Thrusting his chair back from the desk, Malachi stood. He leaned over to activate the intercom to his secretary.
‘I need you to arrange the helicopter for me, Geraldine.’
Geraldine’s voice came clearly, crisply, through the speaker. ‘Of course. Where to, sir?’
‘Moorlands General,’ he said decisively. ‘Now, please.’
‘Yes, sir.’
He was just about to terminate the communication when he heard her startled voice.
‘Wait...you can’t go in there...’
He’d reached for the switch to deactivate the privacy control on the glass wall when the door to his office burst open and Saskia strode boldly in.
‘If you’re looking for me, I’m right here.’
She placed her bag down and closed the door behind her, but he noticed that she didn’t approach his desk. Perhaps not as bold as he’d first thought. The faint tremor in her hands suggested her confidence was a front.
Still, it had momentarily thrown him.
‘So you are,’ he bit out.
She looked well. Better than well. Her cheeks were red, as though she’d been walking outside in the cold, and her tousled hair made him think she’d recently tugged off one of those warm woolly hats she favoured. But it was the overcoat, pulled tight and cinched over the ever-expanding bump which took most of his attention.
Their baby.
‘Well?’ she demanded, as the quiet shimmered around the space.
‘Sorry?’
‘What were you coming to the hospital for?’
He glowered at her for a long moment before answering. ‘To see you.’
‘Well, it’s good that I’m here, then.’ Her eyes flashed, a frenetic expression whirling through them. ‘I saved you the trouble.’
If he’d had to guess, he might have thought her nervous. Although the Saskia he knew had never been nervous about anything.
That said, she was bouncing around the room in a way he’d never seen her do before.
‘Take a seat,’ he suggested, fighting to slow his accelerating heartbeat.
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘Thanks. Are you ready to go?’
‘To go where?’
‘You’ll see.’
And with that she practically danced out of the room, leaving him with little choice but to grab his suit jacket and heavy woollen coat and follow.
He caught up with her just as the lift pinged, ready to take them down to the lobby. She was bobbing from one side to the other, shifting her weight as though she couldn’t bear to be still for even an instant.
‘Just slow down, Saskia. I haven’t even called the car round to meet us outside.’
‘No need.’ She bustled them both out of the lift. ‘We can walk.’
It was ridiculous, but her barely restrained excitement was infectious. Malachi found himself swept along in it even as he followed her.