‘Hey, hang in there, Sash. Won’t be long now before we know what Flipper’s up to.’
For the first time she was happy to hear him call her Sash. Now it didn’t sound so much sexy as loving. And caring. And right. ‘That’s what frightens me. There’s a huge what-if clanging around my skull that I’m refusing to answer.’ Her baby girl had to be all right. Had to be. Was all this squeezing in her gut doing the baby any good? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop the waves of panic gripping and tensing every muscle in her body.
‘Here we are.’ Grady marched them up to the desk. ‘Sasha Wilson for a CTG.’
The guy sitting behind the counter stood up immediately. ‘Hi, Sasha, I’m Glen. I’ve been waiting for you. How was your trip over the hill?’
She didn’t have a clue. Apart from that moment when Grady had stopped to hug her she’d been totally unaware of anything apart from her baby. But the guy was trying to be friendly and put her at ease. ‘Great.’
‘If you go through that door over on the left you’ll find a gown to slip into. Leave only your underwear on. There’s another door leading out of the cubicle into our room. I’ll meet you there.’
She nodded. ‘Thank you. Um, can Grady come with me?’
‘Of course. Fathers are always welcome.’
‘Father?’ If only. But it wasn’t surprising Glen had made that mistake. Grady was stepping up like an anxious father. She’d have to think about what that meant later. When, if, life ever got back to normal.
Glen turned a deep red and spluttered, ‘And friends. It’s best you have someone with you.’
In case you find something very wrong. Sasha’s bottom lip stung sharply as her teeth dug in again. Running, she reached the door leading into the cubicle and slammed it shut behind her.
‘Please, baby girl, please, make your heart go bang, bang, bang for the man.’
Her trousers hit the floor, followed by her jacket, blouse and thermal top. Goose-bumps covered her as the cold air touched her warm skin. The gown she wrapped around herself was thin and inadequate for winter temperatures. Who cares?
‘Please, Melanie, be all right. We’ve got so much ahead of us. There’re many things I want to show you, teach you, give you.’
Ahh. She stuffed a fist in her mouth to stifle the scream pouring over her tongue. Melanie. Since when had she used the baby’s proper name? Since she’d become fearful for her safety. Did this mean—? No. No. No. It must not.
‘Sash?’ The door opened a crack and Grady asked, ‘Are you ready?’
Sniff. That depends. I’ll never be ready if the news is bad. Dropping her fist to her side, she slipped through the doorway and headed to where Glen waited.
Of course Grady picked up her hand and gave her a squeeze. ‘Let’s do it, shall we?’
‘First we’ll check the foetal heart rate.’ Glen explained everything.
Sasha’s gaze was glued to Glen, watching for every nuance in his expression. Finally she got a thumbs-up. ‘Here, look at this. It’s all good. Baby’s fine.’ He tore off a printout from the machine reading the baby’s heart rate and handed it to her. Grady’s head was touching hers as they stared at the lines in front of them.
Splish, splash. Drops of moisture hit the back of her hands. Her shoulders dropped forward as she curled over her precious baby. ‘Oh, Flipper, you’re okay, baby. Thank goodness. I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t been.’
Grady wrapped those strong, safe arms around her and his chin bumped the top of her head. Above her she heard a sniff. ‘Grady?’ She pulled back just enough to see his face and the tears tracking down his cheeks.
‘I’m so glad for you, Sasha.’
Cupping his cheek with one hand, she whispered, ‘Thank you. For everything. I needed you here with me.’
Some time later, though probably only a couple of minutes, Glen cleared his throat and said, ‘I’d like to take you for an ultrasound so we can make sure that the placenta is functioning properly and check the transfer of blood and oxygen through the cord to baby.’
‘So we’re not in the clear yet.’ Her smile faded.
‘Everything’s fine. It’s just precautionary. Since you’re here we might as well make the most of your trip.’ Glen handed her another copy of the printout. ‘For your baby album.’
Though her fingers shook as she took it, she felt the awful weight of fear finally lift. For her baby album. How normal did that sound?
*
Grady wound the car slowly and carefully around the hairpin bends on Takaka Hill, determined not to wake Sasha until he reached her cottage. She had exited that hospital quietly, happily and utterly exhausted.
The news had been all good. Sasha had phoned Jessica and then her parents. Everyone would sleep well tonight, though none as well as the woman beside him.
They’d eaten fish and chips parked outside the takeaway shop in Nelson. Make that he’d devoured more than his share while Sasha had pecked at a piece of crispy batter-covered blue cod and a couple of chips. Then she’d fallen sound asleep, curled into the corner made by her seat and the front door.
After clicking her seat belt in place and tossing into the rubbish bin the paper that had wrapped their meal, he’d headed for home. Home. Something tight and warm settled under his ribs. He’d been searching for a place to call that ever since he’d left Sasha.
Returning to Nelson from Golden Bay that day eleven years ago to go and see the transport company’s boss and make arrangements for taking over Dad’s contract had been hard. With every kilometre he’d driven he’d felt his heart being torn further from his chest, pulled by the girl he’d left behind, yanked by his mother’s needs in Nelson.
He’d never regretted changing his plans of going to university in order to support Mum and the girls. It’s what any man worthy of being called that would do—step up for his family. The price had been high, though. Sash. He might’ve grown up in Nelson but it hadn’t felt like home since that day.
He’d known only despair. A week earlier his father had gone for ever. That day Sasha had gone, forced out of his life by him. Gone. For ever, if that heart-tearing, gut-slicing look in her eyes as the truth had dropped home in her mind had been anything to go by.
In reality, Golden Bay had never been home for him either, just the place he’d gone with his family for the most amazing, carefree summer h
olidays—and Sash.
Now, from the moment he’d set eyes on her at the accident scene, that word had been creeping into his vocabulary on a regular basis. Already he’d changed his mind about what colour to paint the inside of his house from those bland, neutral shades. Earlier in the day he’d phoned through an order for paint a shade of terracotta that made him feel happy and warm. He’d also called on the local plumber for bathroom brochures, to see what they had on offer.
You’re setting yourself up for the biggest fall. Just because it’s starting to feel like home in Golden Bay it doesn’t mean Sash will want a bar of you in any other way than as friends.
He also didn’t have a job to keep food in the pantry and petrol in the tank.
The shuffle of Sasha’s jacket had his eyes flicking sideways. Her hand circled her belly. In the almost-dark of the car’s interior he couldn’t see if she had woken.
‘Sash?’ he whispered, as he focused back on the road.
Nothing. So even in sleep she was conscious of her baby. He liked that.
Finally, nearly two hours after they’d set out from Nelson he turned into Sasha’s drive and cut the motor. Now what? Sasha was sleeping the sleep of emotional exhaustion. He so did not want to wake her. But he couldn’t go scrabbling around in that massive bag of hers for keys to the house. He couldn’t take her to his place with only one bed.
Now, there’s a thought. Down, boy. Hard not to react to Sash when she dominated his mind all the time, tormented his body. Go find a way into the cottage and put those thoughts of hot sex on the back burner.
The house key sat under the potted lemon tree on the top step. ‘Nice one, Sash.’
With the door open and lights on, Grady returned to Sasha. Opening the door carefully so as not to dump her on the drive, he scooped her into his arms and headed inside, pushing the door shut behind them with his butt.
Now that the panic of hours earlier had gone he allowed himself to breathe in the sweet scent of Sash. Honeysuckle. Reminding him of summer days and nights. Anything to do with Sash reminded him of hot summer days and hotter nights. Tightened his gut with longing. Sent waves of heat through his body, all aiming for his sex. Her warm body tucked against his chest did nothing to halt these waves of desire cascading over him. His body had missed hers. Had longed to plunge deep inside her, to feel her heat surround him, to know her passion as she shattered in his arms.