by Sarah Morgan
‘That’s because you’re in my house. It’s freezing outside. We won’t stay out for long and we’ll do something flat so that it isn’t strenuous.’
‘What do you think I am?’ She frowned as she fastened her boots, determined not to show him what a struggle it was. ‘Pathetic?’
‘No. Seven months pregnant.’ He stepped forward, zipped up her jacket and handed her a hat. ‘Wear that.’
‘I’ll get hat hair.’
‘Women.’ He rolled his eyes and walked towards the door. ‘Better hat hair than hypothermia, sweetheart. Wear it.’
He drove to a lake that she hadn’t visited before and parked the car. ‘We’ll just walk around the shore path. Very gentle and easy.’
It was a perfect clear day, crisp and cold but fresh and invigorating. The snow crunched underfoot and Miranda stamped her foot down into virgin snow. ‘Don’t you just love that?’ She couldn’t hold back the grin. ‘Being the first person to touch the snow?’
‘Just as long as the mark is caused by your foot and not your bottom.’ He took her arm. ‘I know I’ll be on the receiving end of a lecture about your independent nature, but hold onto me or you might slip and break something. Perhaps we shouldn’t have come.’
She lifted an eyebrow. ‘You think I’ve forgotten how to walk?’
‘No. I think the ground is slippery and your weight distribution has shifted.’
‘You’re just looking for an excuse to touch me.’ She was teasing but the look in his eyes made her smile fade.
‘I don’t need an excuse, Miranda,’ he said softly, his eyes burning into hers. ‘When I think the time is right, I’m going to touch you and we won’t be by a frozen lake when I do it.’
Suddenly she found it difficult to breath. ‘Jake—’
‘We agreed not to get serious today.’ He stroked a hand down her cheek and then turned away, adjusting the rucksack that he always carried on his back. ‘Come on, walk. But hold my arm so that you don’t slip.’
Feeling slightly weak and shaky, she did as he instructed, her fingers curling into the solid swell of his biceps. She wanted to ask what he meant but she was afraid of stirring up something she wasn’t able to handle.
They walked for about half an hour and Jake stopped and pulled out a flask. ‘It’s cold today. The temperature is dropping. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have more snow.’
‘Is the lake really frozen?’
‘Only around the edges. It’s very deceptive. The ice is extremely thin. Last year we had to rescue two children who thought it would be fun to skate and fell in.’
‘Oh, my goodness.’ Miranda took the hot drink from him gratefully. ‘How did you get them out?’
‘We balanced logs on the ice and used the ropes from our climbing gear.’ They drank and talked and then Jake stuffed the flask back in his backpack. ‘Have you finished? We probably ought to be making a move.’
‘Let’s go a bit further before we turn back. It’s so lovely to be outdoors.’
His blue eyes gleamed. ‘Can this possibly be the same girl who was wearing trainers and not much else when I met her on Christmas Day? I thought you were a city girl.’
‘Not any more.’ She shook her head and glanced around her wistfully. ‘I never want to go near a city again. The baby and I are going to live here happily ever after.’
‘That sounds lonely.’
Aware of his searching gaze, she blushed slightly. ‘I don’t think so. As you once said to me, families come in many different guises.’
‘I meant, lonely for you.’ He stepped closer to her. ‘Aren’t you a little young to be dismissing the male species from your life?’
It was impossible to look away and her heart fluttered and skipped at the look in his eyes. ‘I’m trying to keep my life simple.’
‘Is that right?’ Somehow his head had moved nearer to hers and now his mouth hovered, tantalisingly close. She stared up at him, hypnotised by the slightly slumberous look in his eyes. His jaw was rough with stubble and he looked more handsome than any man had a right to look, and her body’s reaction was as intense as it was instant.
Her legs wobbled, her insides tumbled and swirled and that was before he even touched her. Perhaps he knew the effect he was having on her because the last thing she saw before his mouth came down on hers and her eyes drifted closed was lazy amusement in those wicked blue eyes.
Then he kissed her and she slipped into his kiss as easily as she had that first time, on Christmas Day.
No wonder she hadn’t been able to resist him, she thought dizzily. His mouth was warm and skilled, his kiss slow and so erotically seductive that all the power drained out of her legs. Unable to stand without support, she clutched at his jacket and felt his arms slide around her as he pulled her against him.
Lost in a mysterious world of sensation that she’d never before discovered, it was only after he’d reluctantly released her that she realised his mobile phone was ringing.
Swearing fluently under his breath, Jake kept one arm around her and used the other to dig deep in his pocket for his phone. ‘Yes?’ His response was less than enthusiastic and she could understand why. She was ready to strangle the person who’d interrupted them. Or perhaps she should be grateful, she said to herself as she eased herself away from the pressure of his arm, taking advantage of the fact that all his attention was now on the phone. It seemed that it was all too easy to give in to Jake’s charms. No matter how hard her lesson, she seemed to have no willpower where he was concerned.
‘Problem, I’m afraid.’ Jake snapped the phone shut and dropped it into his pocket, his eyes narrowed as he stared down the path ahead of them.
‘You’re not on call. Mr Hardwick is supposed to be covering this weekend.’
‘It isn’t a baby. It’s a woman who’s slipped by the lake and broken her ankle.’
‘Which lake?’
Jake was squinting into the distance. ‘This lake. You and I are the advance party, sweetheart.’
‘You want me to help you with a mountain rescue?’ It was hard to keep the irony out of her voice and he turned to her, his eyes gleaming with appreciation.
‘Actually, we’ve always thought that an extremely pregnant woman would be an asset to the team.’ He trailed a finger down her cheek in an affectionate gesture that had her heart racing. ‘We’re not up a mountain and I don’t need you to do any rescuing, but I do have to go and help and I’m not prepared to leave you here or let you walk back to the car on your own.’
Wondering what it was about him that had such a powerful effect on her, she adopted a frosty tone. ‘You think I’m helpless?’
‘No, I think you’re very pregnant and this walk probably wasn’t a sensible idea, but it becomes even less so if you go back on your own. What if something happens, Miranda?’ He frowned. ‘It isn’t about independence, it’s about common sense.’
She thought for a moment and nodded. ‘All right. I’m not going to argue with you.’
‘You’re not?’
‘No. What do you want me to do?’
‘She dialled 999 a few minutes ago and the leader of the mountain rescue team thinks that she’s not far from here. If he’s right then we should be able to stretcher her down the valley and meet the ambulance at the road.’
‘I only see one problem with that.’
He started walking along the path. ‘What’s that?’
‘We don’t have a stretcher. Or do you carry one in your magic bag, along with the hot chocolate?’
He laughed. ‘My colleagues will be bringing the stretcher, the ambulance will wait at the end of the path and our job is to administer first aid and make sure she’s comfortable.’
‘They’re going to walk along here, carrying a stretcher?’
‘It breaks into pieces.’
‘Oh, yes, I remember now. You showed me one that evening you took me around the mountain rescue centre.’
They walked for another fifteen minutes and the
n Jake waved a hand. ‘There she is. I see her. By that tree.’
‘She looks all huddled up.’ Miranda frowned. ‘I hope she’s all right.’
‘Let’s find out, shall we?’
They reached the woman and she gave a wan smile. ‘I didn’t think anyone else would be stupid enough to walk along here in this weather, but I see I was wrong.’
‘I’m Jake Blackwell, I’m from the mountain rescue team.’ Jake dropped down so that he could examine her ankle. ‘I’m going to make you comfortable and then we’re going to get you out of here. Some of my colleagues are coming with a stretcher and we’ll carry you back to the ambulance. What’s your name?’
‘Verity. Verity Williams. This is so embarrassing.’ The woman closed her eyes briefly. ‘I’ve always scoffed at people who need the services of the mountain rescue team—always thought they were frivolous or badly equipped.’
Miranda shot a guilty look at Jake, who winked at her.
‘It can happen to the best of us, Verity. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m just going to take a look at the damage.’ His tone reassuring, he undid the laces of her boot and Miranda caught hold of the woman’s hand and encouraged her to squeeze.
‘Oh, that’s agony!’ Verity’s face drained of colour and she gasped in pain as Jake carefully eased the boot off her foot.
Miranda pulled a face. She could see instantly that Verity’s foot was badly swollen and discoloured. Was it broken? And what, she wondered, was Jake going to do about that out here in the middle of nowhere?
‘Does it hurt here?’ Jake was examining the ankle carefully and the woman gasped again.
‘Yes. It’s just a sprain, I’m sure, not a break.’ She winced and tried to wriggle into a more comfortable position while Jake dug his mobile phone out of his pocket and opened the top of his rucksack.
He pulled out a pad, a coiled rope and a knife and set about making a splint, his movements slick and confident.
‘Miranda, can you just check her pedal pulse? The foot looks a reasonable colour and she has sensation and movement so I’m assuming her circulation isn’t impaired, but I want to check.’ The phone tucked under his ear, he started talking to the person on the other end, giving a report on the woman’s condition and a description of their whereabouts, while he cut the pad and fashioned a splint.
Miranda removed her glove and checked the pulse in the woman’s foot, feeling the delicate throb under her fingertips with relief. ‘She has a good pulse,’ she told Jake as he snapped the phone shut and finished splinting the leg.
‘Right.’ Jake secured the splint and glanced at his watch. ‘I think they’ll be along with that stretcher in another fifteen minutes, Verity, so hang in there.’
‘Fifteen minutes?’ Miranda gaped at him. ‘It’s taken us almost an hour to get to this point.’
‘The mountain rescue team aren’t in the advanced stages of pregnancy,’ he reminded her, rocking back on his heels and pushing his hand back into his rucksack.
Verity’s face brightened. ‘You’re about to have a baby? Oh, you lucky things. How wonderful for you.’
Miranda frowned. ‘Well, actually, the baby isn’t—’
‘We’re thrilled,’ Jake said firmly, pulling out an extra layer and slipping it around Verity’s shoulders. ‘Best thing that could have happened.’
Confused as to why he would let the woman continue with her misunderstanding, Miranda opened her mouth to correct him and gave a gasp of shock as Jake leaned forward and kissed her. ‘I’m plucking up courage to ask her to marry me,’ he murmured, ‘but I have a feeling she’s going to turn me down so I keep postponing the moment.’
Marry him?
Miranda was speechless and Verity gave a sigh.
‘You don’t want to marry him?’ She turned to look at Miranda who managed a weak smile.
‘I haven’t known him that long.’ Realising how that sounded, Miranda felt a rush of embarrassment. What would Verity think of her? She could hardly explain that she couldn’t marry him because she was pregnant with another man’s baby, could she?
‘I knew my husband for about five minutes before I realised that he was the one.’ Verity sighed. ‘When it’s right, there’s just no point in waiting.’
Jake smiled. ‘My point exactly.’
Miranda looked at him, trying to read his mind. Was he serious? Why did something that seemed so complicated to her seem so simple to everyone else?
Still reeling from his words, she tried to concentrate as Jake engaged Verity in conversation about marriage, babies and life generally, but her mind kept wandering back to his surprise announcement.
Did he really want to marry her?
And then she glanced across at him, saw the way he was taking Verity’s mind off the pain with an animated discussion on the risks of a certain climbing technique and she suddenly realised that he’d just been trying to distract Verity.
Her spirits slumped and she gave an irritated frown, totally unable to understand her own reaction. She didn’t want to marry him. She didn’t want to marry anyone. So why did the realisation that his proposal had been nothing more than distraction therapy leave her feeling so flat?
‘Here come the cavalry.’ Rising to his feet in an athletic movement, Jake gave Verity a quick smile. ‘We’ll soon have you back to civilisation.’
‘What a pity.’ Verity glanced round her with a sigh. ‘I love it here. This view is vastly preferably to the view from my office window, but there you are. Can’t always have what you want in life.’
‘Why not? I always think that what you want is worth fighting for.’ Jake’s gaze lingered on Miranda for a brief moment and then he turned his attention to his colleagues who arrived carrying the stretcher and other equipment.
After that it all happened so quickly and smoothly that Miranda could do little except watch in amazement.
With the efficiency of a team clearly used to working together, they assembled the stretcher and in no time at all they were ready to carry her Verity along the path towards the ambulance.
‘I’m not going to be able to keep up with you,’ Miranda told Verity, ‘so I’ll say goodbye now. I hope your ankle doesn’t take long to heal.’
‘And I hope you agree to marry your young man!’ Verity smiled her thanks at Jake. ‘Men like him don’t come along very often. You should snap him up.’
‘I agree. She definitely should.’ Ignoring the curious glances of the rest of the team, Jake strolled back to collect his gear, leaving his colleagues to set off down the path.
Miranda stood still, chewing her lip, a frown on her face. ‘Don’t you mind that they’re all gossiping now?’
‘Why would I mind?’
‘You let her think that the baby is yours and that you want to marry me. Just how far are you prepared to go in the name of distraction?’
‘It wasn’t about distraction.’ He swung his rucksack onto his back. ‘I’m crazy about you, Miranda, and the baby is part of you. You’ve got to stop thinking that your pregnancy makes any difference to the way I feel about you.’
The way he felt about her?
She felt suddenly light-headed. He was crazy about her? She felt a flicker of happiness and excitement that she ruthlessly squashed. ‘You might think you don’t mind about the baby, but that’s before reality sets in.’
His eyes were amused. ‘You think I don’t know about babies?’
‘You know about delivering babies, Jake. Delivering them isn’t the same as living with them.’ Especially when that baby wasn’t his.
‘I have nieces and nephews. I’m a very hands-on uncle and godfather.’
‘And you return home to your perfect, peaceful house at night. It isn’t the same thing at all!’
He took her arm and tucked it through his as they walked back down the path towards the car. ‘I’m not precious about my house, Miranda. A house is a home, not a showpiece, despite what my sister may think.’
‘Do you have any idea what chil
dren would do to your cream sofa?’
‘Actually, yes,’ he said in a lazy, masculine drawl. ‘My godson, Ben, is always spilling drinks. My sofa has been the lucky recipient on at least three occasions.’
She sighed. ‘You’ve got an answer for everything.’
‘If you’re telling me that I’m persistent, yes, I am. But I’m also patient.’ The amusement in his eyes faded. ‘I don’t want you to feel under pressure. I’m willing to wait for you to make the first move.’
They were back at the car and she’d never felt so confused in her life. ‘I’m not going to make the first move.’
He unlocked the car with a smile, his expression unperturbed. ‘Then we’re in for a frustrating few months, angel. Good job there are plenty of frozen lakes for me to jump into.’
* * *
He kept his word about not making the first move and for the next two weeks they worked together, ate dinner together, chatted about everything. But he didn’t kiss her. And she didn’t kiss him.
What was the point, when she knew it wasn’t going anywhere?
No matter how great the attraction, she wasn’t willing to subject herself to more trauma when it ended, and she knew it would end.
So she gritted her teeth and ignored the rush of excitement she felt whenever he walked into a room and she forced herself not to stare at him when they ate a meal together and not once did she reach for him even though her hands were burning to touch him.
Jake himself worked punishing hours, sometimes spending whole nights at the hospital, returning home briefly just to shower and shave before returning to do his ward round. His commitment to his patients was absolute and his skill and patience with the mothers astonished her. And she learned a great deal from him and found her confidence growing. He taught her to trust her instincts and not doubt herself.
Just how far she’d come was brought home to her when a young woman was admitted to the labour ward with flu-like symptoms.
Miranda helped her into one of the side rooms and quickly glanced at the letter from the GP. Clearly he’d spoken to one of the obstetric registrars, who had then arranged for admission.
‘I’ve never had a headache like this,’ the woman groaned softly as she curled up on the bed and covered her face with her arms. ‘I feel totally hideous—you have no idea.’
