little understanding of the complexities of their art. She often felt she learned as much from the students as they did from her, and the best thing was that it was completely out of the limelight.
Her relationship with Lucinda had developed too. They were never going to be friends, but at least they showed each other mutual respect. Daniel had kept his word and made sure that they didn’t have to socialise with her crowd. In fact, they lived an almost reclusive life, concentrating on the school, each other and Ben.
But now, she knew that tonight was going to be the exact opposite. Tonight was going to be glamour and glitz, and the only reason she was doing this was for her friend Eva. Their relationship had grown stronger during Eva’s recovery, and it was a joy to be there for each other through both the hard and the good times.
