Summer of Love by Marie Ferrarella (easy to read books for adults list .TXT) 📕

happening to him was so painful that she felt tears well to her eyes. Maybe they weren’t destined to spend their lives together, as she had once hoped, but that didn’t matter. So long as she knew that he was safe and well somewhere in the world, that was enough. In that moment she was forced to acknowledge the truth. She loved him. She loved him with the whole of her heart and she always would.

CHAPTER TWELVE

DANIEL heard the sound of a car stopping in the lane and frowned. Was it possible that someone had come looking for him and Alistair? He glanced at Harold Dawson but the old man seemed oblivious to what was happening outside. Dawson had grown increasingly agitated in the past hour. He had placed the shotgun by the back door and started walking around the kitchen, muttering to himself. Daniel might have been tempted to make a grab for the shotgun if it weren’t for the fact that someone could get hurt if there was a struggle. It had seemed safer to bide his time but he might not have that luxury for much longer. He turned to Alistair.

‘There’s a car stopped in the lane,’ he mouthed.

‘Do you think it’s the police?’ Alistair whispered, hopefully.

Before Daniel could answer, Harold Dawson swung round and glared at them. ‘Don’t you two start thinking you can get up to anything.’ He grabbed hold of the shotgun and pointed it at them. ‘I won’t think twice about using this, I warn you.’

‘And what will that achieve, Mr Dawson?’ Daniel said in sudden exasperation. ‘You’ll end up in prison and the wind farm will still go ahead.’

‘At least they’ll know they can’t trample all over me,’ Harold roared. He aimed the gun at the ceiling and pulled the trigger. Daniel ducked as bits of wood and plaster rained down on them. His ears were throbbing from the noise of the explosion so that it was several seconds before he could hear let alone speak.

‘Force isn’t the answer,’ he told the old man grimly. ‘The powers-that-be won’t give in because you threaten them. You need to go through the proper channels.’

If Dawson was listening he gave no sign of it. Daniel realised that he was wasting his breath trying to reason with him. He glanced towards the window, mentally crossing his fingers that it was the police outside and not some other unsuspecting visitor. His heart turned over at the thought that it might be Emma before he realised how foolish it was to imagine she cared enough to try and find him. Emma may have contacted the police when he hadn’t turned up for evening surgery but that would have been all. She certainly wouldn’t be spending her time worrying about him.

Emma’s heart seemed to stop when she heard the sound of a shotgun being discharged. Mike was speaking to the police on the radio and she saw the shock on his face as he looked up. He hastily finished his call and hung up.

‘The police will be here ASAP,’ he told her. ‘They said that we’re not to approach the house and that under no circumstances are we to try and contact either Dawson or Dr Kennedy.’

‘But we can’t just sit here,’ Emma protested. ‘Anything could be going on inside that farmhouse. We need to do something!’

‘We daren’t risk it, Emma. I know it’s hard but we could make matters a whole lot worse if we go rushing in.’ Mike patted her hand. ‘Let’s wait for the police, love. They know what they’re doing.’

Emma bit her lip. She knew Mike was right but it was sheer agony to wonder if Daniel might be hurt. It seemed to take for ever before the police arrived. She and Mike told them everything they knew, which was very little. When the police insisted that they back up the lane, she protested, but the police were adamant. They couldn’t risk there being any civilian casualties.

The time dragged after that. The police used a loud-hailer to speak to Harold Dawson, trying to persuade him to let the hostages go. He refused all their pleas, ending the negotiations by firing the shotgun out of the window. Armed police officers were deployed to surround the house and everyone looked very tense. However, by the time midnight arrived, little progress had been made.

Emma couldn’t imagine what it must be like for Daniel and the other hostage being caught up in such a drama. All she could do was hope that Harold Dawson would come to his senses and let them go. And if he did then she intended to tell Daniel the truth about how she felt. She loved him and she wasn’t going to lie about it, wasn’t going to pretend any more. She would tell him the truth—and hope that it meant something to him.

Daniel could feel his nerves humming with tension. Ever since Dawson had fired that shot at the police, he had become increasingly unstable. Daniel knew that he was within a hairsbreadth of losing control and had no idea what would happen then. Somehow he had to get the old man talking and hopefully defuse the situation.

‘Why exactly are you so against this wind farm being built?’ he asked as Harold made another circuit of the room.

‘Because it shouldn’t be there, that’s why.’ Harold glowered at him but Daniel tried not to let it deter him.

‘You think it will spoil the countryside? ‘

‘’Course it will. Who wants to look at dozens of great lumps of metal? My Mary wouldn’t. That’s for sure.’

‘Mary’s your wife?’ Daniel said quickly, wanting to keep the conversation flowing.

‘Was. She died six years ago.’ Tears suddenly welled into the old man’s eyes. ‘She loved the view over those hills, did my Mary. There’s a meadow there that’s full of wildflowers in the spring and she always said it was the most beautiful place on God’s earth. Even when she was so ill that she couldn’t get