Читать книгу The Family Who Made Him Whole - Jennifer Taylor - Страница 9

IT WAS just gone six when Hannah arrived at the nursery to collect Charlie. Simon had insisted that she and Tom should split her evening list, which meant she had managed to get away earlier than expected. Now, as she rang the bell, she found herself wondering why she had been so reluctant to let Tom help her. After all, the world hadn’t come to an end because he had seen some patients for her!

‘Oh, hi, Hannah. Come on in. Charlie’s in the playroom—we can’t get him out of the sand tray. He loves it!’

Lucy Burrows, one of the nursery nurses, laughed as she opened the door. Hannah briskly dismissed the thought that she had overreacted as she followed Lucy inside. The sooner she accepted that Tom was just someone she worked with the better. Now, as she paused in the doorway and watched Charlie giggling happily, she was overwhelmed with relief.

Taking Charlie away from everything he knew had been a gamble. Children thrived on stability and she’d been afraid that the move would unsettle him, but so far everything seemed to be working out surprisingly well. He seemed to have settled into the tiny cottage she had rented down by the harbour and he seemed equally happy here at the nursery. After what they had been through in the past year, it was hard to believe that their lives might be changing for the better. If only Andrew had stuck around, surely he would have realised that having a child with talipes wasn’t the disaster he imagined?

Hannah’s mouth compressed as she went over to her son. The likelihood of her ex altering his views was zero. From the moment they had discovered during her pregnancy that there was a problem with Charlie’s feet, Andrew hadn’t wanted anything to do with him. He had wanted a perfect child and he had made that clear.

‘Hello, darling. Are you having a lovely time?’ Hannah crouched down beside the little boy. With his dark brown curls and deep blue eyes, Charlie looked a lot like Andrew. It had hurt at first to see the resemblance, but she had learned to harden her heart. It took more than shared genes to be a real father.

Charlie gurgled in delight when he saw her. Hannah picked him up, inhaling his lovely warm baby smell. Even though she needed to work to support them, she missed him so much whenever they were apart.

‘He’s been as good as gold,’ Lucy told her. ‘You’d think he’d been coming here for ages, not that it was his first day.’

‘That’s a good boy.’

Hannah gave Charlie a kiss as she hitched him more securely onto her hip. Although the casts on his legs were lightweight ones, they were still cumbersome and made carrying him rather awkward. She collected his bag and took him out to the car. Digging into her pocket, she tried to ease out the keys but, with Charlie straddling her hip, it wasn’t easy. She groaned when she ended up dropping them on the ground.

‘Here, let me get them for you.’

All of a sudden Tom was there and she jumped. He smiled as he picked up the bunch of keys. ‘I’ll get the door for you as well.’

He unlocked the car and opened the rear door, standing back while she strapped Charlie into his seat. She straightened up, forcing herself to smile when he dropped the keys into her hand. Maybe it was the shock of seeing him when she’d least expected it, but her heart was racing again.

‘Thanks. You could do with an extra pair of hands when you have a baby,’ she said, lightly.

‘So I can see.’ He smiled back, his deep blue eyes crinkling attractively at the corners. With his tanned skin and athletic build, not to mention that air of confidence he exuded, he must have women fighting to go out with him, she thought, then wondered why the idea made her feel so dejected.

‘Well, I’d better get off,’ she said, opening the driver’s door before any more foolish thoughts could infiltrate her mind. She didn’t want to go out with him—it was the last thing she wanted! ‘Charlie will want his tea.’

‘Of course.’ He glanced at his watch and grimaced. ‘I’d better get my skates on too. I was supposed to be at the lifeboat station for six and it’s five past already.’

Hannah paused. ‘Are you part of the lifeboat crew?’

‘No. I’d love to be, but the fact that I spend most of my time working abroad means it isn’t possible.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m filling in for Simon tonight. He teaches first aid to the crew. There’s a couple of new guys who’ve just started and they need to complete the course as part of their training.’

‘Oh, I see.’ Hannah hesitated but there was no way she could avoid offering him a lift when she was heading that way. ‘I’m going that way so why don’t you hop in? It’ll save you some time.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t want to take you out of your way…’

‘You aren’t.’ She summoned a smile when she realised how sharp she’d sounded. However, his reluctance to get into the car had stung. ‘I’m renting a cottage down by the harbour so I’m going that way.’

‘Oh! Right. Then thank you.’

He strode around the car and slid into the passenger seat. Hannah started the engine and pulled out into the traffic. Although the roads were nowhere near as busy as they were in London, she was surprised by the number of vehicles there were about.

‘It’s a lot busier than I expected,’ she observed, easing round a car and caravan combination that was partially blocking the road.

‘We’re coming into the holiday season. By the middle of July, you won’t be able to move in the town centre—it’ll be one big traffic jam.’

‘Really?’ She frowned. ‘I had no idea that Bride’s Bay was so popular with the tourists.’

‘All the towns along this stretch of coast are tourist magnets.’ Tom smiled at her. ‘You’ll learn to live with it, as everyone does. Yes, it does get hectic at times, but the plus side is that the holidaymakers bring a lot of money into the town.’

‘Which can only be a good thing,’ she concluded. ‘Without the extra income then people would need to move away to find work.’

‘Exactly. As it is, most of the folk in Bride’s Bay have lived here all their lives. That’s what makes it so special.’

His tone was warm and she glanced curiously at him. ‘You obviously love the town.’

‘I do. I’ve been coming here since I was a child and I can honestly say that it’s my favourite place to be.’

‘So why didn’t you opt to become Simon’s partner?’ She slowed to let an elderly couple cross the road and glanced at him. ‘I’m sure he would have been delighted.’

‘I like variety, which is why I prefer to take short-term contracts.’

It was a reasonable answer yet Hannah doubted it was the whole truth. If Tom loved the town so much then the logical step would be for him to settle down here. She was about to point that out when a loud bang made her jump.

‘What on earth was that!’ she exclaimed, drawing the car to a halt.

‘A maroon. They let them off from the lifeboat station to alert the crew when there’s a boat in trouble.’ Tom leant forward and pointed through the windscreen. ‘Look! You can see the trail of smoke it’s left behind.’

Hannah leant forward to look then felt her breath catch when she realised how close they were. There was just the tiniest space separating them and it shrank even more when Tom suddenly turned and she found herself staring into his eyes. She felt a shiver run through her when she saw his eyes darken, turning from sapphire blue to midnight in the space of a heartbeat. When he bent towards her she didn’t move, couldn’t have done so when it felt as though she was drowning in their indigo depths…

Charlie started to cry when a second rocket exploded and the spell was broken. Hannah took a quick breath as she turned to reassure him, but her heart was racing out of control. If they hadn’t been interrupted would she have let Tom kiss her? Because that was where they’d been heading.

Her heart sank as she realised that she would have done. She would have let Tom kiss her, kissed him back, and there was no point denying it. On the contrary, she needed to face the truth, admit that she was deeply attracted to him, and do something about it.

She couldn’t get involved with Tom. It was far too soon after what had happened between her and Andrew. Discovering that the one person she should have been able to rely on had let her down had knocked her for six and it would be a long time before she could trust anyone again. Then there was Charlie. She intended to focus all her time and energy on making sure that everything possible was done for him. The child may have been let down by his father but he wasn’t going to be let down by her too.

Hannah took a deep breath. Nothing was going to happen between her and Tom, not now. Not ever.

Tom could feel the heat that had been pooling in the pit of his stomach turning to ice. He couldn’t believe what had happened. One minute he’d been looking through the windscreen and the next…

He swore under his breath as he reached for the door handle. He had come within a hair’s breadth of kissing Hannah. That was bad enough, but the fact that he appeared to have so little self-control where she was concerned was far more worrying. He knew that she wasn’t right for him but it hadn’t stopped him. He would have kissed her and to hell with the consequences because kissing her had seemed more important than anything else. It made him see how dangerous the situation was. Hannah could turn his world upside down, if he let her.

‘I’ll walk from here. It’s not far now and it’ll be quicker than waiting for the traffic to clear.’ He opened the car door, using that as an excuse not to look at her. He didn’t appreciate feeling so vulnerable. He had always been in control before, of himself and his relationships, but it appeared that he was putty in her hands.

The thought of her hands being anywhere near him was too much. Tom shot out of the car, pausing briefly, as politeness dictated, to thank her. Maybe he should have simply cut and run but he needed to take charge of what was happening, be proactive rather than reactive. ‘Thanks for the lift, Hannah. I appreciate it.’

‘It was nothing.’

Her voice was husky and he felt the hair all over his body stand to attention. Even though he really didn’t want to have to look at her, he couldn’t resist. The lump of ice rapidly melted again when he saw the stunned expression on her face. In that second he knew that if he had kissed her, she wouldn’t have stopped him!

Quite frankly, it was the last thing he needed to know. Tom slammed the door and headed off down the hill as though the hounds of hell were snapping at his heels. In a way they were, because it would be his own version of hell if he allowed the situation to gather momentum. He took a deep breath as he weaved his way through the crowd that had gathered to watch the lifeboat being launched. He was attracted to Hannah, more attracted to her than he’d been to any woman. She seemed to push all the right buttons, or maybe that should be all the wrong ones because he certainly didn’t want to feel this way. He was happy with his lot, enjoyed his life free from complications…

Didn’t he?

Tom’s mouth thinned. He wasn’t going down that route. He had to do what was right and for him that meant living his life unencumbered by a wife and a family. It was the only way he could guarantee that he wouldn’t turn out like the rest of the Bradburys.

He didn’t intend to leave behind a string of broken marriages and tawdry affairs. He didn’t plan to break any hearts or ruin any lives. So maybe he’d thought he could buck the trend once, be the one member of his family who could make a marriage work, but he’d soon discovered he was mistaken. How long had his engagement lasted? Two months? Three? Definitely no longer. As soon as he’d realised he was losing interest, he had broken it off.

It had been a salutary lesson, however, and one he needed to remember. Attraction could and did wane. Maybe he was attracted to Hannah at this very moment, but in a week or so’s time it could be a different story. It wasn’t fair to Hannah to start something that was doomed to failure. It wasn’t fair to him either! He didn’t need this kind of pressure. He didn’t need the worry of constantly wondering if he would hurt her. He wanted to get on with his life and enjoy it, and if that meant staying single then so be it.

Hannah gave Charlie his tea then knelt on the rug and played a noisy game of cars with him. Charlie loved it when they crashed into one another, laughing loudly when his red plastic fire-engine sent her little white ambulance skittering across the floor.

‘You’re going to be a demon driver when you grow up, my boy,’ she smilingly admonished him as she retrieved both vehicles.

Charlie gurgled happily as he sent the toy fire-engine spinning across the room closely followed by the ambulance. Although the casts on his legs meant he couldn’t crawl, he had developed his own technique for getting about which involved shuffling on his bottom. Hannah chuckled as she watched him make his way towards the toys.

‘You’re a determined little chap. I’ll say that for you.’ She went to help him get the ambulance, which had rolled under a chair, then paused when someone knocked on the front door. ‘I won’t be a second, darling,’ she said, veering off to answer it. There was a young man outside wearing bright yellow oilskins and he smiled uncertainly at her.

‘Are you Dr Morris?’

‘Yes, that’s right. What can I do for you?’

‘I’m Billy Robinson, one of the lifeboat crew. Tom asked me to fetch you. We’ve got two casualties at the station and he needs a hand.’ He looked past her and grinned when he saw Charlie. ‘Tom said you had a little ‘un and to bring him along. There’s plenty of folk there who’ll be more than happy to look after him for you.’

‘In that case, of course I’ll come,’ Hannah agreed immediately. ‘I just need to fetch my bag from the kitchen.’

She hurried back through the tiny sitting-room into the equally compact kitchen. Her medical bag was on the table and she quickly checked that she had everything she needed. When she went back, Billy was holding Charlie, who was laughing happily up at him.

‘He seems to have taken to you,’ Hannah observed as she shut the front door.

‘Oh, I’m well used to kids,’ Billy told her cheerfully. ‘There’s seven of us at home and I’m the oldest, so I’ve done my share of babysitting.’

Hannah laughed at the rueful note in his voice. He seemed a pleasant young man and she didn’t have any qualms about letting him carry Charlie the short distance to the lifeboat station. The doors were open and she hurried inside, taking in the scene that met her. Tom was kneeling beside a middle-aged man, setting up a portable defibrillator, whilst two of the lifeboat’s crew were performing artificial respiration on him. It was obvious they had everything under control so she hurried over to the second casualty, a woman. There was another crew member with her and Hannah knelt down beside him.

‘I’m Dr…’ She paused and corrected herself. ‘I’m Hannah Morris. Can you give me some idea what’s happened to her?’

‘Nice to meet you, Hannah. I’m Jim Cairns and this here is Marilyn Baines. She and her husband were out on their yacht when the rudder broke and they ran aground on some rocks. From what I can gather, the main mast broke and hit her on the head.’

‘Right.’ Hannah bent over the woman. ‘My name’s Hannah and I’m a doctor. I need to examine you, Marilyn, if that’s all right?’

‘Ye…’ Marilyn tried to speak but it was obvious that she was still very woozy from the blow to her head.

‘Just relax.’ Hannah smiled reassuringly as she set about examining her, starting with the injury to her head. It was obviously tender because Marilyn winced when she gently probed it. ‘Sorry. It’s a nasty blow and you’ll need a CT scan at the hospital.’

‘Clive… how is he?’ the woman managed to ask.

Hannah gently eased her back down when she tried to sit up. ‘Dr Bradbury is with him. Let’s concentrate on you for now.’

She carried on, noting down a broken left wrist and dislocated left shoulder. There could be damage to the left humerus as well but that would need to be confirmed when an X-ray was done. There was no doubt that the poor woman was in a great deal of pain so Hannah drew up 10 mg of morphine.

‘I’m going to give you something for the pain, Marilyn. Have you had morphine before?’

‘No,’ Marilyn whispered.

‘Sometimes it can make you feel a bit queasy but it’s nothing to worry about.’ She swabbed the woman’s good arm and slid in the needle. The drug took effect almost immediately, although she waited a couple of minutes to see how Marilyn had tolerated it before she set about strapping her wrist and stabilising her shoulder ready for transfer to the hospital.

‘How long before the ambulance gets here?’ she asked, glancing at Jim.

‘The helicopter is on its way,’ a familiar voice answered from behind her.

Hannah took a deep breath before she turned, determined that she wasn’t going to allow Tom to upset her equilibrium again. He’s just a colleague, she reminded herself. Just someone you work with. However, as her gaze skimmed up the long legs and narrow hips before coming to rest on a firmly muscled chest, she realised with a sinking heart that Tom could never be just anyone.

She had tried to tell herself that it was purely physical attraction she felt, but it wasn’t true. Tom appealed to her on many different levels, ranging from his innate warmth to the consideration he showed to other people. She only had to remember how concerned he’d been about Peter Granger to know that it wasn’t an act either. He genuinely wanted to do his best for people, wanted to help them, and that was very appealing.

It was also in marked contrast to Andrew’s attitude. Her ex had always put himself and his needs first, as she knew to her cost. However, she sensed that Tom didn’t do that, that, despite his playboy lifestyle, he cared about other people. It all added up to one seriously attractive package and the thought scared her.

She might not like the idea, certainly hadn’t wished for it to happen, but she had a feeling that Tom was about to take on a far more important role in her life than that of colleague.