His Longed-For Baby. Josie Metcalfe

of cardboard boxes containing all her worldly goods across to the mini-kitchen in the corner of the room to fill the kettle.

      Behind her there was a sharp rustling, tearing sound and a muttered curse.

      ‘Damn. I’m sorry, Maggie. I tripped over this bag and—Oh, damn!’ he ended on a stricken note.

      She turned to find him holding the plastic bag into which she’d just struggled to stuff her once-in-a-lifetime wedding dress—the wedding dress that was now spilling out of a gaping hole in the side like the silky entrails of some alien life form.

      She closed her eyes against the sight and turned back to her task, trying for a note of unconcern as she spoke over her shoulder. ‘Throw it in the corner by the door, will you? There are several other bags of rubbish to go out to the bins before I leave in the morning.’

      ‘Oh, Maggie, you shouldn’t have done this to your wedding dress…’ Jake began, but she barely registered more than the dismay in his voice as a sudden thought struck her.

      ‘My God, Jake, I’m supposed to be moving out tomorrow!’ she exclaimed in horror as she whirled to face him. ‘I’m going to have nowhere to live!’

      ‘If you phone the letting agents first thing in the morning, would they let you stay on? Could you renew your contract?’

      ‘Impossible,’ she said glumly. ‘You know one-bedroom flats are at a premium this close to the hospital, especially affordable ones. They had a list as long as your arm of people waiting to snap it up and the contracts have all been signed.’

      ‘Too true. You’d probably be murdered by the next tenant if you refused to move out.’

      ‘Oh, thanks! That really makes me feel better,’ she grumbled as she finished dumping half a spoonful of sugar in his black coffee and a splash of milk in her own.

      She turned to find that, in the absence of anywhere else to sit, he’d perched on the arm of her only comfortable chair.

      She groaned and handed him the steaming mug before sinking to the floor to lean back against a pile of cartons. ‘Everything’s such a mess, Jake. Not just about the flat but my whole life.’

      She heard him sigh heavily but didn’t dare look up at him. It was taking all her concentration to control the urge to weep all over his shoulder, something she’d never done in all the time she’d known him—even after a particularly traumatic day.

      Unfortunately, even that possibility was gone now. She’d lost her heart to him so quickly, so deeply, that it had taken her a long time to force herself to think of him as nothing more than her department head who also happened to be her friend. After today’s revelations, she wasn’t sure whether he was friend or foe, but his was still the only ear she wanted when she needed to offload her troubles.

      But first he had some questions to answer.

      ‘So, Jake, tell me…did you have any intention of warning me that Liam was lying and cheating his way into marriage?’ she demanded. ‘I bet the two of you were having a good laugh at the stupid, gullible twit who actually believed someone would want to marry her and have a family with her.’

      ‘No, Maggie!’ he exclaimed sharply, clearly startled by the idea. ‘God, no! It wasn’t like that.’

      ‘So what was it like?’ She knew her chin was tilted up at what he’d christened her don’t-mess-with-me angle, but that was what she felt like at this moment. Well, it was either that or sob her heart out, and she did still have some pride. ‘Don’t forget, Jake, I was privy to a very revealing conversation behind that scaled-down version of Kew Gardens. I know that he’d told you about his vasectomy and that you chose not to tell me. Why? Is it all part of the male solidarity thing?’

      ‘Well, yes, I knew about the vasectomy,’ he admitted roughly. The way he was staring at his white-knuckled grip on the handle of the mug showed that he was clearly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, but she hardened her heart.

      Then his eyes swung up to meet hers and the searing honesty in his hazel gaze was unmistakable. ‘But, Maggie, I promise that I only found out about it a few days ago, totally by accident. Tonight, when I realised that he hadn’t told you…You did hear that part, didn’t you?’ he demanded, only continuing when she nodded, relieved to find that he was still the forthright man she knew.

      ‘I was so angry with him,’ he growled fiercely. ‘I’ve known right from when you first came to work in A and E that your dream was to have a big family, and I was asking Liam how he’d persuaded you to give up all your plans. I was so surprised that you’d changed your mind—that you’d decided you would be happy to look after just his two.’

      Now that she thought about it, the conversation she’d overheard had sounded something like that.

      Maggie sighed as some of the knots inside her loosened a fraction. It was bad enough to find out that the man she was going to marry had deceived her from the beginning. The thought that someone she’d counted as a friend had been part of the deception had been too much heartbreak for one day.

      ‘And anyway,’ he continued gruffly, ‘the last thing I’d call you was stupid and gullible. You’re the most warm-hearted, generous person I know.’

      ‘With the most abysmal instincts about men,’ she added wryly, even as she basked in the unexpected testimonial. ‘How could I have been so wrong about Liam?’

      ‘Perhaps because he was careful to tell you only what you wanted to hear?’ Jake suggested quietly. ‘Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it or you’ll make me feel even more guilty—after all, I knew how much you were looking forward to starting a family and I was the one who introduced you. You must know I’d never have done it if I’d known he’d had the op.’

      It didn’t take more than a glance at him to know that he meant that. And she did know that he wouldn’t have done such a thing. He was far too honest to play stupid games like that.

      ‘I suppose that next you’ll be telling me that I should be grateful to you for showing me his true colours before we tied the knot,’ she retorted, more relieved than she could say that she hadn’t lost her friend after all.

      She allowed herself to relax a little, unaccountably pleased that the two of them hadn’t lost the rapport they’d developed over the last two years. She had several female friends with whom she enjoyed sharing girl talk, but Jake was different. With him she felt so at ease that she didn’t have to think twice before she spoke her mind, knowing he would understand what she meant. Some of their colleagues in the department were all too ready to take offence at the slightest thing or, worse, to spread gossip…

      ‘Oh, Lord!’ she groaned, dropping her head down to her knees as a less than happy thought crossed her mind. ‘I’m going to have to get another job.’

      ‘What? Why on earth would you want to do that?’ he demanded. ‘You and Liam don’t even work in the same department. He only comes down if we need him to consult over a patient.’

      ‘That may be so, but you know as well as I do that A and E is staffed by some of the biggest gossips in the hospital, and most of the ones off duty were invited to the club for a drink tonight. You wait. By the morning, the hospital will be absolutely buzzing with the most amazing rumours about why the wedding’s been called off.’

      It was Jake’s turn to groan. ‘There’ll be everything from abduction by aliens to…God knows what! Hey, perhaps I could get people to bet on it. Perhaps we could make a bit of money out of this!’

      He let out a startled ‘Ouch!’ when she aimed a blow at his patella with the side of her hand and nearly toppled him from his precarious perch on the arm of the chair.

      ‘Don’t you dare stir everything up!’ she warned. ‘The less anyone says, the sooner it’ll all be forgotten.’

      Forgotten by everyone but her, she added silently, then remembered the two innocent little faces