A Promise...to a Proposal?. Kate Hardy

she like about him?

      He shook himself. This really wasn’t appropriate. Ruby Fisher was his friend. His best friend’s girl—well, widow, but that was a technicality. Time to back off. ‘I try to be practical,’ he said lightly.

      ‘Ellis, I, um, wanted to run something by you,’ she said.

      She looked worried, and Ellis frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’

      ‘Not wrong, exactly…but today’s a year and a day since Tom died.’

      Yeah. He knew. He’d spent the anniversary with her on a Suffolk beach yesterday.

      ‘And a year and a day is supposed to be the traditional length of time for mourning.’

      He went cold. Where was she going with this?

      ‘I’m never going to forget Tom,’ Ruby said, ‘but he always told me that he didn’t want me to spend the rest of my life mourning for him, and he wanted me to move on.’

      Wait—what?

      Was she saying that she wanted to date again? That she’d met someone? Who? Where? How? Ellis couldn’t quite process this.

      ‘And Tina’s going to set me up on a blind date with her new colleague in Neurology,’ she finished.

      Ruby was really going on a date? With someone else? But—but…

      ‘Ellis? You haven’t said anything.’ She looked even more worried. ‘Do you think it’s too soon?’

      ‘I…’ He blew out a breath. This was a minefield. If he said the wrong thing now, he’d hurt her—and that was the last thing he wanted to do. ‘I think,’ he said slowly, ‘that you’re the best one to judge that. Only you know when you’re ready.’

      But the idea of seeing her with another man made him feel sick.

      It was different when she’d been married to Tom. Ellis would never, ever have done anything to destroy his best friend’s marriage. But now Ruby was widowed. And Ellis hated the idea of her going out with someone else.

      If she really was ready to date again, maybe he could ask her out himself.

      But, if she said no, then how could they go back to their old easy friendship, once they knew they didn’t feel the same about each other?

      He didn’t want to risk losing her.

      So he was just going to have to suck it up and deal with it. Even if it felt as if someone had just filleted him.

      Typical Ellis. Sensible and measured. I think you’re the best one to judge that.

      Which told Ruby without a doubt that he wasn’t interested in her. Otherwise that would’ve been his cue to suggest that she dated him, wouldn’t it?

      So it was just as well she hadn’t suggested anything to him. It would’ve put an irreparable strain on their friendship, and she valued him too much to risk losing him.

      ‘I guess you’re right,’ she said. ‘I just didn’t want people to think that I was the Merry Widow, not caring about Tom. And I feel guilty about wanting to date again.’ She felt even more guilty about the fact that she was attracted to Ellis, particularly as he’d just made it clear it wasn’t reciprocated.

      ‘You’re always going to love him,’ Ellis said. ‘But at the end of the day life still goes on. And Tom didn’t want you to be lonely. He wanted you to be happy. What anyone else thinks is simply their opinion. They have the right to think whatever they like, but they don’t have the right to shove it down your throat. You do what makes you happy, Rubes.’

      Yeah.

      Though sometimes she wondered if she’d ever find that kind of happiness again. If she was being greedy and expecting too much. Some people didn’t even have that kind of happiness once in their lives, so what right did she have to expect to find it twice?

      Ellis reached over to squeeze her hand, and her skin tingled all the way up her arm.

      ‘Be happy, Ruby. You’ve got my full support. And if anyone says otherwise, send them to see me and I’ll put them straight.’

      He sounded as if he were her big brother.

      And she’d just have to learn to see him as a kind of sibling instead of the man she wanted to start dating.

      After lunch, Ruby called the Harrises in from the waiting area.

      ‘I was wondering—would you mind if Coral, my trainee midwife, came in and observed the procedure?’ she asked.

      ‘No, that’s fine, love,’ Mrs Harris said. ‘I’ll do whatever you want if you can get this baby to do that forward roll.’

      ‘I’ll do my best. Thank you.’ She smiled at Mrs Harris. ‘I’m going to check how the baby’s doing, first, on the ultrasound. If I’m happy with that, I’ll give you some drugs to relax your womb—it won’t hurt you or the baby, but it’ll mean your baby has a bit more room to do that forward roll.’

      ‘All right. Is that nice doctor going to be here?’

      ‘Dr Webster? Yes. He’s just making a quick phone call, and then he’ll be right here. And I’ll go and collect Coral so I can introduce her to you.’ Ruby smiled at her. ‘Lie back and bare your tummy for me. Though I’m afraid my gel’s a little bit colder than it is in the ultrasound suite.’

      ‘I don’t mind,’ Mrs Harris said, smiling back.

      Once Ruby had established that everything was fine, she moved the screen so that the Harrises could see the baby. ‘There he is—looking very comfy right now.’

      ‘Hopefully he won’t be stubborn and he’ll move,’ Mrs Harris said wryly.

      ‘I’ll give you those drugs now.’ Ruby administered them swiftly. ‘Make yourself comfortable, and I’ll be right back,’ she said.

      When she returned, Ellis was already there. Ruby introduced the Harrises to Coral.

      ‘So what we’re going to do today is an external cephalic version—ECV, for short. The idea is to move the baby’s bottom away from his mum’s pelvis,’ Ruby explained. ‘I’ve already given Mrs Harris some drugs to help relax her womb, and we’ve seen the baby on the ultrasound. What I’m going to do now, Mrs Harris, is to push firmly on your abdomen to encourage the baby to do a kind of forward roll. It’ll take maybe a minute to a minute and a half. As I said earlier, it might be a little bit uncomfortable but it shouldn’t hurt. If it does hurt, I need you to tell me straight away and I’ll stop.’

      ‘All right.’ Mrs Harris looked nervous, and Ruby noticed that she was holding her husband’s hand really tightly.

      ‘You might even see him do a forward roll in your tummy, so keep an eye on my hands,’ she said with a smile.

      Coral came quietly to the side so she could see and, gently but firmly, Ruby performed the manoeuvre, trying to ease the baby into a transverse position before he moved into the head-down position.

      But the baby stubbornly refused to move.

      After two minutes, Ruby stopped.

      ‘Is something wrong?’ Mr Harris asked anxiously.

      ‘No—just that this baby really doesn’t want to move today,’ Ruby said.

      ‘The longer the procedure takes, the less likely it is to work,’ Ellis explained. ‘But try not to worry. We can always try again tomorrow.’

      They checked the baby again with the ultrasound. ‘He’s doing just fine,’ Ellis reassured the Harrises. He glanced at the notes. ‘Actually, his heart rate is pretty much as it was before Ruby started the ECV, so I’m happy for you to go home now, or you can stay in the waiting room until you’re ready.’

      ‘If we try again