Lane hadn’t expected to be so shocked by it. To be this close to cancer again and stare it in the face. She’d tried to remain impassive in the room, but behind her eyes she’d been fighting back tears, thinking about Skye.
And Dr Branagh had been so nice. Considerate. Interested. And so good with his patient! Not that that should be a surprise, but to see him being so attentive and helpful... Would he have been that way with her best friend? Had Skye made a mistake in not telling him about her pregnancy? Or was this just his work persona?
Lane didn’t know. She was used to misjudging men—to having them pull the wool over her eyes and deceive her, making her think one thing when another thing was happening. And it had been agonising to be in close quarters with Cole, knowing that she knew something about him but couldn’t tell him. Not yet.
Would there ever be a good time? What was the perfect time to tell a man he was father to an eight-month-old he hadn’t even known existed?
And once she told him about Tori he’d want to meet her, surely? Any decent father would. Any decent man would want to do the right thing. And he could make a claim to her in the courts. Skye had never really made it clear whether she wanted Lane to share Tori more officially with Cole, or whether she just wanted her daughter to know her father.
What if he could fight her legally to take Tori away? The thought made her shiver. Goosebumps prickling her skin and she rubbed at her arms to make them disappear.
She headed back inside, knowing she had work to do. She updated Miss Thomas’s notes regarding the chaperoning, and then managed to get through an ECG, a double ear syringing, three B12 jabs, two suture removals and a whole host of hypertension checks before lunchtime rolled around.
And suddenly there Cole was again, looking at her weirdly from the kitchen doorway as she nuked her lunch in the microwave. She could feel his intense gaze upon her and she felt unnerved by it.
‘Can I help you?’
He frowned, his arms crossed. ‘I wonder if I could have a quick word with you? In private?’
He knows! Oh, God, how did he find out?
She swallowed hard and followed him to his consulting room. He closed the door behind her and asked her to sit down in one of the chairs the patients would normally use. She thought he’d sit behind his desk, but he didn’t. He grabbed his chair and pulled it out so he could sit across from her, as an equal.
A smile formed upon his face. ‘I just want to say that I hope I didn’t embarrass you this morning. It wasn’t my intention, and in fact I was very impressed with how you came forward to help.’
Relief flooded through her and the heat she’d felt surging into her cheeks slowly began to drain away. She half laughed. ‘Ah, yes... That.’
‘I just feel that you’re not very comfortable with me, and I don’t like that, so if I did anything wrong at all, I apologise.’
Damn it. He’s being nice. And respectful.
‘No, it wasn’t that. It isn’t that. No.’
‘Then is it first day nerves? I’d like to help if I can. We’re all really nice here. We look out for each other and lift each other up—we’ve always got each other’s backs.’
Seriously? Why can’t he be an ignorant idiot?
‘No, it’s not that. It’s...’
It’s because of who you are. What you did. And how it changed everything. If it hadn’t been for you my friend could still be alive, for all I know.
If Skye hadn’t met this man, hadn’t got pregnant by him, then she might have survived the cancer by having it treated it earlier, instead of continuing with her pregnancy.
‘It’s nothing. I’m sorry if I made you think that way.’
She tried to sound genuine, look him in the eye, but it was hard. She’d spent months hating this man. His very existence, his sleeping with Skye, meant that her best friend’s life had been changed for ever—as well as her own. The repercussions had spread out like ripples on a pond. And the way he was looking at her now...
His gaze was intent, and his appraisal made her self-conscious. Those blue eyes of his—so like Tori’s—were hypnotic, and they sparkled with a light that she found mesmerising. He was a very attractive man. Short, closely cropped dark brown hair, broad shoulders, and a genuine smile that was warm and inviting.
If she’d been the one to meet him in a pub then she had to reluctantly admit to herself that she would have been enthralled and drawn to him too.
But she couldn’t let that happen.
Eventually he nodded, as if he were going to accept her answer for now, even though they both knew it wasn’t over.
‘Okay. Well, I don’t want to keep you from your lunch. We don’t get long and I’ve got a home visit to do.’
It was a relief to be dismissed. ‘Right. Okay. Well, I’ll see you later this afternoon.’
‘What kind of cake do you like?’
She was at the door, her hand on the doorknob, and his question seemed to come from left field. Cake?
‘I’m sorry?’
‘It’s my turn to buy cake for everyone, but as you’re new I’m happy to get your favourite. What is it?’
She stared back at him, trying to work him out, trying to see if he really was as nice as he seemed to be...
‘Lemon drizzle?’
He beamed a smile. ‘That’s my favourite, too.’