Lucy Knight? Jake rubbed his eyes with his fingers, trying to wake himself up. The penny dropped. ‘Oh, hell—Lucy. She’s only thirty-four weeks. When?’
‘She called us early this morning.’
‘Is she on her way in?’
‘She’s here already. Mr Hilton was prowling around and wanted to see her, but I said you were coming in today.’
‘You’re a star.’ Having a colleague like Edgar Hilton was of dubious benefit. The man was a revered obstetrician with myriad publications to his name, but he was also renowned for his inability to let a mother labour without interference. It was a subject on which he and Jake disagreed at regular intervals. ‘So is she having contractions?’ He kept the phone to his ear as he wandered through to the kitchen, listening as the senior midwife outlined the situation. ‘And you’re sure it’s amniotic fluid? OK—well, put her on the monitor and I’ll be in as quickly as I can.’
‘I feel guilty asking you. You’re not supposed to be working today.’
Jake prowled round the kitchen, still holding the phone to his ear. No sign of Miranda. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Ruth. It’s my job.’
When had she left? During the night or early this morning?
‘Well, even you’re allowed a day off.’
‘I had a day off. Christmas Day.’ And it had turned out to be better than he’d ever hoped. Finally, he’d met a woman who fascinated him in every way. And now she’d vanished. Why had she vanished? He knew that she was interested in him too. Was it because he’d rushed her? Was that why she’d left? Pondering the facts, he reached for a jumper that he’d left over the back of one of the chairs. ‘Give me ten minutes to shower and sort myself out here and then I’ll be in.’
He replaced the receiver and sprinted upstairs, calling Miranda’s name and checking in the bedrooms and the bathrooms. There was no sign of her.
She’d gone.
And he had absolutely no idea where because he hadn’t had the sense to take her address. Hadn’t seen the need, because he’d had no idea that she was going to perform a vanishing act.
Damn.
And now he had to go into the hospital because he didn’t want to leave Lucy Knight to the tender mercies of Edgar Hilton and he didn’t like the sound of the woman who’d planned to deliver her fifth baby at home. It promised to be a long and tiring day.
Cursing long and fluently, he showered quickly and then dressed and went to the kitchen to find his car keys.
Her bicycle had gone and there was a note on his windscreen that just said, ‘Thank you.’
Thank you for what? Rescuing her? Kissing her?
No surname, no phone number, no address. Nothing to tell him where to find her again.
Miranda.
It was only the second time in his life that he’d felt instantly and powerfully drawn to a woman. The first had been Christy, and since then he’d virtually given up hope of finding anyone who interested him on anything other than a physical level.
Until yesterday.
Everything about Miranda had fascinated him. He’d always thought of himself as a man who understood women, but he’d found her complex and unpredictable. She’d shown strength and courage where other women would have panicked, but then she’d shown cynicism way beyond her years where other women would have been dreamily romantic. And what about her family? When he’d found her on the mountain, she’d said that she didn’t have any family, but most people had some family somewhere. Had she fallen out with them? He frowned as he read the note again and then crumpled it up and stuffed it into his pocket.
He intended to find out. And he intended to find out why she’d left without leaving him her phone number or address. She’d felt as strongly as he did, he knew that for sure, so why the secrecy?
What did she have to hide?
What was she afraid of?
Muttering about the complexities of women, Jake drove towards the hospital, mindful of the icy roads.
He was going to track her down, he vowed as he drove through the gates of the hospital and pulled up in a space marked with his name.
Complex she may be, but there’d been a powerful connection between them and he wasn’t about to let that go.
He strode onto the labour ward minutes later to be greeted by Ruth, the midwife who had phoned him.