‘I’m willing to accept your resignation any time you wish to proffer it, Miss Stephens.’
‘It’s Ms. Also, you left out the “Wynne Antonia”. I promise you the full name carries more weight.’
He glared at her, but before he could open his mouth and fire her she continued.
‘I have no intention of proffering my resignation. I knew you would make changes to the motel. I have no issue with that. Some changes are long overdue. As for the history between our grandparents—as I’ve said, I have no intention of concerning myself with it. As far as I’m concerned nothing has changed.’
Xavier’s glare deepened, but April chose that moment to appear in the doorway.
Wynne stood and excused herself.
‘This had better be important,’ she murmured to the other woman.
April nodded, and as Wynne listened to what she had to say her stomach started to knot.
She swung back to Xavier briefly. ‘I’m sorry, but there’s a situation I need to deal with.’
Irritation flitted across his face. ‘Can’t you get—?’
‘No, I can’t.’
There was no time to stand around arguing. She took off down the corridor to Room Twelve. Ignoring the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, she knocked. ‘Ms Gladstone?’ She knocked harder. ‘Serena?’
No answer.
Without further ado Wynne swiped her master key and pushed through the door. The breath caught in her throat when she saw Serena crumpled on the floor.
‘April, call for an ambulance immediately.’ She raced over to kneel beside the unconscious woman, reaching for her hand. ‘Let them know she’s diabetic and twelve weeks pregnant.’
WYNNE’S FINGERS SHOOK, but she found Serena’s pulse. Thank you, God! It was faint, though, and that couldn’t be good. She chafed one cold hand between both of her own.
‘Serena... Serena, honey, can you hear me?’
Serena didn’t stir.
And then she was aware of Xavier, kneeling beside her, taking Serena’s other hand.
‘Dios! She is freezing.’
She hadn’t realised he’d followed her. He’d probably meant to fire her once he’d caught up with her, for insubordination. He still might.
He made as if to lift the unconscious woman, but Wynne stopped him. ‘I’m not sure we should move her.’
She was pregnant. What if they accidentally did something to hurt both Serena and the baby?
Without a word, he pulled the quilt from the bed and tucked it around the woman with such gentleness it had a lump forming in Wynne’s throat.
‘What else can I do?’
She swallowed. ‘Can you hold her hand?’
Shocked dark eyes met hers. ‘She knows you, yes?’
She nodded.
‘If she regains consciousness a familiar face will be a comfort to her.’
That was true, but in that case what she was about to ask him to do was far from glamorous.
‘Tell me,’ he ordered.
She wondered briefly if the man even knew how to couch his demands as requests. She shook the thought off. They had far more important things to consider at the moment.
‘Can you check the bathroom for any signs of vomit or...’ she swallowed ‘...blood?’
He didn’t even blink—just set off to do her bidding at once.
He returned a moment later. ‘Vomit, but no blood.’
That meant Serena hadn’t lost the baby.
Yet.
‘We need to let the paramedics know that when they arrive.’
April appeared in the doorway. ‘The ambulance is on its way. Tina is primed to show them up here the moment they arrive. They’re less than five minutes away. Is there anything else you’d like me to do?’ She sent a covert glance in Xavier’s direction. ‘Or would you like me to...get on with things?’
Dear Lord. If Libby or the other housemaids got wind of this there’d be tears before bedtime.
‘Thanks, April. If you can just...keep things as normal as possible for the rest of the staff and guests, that would be great. And, if we can manage it, I’d like as few sightseers as possible. It’s our responsibility to safeguard Ms Gladstone’s privacy.’
‘I’ll do everything I can,’ April promised, closing the door behind her.
Wynne glanced back down at Serena, gently pushing the hair from her face. ‘Serena, honey, can you hear me? Give my hand a squeeze if you can.’
Nothing.
In the next moment a damp washcloth was pushed into her hand, and she wasn’t sure why but the large solid shape of Xavier in the room helped to steady her. She gently pressed the washcloth to Serena’s brow, and then her cheeks, murmuring to the other woman the entire time—telling her where she was and what they were doing, saying anything she could think of to reassure her.
She glanced up briefly. ‘Xavier, could you check the dishes on the sideboard—’ she nodded in its direction ‘—and tell me what food is there? I want to know if she’s eaten this morning.’
He strode across with long, assured strides and the more she looked at him the steadier her pulse became.
‘One rasher of bacon, two eggs, two pieces of toast.’
He glanced back at her with his eyebrows raised.
She sent him a weak smile. ‘So that means she’s eaten one rasher of bacon and the beans.’
He lifted up some orange peel. ‘And an orange. This we must tell to the paramedics too, yes?’
She nodded, and beneath the quilt Serena stirred.
‘The ambulance is here,’ Xavier murmured from the window that overlooked the front of the motel.
Excellent.
‘Hey, honey.’ Wynne found a smile as Serena opened her eyes. ‘It’s good to have you back with us.’
Serena blinked and frowned, glanced about, and then her hand clutched Wynne’s. ‘The baby?’ she croaked.
Wynne gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. ‘Now, don’t you go upsetting yourself. There’s absolutely no indication of any kind that there’s anything wrong with your baby. And look—’ She tried to stand as the paramedics entered the room, but the other woman refused to relinquish her hand. ‘The ambulance crew is here, and they’ll take excellent care of you. They’ll take you to hospital and the doctors will give you a thorough check to make sure everything is okay. You’ll see. Everything will be fine.’
Fear flitted across Serena’s face and she struggled to rise. ‘Please don’t leave me, Wynne.’ She coughed as if she had a dry throat. ‘Please, I—’
The entreaty in the other woman’s eyes twisted Wynne’s heart. ‘I’ll come with you.’ She squeezed her hand. ‘And I’ll call your sister. You don’t worry about anything—you hear? You just concentrate on feeling better.’
Serena subsided with a nod. ‘Bless you, Wynne...’
The paramedics allowed Wynne to ride in the