Their Baby Surprise (10 page)

‘Just give me a moment to check you over before you try to move. We don’t want you doing yourself any more damage, do we?’

‘It was that van driver’s fault, not Katie’s,’ the girl said shakily. ‘He came racing through the lights on red…’ She gulped as she cast a look at her friend, although with Rachel in the middle of the seats she couldn’t see her clearly.

‘I know. I was in the car behind you and I saw what happened,’ Matt said soothingly, checking her pulse again. ‘I’m a doctor, by the way. My name’s Matthew Thompson and the lady in the middle is also a doctor. Her name is Rachel Mackenzie. We both work at Dalverston Surgery.’

‘Oh, you’re my mum’s doctor! She’s always singing your praises and saying how lovely you are!’ the girl exclaimed, then blushed.

‘Thank you kindly. It’s always good to know that you don’t scare your patients.’ Matt smiled at her. ‘So what’s your name? I don’t remember seeing you in the surgery.’

‘Megan Bradley, and you haven’t seen me ’cos I haven’t been ill since we moved here.’ She grimaced. ‘Not up till now, anyway.’

‘Well, if it’s any consolation, Megan, I don’t think you’re badly injured from what I can tell,’ he assured her. ‘But you’re the best person to know how you feel. Is there anywhere that hurts really badly?’

‘Just my ribs. They sort of ache but I expect it’s because of the seat belt.’ Tears welled up in her eyes all of a sudden. ‘Katie’s been hurt far more than me, hasn’t she?’

‘I’m afraid so.’ Matt ran a gentle hand down the girl’s spine to check for any signs of misalignment in the vertebrae. From what he could tell, everything was fine and he nodded. ‘Right, we’re going to get you out of there but we’re going to do it really slowly, understand?’

‘Like they do in those TV series?’ Megan asked him.

‘Exactly like that,’ he agreed, inwardly blessing the writers of the popular dramas. The general public’s knowledge had increased tenfold thanks to a steady diet of medical soap operas and in his view that was a good thing.

‘I’ve a collar in my bag and I’m going to put it around your neck to protect the top of your spine. It will feel a little uncomfortable but it’s worth wearing it.’

‘I don’t mind,’ Megan assured him. ‘I’m hoping to train as a nurse when I leave school next year so it will be good practice for me to know how it feels.’

‘Definitely!’ Matt gave her a warm smile, thanking his lucky stars that she was obviously a practical girl and not given to hysterics. It made his job that much easier.

He stood up and hurried over to his car. He hadn’t got round to unpacking all the extra equipment he had taken with him to that incident at the canal, which was fortunate. He sighed as he found a collar plus everything he needed to set up a drip for the young driver. It felt like years had passed since that day. So much had happened since then that it felt as though he had packed in several years worth of living.

His gaze moved to Rachel as he headed back across the road and he felt an ache of such intensity start up inside him that he had to pause. He could lie to himself but what was the point? Since Claire had died he had been merely going through the motions of living. That night he and Rachel had spent together had proved that to him. It wasn’t what Claire would have wanted, either. She would have been appalled, in fact. Claire would have hated to think of him wasting his life the way he had been doing. She would have wanted him to be happy.

Matt started walking again and it felt as though he was leaving the past behind him at last. He had no regrets, strangely enough, because that had been then and this was now, although what the future held was another matter. Nobody could foretell what lay in store for them and he was glad. He didn’t want to look too far ahead in case he was disappointed. He just wanted to enjoy what he had now.

His gaze rested on Rachel as he drew closer and he felt warmth well up inside him because at this very moment he had Rachel here beside him.

CHAPTER TEN

I
T WAS
well over an hour before the emergency services finally managed to free the injured driver. It had been a very difficult and complicated task as the firemen had needed to remove the engine as well as the roof of the car. Matt had insisted on remaining in the car while the work had been carried out, monitoring the girl’s condition and reassuring her as she had drifted in and out of consciousness.

Once Katie had been lifted out of the vehicle, the paramedics hurriedly transferred her to an ambulance. Rachel sighed as she watched it drive away with its siren blaring and its lights flashing. The girl had a fractured pelvis, which explained the massive blood loss she’d suffered, and there was bound to be internal injuries too. Although everyone had done all they possibly could, it was touch and go whether she would pull through.

‘I think it’s a case of crossing our fingers and hoping, don’t you?’

Matt came back from giving a statement to the police. Rachel nodded when she heard what he said. It had been more or less what she had been thinking too. ‘How do you rate her chances?’

‘Not all that high, I’m afraid.’ He shrugged, his handsome face looking very grim. ‘If the fire brigade had been able to get her out sooner, she would have stood a much better chance.’

‘They did their best,’ Rachel replied, watching a couple of the crew from the local fire station gathering together the equipment they had used.

‘They did, and it wasn’t meant as a criticism. Nobody could have got her out of that car any faster. It was in such a bad state. However, it doesn’t alter the fact that the delay is bound to have affected her chances of survival.’

His voice sounded flat but Rachel understood why. To see a young life possibly cut short this way was always distressing. Without pausing to think, she laid her hand on his arm. ‘She still has a chance, Matt. The fact that you were here when the accident happened and were able to give her immediate assistance is bound to have worked in her favour.’

‘Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better, although I can’t take all the credit. You did more than your share, Rachel. I would never have been able to set up that drip without your help.’ He smiled at her, his eyes filling with a warmth that immediately made her feel warm too. ‘It was a real team effort.’

‘I suppose so.’ Rachel hurriedly removed her hand. She couldn’t afford to start hoping that his smile might mean anything. She grimaced as she looked around at the scene of chaos that surrounded them. There were vehicles scattered all over the place and people standing in the road. Nobody was being allowed to leave until they had been questioned by the police whose main priority now was to find the van driver who had caused the accident. ‘What a mess!’

‘It’ll take a while to sort it all out by the look of it,’ Matt observed.

‘It will.’ Rachel sighed as she turned and looked at the multi-storey car park. ‘Heaven only knows when I’ll be able to get my car out of the car park. The exit is completely blocked by traffic and there’s a huge tailback of cars along all the ramps. It’s going to take ages to clear them away.’

‘It is.’ Matt frowned as he studied the build-up of traffic. ‘Have you finished all your shopping?’

‘More or less. To be honest, I don’t really feel like doing any more tonight,’ she admitted.

‘Then why don’t you leave your car where it is and let me drive you home?’ He pointed across the road to where his car was still standing in the same spot he had abandoned it well over an hour before. ‘I’ve given the police a statement and I’m free to leave. It seems pointless for you to hang around here when I can give you a lift, doesn’t it?’

It did and Rachel was tempted, very tempted indeed. However, would it be wise to accept the offer after what had happened since that night they had slept together? She had done her best to stay out of Matt’s way and allowing him to drive her home certainly wasn’t the best way to maintain her distance.

‘It’s kind of you, Matt, but I’m not sure if it’s safe to leave my car there overnight.’

He sighed heavily. ‘I doubt if that’s the real reason, is it? Look, Rachel, I know you’re keen to forget what happened between us that night—you’ve made that perfectly plain. However, all I’m offering you is a lift home, nothing more.’

Rachel flushed, embarrassed by his bluntness. ‘It just seemed better to give you some space,’ she said quietly. ‘I could tell you were upset about what we’d done the following morning and I didn’t want to make the situation even more difficult for you.’

‘I appreciate that, although I think you were just as keen to put it behind you,’ he said flatly, and she frowned when she heard the echo of hurt in his voice.

‘In a way, yes, I was, but not because I regretted what we’d done. I just don’t want you getting hurt, Matt. That’s all.’

‘And here I was thinking that you didn’t give a damn. How wrong could I be?’ He smiled at her, his eyes filled with such tenderness that some of the ice that had filled her heart started to melt. Was it possible that they had been at cross-purposes?

The thought was way too enticing. Rachel bit her lip, afraid of what she might say if she allowed herself to speak. Matt brushed her cheek with his knuckles and she could feel the tremor that passed through him as his fingers glided over her skin.

‘I think we need to talk, Rachel, don’t you? Let me drive you home and see if we can sort this out.’

Rachel nodded, surprised to find that now she couldn’t have forced out a single word. She followed him across the road to his car and settled herself in the passenger seat and still she didn’t say anything. She had no idea how they were going to resolve this problem if she was still struck dumb when they reached his house, but it didn’t seem to matter. The fact that Matt cared enough to want to clear up this misunderstanding far outweighed everything else.

It took them a bare ten minutes to reach Matt’s house. He drew up outside the front door and turned to look at her. ‘Are you all right here? We can go to yours if you’d feel more comfortable there. I should have checked with you before.’

‘No, here is fine,’ she replied, trying to control the tide of heat that threatened to engulf her. Was he remembering what had happened the last time she had been in his home? Recalling in exquisite, exhilarating detail their love-making and how wonderful it had been?

Her legs felt as though they had turned to jelly as she followed him into the house. It wasn’t surprising either when her mind was busily unreeling a whole series of tantalising images, pictures of them lying together, their limbs entwined, their bodies fused in the most intimate fashion possible. Matt had been the most ardent and yet the gentlest of lovers and she knew that she would never experience the joy he had shown her that night with anyone else. She couldn’t do. It was only Matt she wanted, only him she loved.

The realisation filled her with joy but it also scared her. It made her see just how very vulnerable she was.

Matt could hear his heart thumping as he led the way into the kitchen and switched on the lights. It was making such a racket that he would be amazed if Rachel couldn’t hear it too. He glanced at her as he plugged in the kettle but her face gave away very little about her feelings. In fact, she looked ever so slightly stunned, as though she had suffered a shock and was desperately trying to deal with it.

He grimaced as he reached for the jar of coffee. They had just attended a major accident so was it any wonder if she felt shocked? What she needed at this moment was a cup of coffee and some time to get herself together before they talked about them.

His heart gave another noisy drum roll at the word ‘them’ and he gritted his teeth. There wasn’t a
them
, at least not yet there wasn’t. There was Rachel and there was him, and just because they’d had sex it didn’t make them a couple, not even when it had been the most mind-blowing sex he had ever experienced!

Heat scorched through his veins and he hurriedly applied himself to making the coffee as he fought to get a grip on himself. Making love with Rachel had been a truly memorable experience, but he was only flesh and blood and he had needs like any other man, needs that he had suppressed for a very long time. It was hardly surprising their love-making had been such a huge success, bearing all that in mind.

It was the most logical explanation, even though in his heart Matt had great difficulty believing it was the real reason why making love with Rachel had been so wonderful. However, he couldn’t afford to let himself get carried away when they needed to talk everything through.

He poured the coffee, placing the mugs on the kitchen table because it would seem less intimate if they talked in here rather than in the sitting room. Soft lights and a crackling fire were all well and good, he thought as he went to fetch the milk out of the fridge, but he hadn’t brought Rachel here to seduce her…Well, not consciously, although the idea was
very
tempting now that he thought about it.

His mind drifted off before he could stop it, soaking up the delights of firelight flickering on smooth alabaster skin, and he groaned under his breath. Now, that really was too much temptation for any man!

‘Matt?’

Rachel’s voice roused him and he realised that he had missed what she had said. ‘Sorry. I was miles away,’ he apologised as he placed the milk jug on the table and sat down. ‘What did you say?’

‘Worrying about that poor girl, I expect.’ She sighed, completely misinterpreting the reason for his abstraction. ‘I do hope she’s all right.’

‘So do I, although I wasn’t actually thinking about her. I was thinking about us.’ He added some milk to his coffee, wondering if he was mad to admit it, but he refused to lie. There had been enough misunderstandings recently without deliberately creating any more.

‘Oh! I see,’ she said shakily and he felt his heart swell with tenderness when he heard the breathless note in her voice. It was obvious that it was as important to Rachel as it was to him to sort out this mess.

The thought gave a welcome boost to his courage and he carried on. ‘I know that night we spent together has changed things, Rachel. And you were right to say that I was upset the following morning because it’s true. However, it doesn’t mean that I regret sleeping with you.’

He paused, needing a moment to work out the best way to explain how he had felt. He wasn’t used to opening his heart this way but he knew that he owed her the truth and nothing less. ‘Making love with you was wonderful,
you
were wonderful. If I was upset afterwards it was because I couldn’t help feeling that I had let Claire down in some way.’

‘It must be hard for you, Matt. I know what a wonderful marriage you had. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you when you lost Claire. I…I’ve never loved anyone that much.’

There was something in her voice that brought his eyes to her face but she wasn’t looking at him. She was staring down at her cup, making it impossible for him to see her expression clearly. Matt frowned. Had there been a hint of doubt in that claim she had made about never having really loved anyone? he wondered, then immediately dismissed the idea. There was no reason for her to lie to him, was there?

‘It was difficult. The only way I could cope was by focussing on my job and taking care of Heather. However, Heather is all grown up now and she no longer needs me to look after her.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘I don’t think she’s needed me to do so for some time, but she knew I needed her. That’s why she came back to Dalverston after she finished her nurse’s training.’

‘Heather loves you, Matt. She wouldn’t have seen it as a hardship to come back here.’

‘How did you know what I was thinking?’ he exclaimed.

‘Because I’ve often wondered the same thing myself about Ross. Did he decide to settle in Dalverston because of me?’ She laughed softly. ‘He would never admit it, of course!’

‘Maybe not but his actions speak for themselves, don’t they? Ross chose to live here because he loves you, Rachel, and he appreciates how hard you’ve worked to bring him up.’ He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. ‘You’ve been a wonderful mother to him.’

‘Thank you for saying that. It means such a lot to me.’

Tears glistened in her eyes before she blinked them away. Matt released her hand and picked up his cup, giving her a moment to collect herself. They were here to talk about their relationship, not their respective roles as parents.

Once again his heart clamoured at the thought of them having a relationship and this time he didn’t correct himself. He and Rachel did have a relationship. They’d had one for a number of years and it had been a highly successful one too. The fact that it had altered recently was the sticking point and they needed to decide what they were going to do about it.

Matt drank his coffee, wondering how to raise the subject in a way that wouldn’t cause Rachel any embarrassment. Coming straight out and asking her how she felt about them having an affair seemed so crass but that was what it amounted to. He wasn’t ready yet to offer her anything more, although at some point in the future…

He cut short that thought before it could run away with him. ‘Look, Rachel,’ he began.

‘How do you feel about us trying again?’

They both spoke at once and both stopped. Matt took a deep breath as he felt his head reel. That Rachel should have suggested what he’d been going to say stunned him. He was still trying to work out how to reply when she continued.

‘If what happened was a one-off, Matt, then fine. I understand. But if you feel that one night wasn’t enough, I think you need to be totally upfront about that too.’

‘How do you feel about it?’ he said, his voice sounding hoarse.

She shrugged. ‘I asked first.’

Oh, hell! This was difficult, more difficult than anything he had ever done before. Matt’s blood pressure rose until it felt as though he was going to burst from the pressure building up inside him. And yet in his heart he knew there was only one answer, only one
truthful
answer, at least. He refused to be a coward and lie to her about something as important as this.