Healed by His Secret Baby

by Louisa Heaton

  Mrs Downing still wasn’t looking. ‘Have you done it?’

  ‘Yes. Got it first go.’ She removed the needle and added a cotton swab. ‘Press here for me.’

  ‘It’s done? Oh, you are good! You can do that again; I’ll have to ask for you next time. I like all the nurses here, but the one I saw two weeks ago gave me some horrible bruises trying to find my veins. I was black and blue!’

  Lane tried to give a sympathetic look but didn’t want to say anything detrimental about nurses—it just wasn’t right. No one tried to hurt a patient on purpose. It would have been no one’s fault.

  She scribbled Mrs Downing’s details onto the vial and popped it into the bag with the yellow slip, then checked to make sure her patient’s arm had stopped bleeding before she put on some tape to hold the wadding in place.

  ‘Leave that on for an hour or two. No heavy lifting, okay?’

  Mrs Downing smiled and winked. ‘I’ll give the gym a miss today, then, lovey. Am I all done?’

  ‘You are. Have a nice day, Mrs Downing.’

  ‘You too, lovey.’

  Lane popped the blood sample into the collection box and cleaned down, ready for her next patient. He hadn’t arrived yet, so she took a sip of her tea, thinking about the chick magnet in the next room.

  Dr Branagh’s consulting room was right next to hers. He was mere feet away. Just a wall between them. And she held a secret that would bring his well-ordered life crashing down in an instant.

  Tori’s arrival had made Lane change her entire life, so she wondered if she ought to feel sorry for him? But then she decided not to. No one had ever felt sorry for her. Simon hadn’t even considered her feelings. All he’d been able to think about was himself. His own happiness.

  Well, Lane had to consider Tori’s happiness. That poor little girl had lost her mother for ever, and she would not introduce her father into her life until she knew she could trust him not to ruin it even further. Simon, and even her own father, had taught her that when the going got tough or complicated, most men bailed out.

  What if Cole was no good?

  What if he was reckless?

  What if he had no idea how to look after a child?

  What if he walked out on Tori after only a few weeks?

  What if he’s married already?

  That thought made her chew on a fingernail.

  What if Dr Branagh had a wife? Lane would be causing problems for her, too. What if he already had kids? They’d have a new half-sister...

  And suddenly, as if her thoughts had summoned him to her room, there he was in her doorway, stethoscope draped casually around his neck, smiling his charming disarming smile and looking at her with those gorgeous baby blues.

  ‘Hey, do you have a moment? I need a chaperon.’

  She blinked. Nodded. Looked to see if he had a ring on his left hand. He didn’t.

  ‘Of course. I’ll be right in.’

  * * *

  ‘Miss Thomas? I’ve brought Lane in as chaperon. She’s our new HCA. So if you’d like to go behind the curtain and remove everything above the waist and let us know when you’re ready...?’

  Cole’s patient nodded and stepped behind the curtain, pulling it closed behind her. As he waited, he took a moment to re-read the notes from his patient’s last few consultations, then he smiled at Lane.

  ‘How are you settling in?’

  She still looked a little uncomfortable. First day nerves again?

  ‘I’m all right. Trying to remember how to use the computer system.’

  ‘Have you been away from general practice for a while, then?’

  She didn’t get to respond as his patient was calling out from behind the curtain. ‘I’m ready.’

  He indicated that Lane should go first and then he stepped behind the curtain with her, pulling it closed behind them.

  Miss Thomas was here because she’d had a double mastectomy and was worried about the healing of her wounds. From what he could see, the left incision was healing nicely, but the right one appeared to be weeping, and it hadn’t adhered the way it ought to.

  He donned gloves and took a closer look. ‘Any pain?’

  ‘A little. But I was told that would be normal anyway.’

  He palpated the skin around the wound. It didn’t feel hot, but there was still some residual swelling from the procedure.

  ‘I think we ought to take a swab to be on the safe side, and I’ll put you on some antibiotics in the meantime—just in case. Lane, could you pass me a swab from over there, please?’

  Lane rummaged in a drawer and pulled out what he needed before passing it over.

  ‘This shouldn’t hurt, but let me know if it does.’

  He gently touched the end of the swab to the weeping wound, trying to make sure he got a good sample to send off to the lab. He capped it off when he was done.

  ‘There you go. You can get dressed now.’

  He held back the curtain for Lane to pass through and then closed it again, so that his patient could get dressed in privacy.

  ‘Do you need me for anything else?’ Lane asked, not really looking at him, but at some point just over his right shoulder.

  Why did he get the feeling Lane was keen to get away from him? Had he embarrassed her this morning? Thinking back, he didn’t think he’d said anything terrible to her. Perhaps he should take a moment to apologise to her when he could? Because he really didn’t want there to be an atmosphere between them. She seemed uncomfortable, and there was something about her discomfort that made him feel he wanted to take it away. People normally felt relaxed and easy-going with him.

  Lane had soulful eyes. A deep, mesmerising blue. Almost sorrowful—as if she’d been through a terrible loss. And, having been through a dreadful loss himself, he wanted to make her feel better. Give her a reason to smile.

  ‘If you wouldn’t mind taking the swab to the sample collection box in the foyer...?’

  It was all he could think of to say. Any other words stuck in his throat. Now was not the right time. He had a patient and they were both professionals.

  ‘And if you could add a note to the patient’s file to say that you chaperoned?’

  She nodded and took the swab. ‘Of course.’

  And then she was gone, just as Miss Thomas threw back the curtain and emerged fully clothed once again.

  Did the room seem a little dimmer with Lane gone?

  How ridiculous! It’s probably just the morning light.

  Cole smiled at his patient and began tapping at his keyboard to request a prescription for her. He was back in work mode and he’d stay that way until lunch.

  * * *

  Lane dropped the swab into the sample box and took a moment to breathe in the fresh air coming through the open front doors of the practice. That poor woman... A double mastectomy! Had she had preventative surgery? Or had she actually had breast cancer? She’d seemed so young. Her own age. But whatever had happened she was surviving. Perhaps it had been caught early and the doctors had had time to do something about it and save her life?

  Lane hadn’t expected to be so shocked by it. To be this close to cancer again and stare it in the face. She’d tried to remain impassive in the room, but behind her eyes she’d been fighting back tears, thinking about Skye.

  And Dr Branagh had been so nice. Considerate. Interested. And so good with his patient! Not that that should be a surprise, but to see him being so attentive and helpful... Would he have been that way with her best friend? Had Skye made a mistake in not telling him about her pregnancy? Or was this just his work persona?

  Lane didn’t know. She was used to misjudging men—to having them pull the wool over her eyes and deceive her, making her think one thing when another thing was happening. And it had been agonising to be in close quarters with Cole, knowing that she knew something
about him but couldn’t tell him. Not yet.

  Would there ever be a good time? What was the perfect time to tell a man he was father to an eight-month-old he hadn’t even known existed?

  And once she told him about Tori he’d want to meet her, surely? Any decent father would. Any decent man would want to do the right thing. And he could make a claim to her in the courts. Skye had never really made it clear whether she wanted Lane to share Tori more officially with Cole, or whether she just wanted her daughter to know her father.

  What if he could fight her legally to take Tori away? The thought made her shiver. Goosebumps prickling her skin and she rubbed at her arms to make them disappear.

  She headed back inside, knowing she had work to do. She updated Miss Thomas’s notes regarding the chaperoning, and then managed to get through an ECG, a double ear syringing, three B12 jabs, two suture removals and a whole host of hypertension checks before lunchtime rolled around.

  And suddenly there Cole was again, looking at her weirdly from the kitchen doorway as she nuked her lunch in the microwave. She could feel his intense gaze upon her and she felt unnerved by it.

  ‘Can I help you?’

  He frowned, his arms crossed. ‘I wonder if I could have a quick word with you? In private?’

  He knows! Oh, God, how did he find out?

  She swallowed hard and followed him to his consulting room. He closed the door behind her and asked her to sit down in one of the chairs the patients would normally use. She thought he’d sit behind his desk, but he didn’t. He grabbed his chair and pulled it out so he could sit across from her, as an equal.

  A smile formed upon his face. ‘I just want to say that I hope I didn’t embarrass you this morning. It wasn’t my intention, and in fact I was very impressed with how you came forward to help.’

  Relief flooded through her and the heat she’d felt surging into her cheeks slowly began to drain away. She half laughed. ‘Ah, yes... That.’

  ‘I just feel that you’re not very comfortable with me, and I don’t like that, so if I did anything wrong at all, I apologise.’

  Damn it. He’s being nice. And respectful.

  ‘No, it wasn’t that. It isn’t that. No.’

  ‘Then is it first day nerves? I’d like to help if I can. We’re all really nice here. We look out for each other and lift each other up—we’ve always got each other’s backs.’

  Seriously? Why can’t he be an ignorant idiot?

  ‘No, it’s not that. It’s...’

  It’s because of who you are. What you did. And how it changed everything. If it hadn’t been for you my friend could still be alive, for all I know.

  If Skye hadn’t met this man, hadn’t got pregnant by him, then she might have survived the cancer by having it treated it earlier, instead of continuing with her pregnancy.

  ‘It’s nothing. I’m sorry if I made you think that way.’

  She tried to sound genuine, look him in the eye, but it was hard. She’d spent months hating this man. His very existence, his sleeping with Skye, meant that her best friend’s life had been changed for ever—as well as her own. The repercussions had spread out like ripples on a pond. And the way he was looking at her now...

  His gaze was intent, and his appraisal made her self-conscious. Those blue eyes of his—so like Tori’s—were hypnotic, and they sparkled with a light that she found mesmerising. He was a very attractive man. Short, closely cropped dark brown hair, broad shoulders, and a genuine smile that was warm and inviting.

  If she’d been the one to meet him in a pub then she had to reluctantly admit to herself that she would have been enthralled and drawn to him too.

  But she couldn’t let that happen.

  Eventually he nodded, as if he were going to accept her answer for now, even though they both knew it wasn’t over.

  ‘Okay. Well, I don’t want to keep you from your lunch. We don’t get long and I’ve got a home visit to do.’

  It was a relief to be dismissed. ‘Right. Okay. Well, I’ll see you later this afternoon.’

  ‘What kind of cake do you like?’

  She was at the door, her hand on the doorknob, and his question seemed to come from left field. Cake?

  ‘I’m sorry?’

  ‘It’s my turn to buy cake for everyone, but as you’re new I’m happy to get your favourite. What is it?’

  She stared back at him, trying to work him out, trying to see if he really was as nice as he seemed to be...

  ‘Lemon drizzle?’

  He beamed a smile. ‘That’s my favourite, too.’

  She smiled back at him and felt something lurch in her heart. As if a part of the wall around it was beginning to crumble. The wall she’d so carefully constructed before coming here.

  Damn.

  She’d only wanted to come here to assess him, tell him the news, and then work out a new ‘normal’.

  She’d never expected to like him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  THAT WEEKEND LANE decided to take Tori to the bird park just outside Bourton-on-the-Water. Tori loved birds. She especially loved Peter, the macaw parrot that Lane’s mother owned, so she was hoping that she’d enjoy the bird park. It would be a welcome outing for both of them. Lane in particular had found her first week at Liberty Point Surgery quite stifling.

  Not because of the work. That part was easy. It was because of Dr Branagh and her conflicting emotions surrounding him. She’d spent ages hating a man she’d never met, and now she’d observed him, both with and without patients, and considered him likeable and charming, helpful and kind. And the rest of the surgery staff couldn’t sing his praises highly enough! None of it melded with the way she’d thought of him over the last year. She’d pictured a dark, almost mythical figure, cruel and selfish and probably heartless. A man like all the rest—out for what he could get and damn the rest of the world.

  Only he didn’t seem like that at all. Perhaps he’d never been like that. She was feeling bad for having misjudged him. There were always two sides to a story and she’d never thought to find out his.

  ‘Lane!’

  She turned to see who was shouting her name and who should it be but Dr Cole Branagh himself. Looking delightfully casual in a slim-fit checked shirt and jeans? Her heart skipped a beat and she felt her cheeks flush.

  ‘Dr Branagh! What are you doing here?’ She skilfully turned Tori’s pushchair in the other direction, so that she was facing away from the man who was her father and was instead looking at the flamingos.

  ‘I’m here to support a patient. They’re having a Keeper for the Day experience and his parents invited me along.’

  Oh. That seemed reasonable.

  ‘That’s nice of them,’ she said.

  ‘I delivered this boy in the back of a car. He was born with Down syndrome and I’ve been his doctor ever since. It’s his birthday today and he wanted to spend it cleaning out birds. What can I say? The heart wants what it wants.’

  She smiled back at him, but her heart was racing and her mind was running through a whirlwind of thoughts and concerns, trying to find a safe topic to talk about and tossing unsuitable ones back into the maelstrom of her mind.

  He was less than a metre away from the daughter he didn’t know he had. His life could change in a moment. Would he know the second he saw Tori? Would he suspect? Now she knew him a little better, she couldn’t help but see him in his daughter.

  ‘The heart wants what it wants.’

  Yes. It did.

  She swallowed and tried not to blush. ‘Well, I won’t keep you...’

  ‘You’re not! He’ll be busy for the next hour or so. They’re taking him to the hatchery, so I’ve got some spare time before they need me back taking photos.’ He waved his mobile phone at her and slid it back into his back pocket. ‘I didn’t know you had a daughter.’

&nb
sp; Oh, dear God...

  Lane blinked rapidly. ‘I don’t. She’s my...goddaughter.’

  She watched in terror as he walked around to the front of the pushchair and knelt down to engage with Tori. She watched him, heart in her mouth, waiting for the axe to fall. Waiting for any tell-tale sign of the horrifying realisation that he was looking at his own daughter.

  But it didn’t seem to happen. He just smiled at her and waved. ‘She’s gorgeous. What’s her name?’

  ‘Victoria. We call her Tori.’

  ‘Have you given her parents a day off?’

  ‘Something like that.’

  This was dangerous territory, and she could almost feel her throat closing up with the fear. He was looking directly at his own daughter! Couldn’t he see? Wasn’t the magic of blood telling him, screaming at him that he was looking at his own child?

  He stood up again, straightened, and she relaxed a little. Keen to get away, she began walking.

  ‘Would you like to grab a coffee?’ he asked.

  She stopped, tense. ‘Oh, I don’t know if that’s—’

  ‘They do a mean caramel slice in the Jungle Café.’

  She hadn’t had a caramel slice in years. And if she refused him would it seem weird? They were meant to be trying to be kind to one another. If she backed off again, tried to avoid him, he’d really sense something was up and she wasn’t ready for that conversation yet. And this way, if she pushed through her discomfort, perhaps she could find out a little more about him? Find out who he really was so she could judge him properly before she dropped her bombshell.

  ‘All right.’

  ‘Great! Let me help you.’

  And he reached to take the pushchair handles and began pushing his own baby daughter down the path.

  For a moment it was like a glimpse of a possible future. Cole taking Tori out and leaving her behind. She didn’t like it. It left her feeling empty and her stomach hurt just at the thought of it.

  So with an aching heart, she scurried to catch up, forcing a smile when she got alongside him and trying to get rid of the sense of dread within her heart.