‘You’re not going to induce me?’
‘Not yet.’ Jake’s tone was both gentle and reassuring. ‘If we can hang on another week, it would be better for the baby. Better a week in your tummy than a week in an incubator.’
Lucy gave a brave smile and a nod. ‘Yes.’
He heard the catch in her voice and sat down on the edge of her bed. Her hands were still curled into fists and he took hold of them gently and uncurled them. ‘Relax, Lucy.’ His voice was sympathetic as he rubbed her hands between his and warmed them. ‘I know you’re worried but I’m not going to let you out of my sight until I’m satisfied that all is well.’ He waved a hand around the delivery suite, his gaze sardonic. ‘Enjoy the surroundings. Order room service.’ He turned to Miranda who had stood up while he’d been talking to Lucy and now had her back to him. ‘I want to do an ultrasound, please.’
Ruth stepped forward with a smile. ‘I’ll show you where we keep the machine, Miranda.’
Jake watched Miranda, wondering why she had her back to him. Then she slowly turned round and the reason became immediately clear. His eyes dropped to her waist and he inhaled sharply.
‘Stop looking so shocked,’ Ruth laughed, punching him on the arm in a teasing gesture. ‘Midwives are allowed to be pregnant too, you know. In fact, the mothers love it. Shows we’re capable of understanding what they’re going through. Miranda is six months now. More than capable of doing a good day’s work still.’
Miranda didn’t look at him and Jake’s mouth tightened.
She was pregnant.
How could she be pregnant? And how the hell had he not noticed?
He was an obstetrician, for goodness’ sake. He dealt with pregnant women on a daily basis. And he’d had a woman who was six months pregnant in his house and he hadn’t even noticed.
Well done, Jake. Good going. He closed his eyes briefly. The signs had all been there. The fact that she ate so much, her extreme tiredness, the fact that she burst into tears for apparently no reason…
But what had she been doing on her own in the mountains on Christmas Day? And what had she been doing kissing him when she was six months pregnant with another man’s baby?
Angry with himself and even more angry with her, his jaw clenched and his eyes hardened.
He’d thought she was interesting and beautiful and appealing. It turned out she was duplicitous and lacking in morals. No wonder she’d made cynical comments about families. Clearly she had no sense of responsibility.
‘Never known you speechless before, Jake,’ Ruth teased, walking Miranda to the door. ‘We’ll just go and get the ultrasound machine while you pull yourself together.’
‘Do you think the baby will be all right, Mr Blackwell?’
Aware that Lucy was looking at him expectantly, Jake pulled himself together and stood up.
‘We’re going to check everything, Lucy,’ he assured her, managing a smile despite the turmoil inside him, ‘and we’re going to keep a very close eye on you. Leave the worrying to me if you can. It’s what they pay me for. But I’m afraid you’re spending the rest of Boxing Day in here with us.’
‘I’d be too scared to go home anyway,’ she confessed ruefully.
Miranda came back with the ultrasound machine and Jake resisted the temptation to drag her back into the corridor and demand an immediate explanation for her behaviour. That was going to have to wait until they were alone. But they would be alone, he promised himself, and they were going to talk, whether she liked it or not.
Where had the father of her baby been when she’d been spending Christmas Day at his house? Had they had a row? The guy must have been worrying himself sick. He knew he would have done if his wife or girlfriend had vanished without any warning.
His eyes slid to her neat little bump and he asked himself again how he could possibly not have noticed that she was six months pregnant. She was so slight.
But when he’d first seen her she’d been wearing a bulky waterproof jacket and then she’d changed straight into his jumper, which had been at least six sizes too large. Large enough to conceal a pregnancy.
Why? Why would she want to hide something like that?
Forcing himself to concentrate on his patient, Jake slid the transducer across Lucy’s rounded abdomen and studied the picture on the screen. Later, he vowed, he’d get her on her own and find out what was going on.
‘OK, everything looks fine with the baby, Lucy, but I want you to stay in for now, if that’s all right with you.’
‘Whatever you think.’
‘I think that if your waters have broken, I want you where I can see you for the rest of the day,’ Jake said calmly, reaching for some paper towels and wiping the jelly from her abdomen.
‘That’s fine by me. I don’t want you to go off duty.’ Lucy gave a worried smile. ‘I want you to sleep here in the room with me tonight!’