The Midwife's Christmas Miracle (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 5)

He glanced towards her. ‘No cynical comment? Aren’t you going to tell me that he’s probably having an affair with someone else and she’s really pleased because she hates him anyway?’

‘No.’ She interrupted him and looked away, unaware of the soft brush of snow on her cheeks. ‘No, I’m not going to tell you that. I think Paula’s lucky. I’m glad nothing went wrong. I was worried it might. You knew it would be all right, didn’t you?’

He shrugged. ‘No one can ever be certain, of course, but, yes, I had a good feeling.’

‘How? Why?’ She looked at him helplessly, wishing she had his antennae. ‘You just seem to know when something is about to go wrong and you’re always there to sort it out before things reach crisis point.’

He pressed the button on his keys and unlocked the doors. ‘That’s not instinct, that’s experience.’

‘But don’t you ever panic?’ She slid into the car and huddled her coat more closely around herself, suddenly feeling the cold. ‘Things can go wrong in the blink of an eye in obstetrics but I’ve never seen you anything but calm.’

‘Do I panic?’ He started the engine and frowned thoughtfully. ‘No. To be honest, I don’t. I just see a problem and try and solve it.’

‘You don’t worry about the responsibility? Litigation?’ Her teeth were chattering and she wished the car would warm up. ‘These days everyone is trying to sue everyone.’

Jake laughed and reversed out of his parking space. ‘Fortunately the UK isn’t as bad as the US. In America they actually have groups of lawyers dedicated to suing us obstetricians for malpractice. Delightful.’

‘How do you cope with the pressure?’

‘I stay up to date, I listen to mothers and midwives, I don’t ignore small warning signs because they invariably mean something and, having done all that, I relax. If you worry too much, you cease to be effective. Put my coat on. You’re shivering.’

He noticed everything, she thought as she reached into the back seat for his coat and snuggled underneath it. ‘Pregnant women are supposed to be hot all the time. I’m frozen.’

‘Probably something to do with the fact that we had two inches of snow last night and you haven’t eaten since lunchtime.’ He turned the heat up in the car and took a sharp corner carefully, his hands steady on the wheel. ‘You must be starving. Or, at least, I hope you are because you’re about to be presented with a mountain of food.’

‘We’re going out?’

‘I’m too tired to cook and I’m sick of pizza.’ He suppressed a yawn. ‘I’m taking you to dinner with some friends of mine. Christy is a wonderful cook. All we have to do is sit there and eat.’

She was horrified. ‘But I can’t just turn up to dinner! I don’t know them and—’

‘I know them.’

‘But who are you going to say I am? How are you going to introduce me?’

He slowed the car as he drove down a narrow lane and into a huge driveway. ‘A friend? My lodger? How would you like me to introduce you?’ He switched off the engine, gave her a maddeningly placid smile and then climbed out of the car.

She followed him with a million questions on her lips, none of which she was able to ask because instantly the door opened and a beautiful red-headed woman stood there, smiling.

‘I hope you’re hungry because I’ve over-catered.’

‘Those are the words I’ve been fantasising about all day. No lunch—big appetite. Hello, my angel, how are you?’ Jake leaned forward and kissed the woman warmly. Miranda stopped dead, suddenly feeling all sorts of things that she didn’t want to feel.

Who was the red-headed woman?

And why did she feel such a powerful urge to know?

Jake was perfectly entitled to have a girlfriend.

She was still trying to rationalise her thoughts when a handsome, dark-haired man appeared behind the woman. ‘Unhand my wife, Blackwell.’

His wife?

The tension left Miranda and she had a wonderful evening. The conversation was lively and the food excellent. After tucking into salmon in a creamy herb sauce, Miranda helped clear the plates and was immediately trapped by Christy in the kitchen.

‘So—where did you meet Jake?’

Miranda put the plates down on the table. ‘We’re working together,’ she said carefully, deciding not to reveal the story of their Christmas Day meeting.