Читать книгу Snowkissed!: The Midwife's Marriage Proposal - Фиона Харпер - Страница 11

HE WAS dressed in black leathers, his motorbike helmet tucked under one arm, the dark stubble on his jaw an indication that he’d left the hospital in a hurry. He looked dark and dangerous and his blue gaze locked on hers in blatant challenge, his mouth tightening as their eyes met.

Her heart stumbled and her stomach lurched but her instinct to close the door and pretend that there was no one there was curbed by the knowledge that this wasn’t her house. She had no right to shut him out of his brother’s home.

And she really didn’t want him to know that she cared that much.

It was the one thing that stopped her dropping her glass and reaching for her coat.

Pride.

She was no longer so weak and pathetic that she believed that she couldn’t exist without Tom Hunter in her life.

Calling on inner reserves, she reminded herself that part of coming home had been to confront what she’d felt for Tom, and she couldn’t do that by avoiding him.

Avoiding him implied that she still felt something for him, and she wasn’t that foolish.

‘Well?’ A faint smile of self-mockery touched his firm mouth. ‘Are you going to slam the door in my face?’

The fact that she’d considered doing exactly that brought a trace of colour to her cheeks and she stepped to one side to let him in, careful that her gaze revealed nothing.

‘I hope I’m not that uncivilized, Tom.’

She wanted to ask why he wasn’t working, but stayed silent. She didn’t want him knowing that she cared that much or that she’d taken that much notice of what he’d told her earlier.

‘I want to talk to you, Sally.’ He unzipped his jacket and she flinched, her eyes drawn instinctively to his chest and then away, fixing on some point in Oliver’s hallway.

She forced herself to resist the command in his tone. She’d been making her own decisions for years now and she intended to carry on doing so. To listen to what he had to say would risk being sucked back into the darkness from which she’d fought so hard to escape.

‘There is absolutely nothing that you and I need to talk about, and this is supposed to be an evening spent with friends,’ she replied calmly, turning away from him with as much dignity as she could muster. ‘I haven’t seen Oliver for years and I want to get to know Helen.’

Strong fingers caught her wrist and swung her back round to face him. ‘And you and I no longer share the category of friends?’

She closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

Friends?

Once he’d been everything to her. Her friend, her lover—her world.

His fingers tightened and she felt his touch with every fibre of her being. Her traitorous body yearned for more. Yearned for everything this man was capable of giving.

And then she remembered that he wasn’t capable of giving enough.

He hadn’t been able to make that commitment to her.

And neither had anyone else in her life.

And she’d finally learned to live her life alone, depending on no one.

‘Of course we can be friends.’ Her answer was suitably bland. ‘After all, we’re working together.’

‘That’s colleagues,’ he replied softly, his eyes narrowing slightly. ‘Friendship is something completely different. We had it once.’

‘And I seem to remember that you decided that you no longer valued that friendship.’ She gave a cool smile to indicate that the conversation was over, ignoring the traitorous thump of her heart. ‘Oliver is handing out drinks in the kitchen. If you don’t want to miss out I suggest you move quickly.’ With a determined twist of her wrist she freed herself and walked towards the kitchen with a determined stride, feeling his frustration with a faint flicker of satisfaction.

Not everything goes your way, Tom Hunter.

She walked back into the kitchen and said, ‘Tom’s here,’ in her most casual voice, and then proceeded to top up her glass of wine.

There was a tense silence and Bryony put her hands on her hips and glared at Oliver. ‘You invited Tom?’

‘Why not?’ Oliver’s tone was calm. ‘He’s my brother. I refuse to stop socializing with him just because he used to go out with Sally. It’s been seven years, for crying out loud. It’s history. We all need to move on.’

‘But—’

‘Hush, Bry,’ Sally said quietly, reaching out and squeezing her friend’s shoulder to reassure her. ‘Oliver’s right. It’s fine.’

And it was fine. She was totally in control.

She’d always known that she wouldn’t be able to avoid Tom. And she didn’t want to.

What she wanted was to work and live in a community alongside him and not feel anything.

Bryony rubbed her fingers over her temples, visibly stressed, and Oliver glanced towards the door where Tom was leaning, listening to the exchange in silence, his handsome face devoid of expression.

He’d removed his leathers to reveal a pair of snugly fitting jeans and a black jumper that simply accentuated his masculine looks.

He looked dark and dangerous and just about as sexy as it was possible for a man to be.

‘I can’t understand why you use the motorbike in winter.’ Oliver’s tone was mild. ‘It’s freezing out there and it worries Mum.’

‘I’ve been worrying Mum since I was able to walk,’ Tom drawled, strolling to the fridge and helping himself to a bottle of beer. ‘And I like the fresh air. Good evening, Bryony.’

Ignoring the irony in his tone, Bryony glared at him and Oliver sighed.

‘You’re destroying the atmosphere of my dinner party,’ he said mildly. ‘Sort it out, bro, or we’ll all get indigestion.’

‘I intend to sort it out.’ Tom pushed the fridge door shut, his eyes on Sally. ‘So what do you say, Sally? Can we work together and socialize together without creating an atmosphere?’

Sally tensed, her fingers gripping the stem of her wineglass so tightly that it was in danger of snapping.

He stepped towards her, his gaze only for her. ‘My sister thinks you should hit me. So do it, Sally.’

She felt smothered by his closeness, by his overwhelming masculinity. She took a deep breath and then wished she hadn’t because his tantalizing male smell filled her head and clouded her senses. She had only to lift a hand to touch him but she kept both hands firmly by her sides and stared at the floor.

She decided to let him speak. If she let him speak then he’d leave her alone.

‘I don’t want to hit you.’

‘You should. It would make Bryony feel better. And stop looking at the floor.’ Tom lifted his hands and cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. ‘I want you to look at me.’

Startled by his touch, she stood without moving, staring into her past, feeling the brush of his fingers on her sensitized skin.

She’d loved this man so much.

‘I’m sorry, Sally.’ His voice softened with genuine regret. ‘Sorry for hurting you so badly.’

Those blue eyes drew her in and she struggled against the powerful sexual attraction that still existed between them.

With a monumental effort she broke the contact. First the emotional, then the physical.

Shutting herself down, she stepped backwards.

‘You did what you believed was right,’ she said lightly, managing what she hoped was a dignified smile. ‘And it’s in the past. Oliver’s right—we’ve all moved on. The future is what’s important now.’

And her future wasn’t going to feature this man.

She would never allow herself to be so vulnerable to hurt and pain again.

She lifted her chin and looked at Oliver. ‘When are we eating? I’m starving.’

There was a collective sigh of relief around the room and everyone started talking again.

Everyone except Tom.

His eyes were firmly fixed on Sally, his blue gaze narrow and assessing as he looked at her.

Instantly she turned away, determined not to allow him access to her thoughts.

He’d always been good at reading her.

Too good.

That amazing bond of understanding had been fundamental to the powerful chemistry they’d shared. And it had made it even harder when he’d ended the relationship.

People had come and gone from her life before, but none of them had understood her as Tom had, and it had made the loss even greater.

Determined to normalize the situation, she quickly involved Bryony in a discussion about her new role as a GP registrar.

‘I’ve only been doing it for a month.’ Bryony held out her glass so that Oliver could top it up. ‘I’m just grateful I haven’t got Oliver as my trainer. It would be only marginally worse than working with Jack.’

‘Confronting perfection on a daily basis can be challenging,’ Jack agreed sympathetically, his expression solemn as he looked at his wife.

‘Don’t start,’ Bryony warned, glancing over her shoulder to the Aga. ‘Something’s about to boil over, Helen.’

Helen gave a gasp and dashed to retrieve the pan while Oliver laughed. ‘OK, everybody out! We’re distracting her. Table’s laid in the conservatory. Helen and I will finish up here.’

He ushered them out of the kitchen while Helen drained the vegetables and removed the plates from the warmer.

Wishing she could have stayed in the relative safety of the kitchen, Sally walked into Oliver’s huge glass conservatory and eyed the table warily. Bryony and Jack sat down together on one side of the table, still in mid-argument, which meant that, wherever she sat, she’d be near Tom.

She almost laughed. Of course she’d be near Tom. The table was laid for six. How could she not be near him? And with everyone else in couples, how could this not be intimate?

She was just contemplating whether it would be less nerve-racking to sit opposite him or next to him when Tom settled himself in a vacant chair and looked at his sister.

‘So are you going to the training session tomorrow night?’

Relieved that she wasn’t the focus of attention, Sally slipped into the seat next to Tom, deciding that at least that way she wouldn’t have to look at him.

‘Yes.’ Bryony reached for a bread roll and broke it in half. ‘So is Sally. Sean couldn’t wait to get her back on the team.’

Oliver walked into the room, carrying a huge dish piled high with a delicious-smelling risotto. ‘Didn’t take him long to talk you into that, Sal.’

Sally took a plate from Helen with a smile of thanks. ‘You know Sean.’

Helen spooned some risotto onto her plate. ‘So you’re a mountain girl, too?’

Oliver gave a snort. ‘Sally is more of a mountain girl than any of us. She’s been doing the serious stuff. And she’s going to tell us all about it.’ He topped up everyone’s glasses and then raised his towards Sally. ‘Cheers. And now we want to hear everything, down to the last gory detail.’

‘Not much to tell.’ She’d left in a mess and had somehow managed to rebuild her life. It wasn’t a story she cared to tell in front of Tom. ‘After I left here, I spent some time in the Himalayas. Climbing and working in a clinic there. It was good experience.’

‘What did you climb?’

It was typical of Tom to want the detail. When they’d been young they’d exchanged details of every route.

‘Well, not Everest,’ she said lightly, ‘although I spent some time at base camp and lower down the valley.’ She hesitated. ‘I joined an expedition climbing Ama Dablam, and that was amazing. Such a beautiful mountain.’

Tom’s expression changed and he looked at her with a new respect. ‘You climbed Ama Dablam? That’s a serious climb. How did you cope with the altitude?’

‘Surprisingly well.’

‘Dad and I climbed it. It was our first real Himalayan experience.’

She looked at him and for a moment there were only the two of them in the room. ‘I remember. You raved about it. It was one of the reasons I went there.’

Because going somewhere that he’d been had somehow maintained a link. And she didn’t want to remember how desperately she’d needed that link. Anything that reminded her of Tom. Anywhere that Tom had been, as if he’d imprinted part of himself on the places that he’d visited.

Suddenly realizing that she’d revealed too much, she dropped her eyes to her plate. ‘After Ama Dablam, I travelled. I met a friend and we went mountain biking around Nepal—that was great. We had a good time.’

‘A friend?’ Bryony’s eyes teased her from across the table. ‘We want to hear more about this friend.’

Everyone laughed except Tom, who gazed at her face in brooding silence.

‘You went mountain biking in the Himalayas?’ Helen looked at her in awe. ‘You make me feel exhausted just thinking about it. Didn’t you relax at all?’

Sally fiddled with her food and gave a half-smile. ‘I find climbing relaxing.’

It required all her concentration and that left no room for other thoughts to intrude. Thoughts of Tom. She’d run so that the pain couldn’t catch her and she’d continued to run until she’d finally been sure that she’d left the worst of the agony behind.

‘Well, it certainly doesn’t sound relaxing to me.’ Helen gave a little shudder and Oliver laughed and took her hand.

‘My wife is a townie at heart,’ he teased gently, ‘but we’re trying to convert her. If she doesn’t wear high heels for a few days she has serious withdrawal symptoms.’

Helen’s eyes mocked him. ‘You’re always so derogatory about my choice of footwear, but I don’t hear you complaining when we go out.’

‘I admit it.’ Oliver grinned at her. ‘My fatal weakness. A woman in high heels.’

‘Enough of your strange fetishes.’ Bryony frowned at her brother and turned back to Sally. ‘I had your letter from the Karakorum.’

Helen looked confused. ‘Where—or what—is the Karakorum?’

Tom stirred. ‘It’s a range of mountains in Pakistan.’ He looked at Sally. ‘You went to K2?’

‘I worked as base camp manager for one of the expeditions,’ she told him, ‘and in one of the clinics there. And when that finished one of them persuaded me to travel to Australia so I did and I got a job as a midwife.’

The conversation switched to obstetrics and Sally concentrated on her meal, wondering why she couldn’t relax.

She’d grown up with these people. They were the closest thing to family she had, and yet the only person she was aware of was Tom.

Despite the fact that his chair was several inches from hers, she was supremely conscious of him. The hard muscle of his thigh was tantalizingly close to hers and suddenly she wished she could flick a switch in her body that would delete for ever her awareness of this man.

And he was tense.

She could feel it.

He lounged in his chair, listening to the conversation, his long fingers tapping the table.

‘All right, pay attention. We have some news.’ Bryony tucked her hand into Jack’s and beamed at everyone.

Sally looked at her friend with interest, glad of a distraction from Tom. ‘What news?’

‘I’m pregnant.’ Bryony spoke softly, her gaze slightly shy as she looked at Jack. ‘Two months gone. Not very much really, so we haven’t told anyone except Mum. And now you.’

Helen gave a squeal of delight and dashed round the table to hug Bryony. Oliver shot Jack an amused glance.

‘No need to ask what you were doing on your honeymoon. Congratulations.’

‘Yes, congratulations.’ Genuinely pleased for her friend, Sally smiled across the table. ‘It looks as though I came home at the right time. I’ve got seven months to get used to the idea of answering to “Aunty Sally”.’

Tom’s gaze was fixed on her face. ‘Why did you decide to come home?’

Sally reached for her wine, her hand perfectly steady. ‘Because it was time,’ she said softly, still smiling at Bryony. ‘I realized I was missing out on the lives of people who matter to me.’

Bryony looked at Tom. ‘I want you to deliver me.’

Tom frowned and his fingers stilled. ‘That would not be a good idea, and you know it.’

‘You delivered Ellie MacAllister.’ Bryony’s gaze softened as she looked at her brother. ‘You saved her life.’

‘Ellie is not my sister.’

‘But she’s a close friend.’

Tom let out a long breath. ‘That’s different.’

‘I don’t see why your sister should be deserving of less than a friend. There’s no one else I trust,’ Bryony confessed quietly, and Tom sighed.

‘Bry, I can’t.’ He took a slug of wine and stared broodily at his glass. ‘I’ll have a word with Chris Knight. He seems pretty good to me.’

‘Pretty good isn’t good enough,’ Bryony said tartly, and Jack grinned.

‘“Pretty good” is high praise from your brother, you should know that. The guy’s obviously a genius.’

Tom gave a wry smile. ‘He seems solid enough and we think along the same lines.’

‘I want you,’ Bryony said stubbornly, and Tom’s gaze shifted to Jack.

‘Don’t look at me,’ Jack muttered. ‘When Bry gets something stuck in her head, there’s no shifting it. You should know that.’

Tom was silent for a few moments and then he looked at his sister. ‘I promise to be there when you deliver, but I’m not being responsible for the actual delivery.’

Bryony hesitated. ‘You’ll be there? You’ll intervene if you see them doing something wrong?’

‘People don’t do things wrong in my department.’ Tom ran a hand over the back of his neck. ‘And, yes, I’ll be there.’

Bryony smiled at him, warmth and gratitude in her eyes. ‘Thanks, Tom.’

Sally was suddenly aware that he was studying her again and she felt the tension rise inside her.

Why had he asked her that question about her reasons for coming home?

Had he expected a declaration of undying love?

If so then he was doomed to disappointment.

She stood up, suddenly needing to be in her own.

‘I’d better go. I’m on an early tomorrow.’ She glanced at her watch and then smiled at Helen. ‘It was a wonderful meal and a lovely evening. Thank you so much for inviting me.’

‘Come again soon.’ Helen glanced at Jack and Bryony. ‘Are you giving Sally a lift home? She can’t possibly ride her bike this late.’

‘You’re talking to a girl who mountain biked around the Himalayas,’ Oliver said dryly, his eyes amused as he looked at his fiancée. ‘I don’t suppose anyone looked out for her then.’

‘Well, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look out for her now,’ Helen said firmly, ‘and she isn’t riding that bike of hers home this late at night.’

Something shifted inside Sally and she felt an instant bond with Helen.

She was an incredibly kind person.

‘Thank you,’ she said gruffly, ‘but I’ll be fine, really.’

‘Helen’s right, you shouldn’t cycle this late. I’ll give you a lift.’ Tom rose to his feet and lifted an eyebrow in her direction, challenging her to refuse.

She lifted an eyebrow. ‘You’re on a bike, too, remember?’

Tom’s eyes gleamed with amusement. ‘Not the same thing, as you well know.’

Sally glanced down at herself. ‘I’m hardly dressed for a ride on a motorbike in freezing March.’

‘I’ve got a spare helmet and you can borrow a set of leathers from here,’ Tom said easily. ‘Oliver?’

‘We’ll take her,’ Bryony interrupted quickly, her expression troubled as she looked at Sally. ‘She doesn’t want to go on the back of your motorbike. It’s a totally uncivilized mode of transport.’

‘Sally isn’t like you,’ Tom said softly, his blue eyes fixed firmly on Sally. ‘She used to love my motorbike. I can’t believe she’s really changed that much.’

Sally stared at him, hardly able to breathe. Why did she have the feeling that this conversation wasn’t about motorbikes? It was about the person she used to be.

But she wasn’t that person any more.

She wasn’t the same girl who had been so crazy about Tom that all the other parts of her life had blurred into insignificance.

Bryony reached for her keys. ‘I’m taking her home,’ she said firmly, and Oliver sighed.

‘Well, in that case you’ll have to come back here afterwards, because Jack and I have got things to discuss.’

‘Thanks, Bry, but I’ll go with Tom.’ The last thing Sally wanted was to put Bryony to so much trouble when she’d already been so generous in every way. It was just one short motorbike ride. How could that be a problem? And it was hardly intimate. They wouldn’t even be able to have a conversation and he couldn’t see her face once they were on the bike. It would be fine.

She looked at the leathers that Oliver was holding out to her, her eyes suddenly wary as she recognized them. ‘They’re mine …’

‘You gave them to us when you left. Naturally, we hung onto them.’

Sally stood for a moment, remembering the time she’d bought the leathers. The same time she’d thought she’d be with Tom for ever.

Putting them on would be like going back in time, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

Then she felt Tom’s eyes on her and reached for the leathers. ‘Thanks.’

She wriggled into them, took the helmet from Tom and said her goodbyes, by which time Tom was already seated on the motorbike, his black helmet concealing his features and giving him an air of menace and danger.

Sally swallowed, suddenly realizing what she’d committed herself to. Why on earth hadn’t she just agreed when Bryony had offered to drive her home? It would have been the safe option.

But she’d never chosen the safe option in her life and Bryony had already done more than enough.

She looked at his powerful figure straddling the bike with careless ease and suddenly her body throbbed in an instinctive and totally feminine response to the macho figure he presented. But his sexual magnetism had never been in question, she reasoned, hating herself for the strength of her reaction. That was why she’d made such a fool of herself over him in her teens.

Looking at the space on the back of his bike, she felt her breath catch.

How could she have thought that riding on a bike with him would be less intimate than travelling in a car? It was so much more intimate. On a bike she would be wrapped around him, her body locked against his as it had been so many times in the past.

‘Are you coming?’ His deep voice was molten male invitation and she was suddenly thankful that the helmet concealed her expression.

‘Yes.’

Comforting herself that the journey was relatively short, she stepped up to the bike and swung her leg over, sitting as far back in the saddle as possible, trying to keep her distance.

Without speaking, he reached back and found her arms, lifting them and wrapping them around him, forcing her to draw close, to slot her body against his.

She felt the warmth and strength of him pressed against her, felt the powerful play of male muscle against hers as he steered the bike out of Oliver’s drive.

As they picked up speed she felt the familiar kick of excitement and closed her eyes, transported back in time.

It was a mistake. Like an addict who allows himself just one more taste of a dangerous substance, she felt the insidious pull of desire. A need that couldn’t be controlled by common sense. Feeling the traitorous warmth spread through her body, she wondered despairingly how it was that you could know something was bad for you and yet still want it so badly.

Other men, she told herself firmly.

There were other men out there and she was going to meet one of them …

She was so preoccupied by her own internal battle that it wasn’t until Tom approached Bryony’s cottage that she realized that she hadn’t even told him where she lived.

The bike slowed and she pulled herself back from the edge of insanity, sliding off the back of the bike before he’d even brought it to a halt.

She dragged off the helmet and handed it to him, shaking her blonde hair in an automatic gesture.

‘So how did you know where I was living?’

‘A simple matter of deduction,’ he drawled. ‘My little sister seems to have given herself the role of protector and her cottage is empty. It would be a logical decision to offer it to you.’

‘I’m finding myself somewhere of my own soon.’

He shrugged. ‘Why bother? This cottage is great and it’s not that far from the hospital.’

Because after seven years of travelling she was ready to have somewhere that was her own. Even if all she could afford was something tiny.

It would be all hers.

But she had no intention of sharing those thoughts with Tom.

‘Goodnight. Thanks for the lift.’

‘Are you going to invite me in?’ His voice was velvety dark and tempting and she stared at him like a rabbit caught in headlights, the physical pull of his presence as powerful as ever.

‘Why would I?’

‘Because, whatever you might say to the contrary,’ he drawled softly, ‘you know you want to. All evening you felt me next to you in the same way that I felt you. This thing between us hasn’t gone away, Sally.’

Her insides lurched alarmingly and she backed away a few steps. ‘What I know,’ she said coldly, ‘is that you are as arrogant as ever.’

But despite her accusation she could feel the insidious warmth spread through her veins, fuelled by the lazy, confident look in his blue eyes.

When she’d been younger, it had been one of the many things that had attracted her to him. His unshakable self-confidence, his nerve and courage in confronting the world, his total belief in his ability to conquer all. For someone as insecure as her, he’d represented security. She’d always believed that nothing would ever go wrong as long as Tom was there.

But the thing that had gone wrong had been Tom himself.

Like everyone else in her life, eventually he’d pushed her away.

‘So are you inviting me in?’ He sat easily on the bike, watching her, totally relaxed. Or was he? His blue eyes were sharp and alert and fixed on her face, reading her every reaction with lethal accuracy.

‘No, Tom. I’m not. Thanks for the lift.’ She delved in her bag for her keys and turned to walk down the path to the cottage, but his arm snaked out and strong fingers closed over her arm, preventing her escape.

‘You can deny it as much as you like, but it’s still there.’

She stood still, trapped by the strength of his fingers and the truth in his words.

It was still there.

And that made it doubly difficult to do what she had to do.

But it didn’t make it impossible.

‘Goodnight, Tom.’ With a determined effort and more willpower than she’d known she possessed, she pulled away from him for the second time that evening and walked down the path without looking back.

Tom rode the motorbike home at a pace that would have horrified his mother, but even the sudden burst of death-defying speed and power didn’t relieve the throbbing tension that had built within him during the evening.

He locked the bike away and let himself into his house, contemplating the undeniable fact that, of all the women he’d been with in his life, Sally Jenner was the only one who had ever held his attention.

But she’d wanted a level of commitment that had unsettled him.

She’d been young and mixed up. Shifted from foster-home to foster-home, searching for security and acceptance. And unconditional love. Someone who wouldn’t push her away when the going got tough.

And hadn’t he done just that?

He cursed softly, reminding himself that he’d been in an impossible situation.

Sally had been so lonely and unloved that she’d treated him like a lifeline, and he’d known that the only way she was ever going to find confidence, find her place in the world, would be if they parted company. He’d been mature enough to realize how desperate she’d been for some sort of stability in her life, and he’d been afraid that her love for him had been fuelled by a desperation for security.

And looking at her this evening, looking at that poise and confidence, he could almost convince himself that he’d done the right thing.

But then he’d felt the pulsing, throbbing tension between them, and the question came back to taunt him as it had a million times over the last seven years.

What if he hadn’t ended it?

Wondering why life was so damn complicated, Tom tugged open the fridge to retrieve another beer when he remembered that he’d already had one and it was still possible that he’d be called back to the hospital.

So instead he made himself a coffee and took it into his huge living room.

He sprawled on one of the leather sofas, staring blindly, thinking about the one woman who was never far from his mind.

When she’d chosen to leave Cumbria he’d been relieved. He had been fully aware that living in the same community as Sally Jenner and not wanting to ravish her twenty-four hours a day had been more than his willpower would have been able to cope with.

Even believing that his decision had been right for both of them, it hadn’t made it any easier to live with.

He’d hurt her. Badly. Which had reduced him from friend and lover to just another person who’d rejected her.

What he hadn’t anticipated was that seven years of separation wouldn’t dull his desire for her in even the smallest degree.

All that the time had done had been to increase his doubt.

He stirred slightly, his gaze sliding around the stylish room that he’d designed himself, noticing how empty it was. Usually he found comfort in returning to the peace and order of his home.

But tonight something had changed.

Tonight his house didn’t feel peaceful, it felt silent.

It didn’t feel private, it felt lonely.

Suddenly he’d found himself wishing that he shared it with a woman, but not just any woman.

Sally.

The connection between them was as powerful as ever, even though she was choosing to deny it.

And who could blame her for that?

Suddenly he wished it were Sally who was pregnant, with his child.

Shocked by his thoughts, he rose to his feet and paced the generous expanse of his living room, wondering just what on earth was happening to him.

Sally dragged herself through the next few days at work, feeling totally exhausted. The strain of working in such close proximity to Tom was affecting her sleep pattern and she was permanently tired.

And she was thinking too much.

Thinking about the past.

Gritting her teeth and promising herself that she’d spend the weekend outdoors, she walked onto the unit for her last shift before her days off, frowning slightly as her mountain rescue team pager bleeped.

Moments later Tom strode onto the unit, his expression urgent.

‘Grab your things, we need to get going.’

‘Going?’ Sally looked at him, her hand still on her pager. ‘Surely we can’t both leave the unit?’

Emma gave her a little push. ‘We’re quiet, and anyway Chris is around and I can get some help from the ward if I need it. What’s happening, Tom?’

‘Would you believe me if I told you that Lucy Thomas has called from somewhere in the Langdales? She’s fallen and hurt her ankle.’

‘Lucy?’ Emma gaped at him. ‘But she must be eight months pregnant by now!’

‘Apparently she felt like some fresh air.’ Tom let out a breath. ‘I have to admit that of all the incidents I’ve ever attended, this one looks as though it might take the prize. It seems she fell and twisted her ankle and her husband can’t move her. But we can talk about it on the way. I need to grab some extra equipment, Emma. Just in case.’

Sally frowned. ‘But I thought it was her ankle that was injured.’

‘It is, so far …’ Tom was already striding down the corridor towards the storeroom, ‘but I have a bad feeling about this one and clearly so does Sean. It’s the reason he’s asked for both of us to be there.’

He was back minutes later, stuffing various packages into a bag. In the meantime Sally had grabbed her coat and bag.

‘You’ll be pleased to hear I brought the four-wheel-drive today,’ he said dryly, his eyes faintly mocking as he looked at her. ‘So at least you’ll be travelling in comfort.’

The hospital was only minutes from the base, and as soon as Tom pulled up in the car park Sally was out of the door and sprinting inside, grabbing her gear and changing quickly.

‘I’m still waiting for the others,’ Sean told them, ushering them across to the large map that was permanently displayed on the wall. ‘She used a mobile phone but the battery went dead before she could be precise about their location. They stayed on the flat and she said they’d walked for about an hour. Given that she’s eight months pregnant, that can’t put them any further than here …’ He stabbed the map with the end of his pen and frowned thoughtfully. ‘We should be able to land a helicopter there if we have to.’

Tom shook his head in disbelief. ‘What is a heavily pregnant woman doing, walking in the Langdales in this weather? Has the world gone mad?’

Sean grinned. ‘It’s a sunny day. Perhaps she wanted to deliver alfresco.’

‘Don’t even joke about it,’ Tom growled, and Sally glanced at her watch.

‘Let’s get going.’

Part of her was quaking at the thought of going on alone with Tom, but part of her was relieved to be paired with him.

He was a highly skilled climber and a brilliant doctor. He was the perfect partner on any mountain rescue.

She just wished he wasn’t so dangerously attractive.

Or, at the very least, she wished she no longer noticed or cared.

They both jumped back into the four-wheel-drive and Tom drove quickly to the point that he and Sean had identified from the map as being the closest to the path the couple seemed to have taken.

As she slipped her arms into her rucksack, Sally gave a shiver and looked up at the sky.

‘The weather’s closing in.’

‘Of course it is.’ Tom’s tone was loaded with irony. ‘You didn’t really think you were going to carry out this rescue in sunshine, did you?’

Sally laughed. ‘I would have hated it if we had. I love wild weather.’

He stilled, a strange expression flickering in his eyes as he looked at her. ‘That’s right.’ His tone was suddenly soft. ‘So you do.’

For a moment their eyes held and then she turned on her heel and started up the path, her emotions churning.

Being out in the mountains with him was the most bitter-sweet reminder of what they’d once shared. When they hadn’t been working, they’d spent their whole lives outdoors. And she’d often chosen to climb when the weather had been at its worst, and Tom had always come with her.

Reminding herself that dwelling on the past just made the present harder to cope with, Sally increased her pace and strode confidently along the path that led along the valley floor, looking and listening and keeping a sharp eye on the weather. But all the time she was aware of Tom close behind her.

When she reached a fork in the path she paused, and Tom walked up to her, squinting up at the sky.

‘It’s not looking good. So which way? Left or right?’

Sally thought for a moment. ‘Left,’ she said decisively. ‘And if they only walked for an hour, they shouldn’t be far from here.’

She set off again and this time Tom walked by her side, adjusting his stride to hers. ‘Why did you decide on left?’

‘Instinct.’ Sally glanced at him. ‘If I was pregnant I would have taken this path. The views are better and it stays in the valley. The other one creeps up the mountain. It’s steeper.’

‘I can’t imagine that would bother you,’ Tom said dryly. ‘I have no doubt that you’ll still be climbing rock-faces when you’re nine months pregnant.’

Sally dragged her eyes away from his.

She didn’t want him to know how much she still longed for a child. It was one of the factors that had triggered their break-up. She’d wanted a baby and he’d thought she’d been too young.

She focused on the path. ‘I see them. There—by that boulder.’

She increased her pace and they reached the couple quickly.

‘Thank goodness you’re here.’ The man looked pale and tired, his arm around his pregnant wife, who was lying on the ground, her bump smothered by an enormous weatherproof jacket. ‘I didn’t know what to do.’

‘Well, first we need to sit her up,’ Sally said quickly, shrugging the pack off her back and dropping to her knees next to the woman. ‘I’m Sally. I presume you must be Lucy, unless there’s another pregnant woman wandering the fells today.’

Tom dropped to his haunches. ‘Lucy, what on earth do you think you’re doing?’

The young woman gave a gasp and pressed a hand to her swollen abdomen. ‘Oh, Mr Hunter! I didn’t know that you’d come. I just fancied stretching my legs and we lost track of time and then I fell … I’m so sorry to be a nuisance. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to slip!’

‘You’re not a nuisance,’ Sally said immediately, ‘but we do need to sit you up. Lying flat can cause problems at your stage of pregnancy because the weight of the baby presses on your major blood vessels.’

Tom was by her side and together they lifted the woman into a sitting position, propped against a large boulder.

‘She’s been having pains for the past half an hour,’ Lucy’s husband told them, his face drawn and anxious. ‘We never should have come on this walk but it was such a beautiful day when we started out.’

Lucy screwed up her face and sucked in a breath. ‘Oh—the pain is terrible.’

Tom frowned. ‘In your ankle?’

‘No.’ Lucy shook her head, her eyes tightly shut as she struggled with the pain. ‘I think the baby is coming.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Luce.’ Her husband spoke in a falsely cheerful tone that was supposed to hide his anxiety and didn’t. ‘It isn’t due for another three weeks and babies don’t come that quickly.’

Lucy’s features relaxed and she opened her eyes. ‘Sorry to scare you, Mick, but it feels as though it’s coming to me.’

Her husband glanced at Tom, horrified. ‘She’s wrong, isn’t she? It can’t possibly be coming here. That quickly.’

‘Babies don’t usually care too much about the venue and they don’t always care about the timing either,’ Tom said, squatting down beside Lucy and sliding a hand over her abdomen. ‘They come when they’re ready. And you’re definitely having contractions. Sally, you monitor them. I’m going to take a look at your ankle, Lucy, so that we know what we’re dealing with here. If you are in labour, we need to get you to hospital.’

Mick looked horrified. ‘But it usually takes a long time, yes? Labour takes ages.’

‘Usually, but not always,’ Sally muttered, placing her hand on the top of Lucy’s uterus to feel the strength of the contraction while Tom gently removed Lucy’s boot. ‘Has everything been normal in your pregnancy?’ A gust of wind blew her blonde hair across her face and she anchored it back with her hand, contemplating the fact that she’d never had to ask these questions on a mountain rescue before. ‘Any problems at all with you or the baby?’

Lucy shook her head. ‘The baby was breech for a while but it turned about a month ago and the head has been engaged for a week. I saw Mr Hunter in clinic last week and he said everything was looking fine. Oh—’ She broke off with a gasp of pain and Sally felt the power of the contraction as the uterus tightened under her hand.

‘All right, Lucy, remember your breathing.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Your contractions are very frequent. How long have you been in labour? When did the pains start?’

Lucy screwed up her face and shook her head. ‘I didn’t know I was in labour, but I was very uncomfortable in the car. We’d been to see my mum and we thought we’d stop and stretch our legs.’

‘Stretch your legs?’ Tom glanced up from examining her ankle. ‘You walked for an hour.’

‘It was just so beautiful we sort of lost track of the time, and walking helped the pain,’ Lucy muttered. ‘And it isn’t as if pregnancy is an illness. I felt fine until I lost my balance.’

Tom looked at Sally, a question in his eyes. ‘Well?’

‘She’s definitely in strong labour,’ Sally said quietly, and Tom let out a breath.

‘All right—let’s take this one stage at a time,’ he suggested, his tone calm as he finished his examination. ‘In my opinion your ankle is sprained, not broken, but you’re certainly not going to be walking anywhere on it for a while. If you’re in labour, we need to get you to a hospital as fast as possible.’

‘You can get a helicopter, yes?’ Mick raked a shaking hand through his windblown hair, visibly shaken by the news that his wife was certainly in labour. ‘Something fast.’

Lucy screwed up her face and grabbed Sally’s hand. ‘I’ve got another pain coming … Oh! I want to push—I can feel it.’

Even Tom looked startled by her terrified announcement and Sally found herself struggling not to smile, despite the potential seriousness of the situation. She’d never seen Tom out of his depth before, but at the moment he looked seriously disconcerted.

‘I think you’d better unpack some of that equipment you brought, Tom,’ she suggested calmly. ‘It looks as though we’re going to need it.’

Sally waited until the contraction had passed and then gently released Lucy’s hand so that she could assess the progress of her labour more accurately. ‘All right, I’m going to unzip your coat and see what’s going on.’

Tom had moved to one side and was using the radio, presumably to talk to Sean at the mountain rescue base.

Sally concentrated on the labouring woman. Because there was no doubt in her mind that the woman was about to deliver. She didn’t even need to pull on a pair of gloves and examine her. As Lucy was gripped by another powerful contraction, Sally clearly saw the top of the baby’s head.

For a moment she felt a shaft of panic and then she reminded herself that there was no reason why a healthy woman couldn’t deliver perfectly well outdoors. She had to forget about all the potential complications and concentrate on the job in hand. Their biggest problem was just the cold.

‘Your baby is definitely coming, Lucy,’ she said calmly, wishing Tom would get off the radio and help. Deciding that she’d better get on with it on her own, she delved into the rucksack and removed various packs. ‘Mick, can you get a tent up, please? Something to keep the wind off. Check in Tom’s rucksack.’

Creating a shelter wouldn’t help that much, but at least it would be better than nothing.

Tom finished talking on the radio and strode back to her. ‘They’re sending a helicopter.’

Sally looked at him. ‘You can’t deliver a baby in a helicopter,’ she pointed out logically, and he ran a hand over the back of his neck.

‘She’s that close? Seriously?’

‘I can see the head.’ Sally looked at him, wondering what was the matter with him. ‘I need a tent, Tom. Now. It’s not much in the way of shelter, but it will help.’

Tom seemed to stir himself. ‘Right. A tent. Mick, I need a hand.’

Sally left the two of them to sort out some shelter and turned her attention back to Lucy.

‘Don’t you worry about a thing,’ she said cheerfully. ‘We girls are going to manage this with no problem.’

Lucy gave a hysterical laugh and caught Sally’s hand again. ‘Would you believe that I actually dismissed the idea of a home birth because they convinced me it was dangerous for my first baby? And here I am on the side of a mountain! I can’t believe this is happening!’

‘Well, look on the bright side, at least you didn’t climb up the mountain,’ Sally said practically. ‘And home birth is not dangerous in the right circumstances. Everything seems fine to me. The only thing we really need to worry about is the cold.’

‘Have you delivered babies at home before?’

‘I worked in Nepal for a while,’ Sally told her chattily, happy to distract her. ‘Hardly any of the women there make it to health centres of any sort, and plenty of other cultures think that home is the place to give birth. I once looked after a woman who insisted on giving birth in her garden, surrounded by candles.’

Lucy gave a hysterical laugh. ‘But none of them chose to deliver in a howling gale on a mountainside.’

‘You’ve certainly picked the best view,’ Sally agreed with a laugh, grabbing the Pinard stethoscope from the rucksack and pressing it against Lucy’s abdomen. ‘This might be asking a bit much, but I want to try and listen to the baby’s heart.’

For a few moments all she could hear was the wind and Lucy’s gasps, and then she shifted the stethoscope slightly and there it was. The wonderfully reassuring gallop of the baby’s heart.

‘That’s fine, Lucy.’ She straightened. ‘He or she seems to be perfectly happy. Obviously enjoying being outdoors.’

By now Lucy was inside the tent and she and Tom had manoeuvred a sterile sheet underneath her.

Lucy gave a low moan. ‘I’m so scared. This isn’t how it should be …’

‘There’s nothing to be scared of,’ Sally said immediately. ‘You’re doing beautifully. Are you warm enough?’

Lucy nodded. ‘I am, but what about the baby?’

‘Well, at the moment he’s still inside you so he’s fine,’ Sally said. ‘We’ll worry about his temperature once he’s safely out.’

‘You keep calling the baby he,’ Lucy gasped, and Sally smiled, aware of Tom by her side.

‘It’s a boy. Definitely.’ Her tone was dry. ‘Only a man could cause this much trouble.’

Despite the tension of the situation, Lucy giggled. Tom picked up the banter. ‘You’re going to find out just what trouble is when this is over, Sally Jenner,’ he threatened, his blue eyes gleaming as they locked on hers.

But despite his mockery and the kick of her heart, Sally couldn’t be anything but glad that he was there.

She knew that if Lucy got into trouble, she was going to need him.

Lucy chuckled and then groaned. ‘Don’t make me laugh—it hurts. How can you be so relaxed?’

‘Because there is absolutely nothing to be tense about,’ Sally replied immediately. ‘Childbirth is perfectly natural.’

Lucy grimaced. ‘Until something goes wrong.’

‘That’s my line,’ Tom muttered. He glanced at Sally and she rolled her eyes.

‘Don’t get all pessimistic on me, please, or I’ll send the pair of you home and do this by myself.’ She opened another pack and looked at Tom again. ‘Could you draw up some Syntometrine? If you and Lucy are just going to sit there, panicking, I’ll have to give the orders.’

He lifted a hand to show her that he’d already done it and it occurred to her that, despite everything that had happened, they were still a good team.

Lucy gave a gasp and shifted onto all fours. ‘It’s coming … I can feel it …’

Sally snapped on a new pair of gloves and glanced over her shoulder at Tom. ‘We’re going to need all the layers you can find, and I want a space blanket, too. OK, Lucy, the head is crowning. I want you to stop pushing if you can. That’s it, good girl. Pant now, pant—that’s it. Great.’

She used her left hand to control the escape of the head and reduce the chances of perineal tearing. As the baby’s head was delivered she allowed it to extend and quickly checked that the cord wasn’t around its neck.

‘Fantastic, Lucy,’ she said, glancing at Tom to check that he was ready to give the injection with the delivery of the anterior shoulder.

She saw the tension in his broad shoulders, the lines of strain around his eyes.

He was waiting for something to go wrong.

‘Everything’s fine,’ she said quietly, as much for Tom’s benefit as Lucy’s. ‘It’s fine. And this is much the nicest delivery I’ve ever done. All we have to do is keep this baby warm once it’s born.’

She could see that Lucy’s body was doing everything it was supposed to do and there was no real reason why there should be problems. Their biggest problem was going to be keeping the baby warm once it was born.

Somewhere in the background she could hear the clack-clack of a helicopter, but she ignored it, waiting instead for the contraction that would finish the delivery of the baby.

Lucy screwed up her face and pushed again. Sally delivered the shoulders and finally the baby shot into her arms, yelling and bawling.

‘Brilliant, Lucy! You clever girl!’ Sally’s eyes filled and she quickly blinked back the tears. ‘You have a little boy.’

Tom immediately cleared the baby’s airway and together they clamped the cord and then placed the child against Lucy’s breast, wrapping mother and child up together.

Lucy gave a sob of disbelief. ‘Is he all right?’

‘He seems fine, but obviously we need to keep him warm and get him to hospital as fast as possible. As soon as your placenta is delivered and you’re able to move, we’re going to load you into that helicopter.’

Sally slid a hand over the top of Lucy’s uterus, checking that it was contracting, and moments later the placenta was delivered.

She examined it closely and looked at Tom. ‘It seems intact to me, but we need to take it to the hospital with us.’

He nodded. ‘I’ll talk to the helicopter crew about how we’re going to do this.’

Satisfied that Lucy’s uterus was contracting nicely and that she didn’t seem to be losing more blood than was normal, Sally turned her attention to the baby, showing Lucy how to latch him onto the breast.

‘Feeding will help your uterus contract and it will warm the baby up,’ she explained, smiling as the little boy clamped his jaws around the nipple and started to suck. ‘No problems there. He obviously has a natural ability. I told you he was a boy!’

Lucy looked at her, tears in her eyes. ‘I can’t thank you enough. You were amazing.’

‘It was wonderful,’ Sally said honestly, glancing over her shoulder as Tom stuck his head into the tent. ‘Are we ready? The baby’s feeding.’

‘Great.’ He smiled at Lucy. ‘When you’re ready to move we’ll get you to the helicopter and take you to hospital. It’s a very short hop.’