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‘Don’t you have a dog kennel?’
They both turned to the unexpected little voice. Freya had been silent since she’d come downstairs. Jacob moved over next to her. ‘I told you that in the car, didn’t I? There is an old kennel out there. It must have belonged to the people who owned the house before I did. It still has the dog’s name above the kennel.’
‘What was his name?’
‘How did you know it was a boy?’ he answered quickly.
She shrugged. ‘I guessed.’ Bonnie was amazed. Freya had seemed a little overwhelmed earlier. But maybe she was starting to feel a little more comfortable in the house. She was glad that Jacob was making an effort with her daughter. She already felt as if they’d have to tiptoe round about him. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite as awkward as she’d thought.
‘Well, you were right. It was a boy. His name was Bones.’
Freya wrinkled her nose. ‘Bones? That’s a rubbish name for a dog.’
Bonnie couldn’t help but laugh at her blunt response. Jacob leaned his elbow on the island. ‘Really? That’s what I thought too. What would you call a dog?’
Freya thought for a few seconds. ‘Sandy. I’d like a little dog. One that’s white and sandy coloured.’ She leaned forwards and whispered conspiratorially. ‘That’s why I’d call him Sandy.’
Bonnie tapped Jacob on the shoulder as she poured the diet cola into Freya’s tumbler. Not the ideal drink for a five-year-old—but she was just thankful that Jacob had anything at all that was suitable. She set about making a cup of tea for herself. ‘Don’t give her any ideas. One day it’s a bichon frise, the next it’s a terrier, the next a Havanese. Let’s remember that most places we’ll be renting won’t accept pets. I keep trying to tell her that.’
He smiled conspiratorially at Freya and pretend whispered to her. ‘I think you need to tell Mummy to find a house that takes dogs.’ She almost fell over. She hadn’t thought he had it in him. Jacob was full of surprises.
He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a silver tray. ‘Do you want to have fish too? My housekeeper seems to have bought plenty. She seems to have decided to feed me up. It will only take fifteen minutes.’ He slid the sea bass into the oven next to Freya’s fish fingers, then grabbed an oven tray, covered it in silver foil and tipped something from a plastic tub into it. He gave a shrug, ‘Mediterranean crushed potatoes. I’m rubbish at shopping and cooking. My housekeeper always makes a few back-up meals for me. She says it’s the only time my kitchen is put to good use.’
She gave an awkward nod and sat up on one of the stools, warming her hands on her teacup. This was all a little strange.
Jacob looked at her as he poured himself some wine. ‘You okay?’
She sighed. ‘It’s been a big day. This morning I dropped my daughter at a brand-new school, took a bus ride through an unfamiliar city, was late for my first day at work. Accepted a temporary promotion, helped at the scene of an accident and moved into my boss’s home. All in one day.’
He sipped his wine. ‘I think I’ve got this one covered for you.’
‘What do you mean?’ She was curious.
He gave a little smile. ‘One of my good friends is Scottish. I think this could be the “I’m completely knackered” answer.’
She burst out laughing and Freya’s mouth hung open. ‘What a terrible accent!’ She lifted her cup of tea towards him. ‘But the word is perfect, and, yes, it is the one I would have chosen. I’m completely and utterly knackered. I can’t wait to climb into bed with Freya and go to sleep. I can guarantee you—we won’t wake up until the alarm goes off.’
Something flickered across his face. ‘I’m just glad that Freya will sleep safely. You must have had nightmares last night.’
She hesitated and gave a grateful nod. ‘Jacob, we can’t stay here without giving you some money. Can I give you what we would have paid for the motel?’
‘No.’ His answer came out a bit sharply and she started.
‘It only seems fair,’ she said slowly. ‘I know we’re imposing and you’ve already gone to too much trouble for us.’ She gestured towards the oven. ‘The food that you bought. I’ll feel really uncomfortable if you don’t let me contribute.’
He took a sip of his wine. ‘Then feel really uncomfortable—because I won’t. It’s only temporary. You’ll find somewhere to stay soon. It’s only a stopgap to give you some breathing space. We both know that. And anyway—you’ll buy your own food for yourself and Freya. I just thought you wouldn’t have had much opportunity between arriving last night and coming to work today.’ He gave a shrug of his shoulders. ‘I don’t want the new sister of the labour suite passing out from hunger tomorrow.’
He was so matter-of-fact about it. He made it sound so reasonable. Even though she knew it really wasn’t.
She held up her cup of tea towards his. ‘Thank you. But you need to know—I won’t let this go. I’ll keep hounding you.’
He clinked his glass against her cup. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’
* * *
His eyes connected with Bonnie’s. That was the difference between herself and her daughter. Bonnie’s eyes were deep blue—almost hypnotising. Freya’s were the more traditional pale blue.
From the second he’d offered her a place to stay he’d wanted to drag the words back. His stomach had churned and he’d conjured up a million different excuses to try to back out. But his integrity wouldn’t let him—that, and the relieved expression on Bonnie’s face when he’d made the offer. His guts had twisted at the thought of people in his home. His private place. But it wasn’t quite as bad as he’d imagined. It was odd. The last person he’d shared a house with had been his father. It was amazing how long two people could live together while barely talking. Particularly when he’d told his father he wasn’t the following the military family tradition and was going into medicine instead. His father had barely looked him in the eye after that.
Before dinner he led them through the rest of the house, showing them a dining room, the door to his study, the downstairs cloakroom and the back sitting room and conservatory.
‘This house is just amazing, Jacob, and it’s so close to the city centre. What do they call this street—millionaire row?’ She was joking but he could see the weariness in her eyes. She’d been uprooted from a familiar home and ended up in a bad motel. Now she was going to be spending the next few weeks scouring around for houses to rent or buy, trying to work out if it was in an area she’d want her and Freya to stay in. All in the run-up to Christmas. Her brain must be currently whirring.
He laughed. ‘No. Not quite. I bought it around ten years ago before the prices went crazy. It needed a lot of fixing up and I’ve just done a little bit at a time.’
‘Well, I think you’ve done a good job. I hope I’ll get a chance to have a walk around the area in the next few days. It would be good to get a bit more familiar with Cambridge.’
‘If I get a chance, I’ll show you and Freya around. Point out the places to visit and the places to avoid.’ Where had that come from? It was so unlike him. He’d spent the last year living his life in a bubble. Hardly any interaction with friends and colleagues. The few people that he’d confided in about his condition had all offered to help in any way that they could. But offers of help made him feel vulnerable, at risk even.
Jacob had got through this life shutting off his feelings from the world. He hadn’t even properly mourned the death of his mother. That wasn’t the Layton way. Or so his father had told him. He’d very much instilled the stiff-upper-lip mentality into his son.
And even after all these years it was still there. It was partly the reason he’d never had a lasting relationship. He’d shuttered himself away for so long it felt normal now. And after a while his friends had stopped offering any assistance. Eventually even good friends got tired of being rebuffed.
Bonnie gave him a smile. ‘Thanks, Jacob. That’s really nice of you to offer.’
The timer on the oven sounded and Bonnie helped him to put the food onto plates. Instead of moving to the dining room, they stayed at the more informal island in the kitchen. By now, Freya was desperate to see the old kennel outside and invented an imaginary dog for her stay. But it was already dark and after she’d finished her fish fingers her little head started to nod.
Bonnie wrapped her arm around Freya’s shoulders. ‘I think it’s time to get a little girl into her bath and into bed. To be honest, I could do with an early night myself. Once I’ve helped you clear up I think we’ll both go to bed.’ She stood up and gave him a wink. ‘I don’t want to be late for work tomorrow.’ She gave a fake roll of her eyes. ‘You’ve no idea what the boss is like.’
He let out a laugh and lifted the plates. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve heard about him. Forget about clearing up. I’ll dump the dishes in the dishwasher and we’re done.’
‘You’re sure?’ She’d already picked up Freya and the little girl had snuggled into her shoulder.
‘I’m sure. Goodnight, Bonnie. Goodnight, Freya.’ It was odd—for the first time in a long time, Jacob actually felt at peace.
Then Bonnie spoiled it. She fixed on him with her unblinking blue eyes. ‘Goodnight, Jacob, and thank you,’ then turned and walked up the stairs.
There was nothing surer. The sight of Bonnie’s backside in those jeans would stay with him well into the early hours of the morning.
CHAPTER FOUR
THERE WAS NO denying it. The labour suite had been in a complete muddle. Her mother would have called it a right guddle—a good Scots word. And she would have been right.
It seemed that in the few weeks since the sister had left, a new ordering system had come into place, and a new electronic system for recording staff working hours. No one on the labour suite had the time or motivation to learn how to use either and things were well behind.
Bonnie was lucky. There were other staff who offered to help. Isabel Delamere, an obstetrician on an exchange from Australia, was quick to give her the low-down on most members of staff. She wasn’t a gossip. In fact, Bonnie got the impression that Isabel was quite the opposite. But she’d been new here herself and obviously wanted to help.
Hope Sanders, one of the other midwives, had been great. She’d quickly explained both new systems to Bonnie. It was strange. Bonnie had seen Hope talk to Jacob a few times. It was obvious they were friends. And the tall curly-haired blonde had already told her she was single. But Bonnie could tell there wasn’t anything romantic between them.
If anything, Hope just seemed concerned about Jacob. She was always reminding him about the number of hours he worked and telling him to get out a bit more.
Things were a little awkward on the ward. Both of them had decided it wouldn’t be wise if the rest of the staff knew Bonnie and her daughter were staying with Jacob. It meant that she tried to jump out of the car before they reached the car park and other members of staff would notice them together. For the last few days things had been fine.
Well. That wasn’t entirely true. She’d spent every night poring over the Internet looking at rental properties and houses for sale. Jacob had tried to be helpful. But Jacob’s helpful had been telling her that one area where a house was for sale was less than salubrious and three of the rental properties had been similar. There was nothing else suitable in her price range. Trouble was, she’d moved here at the wrong time of year. Cambridge had lots of properties for rent, but most were rented by students and visiting lecturers for a year at a time. If she’d arrived a few months earlier there would probably have been lots of properties to view. Arriving in November? Not a chance.
Kerry, one of the midwives in the unit, leaned over the desk towards her. ‘Bonnie, we’ve just had a call to say that Hayley Dickson is coming in, query spontaneous rupture of membranes. She’s twenty-seven, and is thirty-six weeks pregnant with twins. We’re expecting her in around an hour and I’ll need some assistance. Any chance you can go for your lunch now?’
Bonnie smiled and nodded. ‘My first twin delivery at Cambridge? Love to. Have you had lunch?’
Kerry nodded. ‘It’s only you that’s still to go. Better hurry before there’s nothing left in the canteen.’
Bonnie stood up. ‘No problem. I’ll be back in half an hour to help you get set up.’
She washed her hands and grabbed her bag. She was glad that the staff found her approachable and were happy to ask for assistance. It gave a bit of reassurance that they were accepting her as temporary sister around here.
The canteen was quiet. She grabbed a tuna sandwich and walked over to a table to join one of the other midwives that she’d met. Jessica Black worked in the special care baby unit. Her blond straight hair hung in a ponytail but her pretty face was marred by a frown as she stared out of the window.
‘Mind if I join you?’
Jess started but gave a smile and waved at the empty seats across from her. ‘By all means. Try and cheer me up if you can.’
Bonnie pulled out a chair. ‘What’s wrong? Man trouble?’
Jess rolled her eyes. ‘As if. I wish. That would be easy to sort out.’ She picked at her lunch. ‘Family troubles. It’s my parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary in a few weeks. It’s been arranged for near Cambridge so I can’t make an excuse not to go and I’m looking forward to it like a hole in the head.’
Bonnie was puzzled. ‘Shouldn’t that be something to celebrate?’
Jess sighed. ‘It should. I love my parents. But it’s yet another family event where I’ll spend the whole time being compared to my sister. And will, yet again, be found lacking.’
‘I can’t believe that for a second. You’ve got a great job and career ahead of you. You’re a gorgeous girl. What on earth does your sister have that you don’t?’
Jess paused for a second and let out another big sigh. ‘She’s not just my sister. She’s my twin. Abbie is perfect. She always has been. The sports star, top marks at school, the coolest boyfriend—you name it, Abbie’s done it. I’ve spent most of my life living in her shadow. If Abbie preferred my Christmas presents to hers, she made such a scene she always got them. When I started midwifery training, she decided she wanted to do it too. Then, she decided she wanted the boyfriend I had.’ She gave her head a shake. ‘So, she got him. Along with the big white wedding and three perfect kids with another on the way.’ She held out her hands. ‘In fact, here is the only place where I’m known as anything other than “Abbie’s sister”.’
Bonnie was shocked by Jess’s words. She reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘Competitive siblings can be a nightmare. My ex-husband was like that with his brother. It made him even harder to live with.’ She sucked in a breath. ‘And if Cambridge Royal is like every other hospital I’ve worked in, you’ll have heard that I found my ex-husband in bed with my best friend. So, I sympathise. At least I had the option of walking away. I don’t need to look at them together.’ She leaned back and took a sip of her coffee. ‘It sucks that you have to do that.’
Jess burst out laughing and reached over towards Bonnie. ‘Yes, the hospital grapevine is in full flow and I love that you just say it like it is.’
Bonnie shrugged. ‘After thirty-two years there’s not much point in changing the habit of a lifetime.’
Jess gave her a rueful stare. ‘I might have heard that about you too. Men suck. Unfortunately, men are my biggest issue. Or namely the fact I don’t have one. That’s the reason I’m dreading the anniversary party so much. Everyone is just waiting for me to produce who is going to be Mr Jessica Black and create the two-point-four kids we’re supposed to have.’
Bonnie took a bite of her tuna sandwich. ‘Can’t you take a friend?’
‘Yeah, but the friend would need to reach my family’s exacting standards. They would have to be devastatingly handsome, completely charming and totally unfazed by my sister trying to be the centre of attention.’
Bonnie gave a little smile. ‘I have to say, there’s more than a few handsome guys around here. Can’t you ask one to accompany you?’
Jess frowned. ‘Like who?’
Bonnie swallowed and tried to appear casual. ‘What about Jacob Layton?’
Jess waved her hand. ‘Oh, he’s handsome enough but way too grumpy.’
Bonnie tried not to let the wave of relief sweeping over her be obvious. ‘Aaron Cartwright, the infertility specialist? An American might go down well.’
She smiled and shook her head. ‘He might. But he’s not for me. He’s too committed to his work. That’s the problem with most of the guys around here.’
Bonnie thought again. She was just here. But she’d met most of the consultants in the last few days. ‘I’ve got it. What about an Australian, then, Sean Anderson, the obstetrician that arrived just a few weeks before me?’
‘Are you serious?’ Jess laughed and wagged her finger. ‘I’m going to forgive your observational skills, Nurse, because you’ve just started. But have you noticed how jumpy Isabel is since he got here?’
Bonnie racked her brains. Isabel was also an Australian obstetrician. Bonnie hadn’t connected the two, but maybe there was something... She’d been warm and friendly towards Bonnie since she arrived. She shook her head and shrugged. ‘I’ve never seen them together, so I can’t say I’ve noticed.’
Jess raised her eyebrows. ‘She’s like a proverbial cat on a hot tin roof. Mark my words, there’s some history there. I’m not getting embroiled in that.’
Bonnie took a final bite of her tuna sandwich. When she’d finished chewing she had the perfect answer. ‘I’ve got it. Why didn’t I think of him before? You’ve got the perfect answer right under your nose. Dean Edwards, the SCBU doctor.’
Something flickered across Jess’s eyes. Bonnie was on it in an instant.
‘What? Has something happened between you two already?’
Jess almost choked. ‘No. Absolutely not. But I’ll be the only one. He has a different lady for every day of the week. His phone goes off constantly.’
Bonnie took a sip of her tea and sat back in her chair. ‘Dean’s a ladies’ man? Who has he dated at work?’
Jess was quick to shake her head. ‘Oh, no. He doesn’t date anyone at work.’ She held out her hands. ‘But that leaves the rest of the world wide open for him.’
‘And you struck off his list?’ Drat. That came out too bluntly. She’d only met Jess on a few occasions.
But it was just the two of them and Jess looked up from her coffee, her light brown eyes rueful. Maybe it was easier to open up to someone who was new?
She blew out a long, slow breath from her lips. ‘I guess so. He wouldn’t look at me anyway—and even if he did, once he met Wonder Sister he’d be entranced by her. They all are. It wears pretty thin.’
Bonnie reached out towards her again. ‘You’re a gorgeous girl, Jess. It would be wrong of me to say anything about your sister, but, to be honest, she seems like a piece of work. You’ve got much more integrity than that, and somewhere—’ she held up her hands ‘—out there, is a man who is just waiting to find a woman like you. You’ll probably find him when you least expect to.’ She glanced at the clock. ‘I’m sorry but I better go. We’ve got a woman expecting twins due in.’ She put her plate and cup on the tray and winked at Jess. ‘I gave you the option of three gorgeous men and you said no to all of them. Don’t let it be said that you’re picky.’
Jess winked back and put her plate on her tray, standing up and walking towards the catering trolleys. ‘You gave me the option of four, Bonnie. Now I’m wondering if you’re keeping one to yourself.’
And she left, before Bonnie could pick her chin off the floor and stop kicking herself.
* * *
By the time she reached the ward she could feel herself blushing like crazy. This was ridiculous. No one knew she was staying at Jacob’s. Everything at work was entirely professional.
Everything at home was entirely professional too. But Jacob was surprising her. For a guy that acted as though he would run a million miles from kids, he’d been surprisingly good with Freya. Yes, he was still a bit awkward, but he was definitely making an effort. And that mattered. A lot.
It was a dangerous line. If he hadn’t been friendly, they could have felt like trespassers in his home. Jacob still didn’t give much away. He was obviously a private person. And that was fine. Except five-year-olds weren’t always good at knowing when to stop asking questions.
He met her at the doors of the ward. ‘You’re helping with the twin delivery?’
She grinned. ‘I am. Is she your patient? Anything I should know?’
In a labour unit some women would be classed as midwifery care and some as medical care. Any woman with a multiple pregnancy automatically fell under medical care as they were at higher risk of complications. An average woman, with a normal pregnancy, could come into the unit and not come into contact with a medic at all. She would be delivered by the midwives and her follow-up care carried out by them. Babies were different—they were always checked over by a paediatrician.
Bonnie dumped her bag as Jacob kept pace with her. ‘Hayley Dickson has had a textbook pregnancy but her blood pressure has gone up a little in the last two weeks. I’m actually glad she’s gone into spontaneous labour because I was considering inducing her. She’s been scanned for the last few weeks. No problems with the babies. It’s non-identical twins and both babies are around six pounds.’
‘Does she know what she’s having?’
He shook his head. ‘She didn’t want to know.’
Bonnie smiled. ‘Do you?’
‘I might do—’ he tapped his mouth ‘—but my lips are sealed. Let’s go and introduce Mum to these beautiful babies.’ He put his hand on Bonnie’s shoulder. ‘If it’s okay with you, I’d like to let you and Kerry take the lead. I’m only here if there are any issues. I’ll set up the epidural I know she wants. But Hayley is keen to have a normal delivery.’
Bonnie gave a nod. ‘No problem. I’ll go and pick up the cots, be back with you in a minute.’
She was glad that Jacob didn’t want to try and take over and respected the birthing plan his patient had decided on. Sometimes medics could be a bit overzealous. She hated when that happened.
She collected the cots and baby warmers and headed back into the room. Kerry gave her a nod as she entered. ‘Hayley, this is Bonnie, our new ward sister. She’ll be helping with the delivery. Bonnie, this is Hayley and her husband, Jordan.’
Bonnie walked straight to the sink to wash her hands. ‘Pleasure to meet you, Hayley. I’m really looking forward to meeting these two new babies.’ She nodded towards the cots. ‘As soon as the babies are out we’ll have one of our paediatricians check them over. After you’ve had a cuddle, of course.’
Hayley gave a nervous smile, then grimaced as another contraction hit. ‘I didn’t expect these to be coming so quickly.’
Kerry had already completed all the paperwork and hooked Hayley up to the monitors. One was monitoring her babies, the other checking her blood pressure.
Jacob appeared at Bonnie’s back, pushing a trolley with the equipment for the epidural. He gave a nod to Kerry. ‘Have you done a check yet?’
Kerry nodded. ‘Yes, we’re good to go. Hayley is five centimetres dilated and the first baby is head down and in a good position.’
Jacob smiled. ‘Perfect.’ He sat next to Hayley to explain the procedure. It only took him a few minutes. ‘Once the catheter is in place it will only take twenty minutes for the full effect. We’ll keep an eye to make sure it doesn’t slow your labour, but I suspect everything will be fine.’ He gave Bonnie a little nod to help position Hayley on her side.
He was an expert. He had the catheter safely slid into place easily and the medication started. Bonnie stayed in the room with Kerry and they monitored Hayley’s contractions.
Things went smoothly. Around two hours later the first little baby delivered easily. Bonnie quickly checked over the baby’s mouth and breathing before setting the naked little baby on his mother’s chest. ‘You have a beautiful boy. Do you have a name yet?’