Adopted: One Baby. NATASHA OAKLEY

      ‘Tea.’ Ellie came back into her vision and handed her a cup and saucer. ‘I’ve also asked for some toast and butter.’

      Lorna smiled, though she wasn’t sure how she was going to manage to eat anything. Everything had tasted like cardboard since she’d heard the news.

      Strange how funny little things she’d thought she’d forgotten long ago were coming back to her. Like the genuinely good times she’d shared with her sister when they were very young…

      ‘It should help, even if you don’t feel like eating it,’ Ellie said, reading her mind as she moved to sit behind her desk. ‘Do you remember my brother, Raphael? Rafe, this is Lorna Drummond.’

      ‘We introduced ourselves out on the landing,’ Rafe said, moving forward suddenly as her cup tipped. ‘Careful.’

      She felt so woozy, but the tea was warm. Sweet. She looked up and caught the edge of Rafe’s smile. He must think she was a complete no-hoper. But then he’d probably always thought that about her. Assuming he’d ever thought about her at all. Which he almost certainly hadn’t.

      The boffin and the sex god. There was a joke in there somewhere. Oh hell.

      Lorna took another sip of tea and concentrated on bringing it down in the centre of her saucer. It was easier to do that than risk seeing what Ellie’s elder brother thought of her now.

      There was a brief knock at the door, followed by, ‘Sister, can you take a look at Baby Benjamin? His BP is a little low…’

      ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse me for a minute,’ Ellie said standing. ‘Just sit quietly and drink your tea. This’ll probably not take more than a moment.’

      The door shut behind her and there was silence.

      Rafe shrugged his way out of his jacket and threw it across the back of the chair. ‘It’s hot in here.’ Then, ‘Have you only just flown in?’

      ‘Yes.’ She bristled against the implied criticism. No doubt he’d have been able to clear his desk in minutes, but she had responsibilities. Things she’d needed to do first. ‘Almost.’ She’d almost just flown in. She took another sip of tea, letting the warmth slide down her throat, and tried again. ‘I’ve already been to the police station.’

      Lorna rubbed her fingers against her left temple. She felt so tired. So buffeted.

      ‘Have they given you all the details? About the accident?’

      ‘Well, they told me they found her car in a ditch.’ Precious few details, it seemed to her. They’d been more interested in asking questions.

      Questions she hadn’t been able to answer. She’d absolutely no idea whether her sister was usually considered a safe driver. She didn’t know why Vikki might have been in Sittiford. And she couldn’t even begin to speculate on whether her accident might possibly not have been an accident at all.

      Guilt ripped through her, and the pain in her left temple intensified. Sisters should know things about one another. She should have tried harder to find some common ground between them. Fought harder to stay in real contact.

      Rafe moved to perch on the table in front of her. ‘If it’s any consolation, I doubt she’d have known much about it. Ellie said she never regained consciousness.’

      ‘The police said that too.’ Lorna sipped her tea, struggling to swallow past the hard lump in her throat. ‘They hoped I’d know who they should contact about the baby.’

      ‘Don’t you?’

      She shook her head. ‘I didn’t even know she was pregnant.’

      Rafe didn’t react. ‘So what happens now?’ he asked quietly.

      The million-dollar question. What would happen now? ‘They seem to want me to take responsibility for the baby. Since I’m the only relative to have come forward so far.’

      ‘You want that too, don’t you?’

      Lorna’s hand shook as she picked up the teacup. ‘No. No, I don’t.’ Deep inside her she felt a scream building. A mixture of panic, anger and pure fear. ‘Why the… hell does everyone think I would?’

      CHAPTER TWO

      RAFE’S eyes narrowed, but other than that he schooled his features not to react. It was, after all, none of his business.

      Even so, he couldn’t help but have an opinion on a statement like that. It was repulsive.

      And it was going to shock anyone who heard it. The general assumption was that she’d want to take on the care of her sister’s baby. Even Ellie thought it… and she knew Lorna better than most.

      But clearly not well enough.

      The uptight blonde seemed to have no intention of doing anything that might conflict with the way she’d arranged her life. He might have some sympathy for her not wanting the responsibility of a child—he’d avoided it himself—but he couldn’t like it.

      Selfishness was unattractive. Always. And with a motherless baby girl needing someone to love and nurture her he thought it inexcusable. Family was everything. And anything else was always going to be a poor alternative.

      ‘I don’t know anything about babies.’ She brushed a hand across her face, clearly defensive. ‘I don’t like them. And they don’t like me.’

      Rafe said nothing. What was there to say? He didn’t know a great deal about babies himself. Time bombs waiting to explode, he thought them. But…

      This was an exceptional situation. Under these circumstances, surely one would simply get on with it?

      He looked at her curiously. Lorna had to be colder than ice to seriously contemplate putting her sister’s daughter in foster care. Because that was what her refusal would mean. Did she realise that?

      ‘I’m sorry,’ Ellie said, returning and shutting the door. ‘Everything’s fine with Baby Benjamin. How are you feeling?’

      ‘B-better. Much better.’

      Lorna didn’t look in Rafe’s direction again. No doubt ashamed. And with reason.

      ‘Good.’

      Rafe took in his sister’s warm smile, and the real concern in her face as she looked at her friend—he didn’t understand it. Normally she valued kindness over and above any other virtue. If Lorna were that cold, why did Ellie like her so much? And she did. Lorna Drummond was one of the few people Ellie had conscientiously kept in touch with over the years.

      He looked at the nervous twitch of Lorna’s hands, the tight hold of her mouth. She was tighter than a bowstring. Beyond grief, he thought. Frightened.

      ‘Why don’t you slip your cardigan off?’ Ellie suggested, sitting down and pulling a pile of papers towards her. ‘It’s kept very warm in here for the babies. Then… we’d better get the business side of this out of the way, so I can introduce you to your niece.’

      Rafe stood up and held out his hand for Lorna’s empty teacup. She passed it over with the merest flick of a look in his direction.

      ‘I’ll wait downstairs in the Bistro for you,’ he said, with a glance at his sister as he set the cup and saucer on the table. ‘There’s no hurry.’

      He turned in time to see Lorna pull at the oyster-pink ribbon holding her cardigan together. Like her skirt, the cardigan shrieked money. Whatever else Ms Drummond was, she wasn’t financially challenged. No reason there for her to refuse to care for her sister’s baby.

      Ellie was going to be disappointed. And he hated to see her rose-tinted view of humanity challenged.

      ‘Thanks, Rafe.’ His sister smiled, first at him and then at the woman opposite. ‘My car is at