by Anna Jacobs
He seemed in a mood to chat, but she had work to do. “I’m afraid I must get back to the cooking now. I’ve an apple pie ready to take out of the oven.”
There was the sound of the kitchen door and Kit came in. “We’ll go and get a meal out tonight, Laura, so there’s no need for you to cook anything for me.”
She looked at his face, knowing how tired he had been after their outing, seeing weariness and pain under the excitement. “I could easily provide a meal for you all if you don’t mind something simple.”
“I don’t want to trouble you. That’s above and beyond the call of duty.”
“I told you at my interview: I can always put a dinner together.” She turned to see Andy standing just outside the door, smoking cigarette in hand, shamelessly eavesdropping.
Kit hesitated.
“I’m happy to do it.”
“As long as you eat with us, Laura.”
She shook her head. “No, Kit. Not this time. I’d be in the way. You all know one another.”
He grimaced. “I feel awful, leaving you to do the extra work then eat on your own.”
“It’s a chance to show you what I can do.”
“Thanks. Um - is there any wine chilled?”
“Yes. I’ll open a red and white and bring them through. Do you want beer as well?”
“No, just wine. You’re a marvel.”
As he went out, she turned to see Andy studying them. He gave her a mocking salute with one raised hand and wandered off again. No doubt wondering about their relationship. Well, she was, too. Did she and Kit really have the possibility of a relationship? She was not only older than him, but as today had shown, not part of his world. Look at how confident that Jules was! No, Laura decided, she’d been fooling herself to build up her hopes like that. Must stop doing it. Definitely.
She served them minestrone soup to start off with. Not her best minestrone, but her emergency one. It wasn’t bad, if she said so herself.
After that came steak, whipped out of the freezer, sliced very thinly and made into a boeuf bourguignon, accompanied by boiled potato slices in parsley butter and every last vegetable in the place. The apple pie with ice cream provided a dessert.
After each course the two male visitors carried the dishes out to the kitchen, but the woman didn’t lift a finger.
I don’t like her, Laura thought. I definitely don’t. She’s got her eye on Kit.
As for the men, they were pleasant enough to her. The pale one, Shaun, was quieter and older, but very complimentary about the way she’d provided a meal at such short notice.
“Why don’t you join us now?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’d stop the conversation flowing. But I wonder - could you please not press Kit to drink too much. He’s still quite unsteady and if he has a fall, it could put him back on crutches again full-time. He’s off them for some time each day now and that means a lot to him.”
“I’ll keep my eye on him.”
As she was finishing her own meal, Kit came into the kitchen. She could see how happy he was, his eyes fairly sparkling with life, in spite of the tiredness.
“Is there any chance we can put them up for the night? They’re all used to sleeping rough, but have we enough blankets for the Lancashire autumn?”
“We do, as long as they don’t mind the smell of mothballs. I’ll make up some beds afterwards.”
“No. Just put out the bedding and let them make up their own beds.”
“It won’t take me a minute.”
“No, Laura. You’ve done enough. And I’m grateful.”
“It’s nice to see you enjoying yourself.”
“I enjoy myself with you, too.”
It was very kind of him to say so, she thought, but she had never brought that vividly-alive look to his face.
She might have been living in a fool’s paradise, but she wasn’t going to let herself stay there.
* * * *
When Andy began yawning, Kit glanced at the clock, astonished to see that it was well past midnight. “Why don’t you go up to bed? There are three bedrooms, doesn’t matter which you take, except not the front one on the right, which is Laura’s. You’ll have to make up the beds yourselves, though. I told Laura just to put out the bedding.”
Andy nodded and ambled off.
Jules exchanged glances with Shaun and followed Andy out.
Kit had been going to seek his own bed, but clearly Shaun wanted to speak to him. “Say it quickly and I’ll refuse your offer, then we can both go to bed.”
“What do you mean, refuse?”
“I don’t want a job. I’m not an office wallah and I never will be.”
Shaun stared at him, then shrugged slightly. “Pity. It can be interesting in its own way and it pays well.”
Kit shrugged. “I’ve enough money for my needs. And I’m enjoying my freedom.” He yawned and rubbed his aching leg.
Shaun watched him. “All right if I stay another day. There’s something else I need to discuss but it’s a bit late now and I’m not thinking clearly enough.”
“Sure. I’ve always got room for old friends.” But he wasn’t sure how much of a friend Shaun was. The other man had always been fairly reserved and if Kit wasn’t mistaken, he’d fancied Jules. But he’d always dealt fairly with Kit and had given him some interesting assignments.
But no way was Kit taking an office job, or trying to turn back the clock. He’d retired from globe-hopping, both mentally and physically, and that was that.
Chapter 24
Ryan woke in the night to hear Caitlin moving around. He lay for a moment, but the light in the living area stayed on, so it obviously wasn’t just a visit to the bathroom. He got up, grabbed his towelling beach robe and went out to join her, yawning as he belted it up.
She was sitting on the sofa, staring into space and looking worried. She didn’t notice him come in and jumped visibly when she saw him. “Sorry, Ryan. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Can’t you sleep?”
She hesitated then said, “It’s more than that. I’m spotting blood and having the occasional cramp. I don’t know whether to go to the hospital or not.”
Immediately he came fully awake. “How do you feel?”
“Not well. Just generally - lousy. I have done for a couple of days. And I’ve a grumbling pain in my stomach.” She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “I don’t want to lose the baby.”
He went across and gathered her into his arms, cuddling her close. When he felt a tear plop on to his bare neck, he pulled her even closer. “Shh, now. You’ve got to stay calm. I’ll sling some clothes on then I’ll be with you.”
“I can get a taxi.”
“You bloody well can’t! If you think I’m letting you go on your own, you can think again.” He held her at arm’s length for a minute and they looked at each other with great solemnity, as if their bodies were saying things their mouths didn’t dare to yet.
Then she sagged back on the couch. “Thank you.”
He kissed her forehead, which was the only part of her face not wet with tears, then brushed her hair back and kissed her damp cheek for good measure. “Two minutes and I’m at your service.”
“I’d better get dressed, too.”
“Don’t. You’ll only have to get undressed again. And it’s not as if it’s a cold night.”
As they drove to the hospital, she gasped and bent forward.
“Pain?”
“Mmm.”
He couldn’t help her, so concentrated on driving carefully through the warm spring night, pulling into the emergency area with a feeling of great relief. Quickly he explained what was happening and the porter took Caitlin away in a wheelchair, telling him to park over to the left and then report to Reception.
Grudging every second it took, Ryan did so then ran back into the hospital. “Caitlin Sheedy. I just brought her in.”
The receptionist looked at a list. “Please take a seat. Miss Sheedy
is being examined at the moment.”
He wanted to be with her, but he had no right.
And he didn’t want her to lose the baby.
A nurse came through the transparent plastic doors and spoke to the woman on Reception, who beckoned to Ryan.
“Miss Sheedy wants to see you, Mr Wells.”
He followed her along a corridor and into a cubicle-like room divided from others by nothing more than green curtains. She pulled the front curtain aside and he saw Caitlin lying on a high, narrow bed, her face white, her hair darkened by sweat. One arm was thrown across her eyes and she didn’t lift it when she heard them come in.
“Mr Wells is here,” the nurse said. “I’ll leave you for a minute or two.” She turned to Ryan and added in an undertone, “Fetch me at once if it gets worse. I’m just down the corridor at the nursing station.”
He hesitated at the foot of the bed, not sure what to do. “Um - how are you feeling, Caitlin?”
She lowered her arm, her eyes searching his face anxiously, then glanced beyond him as if to make sure they were alone and beckoned him forward. Her voice was a mere thread of sound. “I told them - you were the father. I didn’t want - to be alone.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Please don’t leave me alone, Ryan.”
He moved forward and took hold of her hand. “Of course I won’t. Do you want me to contact anyone? Your family?”
She shook her head. “No. They’ll send Barry to see me and he’ll say it’s the Lord’s will and all for the best. I can’t face him. Or that.”
“Then I’ll stay. Willingly, I promise you.”
“Thank you.” She closed her eyes as if the lids were too heavy to hold open and let out a long, trailing sigh. “You’re so kind.”
When she grimaced, he watched her anxiously. She gasped and drew her knees up. “It’s starting again.”
“I’ll fetch the nurse.”
“You’ll come back with her? Please.”
“Of course.”
“Promise.”
“If they’ll let me.”
But the nurse examined Caitlin quickly and expertly, then shepherded Ryan out.
“I want to be with her,” he protested. “I’m the father.” But in vain.
“Not now, Mr Wells. We’ll take her somewhere more private and call you as soon as we’re sure what’s happening.”
But he could hear Caitlin sobbing as he walked away. He took a seat in the waiting room, the one nearest to where she was. This was a nightmare. That poor girl had no one - except him.
He gave a wry smile. He had no one in Melbourne, either - except her.
And anyway, this night had shown him one thing: he loved her deeply and surely. As his father hadn’t, he was quite certain. His father seemed only to love his children in that way.
But did she love him? And could they be happy together after all that had happened? He’d be willing to give it a try. Would she?
Which inevitably led him to wonder what his mother would say if he wanted to marry Caitlin? He paused on that thought. Marry? Then he smiled. Yes, of course. He felt so right with her, just like all the romantic clichés he’d once laughed at. But his mother would chuck a fit, he was sure, and you couldn’t blame her.
When he’d phoned his mother the other night, he’d planned to tell her he was seeing Caitlin, but something had prevented him. He didn’t want to hurt her as his father had done that, but when you loved someone as he loved Caitlin, you had to put them first. Why hadn’t he let himself admit the depth of his feelings before now?
Because of his father, always because of him. Craig Wells might be dead but he was still affecting everyone.
It seemed a long time until the nurse came back for him.
“I’m sorry, Mr Wells, but she’s lost the baby. We’ll keep her in overnight and let her come home in the morning.” She looked at him severely. “Your partner will need looking after carefully for a while. No heavy lifting. Lots of cosseting. And she’ll be very emotional. It plays havoc with the hormones.”
“I’ll look after her properly, I promise. Can I see her for a minute?”
“She’s drowsy now. You can have a peep at her, but she needs to sleep now. Really, you’d be better going home to bed then coming back for her in the morning.”
He hesitated then shook his head. “I’ll stay, I think. One of her cousins is in Melbourne and has been upsetting her. I don’t want him getting near her in that condition.” It might have been his imagination, but the nurse seemed to look at him a little more warmly when he said that.
She took him to see Caitlin, who opened her eyes and gave him a tired smile, then drifted off into sleep again.
The night seemed very long and the chairs designed for discomfort so he couldn’t do more than occasionally doze off, but he was grateful for that when he saw Barry walk into the hospital just as it was getting light. How the hell had the fellow known she was here? Ryan stood up, grimly determined to keep him away from Caitlin.
Barry’s confident smile when he saw Ryan only reinforced that decision.
Ryan arrived at the reception desk in time to hear Barry ask for Caitlin. He moved forward. “She doesn’t want to see you.”
The other man barely spared him a glance, continuing to speak to the receptionist. “I’m her cousin, her closest relative in Melbourne. She’ll need my help when she comes out of hospital.”
The nurse who’d been attending Caitlin during the night was behind the desk, where she’d been talking to the woman on duty. She pointed to Ryan and said to her colleague, “Actually this man is the father and Ms Sheedy said she didn’t want to see anyone but him.”
Barry breathed in audibly and seemed to swell up like a bullfrog, glaring at Ryan then turning back to the two women. “He’s not the father. The father of that baby is dead.”
The nurse smiled. “I’d think she would know better than you who the father is.” Someone called and she waved one hand, mouthing, “Coming.” Turning to the receptionist she said loudly, “I’ve put Ms Sheedy’s request on her notes: no visitors except Ryan Wells. I have to go now or I’ll miss my lift. See you tomorrow.” She walked off.
The receptionist gave Barry a cool professional smile. “If you’ll take a seat, sir, I’ll just check what Ms Sheedy’s wishes are.”
“I’ll wait right here.” Barry folded his arms.
Ryan moved to one side. His body had been screaming for sleep a few moments ago but now he felt wide awake and alert. The receptionist came back and he heard her tell Barry that Ms Sheedy didn’t want to see anyone but her partner.
Barry spoke calmly but there was fury behind his words. “Has she lost the baby?”
Ryan moved forward again. “Yes. And she’s in a very fragile state, so leave her alone.”
“I’m glad she’s lost the child, though if the Lord had given me that burden, I’d have adopted it, but now Caitlin and I can start from scratch.” He raked his eyes up and down Ryan scornfully. “Wells! You even look like him. You surely don’t think she cares about you for yourself? And once she recovers she’ll marry me, do what parents want.”
“I don’t think she wants to do that, though, and it’s surely quite important how a woman feels where a marriage is concerned.”
“We’ll see about that. I’ll have no trouble finding out where you live now that I know your name, and I’ll be round to see Caitlin without all these interfering busybodies getting in the way. She needs protecting from you and your family, and I intend to do just that.”
Ryan watched him walk away. Not a word spoken angrily but he could understand why Caitlin feared this man. He didn’t suppose Barry was certifiable, but Ryan was quite sure he was obsessed where his cousin was concerned.
How the hell was he going to protect her? He had to go to work every day and soon he’d have to go to England to say goodbye to his grandmother.
It was ten o’clock before they let Caitlin leave hospital. She was pale and looked sad, but her expression brightened w
hen she saw Ryan appear at the door of her room.
“We have to wait for the nurse to bring the final papers then we can leave. I shall feel a real fool going home in my nightclothes.” She hesitated. “Has Barry gone?’
“Yes. Luckily the nurse had put in your notes that you didn’t want to see anyone except me.”
“Does he know who you are?”
“Yes. Unfortunately the receptionist gave away my name.”
“He’ll find me, then.” She shook her head blindly, her hands clenched into fists. “What am I going to do?”
“I’ll book us into a hotel under false names.”
“They ask to see identification these days.”
He stared at her, wondering how to protect her from that weirdo. “The trouble is, I can’t stay off work too long. I’ll ring and tell them my partner has arrived from Western Australia and had a miscarriage, so they’ll give me a day or two. But they’ll still expect me to go back as soon as I can.”
“Maybe I’ll fly out to Bali or somewhere to recover.”
“What if he followed you there? You’d be in an even worse situation in a foreign country with no one to turn to.”
She sighed and shook her head. “I can’t believe this is happening. I thought when I went to live with your father that’d be the end of it with Barry. Then when I came to Melbourne, I thought that would show him I meant what I said. But it didn’t. Will nothing make him leave me alone?”
Chapter 25
The following morning Laura got up before it was fully light and tiptoed down the stairs, determined to have the house in order before the guests came down. As she was passing Kit’s room, however, she heard voices and couldn’t help stopping for a moment - long enough to realise it was Jules who was in there.
Furious, she went into the kitchen, finding the coffee percolator already warm. She got herself a cup of tea, but didn’t indulge in her usual morning ritual of gazing out into the garden and watching the birds as she sipped it. She was too angry. Kit had just made use of her because she was handy. The minute his old girlfriend turned up, they’d got together again.
