‘Are you all right?’
‘Fine. Just my stomach rumbling.’ He gave her a tight smile, cursing his own stupidity. He should be rejoicing because he’d been let off the hook, not feeling down in the dumps because she wasn’t interested! ‘I skipped lunch and haven’t made it as far as supper.’
‘Me too. Well, I did sneak a piece of toast off Charlie’s plate so I’ve fared a little better than you.’
She smiled back and this time Tom could see a hint of something in her eyes. What it was he had no idea and didn’t investigate. However, his spirits rose a fraction and he grinned at her.
‘We’re a right pair, aren’t we?’
‘I…um… If you say so.’
Thankfully, the roar of an engine announced the arrival of the helicopter so he was spared having to reply. He went back to his patient and got him ready for the transfer. Hannah was doing the same, getting her patient ready to be transferred to hospital. She worked quickly and methodically, sorting everything out with the minimum of fuss. As well as being both beautiful and sexy, she was a damn fine doctor, Tom thought, and sighed. What a beguiling combination. No wonder he was having such a hard time keeping his distance.
Hannah handed over her patient, briefly reporting her findings to the crew: head injury, which would need a CT scan doing; fractured left wrist; forward dislocation to the left shoulder; and possible fracture to the left humerus. Then it was Tom’s turn.
She stepped aside as he succinctly explained what had happened to Clives Baines and what treatment the man had received. His voice was as confident as ever. When it came to medical matters, he obviously knew his stuff; however, when it came to anything else, she could only speculate.
What was he like as a lover? she wondered. Would he be tender, caring and patient? Or would he be eager, greedy and determined to satisfy his own needs? Maybe he would be a mixture of both—tender and giving but also eager and demanding as he drew a response from his partner.
Hannah shivered. She didn’t want to think about such things but now that she’d started it was difficult to stop. A picture of Tom, lying naked in bed, sprang into her mind, but the picture wasn’t complete. There was no one lying beside him and she didn’t dare fill in the gap when she knew whose face she would see. That would be a step too far, picturing herself lying beside him.
‘Right. That’s all sorted. Do you want to take Charlie outside so he can watch the helicopter taking off?’
All of a sudden Tom was standing beside her and she hurriedly applied a mental eraser to the images in her head. ‘Good idea. I’m sure he’ll love it.’
She felt quite proud of herself when she heard how calm she sounded. If she could maintain this kind of balance then everything would be fine, she assured herself as she went to collect her son, who was playing a noisy game of pat-a-cake with Billy. Maybe she was attracted to Tom but so long as she recognised the fact, she could deal with it.
‘Thanks for looking after him,’ she said, scooping a reluctant Charlie into her arms. ‘I hope he’s not been too much trouble.’
‘He’s been as good as gold,’ Billy assured her. ‘Pity about those casts on his legs. They must be a real nuisance for him.’
‘They’ll be coming off soon,’ Hannah explained, and Billy’s face brightened.
‘That’s good to hear. He’ll have to come round to our house then and play with my little brother. He’s just turned one so they’re much of an age.’
Billy said goodbye and left. Hannah frowned when she heard him asking one of the other men if he fancied a pint.
‘Something wrong?’
She glanced round when Tom joined her. ‘Not really. I was just a bit surprised when Billy mentioned he had a little brother a few months older than Charlie.’
‘His mum was more than a bit surprised when she found out she was pregnant again!’ Tom laughed. ‘There’s a ten-year gap between the baby and the next child so it came as a bolt out of the blue.’
‘It must have done,’ Hannah replied, smiling as she followed him outside. The helicopter had landed in a nearby field and they were just in time to watch it taking off.
‘Look,’ Tom said, lifting Charlie out of her arms so he could see over the top of the crowd. ‘Helicopter. Whee!’
Hannah wasn’t sure how to react. Tom hadn’t asked her permission to hold Charlie yet it seemed churlish to complain when it was obvious that her son was enjoying himself. She stood silently beside them, thinking how wonderful it would have been if it had been Andrew holding him, Andrew playing the doting father; Andrew accepting him for what he was, not what he’d wanted him to be.
‘That was fun, wasn’t it, tiger?’ Tom swung Charlie round to face him, laughing when the little boy grabbed his nose. ‘Hey, that’s quite a grip you’ve got, young man. Can I have my nose back, please?’
He gently released the baby’s fingers then balanced him on his hip as he forged a way through the crowd. Hannah shrugged off the moment of introspection as she hurried after them.
‘I’ll take him now, thanks. He’s rather heavy.’
‘All the more reason for me to carry him when you’ve got your bag to lug home.’ Tom paused and glanced at her empty hands. ‘You are taking it home, I suppose?’
‘Oh, er, yes, of course.’ Hannah felt herself blush when she realised that she hadn’t given a thought to her medical bag. Bearing in mind that it contained a variety of drugs and expensive equipment, she should have been more careful.
‘We’ll wait here while you fetch it,’ Tom told her. ‘I’ll show Charlie the fishing boats. He’ll love them.’
He went over to the harbour wall, leaving her hovering in a sort of no-man’s land. She wanted to go after him and insist he give back her son, while on the other hand she needed to fetch her bag. In the end duty won and she hurried back inside the lifeboat station. Jim Cairns was standing guard over her case and he smiled at her.
‘Here it is, Hannah. No one’s touched anything.’
‘Thanks, Jim. I’d forget my head if it wasn’t screwed on tight.’
It was obviously the right thing to say because he laughed. Hannah had a feeling that her lapse had created a bond between them and it was something she would take on board. It didn’t always need perfection to make a situation turn out right.
Tom placed Charlie on his knee as he sat down on the harbour wall. The baby seemed entranced by the scene, waving his chubby little fists as he watched the boats set off for an evening’s fishing, and Tom smiled. He’d had very little to do with any children outside his work and it was fascinating to observe Charlie’s reaction. Even at such a tender age, Charlie was taking everything in, his head turning this way and that as he watched the boats leave the harbour. It was growing dusk and when some of the boats turned on their lights, Charlie gave a little squeal of excitement.
Tom laughed. ‘You like this, don’t you, tiger?’ He buzzed the top of the baby’s head with a kiss, surprised by the sudden rush of longing that assailed him. He had long since ruled out the possibility having children yet all of a sudden he found himself thinking how wonderful it would be to watch his child discovering the world. There must be a special kind of magic seeing everything through a child’s eyes and he couldn’t help wishing that he could experience it for himself. Maybe he shouldn’t rule out the possibility of him having a family at some point?
The thought was contrary to everything he had always believed. Tom pushed it aside when Hannah came to join them. He patted the wall, doing his best to behave as though nothing had happened even though it had. Could he really see himself as a father? It was the ultimate