And she was being selfish. It wasn’t about her.
She’d just finished restocking the drugs cupboard when James put his head round the corner. ‘Annie’s going home.’
‘I know. She’s worried about leaving you in the lurch.’
‘Tough. She hasn’t got a choice, and we’ll cope. I’ll cover it if necessary. She said something about you clearing out her locker for her. Can you put the things in my office, please, and I’ll drop them off at their house on my way past tonight.’
‘Will you be able to get a locum?’
He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. ‘Maybe. Connie’s got a friend who seems to be kicking his heels at the moment, so he might agree. I’ll get her to ring him and twist his arm. It might also mean he gets his blasted boat off our drive while he’s here. Why he bought it I can’t imagine, but hey. Who am I to judge? I just want it gone so we can get the house sold before the new baby comes.’
But Kate had stopped listening at the word ‘boat’. Coincidence? Sam had gone to look at a boat. And his friends had gone to a party, on the same night that James and Connie had been at Zacharelli’s for a fortieth. The same party?
But Sam wasn’t a doctor—was he? He hadn’t exactly said what he did for a living, apart from mentioning unmeetable targets—and they were the bane of most doctors’ lives...
‘How long’s it been there?’ she asked casually, her heart pounding.
‘Oh, I don’t know, a couple of months? It seems like for ever. Right, got to get on. Don’t forget Annie’s locker.’
‘I’ll do it now.’
Two months? That fitted. So was Sam a doctor? And if so, how would he feel about working alongside her?
Her heart gave a little kick of excitement as she headed for the staffroom and emptied Annie’s possessions into a cardboard box.
Would they pick up where they’d left off?
She tapped on James’s door and he beckoned her in, pointing to the phone in his hand and mouthing, ‘Thank you.’ She put the box on his desk as he ended the call and spun the chair towards her, grinning cheerfully.
‘Job done. My sweet-talking wife just strong-armed him, and we have an amazingly well-qualified consultant trauma surgeon starting on Monday.’ He tipped his head on one side and studied her thoughtfully. ‘Just a word of warning, though, Kate. He’s emotionally broken, so don’t let his charisma reel you in. You’ll just be setting yourself up for a fall.’
The word ‘again’ hung unspoken in the air between them, and she stifled the sigh. ‘I’ll bear it in mind,’ she said with a forced smile, and just hoped to goodness it wasn’t Sam because if it was, the warning might have come too late to save her.
* * *
She was off the next day, and she popped round to Ed and Annie’s house on the cliff to see how Annie was doing.
‘She’s fine, before you ask,’ Ed told her with a smile as he let her in. ‘I’m pampering her to death. She hates it.’
‘I bet she doesn’t really. I brought her flowers to cheer her up.’
‘Thank you. She’ll love them. She’s out in the garden with the girls because it’s such a gorgeous day. Go on out. I was just making us coffee. How do you like it?’
‘Can I have tea?’ she said. ‘White, no sugar?’
‘Sure. We’ve got cake as well. I’ll bring it out.’
She found Annie on a lushly padded swing seat under a canopy, her feet up and the girls chasing each other round the garden. Annie waved at her, and she went over and gave her a hug and handed her the flowers.
‘Oh, how gorgeous, you sweetheart! They’re so pretty. Thank you. I’ll get Ed to put them in water. It’ll give him something to do apart from clucking round me like a mother hen.’
She pulled her legs up out of the way to make room, and Kate sat down and settled Annie’s swollen feet onto her lap.
‘So, how are you? You look the picture of contentment.’
Annie smiled. ‘I feel it. It’s wonderful—and even better now I know James has found a locum who can actually do the job properly. Ed’s driving me slightly nuts, but the girls have been as good as gold, and if the babies would both stop kicking me to bits I could really relax! Feel them—it’s like a football team warming up. I can tell they’re boys.’
Kate laughed and laid her hand over Annie’s bump. ‘Good grief. They’re having a rare old shuffle, aren’t they?’
‘It gets a bit crowded in there with twins. It was the same with the girls, but I think these two are bigger. Is Ed bringing you a coffee?’
‘Yes—well, tea. I can’t drink coffee since I had the bug.’
‘That’s months ago! You’re not pregnant, are you?’ she teased.
She laughed. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. How could I be pregnant? I’ve sworn off men—and anyway, I’m on the Pill and it’s only coffee I don’t like. I think I’ve just had too much of it.’
Annie laughed and rolled her eyes. ‘That hasn’t put you off chocolate!’
‘Or cake,’ she said with a chuckle. ‘No, it’s just the bug.’
But when Ed brought the tray out then and put it down right next to her, the smell of coffee drifting towards her on the warm spring air made her gag.
Could Annie possibly be right? How likely was it that she’d still be feeling ill two months later? Not at all...
But she couldn’t be pregnant. There was no way. It could only have been Sam, and anyway, she’d done a pregnancy test. Unless...
‘Cake?’ Ed asked, cutting into her thoughts. ‘My grandmother made it. It’s her trademark lemon drizzle and I know you’d prefer chocolate but I’ve never known you turn down cake of any denomination.’
‘Thanks. It sounds lovely,’ she said, not really paying him attention because her mind was tumbling.
Because she was on the Pill they’d thought it was OK when his condoms ran out, and it would have been, without the bug, but it had dragged on for days, too long for the morning-after pill to work, so she’d done a test and it had been negative. She hadn’t given it another thought at the time, but now...
The girls went back to their playhouse and Ed took the tray inside, but she hardly noticed until Annie shook her shoulder.
‘Kate? Are you OK? You look as if you’ve just seen a ghost.’
Or realised that her worst nightmare might actually have come true...
Annie’s eyes widened as she stared at her, and she could see the moment her friend’s thoughts caught up with her own. ‘Oh, no. You’re not, are you?’
She started to shake her head in denial, and then shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I don’t think so. I’d put it down to the bug, but it’s possible...’
‘Oh, Kate. Do you want to do a pregnancy test? I’ve got a spare one upstairs in our en suite.’
‘I’ve already done one, ages ago, and it was negative—and anyway, I can’t just go up there to your bedroom!’
‘It’s fine, I’ll take you up. I need to put the flowers in water and if Ed asks I’m showing you the nursery.’
So they went, dumping the flowers in a vase on the