“Were they wounded?”
“I don’t think so. But I’m not sure.”
“Thanks, Hank. Are you heading that way?”
“No, I’m going over to talk to some of the Kosovars who have been wounded. I want to do a couple of interviews.”
“Thanks,” I said again, and hurried off on my own. It worried me that Jake and Clee were at the Red Cross tents. It didn’t bode well, I thought.
I began to fill with anxiety, and as apprehension got the better of me, I started to run, pushing myself forward, dodging people, intent on getting to the tents as fast as I could.
I was panting and out of breath by the time I came to the field where the Red Cross tents had been set up. In the distance I could see several K.L.A. soldiers talking in a group, and a couple of Red Cross doctors close by. And Clee Donovan.
I came to a standstill for a moment, and my heart stopped. Oh my God, something had happened to Jake. I just knew it. This place was unlucky for me. It stank of death.
I took a deep breath and began to run again, and as I continued sprinting hell-for-leather down the road, I spotted Jake.
“Jake! Jake!” I screamed, rushing forward, my feet flying along the road, my heart racing.
He heard me and swung around.
“Val!” he shouted, raising an arm, and then he began to run toward me.
We met in the middle of the dusty road.
I stumbled into his outstretched arms.
We clung to each other, and I began to sob with relief.
“Oh, thank God you’re all right, that nothing’s happened to you,” I cried, my voice cracking.
“I told you I’d be all right, that you should trust me,” he said, holding me away, looking into my face. An amused smile made his mouth twitch, and he said, laughing, “Your face is dirty, Val.”
I gaped at him, uncomprehending for a second, and then I yelled, “What the hell do you expect it to be in this muck hole!” But I started to laugh myself.
He held me close again, saying, “Val, oh, Val, it’s so wonderful to see you, and this has just been the worst few weeks. I sure am glad you weren’t here, it’s been very rough, pretty damned lousy.”
I drew away from him, stared into those very bright blue eyes of his, and murmured, “But I’m here now, Jake, with you. Where I belong. Here in your arms. On the front lines. Or wherever you want me to be. Just as long as we’re together.”
Staring at me, he said, “And I want you with me, Val. But not here, not here anymore. I’ve sent out enough pictures, done what I set out to do when I came. I was planning to get out just before you arrived.”
“You mean you want to leave Kosovo?” I asked, looking at him intently.
“Yes, I do. Let’s go and say good-bye to Clee.” He put an arm around me and we headed on down the road toward the field.
Abruptly, Jake stopped, looked down at me, and said, “There’s just one more thing, Val.”
“What’s that?”
“You just said you belong with me . . . does that mean you’ll marry me?”
“Yes, I will,” I said, looking up into his face, smiling at him.
“I’m glad,” he said as he smiled back.
He took hold of my hand and held it tightly as we set out across the muddy field, and I knew that at last I was safe from harm.
BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, and was a reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post at sixteen. By the age of twenty, she had become both an editor and a columnist on London’s Fleet Street. In 1979, she wrote her first novel, A Woman of Substance, and that enduring bestseller was followed by fourteen others. Most recently, she is the author of the bestselling A Sudden Change of Heart, which marked her return to Doubleday, her original publisher. Her novels have sold more than sixty million copies in thirty-nine languages worldwide. She lives in New York City with her husband, producer Robert Bradford.
www.barbarataylorbradford.com
Other Books by Barbara Taylor Bradford
A Woman of Substance
Voice of the Heart
Hold the Dream
Act of Will
To Be the Best
The Women in His Life
Remember
Angel
Everything to Gain
Dangerous to Know
Love in Another Town
Her Own Rules
A Secret Affair
Power of a Woman
A Sudden Change of Heart
Published by
Dell Publishing
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Random House, Inc.
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New York, New York 10036
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events,
or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1999 by Barbara Taylor Bradford
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
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Publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address:
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Dell® is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-088133
December 2000
www.randomhouse.com
eISBN: 978-0-307-42346-7
v3.0
Barbara Taylor Bradford, Where You Belong
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