‘Do the fantails come into the house?’ she asked. ‘They used to do that all the time when I was a kid.’
‘I haven’t noticed.’ Luke took a swig of his beer and gave Ellie another shiver as he brushed his lower lip with his thumb. ‘But you’re right. I remember them doing that, too.’
‘My mother told me that there’s a Maori myth that they’re messengers from the spirit world and they bring death or news of death.’ Ellie shook her head. ‘I never believed it. They’re such happy, friendly little birds.’
Luke grinned. ‘So you’re going to rewrite the myth to give them a positive spin?’
Oh...that smile... It made the day even brighter. And the warmth in those astonishing hazel eyes made this tiny patch of the world even more of a blissful oasis. Ellie knew she was in trouble, here.
Last night, she had been able to dismiss the pull she felt towards this man as a product of emotional overload following a traumatic experience heightened by exhaustion. But she’d had enough sleep to revive her and her immediate future was looking less worrying by the hour. Luke had even told her she didn’t have to rush into finding a new place to live.
The thought of spending more time with Luke—like this—was...
A dream come true?
It wasn’t just the remnants of a teenaged crush. Or that she had felt as if she was coming home in returning to Kauri Valley. Okay, both those things had probably contributed and sped the process up but there was something much bigger than that going on, here.
In that split second of holding Luke’s gaze as she basked in that smile, Ellie felt something so astonishing it took her breath away.
Something that felt like a combination of liquid and light. As if it could trickle into all the gaps and cracks in her life—and her heart—and light up the fact that they had been made whole.
Oh, boy...she really was in trouble. This was way more than physical attraction. And if Luke guessed even a fraction of what was going on in her head and heart, he would think she was completely crazy and run for the hills.
Amazing how such a revelation could happen in the blink of an eye but Ellie knew she’d held his gaze long enough to give it significance, so she shrugged as she looked away, to make the eye contact as unimportant as her dismissal of a sombre myth.
‘Why not? Enough bad things happen in life without looking for signs of them before they arrive.’
‘True. We’re both used to seeing what life can throw at people. They get carried through the doors of emergency departments every day.’
Ellie nodded. ‘I had a good catch up with Sue while you were helping to sort Mia’s elbow. She told me about that baby with whooping cough last night.’
Luke stopped eating. His eyes widened with what looked like dismay. ‘Oh, man...I should have told you about that myself.’
‘Sue said it was you who thought of it—that it wouldn’t have occurred to her to worry about whether I’d had a booster or not. I have, by the way. And he’s only two weeks away from getting his own vaccination.’
‘And I had a booster when I was doing that obstetric stint. Just to be on the safe side.’
Satisfied, Luke turned his attention back to his meal but Ellie’s attention had drifted.
It had given her an odd frisson, knowing that Luke had been thinking of her without any prompting. Sue had been just as surprised. And then her friend had been completely blown away by the knowledge that Ellie was staying with Luke.
‘He’s gorgeous,’ she had whispered, keeping her voice down even though they were alone in the staff room. ‘I certainly wouldn’t have said no to an invitation like that.’
‘We’re just friends,’ Ellie had whispered back. ‘But you should see his house. It’s actually got a turret. Like something out of a fairy tale.’
‘Wow...I’d love to see it. Can I come and visit?’
‘Don’t see why not. Some time when Luke’s at work, maybe. Text me.’
It wasn’t the only thing about this situation that felt like magic. Luke had come to rescue her like the impossibly handsome hero of the story. A prince, even, seeing as his house had a turret like a tiny castle. She had been showered with gifts. And now they were having a small feast in the most romantic of settings. What would happen next? Would Luke push his plate away and take hold of her hands and declare his undying love?
Things like that did happen in fairy tales, didn’t they? Love at first sight that everyone knew would last for a lifetime...
Oh, boy...it was high time Ellie got back in touch with reality. Her gaze drifted to the path obscured by the neglected lavender hedge.
‘Where does that path go?’
‘Through Mum’s rose garden and down to the vegetable garden and then into the orchard. Or what was the vegetable garden. Judging by the state of the rest of the garden, I expect it’s disappeared.’
‘We had a veggie garden.’ This was good. Normal, friendly conversation. Ellie could try and cover up the lingering shockwaves of that revelation. For her own sake more than Luke’s, in fact. He wouldn’t need to run for the hills, would he? He wasn’t even going to be here for more than another couple of months. However huge this discovery felt, nothing was going to come from it.
‘It used to be a chore to have to go and pick all the beans or peas for dinner.’ Did Luke notice that her cheerful tone was a little forced? ‘Or dig up some carrots or potatoes but when I look back, it was an amazingly healthy diet.’
‘Mmm.’ Luke was reaching for another bread roll seemingly as relaxed as he had been. Thank goodness telepathy didn’t actually happen. ‘I still have fond memories of the food Mum used to make. Wonderful casseroles that had been in the oven for hours and baked potatoes with crispy skins. I’d get home from school on a cold winter’s day and the smell would hit me as soon as I walked through the door.’ His smile was poignant. ‘It smelt like home...’
Jamie stirred and whimpered—an oddly appropriate response to the note of sadness in Luke’s voice. Ellie got up to take hold of the pushchair’s handles so she could move it gently back and forth.
Her heart was being squeezed painfully from that note in his voice. This place was still his home but either he didn’t realise that or he had no intention of staying here because it was too difficult for some reason. Because it meant too much? In either case, he was going to run away from it. To some huge city like London or Boston where it would take hours to fight your way through traffic and find a bit of countryside or a beach that would remind him of home.
How sad was that?
Ellie suppressed a sigh. ‘I wonder how many kids get to eat food from their own gardens like that these days.’
‘They probably still do around here.’
Ellie tossed a smile over her shoulder. ‘It was a great place to grow up, wasn’t it? Do you remember sliding down those huge sand dunes at the beach?’
‘Using rubbish bags as toboggans?’ The glint of remembered pleasure lit up Luke’s face. ‘Yeah... Surfing was even more exciting, though.’
‘We never surfed. But we had a friend with a pony. She used to let us have a go down on the beach. I galloped once...bareback. Now, that was exciting...’
We. It was still automatic to include Ava in those childhood and adolescent memories. It was Ellie’s turn to feel the sad whisper of loss. Maybe it wasn’t so incomprehensible that Luke would want to put as much distance as possible between his current life and his childhood memories.
She searched for something positive to chase away the negative pull. What had started this trip down memory lane, anyway?
That was right...food...
‘I’m going to try and find a place to rent that has enough space for a veggie garden,’ she declared. ‘I’d like Jamie’s first food to be stuff that I’ve grown myself.’
‘Sounds lik
e a great idea. A house instead of an apartment, maybe.’
Ellie shook her head. ‘Houses are out of my price range.’
The wheels of the pushchair caught on a particularly large weed growing in the crack between two big stones. She stooped and pulled at it, surprised to find how easily it came up. It seemed as if the stones had sand between them rather than soil. She pulled at another one and it slid out with a satisfyingly long set of roots still intact.
‘Are you okay for money?’ Luke asked quietly.
Ellie bristled. He’d already provided far too much and tried to wave off her offer of repayment. What was it he’d said?
Oh, yeah...
That he had no dependants and didn’t intend to ‘get saddled’ with any...
She’d been right this morning, hadn’t she, when she’d interpreted that look on his face as advertising that a family of his own would be his worst nightmare?
This oasis of peaceful countryside on a sunny afternoon suddenly seemed a lot less blissful with that cold shower of reality doing a good job of extinguishing the glow of any powerful emotions Ellie had been experiencing.
Jamie had settled again so there was no need to keep rocking the pushchair. Ellie took another step away from where Luke was still enjoying his late lunch and swooped on another patch of weeds. There was something almost soothing in ripping up these invaders and tossing them aside.
‘I’ll be fine,’ she muttered, finally, in response to Luke’s query about her finances. No way was she going to confess how tough things were. She’d had a big student loan to pay off and she hadn’t hesitated to help out during the years of her mother’s terminal illness.
She summoned a confident tone. ‘I’m thinking that Jamie will be old enough to go in child care by the time he’s three months old and that’s only eight weeks or so away.’
Really? The last few weeks had gone so fast. How hard would it be to hand over the care of this precious baby to people she didn’t even know?
Ellie pulled at more weeds, trying to focus on them as she blinked back the threat of tears.
‘Wow...’ The admiration in Luke’s voice broke the new silence. ‘Look at what you’ve done. I’d forgotten what this area even looked like.’
Ellie straightened. She had cleared a surprisingly big patch of the stone paving. And it did look great. The stone had the same grey-blue tinge of the kitchen’s slate floor. If it was all cleared and swept, with the French doors wide open as they were now, it would make an almost seamless extension of the house into the garden. Indoor, outdoor flow. That was something real estate agents got excited about.
‘I’ll finish it,’ she said. ‘And I can trim that lavender hedge, too, if you’ve got some tools.’
‘You don’t have to do that. I’m going to find a landscaping firm to come in.’
‘You said they were expensive. And hard to find.’ Ellie looked up at the grape vine, which would need heavy pruning soon, and then at the tangle of rose bushes behind the lavender hedge. She thought about the neglected vegetable garden that she hadn’t seen yet. And then she grinned at Luke.
‘I could do it,’ she said.
‘Do what?’
‘Sort your garden out. As thanks for letting me stay.’
Luke shook his head. ‘It’s too big a job. And you’ve got more important things to do—like finding a new place to live.’
But he’d said there was no rush about that. If she was doing a good job with the garden, maybe he’d be happy for her to be around a bit longer, even.
‘I’d enjoy it. I’ll be doing most of my flat-hunting online, anyway, and I’d love the chance to be doing something outside when Jamie’s asleep. I’ve been living in a bedsit for so long. Being here...’ Ellie stretched out her arms to encompass the rambling, old house and the courtyard and gardens beyond. ‘This makes it seem like it was even more of a prison than it felt like sometimes.’
The idea was brilliant. She would love the challenge and the physical exercise would help her get her body back into shape. It was just a bonus that it would be a reason to stay near Luke a bit longer.
Wasn’t it?
But Luke was still looking more than a little doubtful. Ellie stepped towards him.
‘Please?’ Suddenly this was very, very important. She didn’t want to leave this place.
Not yet, anyway.
She summoned what she hoped was her best, winning smile, catching her bottom lip between her teeth when it felt a bit too much.
‘You’ve done so much to help me. I’d really like to be able to do something for you...’
CHAPTER SEVEN
NO MAN ALIVE could have resisted that smile.
Not with that kicker of vulnerability that biting her lip like that advertised.
It wasn’t relief that Luke was feeling.
Okay, it was relief but it wasn’t due to the realisation that Ellie wasn’t going to disappear out of his life just yet. It was because she’d have enough time to find a perfect place to go to and then he could stop worrying about both her future and Jamie’s. Expecting her to disappear in a few days was ridiculous.
She not only had to find new accommodation but probably furnish it as well.
She also had to sort out her transport issues by collecting that rental car and had she not realised how short of clothes she was? She was still wearing the same tee shirt she’d had on last night when he’d rescued them and, right now, it was getting rapidly filthier. His, albeit reluctant, agreement to her plan had apparently triggered a level of excitement that had her exploring more of the garden—pulling up the closest and biggest weeds that came to hand. What had been a largely white tee shirt with a bird and some heart-shaped spots was now streaked with green plant juice and smudges of dirt.
Swallowing the last bite of those delicious rolls Ellie had put together, Luke wiped his mouth and had to shake his head as she pushed her way back through the rampant lavender bushes.
‘I’ll find you a clean tee shirt,’ he offered. ‘I’ve got plenty, as long as you don’t mind black.’
Ellie looked down at herself and groaned. ‘I didn’t even think about that. I’d better put some clothes shopping at the top of the list after I sort out that rental car tomorrow.’
She came closer and peered into the pushchair at Jamie. Her hair had a small, leafy twig caught in it and Luke just couldn’t stop himself reaching out. Ellie jumped as he touched her head.
‘Keep still. You’ve got something caught in your hair.’
Ellie kept very, very still as he carefully disentangled it. She also kept her gaze very firmly on her baby so it was weird that this suddenly felt so...intimate?
‘There you go.’ He held out the twig to show her. ‘You might want to wear a hat if you’re really going to take on a job as a gardener. And some gloves...’ He felt his gut twist as he noticed a scratch on her arm, deep enough to be oozing blood.
How ridiculous was that? He saw people bleeding all the time. Life-threatening amounts of bleeding, come to that, and he never felt anything like this. As if the damage had been done to his own skin.
‘I’ll add stuff like that to my list.’ Ellie nodded briskly and her businesslike tone was exactly what Luke needed to make things feel normal again. And then she lifted her gaze to meet his and her smile made things even better. There was a familiarity there that only came with friendship. The kind of friendship where it was safe to relax because the people involved liked each other.
Trusted each other.
Genuine friendship was the best thing in life as far as Luke was concerned. Something to be valued enormously. Definitely not something to sabotage by letting physical attraction get out of control. To have both at the same time had proved incompatible more than once in his life because those women always wanted more.
They wanted long term commitment. Babies...
‘I could drop you in to the rental car place tomorrow, if you like. It’ll be early, though—I’m switching to day shift for a while.’
‘Brilliant. Thanks, Luke. And...um...’ The glance she gave him was uncertain.
‘What?’
‘Well... Jamie looks like he’s going to sleep a bit longer and I...I really need a shower. I could put him in the bathroom with me, but he might wake up if I move him and...’
Luke waved his hand. He could do this for a friend. ‘Go. It’s fine. He can stay here while I clear up lunch. It’s no problem.’
Jamie wasn’t the problem, he decided, as he ferried the plates and glasses back to the kitchen bench. What was a bit of a problem was that he could hear the water running in the bathroom down the hall. And his mind refused to stop picturing Ellie in there.
Naked.
Covered with soap suds.
Friends did not think about each other like that. Or, if they did, it didn’t generate a fierce tingle of desire.
This wasn’t going to be easy. It might even prove to be the biggest challenge Luke had ever faced.
But maybe that was a good thing? If nothing else, it could override the challenge that walking away from this place for ever was going to present. And he had to walk away because there was nothing here for him any more except ghosts from a past that could stop him embracing the future he had planned.
Jamie woke up and let out a squawk that demanded attention. Luke held the handle of the pushchair and rocked it back and forth, the way he’d seen Ellie doing earlier.
The Surrogate's Unexpected Miracle Page 9
