‘Both!’ Ellie hugged her. ‘But it will have to be early. I have to be in bed by nine or I can’t function. The kids are exhausting at the moment.’
Stella felt a sudden stab of envy. ‘I can’t wait to see them. Are they looking forward to Christmas?’
‘Are you joking? They’re so over-excited they can’t sleep and there’s still another three weeks to go. Ben and I will be frayed by Christmas Eve.’
But frayed in a good way, Stella thought wistfully, longing for the chance to be similarly frayed. She wouldn’t want to sleep if she had a baby. She’d just want to lie awake all night, staring in wonder.
‘I’ll go and prepare Resus.’ Knowing that it was stupid to dwell on what she didn’t have, Stella walked with Ellie towards the resuscitation room. ‘So which one of the team performed the daring rescue? Was it your Ben?’
‘No.’ Ellie pushed open the doors to Resus. ‘It was your Dan.’
Stella stopped, feeling as though her heart had been left two metres behind her body. ‘Daniel?’
‘Yes. He’s bringing the boy in now.’ Ellie peered at her face. ‘I think you’ve just answered my next question, which was going to be, “Are you still in love with him?”’
‘I’m not in love with him.’
‘This is me you’re talking to.’
‘I’m not in love with him.’
‘All right, we’ll argue about that some other time. For now what I need to know is whether you can work with him.’
Stella was grateful for the acting classes she’d taken as a child. They helped her pull her features into an expression that said ‘unconcerned’.
In less than five minutes she was going to see him. This was the moment she’d been dreading. The whole thing felt like some sort of test. How far had she come? Had she recovered enough to be able to look at Daniel and not want him? Aware that some sort of response was required, she nodded. ‘I can work with him. He’s a very talented doctor.’ She consoled herself with the fact that at least the second half of that sentence wasn’t a lie. ‘Why would it be a problem?’
Ellie sighed and then gave her a quick hug. ‘Stella, this is a big thing for you, I know. I watched you fall in love with Dan. I know what he meant to you.’
‘And you watched when it fell apart.’
‘You were engaged.’
‘For about five minutes. Two years ago. Big mistake. I don’t intend to repeat it. Dan and I are history.’ Stella pulled away from her. ‘And I have a date tomorrow. He calls himself “Caring of Cumbria”. Blond, sensitive, loves romantic nights in by the fire and is looking for a long-term relationship with the right woman.’
Ellie laughed. ‘Sounds the complete opposite of Dangerous Dan.’
‘Who is dark, insensitive, likes hot sex by the fire and short-term relationships with the wrong women. You see? If I’d analysed him properly I would have run a mile.’ Gaining confidence from that thought, Stella walked across the room. ‘All right, what am I likely to need?’
‘Do you want me to hang around?’
‘In case we kill each other?’ Stella pulled on an apron and a pair of gloves. ‘I hope we’ll be more civilised than that. Is there anything else I should know about the patient?’
‘Dan will tell you when he gets here. He’s going to deal with it himself.’ With that unsettling announcement, Ellie hurried out of the room and seconds later the door swung open again.
The man guiding the stretcher into the room was tall and powerfully built, his outdoor clothing adding bulk to his muscular shoulders. ‘All right, Sam.’ His voice was calm and confident as he talked to the boy. ‘Now I’ve got some proper equipment, I can make you a bit more comfortable.’ He turned to the two junior doctors who were flanking him. ‘I put a line in at the scene, but I want you to get another one in straight away. He’s had morphine and the leg is splinted. I need another bag of fluid and…’Daniel glanced up, saw Stella and lost his thread.
Their relationship had begun with a single look, a single look that had altered the future for both of them.
Non-verbal communication had been their speciality—a knowing glance, a touch, a smile that was more of a promise—and if she’d hoped that the damage that lay behind them would have changed anything, she was disappointed.
The sudden jolt of chemistry was powerful enough to have Stella reaching out to hold the side of the trolley. It was as if she’d touched a high-voltage cable and a thousand memories shot through her, all of them including a man with ice-blue eyes and a dangerously sexy smile.
But the smile wasn’t in evidence today.
His lean, handsome face was serious, his expression doing nothing to soften the hardness of the man.
It was unfortunate that he’d come straight from a rescue, Stella thought weakly. Stubble suited him. The first thing she’d done every morning had been to drag her fingers over the darkness of his jaw, just before she’d kissed him…
Her stomach took a dive. ‘Hello, Daniel.’
He unzipped the neck of his jacket roughly, as if it was choking him. ‘Stella?’ His voice was hoarse and shocked and suddenly she couldn’t breathe because the memories were out of control.
His breath hot on her neck; his skilled, knowing hands on her trembling body; that same husky voice murmuring her name.
She gazed back at him, the only man who’d ever had this effect on her.
In London she’d hoped to meet someone who would make her forget Daniel. But how did you forget a face as absurdly handsome as his? How did you forget six feet two of arrogant masculinity? Who, out of the many doctors she’d met during her period of self-imposed exile, would have been capable of abseiling into a narrow ravine and masterminding the rescue of a severely injured boy?
Who would have had the ability to make her care so much that when it had ended, part of her had ceased to function?
Remembering the agony was what saved her. Stella turned back to the patient, reminding herself that ‘Caring of Cumbria’ liked long walks and was looking for commitment. ‘Hello, Sam.’ She walked over to the stretcher and smiled at the white-faced boy. ‘I hear you’ve had a bit of an exciting day.’
He looked impossibly young and he turned his head to look at Daniel, fear and hero-worship mingling in his eyes. ‘You promised you wouldn’t leave me. You said—’
‘I know what I said.’ Daniel’s voice was rough and he curved his hand over the boy’s shoulder. ‘And I’m not leaving you. But I do need to try and sort out that leg of yours. Trust me. Just do as I say and you’re going to be all right.’
Always In control. Always in charge.
Trust me.
Stella gritted her teeth. Trust me to break your heart. But she noticed that his hand stayed on the boy’s shoulder, providing the contact and reassurance that was so obviously needed as he gave the other doctors a series of instructions.
She guided the stretcher alongside the trolley. ‘We’re just going to move you across, Sam.’
‘You’re working here?’ Daniel’s harsh interruption made her flinch and Stella gently removed the blanket covering the boy.
Wasn’t it obvious? ‘I’ve called the radiologist.’
‘Wait.’ His hand covered hers, stopping her. ‘We move him on my count, not before.’
She’d forgotten what it was like, working with him. When he was