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

She undid the buttons of her maternity dress and gently lifted the baby to her breast. With remarkably little encouragement, the baby latched onto her nipple and sucked happily. Miranda breathed a sigh of relief but suddenly the happiness of the birth mingled with despair. She wanted to say something, want to speak, but none of the words in her head felt right.

Seemingly oblivious to her emotional state, Jake slid a hand over her abdomen, checking her uterus. ‘Everything feels fine.’

And everything was fine. The placenta came away easily and Jake breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I don’t know what you midwives complain about.’ He dragged a forearm over his forehead and gave a lopsided smile. ‘Piece of cake. I’m just going to wash my hands and find another heater to put in here. This room isn’t warm enough for her.’

He vanished for a moment and the returned with two heaters, a drink for Miranda and the phone in his hand.

‘The phone’s working again. I want you to go into hospital, Miranda. She looks fine to me and you look fine, too, but it was all a bit quick for my liking and the roads are so bad that we wouldn’t be able to get you to hospital in a hurry if it suddenly became necessary.’

Miranda frowned. ‘Do I have to?’

‘Just for tonight. Oh, by the way, there was a message on the machine. Someone about a flat. The landlord told you it wasn’t available until the spring but apparently the tenants have found somewhere else and are moving today, so it’s yours whenever you want it.’

She waited for him to say something about not wanting her to leave but he said nothing at all, just finished clearing up, fetched her a few things that he knew she’d need and made a few notes to give to the ambulance crew.

And he still didn’t look at the baby.

Which meant only one thing as far as she was concerned. He wasn’t interested in her, Miranda thought miserably, holding back the tears that threatened.

* * *

It was late the following afternoon when Jake walked up to the side room. In his arms were a teddy bear and a huge bunch of flowers.

This, he decided as he put a hand on the door and steeled himself to open it, was going to be one of the hardest five minutes of his life.

He was going to deliver the flowers, say all the things he was expected to say and then just get out as fast as he could, hopefully before he made a complete and utter fool of himself.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door and walked into the room, a smile pinned on his face. The smile faded instantly when he saw that the room was empty.

And then he heard a faint gurgle coming from the cot by the bed and he realised that the room wasn’t empty at all. The baby was in the cot. But there was no sign of Miranda.

Wondering why he was intent on torturing himself, he stepped over to the cot and stared down.

The baby lay with her eyes closed, her tiny mouth moving in her sleep.

Jake felt his heart twist. ‘Hi, there.’ His voice was soft as he reached down and touched her cheek. ‘It’s nice to meet you properly.’

* * *

Miranda paused in the doorway of her bathroom, her eyes on Jake.

He obviously didn’t realise she was in the room and he was talking to the baby. Touching her.

‘I didn’t get a good look at you yesterday,’ he was saying softly, a gentle look in his eyes as he leaned over the cot. ‘I was too busy worrying about your mum.’

Miranda frowned. He’d been worried about her? He certainly hadn’t seemed worried.

The baby gurgled sleepily and Jake smiled. ‘You’re going to make your mum very happy. Which is a good thing, because it’s what she deserves.’

‘Jake?’ Miranda stepped into the room and he turned to face her, his eyes suddenly wary.

‘I didn’t know you were there.’

‘I was using the bathroom.’ She looked at him. ‘I—I heard what you said. I didn’t know you were worried about me.’

He gave a faint smile. ‘You were eavesdropping on a private conversation.’