* * *
His eyes connected with Bonnie’s. That was the difference between herself and her daughter. Bonnie’s eyes were deep blue—almost hypnotising. Freya’s were the more traditional pale blue.
From the second he’d offered her a place to stay he’d wanted to drag the words back. His stomach had churned and he’d conjured up a million different excuses to try to back out. But his integrity wouldn’t let him—that, and the relieved expression on Bonnie’s face when he’d made the offer. His guts had twisted at the thought of people in his home. His private place. But it wasn’t quite as bad as he’d imagined. It was odd. The last person he’d shared a house with had been his father. It was amazing how long two people could live together while barely talking. Particularly when he’d told his father he wasn’t the following the military family tradition and was going into medicine instead. His father had barely looked him in the eye after that.
Before dinner he led them through the rest of the house, showing them a dining room, the door to his study, the downstairs cloakroom and the back sitting room and conservatory.
‘This house is just amazing, Jacob, and it’s so close to the city centre. What do they call this street—millionaire row?’ She was joking but he could see the weariness in her eyes. She’d been uprooted from a familiar home and ended up in a bad motel. Now she was going to be spending the next few weeks scouring around for houses to rent or buy, trying to work out if it was in an area she’d want her and Freya to stay in. All in the run-up to Christmas. Her brain must be currently whirring.
He laughed. ‘No. Not quite. I bought it around ten years ago before the prices went crazy. It needed a lot of fixing up and I’ve just done a little bit at a time.’
‘Well, I think you’ve done a good job. I hope I’ll get a chance to have a walk around the area in the next few days. It would be good to get a bit more familiar with Cambridge.’
‘If I get a chance, I’ll show you and Freya around. Point out the places to visit and the places to avoid.’ Where had that come from? It was so unlike him. He’d spent the last year living his life in a bubble. Hardly any interaction with friends and colleagues. The few people that he’d confided in about his condition had all offered to help in any way that they could. But offers of help made him feel vulnerable, at risk even.
Jacob had got through this life shutting off his feelings from the world. He hadn’t even properly mourned the death of his mother. That wasn’t the Layton way. Or so his father had told him. He’d very much instilled the stiff-upper-lip mentality into his son.
And even after all these years it was still there. It was partly the reason he’d never had a lasting relationship. He’d shuttered himself away for so long it felt normal now. And after a while his friends had stopped offering any assistance. Eventually even good friends got tired of being rebuffed.
Bonnie gave him a smile. ‘Thanks, Jacob. That’s really nice of you to offer.’
The timer on the oven sounded and Bonnie helped him to put the food onto plates. Instead of moving to the dining room, they stayed at the more informal island in the kitchen. By now, Freya was desperate to see the old kennel outside and invented an imaginary dog for her stay. But it was already dark and after she’d finished her fish fingers her little head started to nod.
Bonnie wrapped her arm around Freya’s shoulders. ‘I think it’s time to get a little girl into her bath and into bed. To be honest, I could do with an early night myself. Once I’ve helped you clear up I think we’ll both go to bed.’ She stood up and gave him a wink. ‘I don’t want to be late for work tomorrow.’ She gave a fake roll of her eyes. ‘You’ve no idea what the boss is like.’
He let out a laugh and lifted the plates. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve heard about him. Forget about clearing up. I’ll dump the dishes in the dishwasher and we’re done.’
‘You’re sure?’ She’d already picked up Freya and the little girl had snuggled into her shoulder.
‘I’m sure. Goodnight, Bonnie. Goodnight, Freya.’ It was odd—for the first time in a long time, Jacob actually felt at peace.
Then Bonnie spoiled it. She fixed on him with her unblinking blue eyes. ‘Goodnight, Jacob, and thank you,’ then turned and walked up the stairs.
There was nothing surer. The sight of Bonnie’s backside in those jeans would stay with him well into the early hours of the morning.
CHAPTER FOUR
THERE WAS NO denying it. The labour suite had been in a complete muddle. Her mother would have called it a right guddle—a good Scots word. And she would have been right.
It seemed that in the few weeks since the sister had left, a new ordering system had come into place, and a new electronic system for recording staff working hours. No one on the labour suite had the time or motivation to learn how to use either and things were well behind.
Bonnie was lucky. There were other staff who offered to help. Isabel Delamere, an obstetrician on an exchange from Australia, was quick to give her the low-down on most members of staff. She wasn’t a gossip. In fact, Bonnie got the impression that Isabel was quite the opposite. But she’d been new here herself and obviously wanted to help.
Hope Sanders, one of the other midwives, had been great. She’d quickly explained both new systems to Bonnie. It was strange. Bonnie had seen Hope talk to Jacob a few times. It was obvious they were friends. And the tall curly-haired blonde had already told her she was single. But Bonnie could tell there wasn’t anything romantic between them.
If anything, Hope just seemed concerned about Jacob. She was always reminding him about the number of hours he worked and telling him to get out a bit more.
Things were a little awkward on the ward. Both of them had decided it wouldn’t be wise if the rest of the staff knew Bonnie and her daughter were staying with Jacob. It meant that she tried to jump out of the car before they reached the car park and other members of staff would notice them together. For the last few days things had been fine.
Well. That wasn’t entirely true. She’d spent every night poring over the Internet looking at rental properties and houses for sale. Jacob had tried to be helpful. But Jacob’s helpful had been telling her that one area where a house was for sale was less than salubrious and three of the rental properties had been similar. There was nothing else suitable in her price range. Trouble was, she’d moved here at the wrong time of year. Cambridge had lots of properties for rent, but most were rented by students and visiting lecturers for a year at a time. If she’d arrived a few months earlier there would probably have been lots of properties to view. Arriving in November? Not a chance.
Kerry, one of the midwives in the unit, leaned over the desk towards her. ‘Bonnie, we’ve just had a call to say that Hayley Dickson is coming in, query spontaneous rupture of membranes. She’s twenty-seven, and is thirty-six weeks pregnant with twins. We’re expecting her in around an hour and I’ll need some assistance. Any chance you can go for your lunch now?’
Bonnie smiled and nodded. ‘My first twin delivery at Cambridge? Love to. Have you had lunch?’
Kerry nodded. ‘It’s only you that’s still to go. Better hurry before there’s nothing left in the canteen.’
Bonnie stood up. ‘No problem. I’ll be back in half an hour to help you get set up.’
She washed her hands and grabbed her bag. She was glad that the staff found her approachable and were happy to ask for assistance. It gave a bit of reassurance that they were accepting her as
temporary sister around here.
The canteen was quiet. She grabbed a tuna sandwich and walked over to a table to join one of the other midwives that she’d met. Jessica Black worked in the special care baby unit. Her blond straight hair hung in a ponytail but her pretty face was marred by a frown as she stared out of the window.
‘Mind if I join you?’
Jess started but gave a smile and waved at the empty seats across from her. ‘By all means. Try and cheer me up if you can.’
Bonnie pulled out a chair. ‘What’s wrong? Man trouble?’
Jess rolled her eyes. ‘As if. I wish. That would be easy to sort out.’ She picked at her lunch. ‘Family troubles. It’s my parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary in a few weeks. It’s been arranged for near Cambridge so I can’t make an excuse not to go and I’m looking forward to it like a hole in the head.’
Bonnie was puzzled. ‘Shouldn’t that be something to celebrate?’
Jess sighed. ‘It should. I love my parents. But it’s yet another family event where I’ll spend the whole time being compared to my sister. And will, yet again, be found lacking.’
‘I can’t believe that for a second. You’ve got a great job and career ahead of you. You’re a gorgeous girl. What on earth does your sister have that you don’t?’
Jess paused for a second and let out another big sigh. ‘She’s not just my sister. She’s my twin. Abbie is perfect. She always has been. The sports star, top marks at school, the coolest boyfriend—you name it, Abbie’s done it. I’ve spent most of my life living in her shadow. If Abbie preferred my Christmas presents to hers, she made such a scene she always got them. When I started midwifery training, she decided she wanted to do it too. Then, she decided she wanted the boyfriend I had.’ She gave her head a shake. ‘So, she got him. Along with the big white wedding and three perfect kids with another on the way.’ She held out her hands. ‘In fact, here is the only place where I’m known as anything other than “Abbie’s sister”.’