Just Rewards. Barbara Taylor Bradford

a woman he genuinely liked, and asked, ‘What happened to Evan, Marietta? When Linnet rang me at the paper she said you were in Evan’s office when she had the accident.’

      ‘I wasn’t in the room, Gideon,’ Marietta answered swiftly, shaking her head. ‘Evan was already lying on the floor when I arrived. I’d no idea what had happened. I ran to her, of course, and when I was kneeling next to her she said she’d had a fluke accident with the chair. She then asked me to call the doctor. Linnet, who was with me, did so, and then we brought her here to the hospital.’

      Gideon was frowning when he asked, ‘Did she fall out of the chair? Is that what you mean?’

      ‘Not exactly. Evan told me she had reached behind her with one hand, pulled the chair towards her and then sat down. Somehow the chair rolled away, and down she went on the floor. But she’s fine, Gideon, just as Linnet said. The fall scared her more than anything else, I think.’

      ‘I understand. The nurse at reception told me the doctor’s still with her. Why is that? Do you know, Marietta? Linnet?’ He looked from one woman to the other questioningly.

      ‘The doctor gave her a thorough examination when we arrived and came to tell us she was not injured, that all was well. Then he went back to her room.’ Marietta shrugged lightly, shaking her head. ‘I’m not sure why, he didn’t say.’

      ‘I hope he won’t be too long,’ Gideon responded, and then glanced across at the silent, blonde young woman who was sitting in a corner. She was dressed entirely in red, which he thought somewhat flamboyant. He wondered who she was. He had never seen her before.

      Marietta, noticing his sudden curious glance across the room, exclaimed, ‘How rude I’m being, I must introduce you to my youngest daughter Angharad. Evan’s sister.’

      On hearing her name Angharad immediately jumped to her feet. Thrusting out her hand she said, ‘Hello, Gideon. It sure is great to meet you.’

      Gideon took an instant dislike to her, discovered he had no desire to go anywhere near her. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to take hold of the outstretched hand. It was unnaturally cold, icy, in fact, and he dropped it after giving it a swift shake.

      ‘How do you do?’ he said in a most formal voice, his manner reserved and coolly indifferent.

      She stared at him, looking him up and down in a brazen way.

      He stared back, rapidly taking everything in. There was no question that she was pretty, with finely-wrought features, perfect complexion, and large, dark brown eyes. And yet Gideon found her curiously repellent; he took a step backward. His guard went up and his gut instinct kicked in, warning him to be wary of this one. Danger signals went off in his head. She’s trouble, he thought.

      It struck him that the platinum blonde hair did nothing to lighten the darkness he sensed lived deep within her, and suddenly, in a flash of cold clarity, he saw her in his mind’s eye as she really was … a small, dark, furtive creature, hiding in corners, peering through keyholes, spying on people, eavesdropping, forever seeking her own advantage. Momentarily, he was startled by these curious thoughts, and yet he was convinced he was accurate in his assessment of Angharad Hughes. He sensed that wickedness dwelt there.

      Moving away from her, anxious to put distance between them, he strode across the floor, then turned, glanced at Linnet, his hand on the door knob. ‘I’m going to talk to the nurse at reception. I must see Evan, and right away.’ As he jerked open the door, he found himself staring into the face of Charles Addney, Evan’s obstetrician.

      The doctor, who had been about to enter the room, exclaimed, ‘There you are, Mr Harte! I was just coming to fetch you. Let’s go and see Miss Hughes, shall we?’

      Gideon nodded and stepped out into the corridor, closing the door behind him. ‘I understand she’s all right. She is, isn’t she?’

      ‘Absolutely. Except for a bruised coccyx. That’s the tail bone at the end of the spine. She went down rather hard, I’m afraid. But there’s no real damage, and the babies are perfectly fine.’

      Gideon heaved a sigh of relief, then asked, ‘So I can take her home, can’t I?’

      The doctor paused in the corridor and turned to face Gideon. ‘There’s no reason why you can’t, but she must have bed rest for the remainder of the day. I’ve done a thorough examination, and no harm’s been done, but I do think she should start her maternity leave from her job. Immediately.’

      ‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Gideon responded as they began to walk along the corridor again. ‘I’ve been trying to persuade her to do that for several weeks now. We’re going up to Yorkshire on Saturday, but perhaps we ought to leave tomorrow. Her problem is that she’s a workaholic …’ His voice trailed off.

      ‘I know that, and I’ve just had a long talk with her about her work. I told her to put it on hold for the moment. I think you’ll find she’s now most amenable about leaving for Yorkshire tomorrow.’ Dr Addney chuckled. ‘Although she did say she was going to take her laptop with her.’

      ‘Naturally,’ Gideon exclaimed, and laughed with him.

      ‘Well, here we are,’ the doctor said, pausing at one of the doors. ‘Let’s go in, shall we?’ A moment later he was ushering Gideon into Evan’s room.

      Gideon hurried over to the bed, relieved that Evan looked exactly the same as she had this morning, except that she was somewhat paler than usual. She was sitting up in the bed, surrounded by pillows, quite obviously none the worse for the fall.

      ‘Gideon!’ she exclaimed the moment she saw him. ‘Don’t look so upset! I’m all right.’ She beamed at him, her smile warm and welcoming, her large expressive grey-blue eyes full of love for him.

      ‘I’ve been so worried,’ he whispered as he bent over her, put his arms around her, kissed her cheek, then stroked her dark head. ‘Actually, I was quite beside myself. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you and the twins, Evan. I love you all so much.’

      ‘Nothing’s going to happen to us, Gideon darling. The three of us are perfect. Truly. And I love you, too. So will the boys, once they … pop out.’

      Watching them, Charles Addney felt a flush of pleasure. How wonderful it was to see two people as much in love as they were. It did his heart good to know that they had each other, had managed to find each other in this dangerous and uncertain world in which they all lived these days. He closed the door quietly behind him as he slipped out and left them alone with their happiness in each other.

      ‘How on earth did you manage to fall?’ Gideon asked. He was sitting on the side of the bed, holding Evan’s hand, gazing into that face he had come to know so intimately in the past year and now loved so much.

      She shook her head, gave a small laugh. ‘I don’t know, darling. Just clumsy, I suppose.’

      ‘Clumsy? You? Never. You’re the most graceful person I know, have ever known, actually. Your mother said it was a fluke accident, so come on, tell me what exactly happened.’

      Evan pursed her lips together, her eyes narrowing slightly as she wondered how best to explain. She wasn’t quite sure herself how she had managed to fall in the way she had. Clearing her throat, she explained, ‘I was standing in front of my desk, talking to Angharad … Oh, have you met her? She came to the hospital with Mom and Linnet.’ Her dark brows lifted questioningly.

      ‘Yes, I’ve met her,’ he murmured, staring hard at her. ‘Are you saying she was in the room with you?’

      ‘Oh yes, she’d come over to the store to see me. It was very unexpected, I didn’t even know she was in England.’

      Gideon felt his hackles rising, and he sat up a little straighter on the bed, looking intently at Evan. ‘So, she was in the room. You were talking to her from behind the desk. And then what?’

      ‘I reached behind me, pulled the chair