The Midwife's Child

She sagged against the wall and released his arm. ‘I know.’

His face grim, Jed took Toby upstairs and laid him on the mattress while Brooke fretted next to him. Seeing him so gentle with Toby, it was the very worst kind of torture.

Jed half woke a grumbling Toby and checked him over thoroughly, before tucking the duvet round his sleeping form. ‘There, he’ll be fine.’

Brooke winced as he gripped her arm firmly and drew her downstairs and into the sitting room.

‘Well…’ His powerful legs were planted firmly apart and his mouth was set in a grim line. There was no sign of the gentleness he’d shown Toby. He looked formidable, thoroughly male and very, very angry. ‘I asked the wrong question, didn’t I? I asked you whether Toby was born nine months after our night together.’

She swallowed hard. ‘Jed—’

‘But he wasn’t born nine months after our night together, was he?’ His blue eyes glittered dangerously and his tone was acid. ‘He was born seven months afterwards. I thought you were evasive because you were concealing your relationship with another man, not because you were hiding the fact that we made a child together. So if I’d asked the question a different way, would you have told me the truth? Would you?’

‘Jed, please—’

‘The truth, Brooke.’ His eyes were now cold and unsympathetic. ‘I want it now. Straight and with no omissions.’

Brooke twisted her hands together and paced over to the window. It was dark outside with nothing to see, but anything was better than looking at the fury in his eyes.

‘Toby is your child.’

Jed gave a short laugh. ‘Well, I thought we’d already established that much.’

‘Please, please, don’t be so angry.’ She turned to face him, her eyes huge in her pale face. ‘I realise that this is a shock for you, but you have to try and understand—’

‘Understand?’ His expression was incredulous. ‘You were pregnant and never told me and now you expect me to understand?’

He was too angry to listen to her and she wrapped her arms around herself in a gesture of self-protection. She didn’t know how to get through to him, how to make him listen.

‘You were responsible, too, you know!’ Her voice was husky and shook slightly. ‘It wasn’t just me who didn’t think of birth control.’

The truth was, neither of them had thought of anything but each other, they’d been so swept away by their feelings.

‘I’m not blaming you for the pregnancy.’ His voice was hard and he took a steadying breath, obviously still struggling with his temper. ‘I’m blaming you for not having contacted me and told me.’

‘Why?’ Brooke looked at him helplessly. ‘We didn’t even know each other, Jed. We certainly weren’t in a position to bring up a child.’

His eyes flashed angrily and he took a step forward. ‘That wasn’t your decision to make.’

‘It was entirely my decision,’ she replied, wondering how her voice could sound so controlled and calm when she was so churned up inside. ‘I wasn’t a part of your life and you weren’t a part of mine.’

‘We were a part of each other’s lives when we made a child together.’ He was brutally frank and not giving an inch. ‘I had a right to know that you were pregnant.’

‘It wasn’t that simple, Jed!’

‘Yes, it was.’ His expression was grim. ‘It was precisely that simple. When you found out that you were pregnant, you should have told me.’

‘Well, if you were so bothered why didn’t you take precautions?’ She glared at him, her dark eyes glittering with unshed tears. What right did he have to judge her so harshly? He wasn’t even asking her why she hadn’t told him. It didn’t seem to cross his mind that she might have had a good reason. ‘And if you were that bothered, why didn’t you try and track me down?’

‘You know damn well there was no way I could trace you. You made sure of that.’ He tipped his head back and took a deep breath, struggling to control his temper. ‘I tried, believe me. I almost hired a private investigator but then I decided that if you really wanted to hide from me that much I had no right to chase you. And I assumed that if you were pregnant you would have found me. You knew where I lived, Brooke.’

She swallowed hard, her heart thumping. He was right, of course. She could have found him. And the truth was she’d been plucking up courage to do just that when she’d discovered she was pregnant. But once she’d found out, there had been no way she could have done it. The pregnancy had ended any hope of a relationship.

‘You really wanted to see me again?’

‘Was that really so surprising?’ Jed gave a derisory laugh and shook his head. ‘Maybe it was. I thought that what we had was special. It may have only been one night, but as far as I was concerned it could have been the start of something else. But you didn’t want that, did you? You wanted a one-night stand with no strings attached. What was I? Some sort of experiment? Was it just time you lost your virginity?’

She flinched. ‘No, of course not.’