She couldn’t carry on living with Jake so she’d been desperately scouring the local paper for flats. She’d found one that would have been all right, but the landlord had said that it wasn’t available until the spring and she couldn’t wait that long. She needed somewhere now.
At this rate she was going to be living with Jake when the baby arrived, she thought as she trawled through the paper once again for possibilities.
Not that he made things awkward. On the contrary, he was extremely kind to her but somehow that just made it worse.
She was drinking coffee and summoning up the energy to go and see a small flat a mile away from Jake’s house when there was a knock on the door.
She opened it to find Christy standing there with a basket in her hand.
‘I’m playing Little Red Riding Hood,’ she said cheerfully, handing Miranda the basket and walking past her into the house. ‘I was baking with my daughter Katy this morning and we thought you might like some. I remember what it was like when I was almost due. I was starving hungry but I couldn’t summon up the energy to cook anything. There’s bread, scones, some cheese from the deli and some chutney we made last summer from the apples in our garden.’
Miranda carried the basket through to the kitchen. ‘That’s really kind of you.’
‘Not that kind.’ Christy shrugged off her coat and dropped it over the chair. ‘I actually had an ulterior motive for coming here. Can I put the kettle on?’
‘Help yourself.’ Miranda put the basket on the table and looked at her warily. ‘What’s your ulterior motive?’
For a moment Christy didn’t answer and her back was towards Miranda so it was impossible to read her face. She filled the kettle and then she turned. ‘I’m worried about Jake.’
‘You’re worried about him?’ Miranda felt a vicious stab of fear. ‘Why? What’s happened?’
Christy frowned. ‘You’ve happened. He’s in love with you and I gather it isn’t reciprocated. He’s thoroughly miserable. Crotchety and short-tempered, thoroughly unlike our easygoing Jake. ‘
Miranda bit her lip. ‘I know he thinks he’s in love with me, but—’
‘If you’re suggesting that Jake doesn’t know his own mind, maybe you don’t understand him as well as you think you do. I could help you out there.’ Christy dipped her hand into the basket and helped herself to one of her own scones. ‘Jake knows exactly what he wants in life and he’s never wrong. He doesn’t change his mind about things. He knew almost from day one that he wanted to be an obstetrician and he was right. It’s the perfect specialty for him. And it’s the same with women. He doesn’t fall in love easily.’
‘He was in love with you.’
‘Yes.’ Christy’s voice was calm as she split the scone with a knife and spread each half with butter. ‘I think he was, for a short while. And that’s one of the biggest compliments I’ve ever been paid because Jake doesn’t fall in love easily so when he does, it’s a really big thing. And he’s in love with you.’
‘Maybe he is.’ Miranda sat down on the nearest chair. ‘But I’m having another man’s baby.’
‘I know about that.’ Christy put half the scone on a plate and pushed it towards her. ‘Eat. Jake’s worried that you’re not eating enough so I said I’d take charge of your calorie intake between now and delivery.’
Miranda smiled. ‘No one has ever fussed over me before the way he does.’
‘No?’ Christy’s eyes were gentle. ‘Then make the most of it. Grab it while you can. He wants the baby, Miranda. He wants the baby as much as he wants you, can’t you believe that?’
‘I believe that he thinks that’s the case.’ Miranda stared at the scone on her plate. ‘But people don’t know how they’re going to react. The baby isn’t his. Nothing can ever change that.’
‘And he doesn’t want to. Jake is the most balanced, levelheaded guy you could ever hope to meet. Have you ever seen him panic?’
‘No. No I haven’t. He’s always Mr Super Cool.’
Christy nodded. ‘He’s a guy who knows who he is and knows what he wants. And he wants you and the baby. Think about it. Think about what you might be turning down.’
‘What if, two years from now, he’s tired of having a lively toddler around the house?’
Christy looked at her for a long moment and then stood up, a sad smile on her face. ‘If you have to ask me that question, you obviously don’t know Jake at all,’ she said softly as she picked up her coat. ‘He’s a good man. A hell of a catch, frankly. You should remember that. Of all the women he’s ever dated, you’re the one he wants. Wow. Be flattered. And now I need to get going because it’s snowing again and Alessandro worries about me when the roads are bad. Don’t get up. You look tired. Eat your scone and I’ll see myself out.’
* * *
Miranda sat in the kitchen, staring out of the window as the snow fell and darkness closed in. Jake had phoned earlier to say that he was going down to A and E to deal with an emergency and he was likely to be very late. And she missed him. Even in such a short time she’d become used to the life they’d led. She’d enjoyed their routine of working together and living together. Now it was just the living and soon it wouldn’t even be that because she intended to move into a new flat in the next two weeks.
Outside the wind whistled around the house and she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that Christy had said about Jake. Phrases kept running through her head.
‘A hell of a catch.’