Читать книгу Rescuing Dr Macallister - Sarah Morgan - Страница 9

IT WAS a filthy night and the river was flooded.

Ellie stopped the car and stared in dismay at the murky dark water swirling directly in her path, illuminated by the beam of her headlights. In the summer months the river flowed obediently under the road, but in the winter, particularly after torrential rain, it swelled and burst its banks, flooding the road and forcing drivers to make a long detour through another valley.

But she didn’t have time for any sort of detour.

Lindsay was in labour. On her own and terrified in a farmhouse that was in the middle of nowhere.

Ellie flicked her windscreen wipers onto double speed and weighed her options.

Turn around and approach Lindsay’s farm from the other side of the valley?

No. She dismissed the thought instantly. It would take too much time and time was the one thing she didn’t have.

Which left only one other option.

She narrowed her eyes and stared through the darkness at the swirling water.

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Lindsay!’ She glared at the surging river as if sheer will-power could make the waters part like the Red Sea. ‘Why did you have to buy a house in such a remote place? What was wrong with a nice stone cottage in the middle of Ambleside?’

Apparently the midwife had been very relaxed and reassuring on the phone, reminding her that the baby wasn’t due for another four weeks and that the tightenings that Lindsay was feeling were probably normal.

Ellie peered at the swirling water and hoped the midwife knew what she was talking about. If she was wrong, Ellie would have to deliver the baby by herself, a challenge which she didn’t relish. She was an A and E nurse, not a midwife.

In fact, if it hadn’t been for Lindsay’s cry for help, Ellie would have gone back to work because you didn’t need to be a genius to know that the A and E department was going to be packed with injuries on a night like this.

Opening the car door, she flinched as a gust of wind tore it out of her hand and the rain flung itself in her face like water from a bucket.

‘Ugh...’ Gasping and scrubbing the water away from her eyes with her hand, she forced the car door shut and picked her way down to the edge of the water. Within minutes she was soaked, the pelting rain turning her long dark hair as sleek as an otter’s, her dark lashes clogging together as she tried to see through the darkness.

How deep could it be?

She’d driven this way only the day before and the road had been clear. It had been raining for twenty-four hours but surely the water level couldn’t have risen that fast?

The secret was to drive quickly and not hesitate.

She’d done it before in her youth, she reminded herself. Plenty of times.

Her mind made up, she hurried back to the car and scraped a hank of sodden hair away from her face.

Now that she’d made her decision, her eyes gleamed with anticipation and she started the engine, set her jaw and pressed the accelerator to the floor.

As she hit the water the car jerked and for one terrifying, breath-stealing moment she thought she was going to be stranded in the middle of the roaring river. And then she heard the engine splutter and the car suddenly surged forward and bounded out the other side as if it was relieved to be clear of the water.

She gave a whoop of triumph which turned to a groan as the car gave another splutter, choked and then stopped.

‘Oh, no—don’t do this to me.’ She turned the key again but there was no response.

Her little car might have made it through the ford but there was no way it was going any further. She flopped back in her seat and stared out of the windscreen in dismay.

Now what?

All her thoughts were on Lindsay, alone, afraid and possibly in labour less than a mile away.

Lindsay—not just her cousin but her best friend.

There was no way anything was going to stop her reaching her.

Which meant she was going to have to walk the rest of the way.

But at least now she was on the right side of the water. She’d just have to leave the car where it was and sort it out later.

Reaching into the back of her car for her coat, she dragged it on, grabbed her bag and opened the car door again, bracing herself as she confronted the elements.

If anything the rain had increased and in seconds she was drenched to the skin, her vision distorted by the volume of water streaming over her face. The wind was so fierce she could hardly stand, let alone make headway up the road, and she swore under her breath as she battled to stay upright.

She’d barely made any progress when she heard the unmistakable sound of a car engine from behind her. Turning quickly, she saw headlights flickering in the darkness as another car made its way towards the ford.

For a moment she tensed. The water was deeper than it looked, but there was no way of warning the driver. She just hoped he wouldn’t suffer the same fate that she had.

He didn’t.

Ellie watched enviously as the car surged through the water without any alteration in speed and then leapt out the other side as if it had barely noticed the impediment. Great. What wouldn’t she have given for a car like that on a night like this?

Still, she might be able to make use of it.

Ignoring the fact that the wind was trying to tear her coat from her shoulders, she braced her legs apart, stood in the middle of the road and windmilled her arms.

Oh, please, please, let the driver stop.

If the driver could drop her at the end of Lindsay’s lane, she’d save precious time.

The car pulled up and there was a soft purr as the window on the passenger side slid down.

The wind whipped her sodden hair across her face and she raked it to one side impatiently as she leaned inside to talk to the driver.

‘Thank goodness you stopped!’ She was shouting to make herself heard above the wind. ‘I need a lift, it’s an emergency.’

Without waiting for an invitation, she yanked open the door and clambered into the passenger seat, giving an exclamation of disgust as the wind tried to drag the door from her hand.

With considerable difficulty she slammed it shut, closed the electric window and turned to the driver with a relieved smile.

‘What a night! Thank goodness you came along when you did. I was in a spot of bother.’

There was an ominous silence and in the darkness the driver’s features were barely visible. When he finally spoke, his voice had a hard edge. ‘Do you have a death wish?’

The temperature inside the car suddenly seemed lower than outside, and Ellie’s merry smile faltered slightly as she looked into glittering black eyes.

‘Of course I don’t have a death wish.’

‘You took an absurd risk.’

‘By driving through the ford?’ She gave a chuckle and toed off her wet shoes. ‘I hate to point out the obvious, but you drove through it, too!’

‘In a vehicle designed for those sorts of conditions,’ he growled. ‘The same can’t be said for your car.’

‘Wasn’t she amazing?’ Ellie squinted through clogged lashes towards her little car, her tone warm with affection. ‘I mean, I know she conked out on me but at least she made it through the water.’

‘You could have been killed.’

‘Relax, will you?’ She smiled cheerfully as she peeled off her soaking wet coat and pulled her sodden jumper over her head. ‘I’ve got nine lives.’

‘Not any more.’ His voice was clipped. ‘You just lost at least three back there in the river.’

Why was he so angry?

‘I’ve been driving through that ford since I was young, although admittedly I haven’t done it for a while now. There was no danger.’

She dropped her wet clothes onto the floor of the car and tugged her wet shirt out of her trousers.

‘Are you planning to remove all your clothes?’

‘Just the outer layers,’ she assured him. ‘I’m soaked to the skin and I don’t want to get hypothermia. What I really need is a towel. I don’t suppose...?’ Her voice trailed off as she saw the expression in his eyes. ‘No, you’re not the type to carry a towel in the car.’

He seemed to struggle to find his voice. ‘I don’t generally need towels when I drive,’ he said finally, and she rubbed her arms to keep warm.

‘Well, you should,’ she told him. ‘They can be very useful. I remember one time when I was driving home from work, I passed this injured sheep—’

He blinked in disbelief. ‘Sheep?’

‘Yes, sheep.’ She gave him an odd look and then shrugged and carried on. ‘Anyway, she’d managed to wriggle her way under the barbed-wire fence and she was totally wedged and every time she moved the wire embedded itself deeper in her wool and— why are you looking at me like that?’

‘I’ve never met anyone that talks as much as you. I’m wondering when you breathe.’

‘I can breathe and talk,’ she assured him. ‘As I was saying, she was stuck, and I’ve tried rescuing sheep with bare hands before and it’s always been a disaster, but luckily I had a towel in my car and so I used that and it was brilliant. I always carry one now. You should too.’

He stared at her for a long time and then finally stirred and cleared his throat. ‘I’ll remember that. In the meantime, I do have a blanket on the back seat. Please feel free to use it.’

‘Oh, thanks.’ Completely unselfconscious, Ellie reached into the back, grabbed the blanket and then shook herself like a drenched kitten. Droplets of water flew from her dark hair and landed on the driver. ‘Gosh, I’m soaked and freezing. Can we turn your heating up?’

‘Be my guest.’

She glanced at him warily as she fiddled with the controls of his fancy car.

‘You’re looking at me in a funny way. I suppose you think I’m very forward, but I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to get hypothermia. I remember once when I got really wet—’

‘Do you always talk this much?’

‘Are you always this tense?’ She peered at him, trying to read his expression in the semi-darkness. ‘Have I made you late or something? It was very kind of you to stop.’

‘You were standing in the middle of the road,’ he reminded her with exaggerated patience. ‘I had no choice but to stop. It was that or run you over.’

‘If you’re trying to convince me that given the choice you would have driven past me and left me there, you won’t succeed,’ she said cheerfully. ‘No one would be that heartless.’

There was a long pause and when he finally spoke his tone was chilly. ‘You have a worrying faith in human nature.’

She frowned. ‘No, I haven’t. Most people are very kind-hearted. Like you. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along when you did. You’re my knight in shining armour and I’ll love you forever.’ She snuggled under the blanket and gave him a wide smile which faltered when she saw the look on his face. ‘What? Why are you looking at me like that? What have I done now?’

In the gloom his expression was hard to read but she sensed his exasperation.

‘Are you always this reckless?’

‘Reckless?’ She subdued a yawn and snuggled deeper under the blanket. ‘When was I reckless?’

‘When?’ He lifted one dark eyebrow and his expression was ironic. ‘Well, let’s see—was it when you drove the ford in a car no bigger than a sewing machine, or flagged down a total stranger, climbed into his car, stripped off your clothes and declared undying love—’

‘Not undying love exactly,’ Ellie corrected him with a quick frown. ‘More eternal thanks.’

He gritted his teeth. ‘You’re not safe to be let out alone. Didn’t your father teach you never to accept lifts from strange men?’

For a brief moment Ellie’s smile faltered. ‘Yes,’ she said in a small voice, ‘I suppose he did.’

‘So what were you doing, flagging down a total stranger?’

‘Well, it was that or die of exposure,’ Ellie said logically, pushing away thoughts of her beloved father. ‘Dad may have taught me not to accept lifts from strange men, but he also taught me to use my head in a crisis. And tonight is definitely a crisis.’

‘I could be anyone.’ His voice had a hard edge, but Ellie just smiled trustingly and snuggled further under the blanket.

‘I’m sure you’re a lovely person. In my experience, most people are.’

‘Then you obviously haven’t had much experience,’ he said roughly. ‘How old are you?’

He flicked on the internal light and she blinked.

‘You shouldn’t ask a woman her age. It isn’t polite. And you shouldn’t be influenced by appearances.’ Ellie’s voice tailed off as she saw him properly for the first time.

As their eyes met her breath jammed in her throat and her mouth fell open.

Wow.

The man was stunning. Seriously, breathtakingly good-looking.

She knew she was staring but she couldn’t help it. What woman wouldn’t stare when confronted by a man like this one?

His hair was too long and there was at least two days’ growth of stubble around his jaw, but never in her life had she been faced with a vision of such raw, untamed masculinity. Her eyes feasted slowly on the lean perfection of his face, the bold, dark eyebrows and firm, unsmiling mouth.

A long silence stretched between them and finally he spoke. ‘What’s the matter?’ His tone was rough. ‘Now that you’ve seen me properly, are you finally thinking that you might have been foolish to climb into my car?’

‘No.’ She shook herself and smiled at him, incurably honest. ‘Actually, I was thinking that when women kiss you, they probably keep their eyes open.’

He seemed to have lost his powers of speech and she tilted her head to one side and looked at him curiously.

‘What’s the matter? I’m just saying that you’re so good-looking it would be a terrible waste to close your eyes.’ She gave an impish smile and he shot her a look of pure, undiluted disbelief.

‘Do you always say exactly what’s in your head without any thought for the consequences?’

‘Always,’ she confessed. ‘I can’t stand people who say one thing and mean another. And don’t tell me no one’s ever told you you’re good-looking before. You must have heard it a million times.’

He studied her, not a flicker of expression on his handsome face. ‘Not in these circumstances.’

‘You’re shocked, aren’t you? But I don’t see why. You must know you’re good-looking.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s no big deal. Just a statement of fact. Like saying it’s raining.’

‘Raining...’ He gave her an odd look. ‘Right.’

‘Well, at the end of the day looks aren’t important, are they?’ she said simply. ‘Being with a person is about loving them for what’s inside, not for what’s outside.’

His dark eyes gleamed strangely in the darkness. ‘Absolutely.’

Ellie wriggled down in the seat and placed her feet on the heater to warm them. ‘I mean, someone can be rich and good-looking but what use is that if they’re no fun to be with?’

‘What use indeed?’ His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her antics from his side of the car. ‘Are you sure you’re quite comfortable?’

‘Perfectly, thank you.’ She beamed at him happily, ignoring the sarcasm in his tone. ‘I’m still pretty cold but this is a great car. Your heater is very efficient.’

‘I’m glad you approve.’ His tone was dry. ‘And now are you going to tell me what you were doing, risking your neck driving around on a night like this?’

Ellie gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth. For a brief few moments she’d totally forgotten about Lindsay. ‘Oh, heavens. Lindsay! You have to drive me to the top of the lane, quickly. We can’t spend any more time chatting.’

‘We?’

‘All right.’ She blushed prettily. ‘So I’m the one that did the chatting, but now can we make a move? Please! We’ve wasted so much time already. It’s an emergency.’

He didn’t shift in his seat. ‘What sort of an emergency? Don’t tell me—another sheep?’

‘Not a sheep. It’s my cousin. She thinks she’s in labour,’ Ellie explained quickly, and he lifted a dark brow.

‘She thinks she’s in labour?’

Ellie shrugged helplessly. ‘Well, it’s her first baby and it’s four weeks early so we’re hoping she’s wrong.’

‘And you’re a midwife?’

‘Sadly, no. I’m a nurse.’ She swallowed and secured the blanket more firmly around her shoulders. ‘The midwife is trapped on the other side of the valley—the wrong side of the floods. I don’t think she’s had much experience of driving through fords.’

‘Clearly a sensible woman,’ he observed, and Ellie pulled a face.

‘A bit pathetic, actually, but there we are. She’s coming the long way round, which is going to take her ages. Fortunately she didn’t sound that worried on the phone. It’s Lindsay’s first baby, and she doesn’t think it will come for a while yet, but I’m not so sure...’ She broke off and he lifted an eyebrow.

‘And why is that?’

‘Because I’ve got one of my feelings.’ She wrinkled her nose anxiously. ‘Which is a problem because I didn’t even get a chance to consult my textbook before I came out.’

‘And are your—er—feelings usually reliable?’

‘Always,’ Ellie said firmly, cuddling the blanket more tightly around her. Her teeth were starting to chatter and she’d never felt so cold in her life. ‘And on top of that her husband is away so, you see, I absolutely have to get to her.’

‘Right.’ His long fingers tapped the steering-wheel. ‘But it wouldn’t exactly have improved the situation if you’d drowned yourself and all the rescue services had been forced to come out to extricate you from the river.’

‘They wouldn’t have been able to. There’s been a pile-up on the motorway, which is why they weren’t any use to Lindsay.’ She twisted in her seat and looked at him with concern. ‘Are you hungry?’

‘Hungry?’ He was clearly taken aback by the question. ‘What on earth makes you ask that?’

‘Because you’re very cross,’ Ellie pointed out gently, her tone sympathetic. ‘You needn’t worry. I get cross when I’m hungry, too. You should eat something straight away to get your blood sugar up.’

There was a long pause and when he spoke his voice wasn’t quite steady. ‘I’m not hungry.’

‘Tired, then?’

‘Not tired.’ He looked at her and shook his head slowly, exasperation glittering in his dark eyes. ‘I’ve just never met anyone quite like you before.’

‘Well, I haven’t met anyone like you before either,’ Ellie confessed, frowning slightly as she looked at him. ‘You may be gorgeous to look at but you’re very tense and you don’t show your feelings. It’s impossible to know what you’re thinking by looking at you, which is always a bit worrying in a person. Now, do you think you could just stop lecturing me and give me a lift to the top of the road? While we’re sitting here, getting to know each other, she could be in the final stages of labour.’

She could have been mistaken but she thought she detected a glimmer of laughter in his eyes as he flicked off the internal light. ‘Come on, then, I’ll take you. If I don’t, there’s no knowing what you’ll get up to. You need a bodyguard.’

He released the handbrake and drove up the road, handling the car skilfully as he negotiated the fierce storm and the lethal driving conditions.

‘Directions?’

‘Further up on the right.’ She paused, her teeth chattering, looking for landmarks. ‘Stop here!’

The man pulled up and squinted down the dark track. ‘I don’t see anything.’

‘Well, the farmhouse is in a dip.’ Ellie released the blanket and he frowned at her.

‘What are you doing now?’

‘I’ll walk from here.’

‘Like hell you will.’ He muttered something under his breath and swung the vehicle into the lane.

She gasped and grabbed the seat to steady herself as it jolted viciously into the first pothole. ‘You can’t drive down here. You’ll lose your suspension.’

‘This is a four-wheel-drive,’ he reminded her, his expression grim as he adjusted the headlights, his eyes fixed on the track. ‘Just hang on.’

In no position to argue, she did just that, bracing herself as the vehicle lurched from the left to the right.

Finally he reached the end of the lane and they could see that every light in Lindsay’s farmhouse was blazing.

He pulled to a halt and unlocked the doors.

In an impulsive gesture, she leaned across, briefly kissed his rough cheek and then shrugged the blanket off her shoulders and grabbed her sodden clothes.

‘Thank you, thank you, thank you. You saved my life. Now, go and get yourself something to eat.’ She grimaced as she slid her feet into her soaking wet boots and, without giving him a chance to speak, slid out of the car and sprinted to the front door, knowing that it would be open. It was always open. Lindsay refused to lock it.

‘Linny?’ She paused in the hallway and shouted for her cousin. ‘Lin? It’s me. Where are you?’

She heard a muffled sob and took the stairs two at a time. ‘Lindsay?’

Throwing open doors, she charged around the upstairs of the farmhouse until she finally found her cousin crouching in a ball in the bathroom, her face streaked with tears.

‘Oh, Lin...’ Ellie dropped to her knees and scooped her cousin into her arms. ‘It’s OK. I’m here now. Everything’s going to be fine.’

‘I thought no one was ever going to get here—’ Lindsay broke off with a gasp of pain and clutched at Ellie’s hand. ‘Paul’s away and it’s going to take him hours to get home, the midwife is stranded, I thought I was going to be on my own...’

Ellie hugged her tightly. ‘You’re not on your own. And you should have known I’d get here.’

Lindsay gave a sob. ‘If the midwife couldn’t manage it, how come you could?’

‘I had a stroke of luck,’ Ellie said evasively, not wanting to mention the ford. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Scared. It’s not meant to come this early, and I’m not meant to be at home. Oh, Ellie, what’s going to happen?’

‘You’re going to have a baby, and it’s going to be fine.’

‘Ugh!’ Lindsay shrank away from her. ‘You’re soaked!’

‘Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a storm raging outside,’ Ellie reminded her. ‘It’s raining.’

Lindsay gave a soft gasp of pain and rubbed her bump gently. ‘This is the Lake District. It always rains. It has to or we wouldn’t have lakes. You’d better help yourself to some dry clothes.’

‘In a minute.’ Ellie looked at her closely. ‘Are you OK?’

‘Honestly?’ Lindsay bit her lip and shook her head. ‘No. I’m really panicking. I know it’s all going to go wrong.’

‘Why should it go wrong?’

A deep male voice came from behind them and Ellie turned in surprise and shock. For a brief moment she’d forgotten about the man in the car. When she’d left him at a run she’d assumed that he’d be driving back down the lane and out of her life. Instead, he was leaning against the doorway of the bathroom, surveying them both through slightly narrowed eyes.

Lindsay glanced at him and then back at Ellie, her expression bemused. ‘I— Who are you?’

‘A doctor. In the circumstances, I thought you might be glad of some help.’

Ellie gaped at him. He was a doctor? ‘You don’t look like a doctor.’

‘You shouldn’t be influenced by appearances.’ His gaze mocked her as he reminded her of their earlier conversation and she gave a weak smile.

‘Touché.’

Lindsay was staring at him. ‘You’re an obstetrician?’

‘No.’ His tone was clipped and businesslike. ‘But I have delivered plenty of babies in the course of my career. Your cousin mentioned that she isn’t a midwife so I thought I’d better check whether you needed help before I left.’

Ellie felt her body flood with relief. She’d been secretly terrified that she’d end up delivering the baby on her own. But he was a doctor.

He’d saved her life twice in one night.

‘We need help,’ she said firmly, ‘most definitely, don’t we, Linny?’

Lindsay looked apprehensive. ‘But we don’t know him, El.’

‘I do. He’s already rescued me once tonight already and it’s only nine o’clock. Trust me, he’s a hero. Cool, calm and totally in control. The perfect person to have around in a crisis. A bit tense, maybe...’ Ellie’s green eyes twinkled with laughter as she glanced at the stranger ‘...but he can’t help that. I’ll make him a bacon sandwich if I get a minute. I’m sure his blood sugar is low.’

‘My blood sugar is fine. And I’m beginning to think I should have left you stranded by the side of the road.’ He looked at her with exasperation and then his gaze flickered to Lindsay. ‘Is she always like this?’

‘Worse usually,’ Lindsay informed him, a weak smile touching her lips despite her own predicament. ‘She’s totally irrepressible. Says what she thinks and always laughs at the wrong time.’

Ellie looked indignant. ‘I don’t see that there’s ever a wrong time to laugh.’

Lindsay was staring at the doctor. ‘What did you mean when you said you should have left her at the side of the road? Why was she at the side of the road?’

Ellie reached for a towel and started rubbing her hair. ‘My car broke down.’

Lindsay’s eyes widened. ‘Why?’

‘Who knows?’ Ellie ignored the man’s ironic glance. ‘Anyway, this man saved me. And his name is—is...’

She broke off and stared at him blankly, suddenly aware that she hadn’t even asked his name.

‘Maybe you should have asked me that before you climbed into my car and stripped off,’ he suggested softly, and Lindsay’s expression was comical, her voice little more than a squeak.

‘What does he mean, you stripped off?’

‘I was soaking wet,’ Ellie explained quickly, glaring at the man crossly. What was she supposed to have done? Stayed in her sodden clothes?

He watched her for a long moment and a ghost of a smile played around his mouth.

‘I’m Ben MacAllister,’ he said finally, turning his attention back to Lindsay. ‘I can assure you that I’ve delivered babies on several occasions in conditions far more challenging than this.’

Ellie looked at her cousin. ‘There we are. Fate brought him to your doorway.’

Lindsay put a hand on hers and took a deep breath, clearly battling with a contraction. After about a minute she spoke again. ‘I don’t know. I...’ She dropped her voice, clearly embarrassed. ‘We don’t know him, Ellie. And we don’t really need him. You could do it if you had to.’

Oh, no, she couldn’t!

Ellie patted Lindsay’s hand and shot Ben a pleading glance. No way did she want him leaving!

‘Lindsay, I’m an A and E nurse, not a midwife,’ she pointed out hastily. ‘I’ll be here to help Ben and give you moral support, but I can’t take responsibility. You know I can’t. It wouldn’t be right. And I’ve known him long enough to know we can trust him. And, anyway, I’ve got one of my feelings.’

Lindsay groaned. ‘Good or bad?’

‘Good,’ Ellie said in a definite tone. She had to convince Lindsay. They needed a doctor.

Her eyes slid to his broad frame but he was still watching Lindsay, his eyes flicking down to his watch as she was racked by another contraction.

‘Only three minutes since the last one,’ he said softly. ‘I’d say this baby is in rather a hurry.’

‘Oh, God, I didn’t want this to happen. I didn’t want to have it at home.’ Lindsay gave a whimper of panic and Ben crouched down so that he was at her level.

‘Home is a great place to have a baby, Lindsay. Where I’ve been working, home is where everyone has their babies. I realise that you don’t know me, and you’re right to be cautious...’ the look he shot Ellie was meaningful. ‘But in this case I promise you can trust me.’

Lindsay stared at him dubiously. ‘It’s just that, well, you don’t look like a doctor.’

That was true enough, Ellie reflected. He looked like a film star.

The corner of his mouth moved slightly. ‘Because I need a shave? Do you want me to call someone who can vouch for me? Or you can give me a razor and I’ll shave here in your bathroom if it will make you feel better.’

There was humour in his tone and something else—a calm confidence that seemed to reassure Lindsay. ‘No—there’s no need to do that, and I’m sorry if I sound rude but I’m just panicking.’ She winced and shifted her position slightly. ‘You see, the baby is breech and they think I’ll need a section. I’m nobody’s idea of a good candidate for a home birth.’

Ben was suddenly still, although his expression didn’t change.

‘In that case I need to examine you and see if we’ve time to get you to hospital.’

Not by a flicker of an eyelid did he betray his concern, but Ellie knew he must have felt it. Even with her limited obstetric experience, she knew that breech births should take place in hospital.

Lindsay was looking at him with frightened eyes. ‘And what if there isn’t time? What happens then?’

‘Then I deliver a breech here.’ He sounded so relaxed and confident that even Lindsay started to look less traumatised.

‘And have you done that before?’

‘Of course.’

Ellie looked at him curiously, wondering if he was bluffing. Had he really delivered a breech?

Lindsay still looked worried. ‘Everyone told me that breech babies should be born in hospital. What if it all goes wrong—?’

‘It won’t go wrong.’ Ben rose to his feet with athletic grace, totally in control and sensationally attractive. ‘It seems to me that three of us and a baby cramped together in this small bathroom is pushing the realms of comfort. Let’s move into your bedroom, shall we? Then I can take a look at you. If there’s time to get you to hospital, I promise that I’ll get you there.’

Lindsay looked at him and then nodded, and Ellie breathed a sigh of relief.