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- Herausgeber: Allison & Busby
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Serie: Peppercorn
- Sprache: Englisch
Christmas is fast approaching but for some people living at the top end of Peppercorn Street, the mood is far from festive. Luke Morgan is not getting on with his teenage daughter, who has recently returned to live with him. In a nearby village Claire Small is trying to avoid her sadistic ex who is stalking her. When Claire and Luke are thrown together by a car accident caused by her dog, it's obvious that she is in danger and he impulsively invites Claire, her delightful small daughter and their lovable dog to take refuge in his home. Can the presence of strangers help to rebuild the relationship between Luke and his own daughter? And will this Christmas give them the best present of all: a new family - or will Claire's ex again cause trouble?
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Seitenzahl: 366
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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Christmas in Peppercorn Street
ANNA JACOBS
Contents
Chapter One
December
Heavy rain blurred the windscreen in spite of the wipers, as Luke Morgan drove slowly along the twisting country road. It wasn’t yet four o’clock but it was already almost dark. Well, it was the first of December, heading towards the shortest day. He couldn’t help yawning. He’d got up at five o’clock this morning to drive to Birmingham and give a talk at a conference and had just driven back to Wiltshire, so he was feeling exhausted.
He’d have stayed overnight at a friend’s house, only nowadays he had to get back to his daughter. OK, Dee was sixteen, but he didn’t want to leave her alone in the house.
His ex had been avoiding him ever since she’d brought Dee to live with him a few weeks ago, turning up out of the blue with a tear-stained daughter and all her possessions. The only explanation Angie had given was she could no longer cope with Dee, who kept upsetting her new partner.
Angie had taken off for Spain with that partner the day afterwards and wasn’t responding to his emails or attempts to phone her. He was worried sick about poor Dee, who was clearly upset but was refusing to talk about it.
He was glad to be off the motorway and driving along these quieter country roads. Seeing the sign for the village of Bartons End, he slowed down, looking forward to getting home and—
Suddenly a large golden dog bounded onto the road in front of him and as he slammed on the brakes, a woman chasing after it ran right into the path of his car.
He pumped the brakes hard and everything seemed to happen in slow motion as he skidded towards her. ‘Jump back!’ he yelled, as if she could hear him.
By the time the woman became aware of the car, it was too late. She opened her mouth in an involuntary scream and turned just as the front wing of the car sent her flying sideways like a human skittle. The dog vanished through a hedge and the car squealed to a halt a few yards past where she was lying.
Sick to his stomach, Luke wrenched open the car door and rushed back to where she was sprawled like a broken doll by the side of the road. She wasn’t moving.
Oh, hell, she wasn’t moving!
He knelt beside her, half dazzled by the headlights of another car which had also stopped. Willing her not to be dead, he reached out and groaned in relief as his fingers found a pulse beating in her throat. For a moment, he couldn’t think, couldn’t move, only kneel there with relief shuddering through him that she was alive.
Then he realised there was blood on her forehead and she needed medical help, so jerked to his feet and turned towards his car.
A man immediately blocked his path. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’
‘My phone’s in the car. I need to call an ambulance.’
The man gestured to the other vehicle. ‘My wife’s already phoning for one.’
‘Thank goodness! Do you know anything about first aid?’
‘Sorry, nothing at all.’ The man walked back to his car.
Only then did Luke realise that rain was beating down on them all. Dragging off his leather jacket, he flung it over the woman and knelt again. If he remembered correctly, you weren’t supposed to move an unconscious person who’d been injured.
‘Use this.’ The man was back, thrusting an open umbrella into Luke’s hands.
He tried to hold it over her face. Wind howled around them and the umbrella nearly turned inside out, so his companion muttered something and took over holding it, protecting it from the wind with his body.
How long would the ambulance take to get here?
When the woman stirred and moaned, Luke bent closer. ‘Lie still! You’ve been in an accident.’
She blinked and tried to focus her eyes. He leant closer to hear what she was saying.
Claire squinted up at the man bending over her, his head haloed by light so that she couldn’t see his face properly. Everything seemed slightly out of focus and she was cold, so cold it hurt. Or was the pain from something else? Where was she? What had happened to her?
She closed her eyes for a moment then tried to move, letting out an involuntary ‘Ahh!’ as pain jabbed her shoulder.
‘Lie still! You’ve been in an accident.’
‘How?’ Why couldn’t she remember?
That same deep voice said, ‘You were chasing a dog and ran into the road right in front of my car. I couldn’t avoid hitting you. We’ve sent for an ambulance. What’s your name?’
‘Claire P— Small.’ She corrected herself in time.
She realised she was lying on the ground beside the road and rain was pattering down on an umbrella someone was holding over her. She shivered, still unable to bring the scene into proper focus. To have an accident now, of all times! Fear trickled through her, even sharper than the physical pain.
Her shoulder hurt a lot if she made the slightest attempt to move it. Was something broken? Oh, please, no! She’d be so helpless.
‘The ambulance will be here soon. Lie still, Mrs Small.’
How could she lie there? Gabby would be waiting for her. Once again she tried to move but the pain was too bad and she had trouble co-ordinating her body. ‘My daughter – I need to pick her up from school. And my dog … can you see her?’
‘It was a dog which caused this accident and it ran away afterwards. A golden Labrador. If it was yours, you should keep it under better control.’
She couldn’t hold back the tears, felt them spill from her closed eyes and make lukewarm trails on her chilled cheeks.
A warm hand clasped hers. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you. I’ve never had an accident before and I’m a bit shaken up myself.’
She was glad the stranger had continued to hold her cold hand between his. She clung to that warmth, shivering uncontrollably. ‘I try to – keep Helly in – but the landlord won’t – mend the fence.’ She looked up at his face, so close to hers under the umbrella. ‘I’m sorry! Is your car badly damaged?’
‘Who cares? It’s you I’m worried about, not my car.’
Without thinking she moved her arm and pain jabbed through her again, so sharply that a cry escaped her control.
For a moment her companion’s face came into better focus. Good-looking in a rugged way with dark, rain-slicked hair. But then the image blurred again and she gave in to a sudden need to close her eyes.
She was desperately afraid she’d be incapacitated, unable to look after Gabby. Then how would they keep safe?
The stranger’s hands were still there, large and warm around hers. Comforting. She couldn’t bear to let go of them as she made an effort to speak.
‘My daughter. Gabby. She’ll be waiting at the primary school. She’s only eight. Have to pick her up. And get the dog back.’
Luke stared down at the woman’s hands, slender and shapely but as damp and cold as the rest of her. She looked vulnerable and was clearly in pain, yet her concern had been for her child, not herself. And for her dog.
It suddenly occurred to him that there was something he could do to make up for knocking her down.
‘Look, I’ll pick your daughter up from school myself just as soon as the ambulance comes and we’ll find the dog. Tell me her name and where to find her, and I’ll bring her to you at the hospital.’
‘She’s called Gabby P—’ The woman groaned in her throat, then said, ‘Small. Gabby Small.’
That was the second time she’d started to say P and corrected it to Small. She must have changed her name recently – divorced, perhaps? ‘Bartons End Primary?’
‘Yes. It’s not far from here.’ Her voice was a mere thread. ‘And the dog. Could you catch Helly and tie her up. Please! I don’t want them putting her in the pound. She’s a good watchdog and Gabby would be lost without her.’
‘I’ll see to everything. I know the school. We used to live nearby and my daughter went there when she was little.’
‘Thank you.’ With a soft sigh, she closed her eyes.
He wasn’t sure whether she’d slipped into unconsciousness again or was just resting. Either way, he didn’t want to disturb her, so stayed where he was, not trying to talk.
But the other man said, ‘You can’t pick up a strange child from school. They won’t let you.’
‘Someone has to. And she agreed to it.’
‘She isn’t thinking straight, probably concussed.’
A car drove past, slowed down and stopped. The window went down and a voice called, ‘Need any help?’
‘No, thanks. We’re just waiting for the ambulance to arrive.’
‘Good luck, then.’
It drove on and silence reigned again. The man from the other car was no talker, that was sure, but at least he was still holding the umbrella over them. His wife hadn’t even set foot out of their vehicle.
Luke stared along the road. ‘Where’s that ambulance?’
‘They told my wife it’d take fifteen minutes. That’s about eight more minutes.’
It was the longest eight minutes of Luke’s life. What if Claire was bleeding internally? What if she never recovered consciousness again?
He stayed where he was, crouching at the roadside, still holding her hands to try to share some of his warmth. The rain had eased off a little, thank goodness.
His thoughts kept wandering all over the place, but he kept his eyes on the woman. With that long hair she looked like one of the water fairies in the books he’d read to his daughter when she was little. No doubt the books would now have been thrown away by his ex, together with everything else from their life together. That’d be a pity. He’d enjoyed reading them because the illustrations were so beautiful.
What stupid things came into your mind after an accident!
His daughter had been a hell of a lot easier to deal with when she was little, pretty and feminine in those days. Now, Dee wore nothing but black, had her nose and one eyebrow pierced and seemed to hate the whole world, him included. Their latest row had been about her desire for a tattoo.
What the hell was he going to do about her? His ex had washed her hands of Dee, saying the girl was impossible and since she took after her father, he could bloody well look after her from now on.
As if you could wash your hands of your own child, whatever she did!
He groaned in relief as he heard the faint wailing of a siren in the distance. It grew rapidly louder and an ambulance appeared, stopping beside them. Its blue light was still flashing, but the noise stopped, thank goodness.
A paramedic jumped out and came to kneel beside him, feeling for the woman’s pulse as he asked, ‘What happened?’
‘She was chasing a dog and ran out in front of my car. I couldn’t stop in time and she was flung sideways.’
‘Right. Thank you, sir. If you’ll just move back a little.’
The other driver thrust the umbrella at him. ‘You can hold this now. I’m frozen.’ He walked back to his car, shoulders hunched.
‘Sir, could you please try to keep the umbrella over her face? Good. That’s better. Just hold it for a little longer till we can get her in the ambulance. Terrible weather, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’ Luke stayed there, shivering, his shirt soaked and clinging to him, water trickling down his neck. The rain was only falling lightly now, thank goodness.
Within minutes, the woman was in a neck brace and was being wheeled away on a stretcher. She was still only semi-conscious and Luke hoped she’d stay like that until they got her to hospital. He’d broken an ankle once and it had been damned painful at first.
He turned to find a police car drawing up.
An officer got out and came to stand beside him. ‘Sir, are you the driver of this vehicle? Oh, it’s you, Luke.’
‘Yes. Look, Ted, I have to go and pick up the injured woman’s daughter from school. Can I make a formal statement tomorrow?’
‘Sorry, but there are some things we have to do now.’ He whipped out a breathalyser.
‘I haven’t had anything to drink. Oh, very well!’ Luke blew into the mouthpiece impatiently and wasn’t surprised when Ted nodded and said it was fine.
As if he’d drink and drive! He wasn’t stupid.
Luckily the other couple who’d stopped could corroborate his description of how the accident had happened and he had his driving licence with him, showing an unblemished record.
He looked at his watch. ‘I promised her I’d pick up her child and take her to the hospital.’
The female officer shook her head. ‘Do you know them?’
‘No.’
‘Then I can’t let you pick up a strange child from school.’
‘I’ve known him for years. He’s OK,’ Ted protested.
‘Doesn’t matter. We’ll have to pick her up, not him.’
‘The mother’s worried about the dog, as well,’ Luke said.
Ted grinned at him. ‘You go and look for it. We’ll go to the school and collect the daughter. Meet you at the hospital.’
‘I’ll follow you to the school first. The daughter may know where I can find their dog.’
‘OK. See you there.’
Luke ran to his car. He knew he couldn’t have avoided the accident but he still felt guilty. Well, at least he could find her dog for her. That’d be something.
Some Christmas music jangled away on his radio and he switched it off impatiently. He was sick of hearing Christmas songs and it was only early December. He hadn’t figured out how to celebrate Christmas in a way that would cheer Dee up. She’d just shrugged when he asked her.
When Luke arrived at the school, the police car was standing in front of the entrance and he could see the two officers inside, together with a woman and a child. The little girl was wearing a bright yellow rain cape with the hood thrown back and jigging up and down, peering outside then looking up to say something. The resemblance to the injured woman spoke for who she was.
He joined them inside. There were Christmas decorations all round the reception area. He should at least put some up at home, whatever Dee said.
Ted introduced Luke to the woman. ‘It was Mr Moran’s car that Mrs Small ran in front of. Unfortunately he couldn’t stop in time.’
When the teacher looked at him suspiciously, Luke said, ‘Miss Roberts, isn’t it? You taught my daughter Dee a few years ago.’
‘Oh, yes. A very bright child. She left the school rather suddenly.’
‘My wife and I split up.’ Angie had left with Dee while he was away on a job. He’d come home to an empty house and most of the furniture gone with her. He’d missed his daughter dreadfully, but not Angie. By that time they were barely polite to one another.
He watched as the female officer bent to talk directly to the child. ‘Your mother’s been hurt in an accident, Gabby.’
The child’s smile vanished instantly.
‘It’s all right. She’s not badly hurt but she’s been taken to hospital to be checked up, so we’ve come to take you to her.’
Luke stepped forward. ‘And I promised your mother I’d go and find your dog.’
Ted’s phone rang just then. He moved a few steps away and answered it. ‘Oh, hell! Just a minute.’
He turned to the teacher. ‘Is there any chance you can take Gabby to the hospital to join her mother, Miss Roberts? There’s been a big pile-up a couple of miles away and we’re the closest unit.’
She sighed but nodded. ‘Very well.’
Luke intervened. ‘Do you know where the dog is likely to be, Gabby?’
‘Yes. In Fountains Park. She always goes there when she gets out.’
‘Fountains Park. I know it.’ He looked at Ted. ‘I’ll take the dog to the hospital and find out what the woman wants to do about it.’
Ted nodded. ‘Thanks. We have to get off now.’
Miss Roberts didn’t look happy and she was scowling at Luke as if he’d caused the accident on purpose.
The two officers ran back to the police car and while the teacher locked up, Luke went out to his own car.
As the teacher and Gabby reached him, the child stopped. ‘If you bring Helly to the hospital, Mr Morgan, I’ll look after her while I wait for Mum. We can’t afford to pay the fine if the council officer takes her away, you see.’
He saw the tears in her eyes and promised, ‘I won’t let the council officer take her away.’
Her face cleared immediately. ‘Thank you.’ Only then did she let herself be pulled away by the teacher.
Luke started his car, shivering. He could have done without that icy wind on a damp shirt. Which reminded him that his leather jacket had gone off to hospital in the ambulance. They must have thought it belonged to their patient. He’d have had to go there to get it back, anyway, even without taking the dog there.
He found the stupid animal trotting round the edge of a pond and grabbed a couple of biscuits from his emergency supplies before getting out. He bent down and called her. ‘Good dog. Here you are, Helly.’
She edged a little closer, tail wagging tentatively and studying him, as if working out whether to trust him or not. He remained still, praying she’d not run away.
After another sniff at the biscuit he was holding out, she took it from him and as she swallowed it, he was able to grab her collar. Speaking soothingly, he walked her slowly towards his car and she came with him.
He groaned aloud. That dog was very wet indeed, not to mention muddy, and he definitely didn’t want to let her into his car, which was only two months old. Unfortunately, there was no choice. When he opened the nearest rear door and gave her a push, she leapt inside and he shut it quickly. What that would do to the leather upholstery, he didn’t like to think.
He drove off, praying the dog wouldn’t jump about and make it difficult for him to drive safely, but she settled down as if used to being in cars.
The hospital was on the outskirts of the nearby town of Sexton Bassett and it took him twenty minutes to drive there at a modest pace and find a place to park.
He left the animal sitting in the car with the window slightly open. There was an overpowering smell of damp dog already and muddy water all over the pale grey leather of his almost new Mercedes.
He ran through the rain to the casualty department and found Gabby inside standing next to her teacher at the reception desk. She turned to look anxiously at him as he joined them.
‘I got Helly. I left her in my car.’
‘Oh, thank goodness!’
The woman behind the counter consulted a list on a clipboard. ‘Mrs Small is being attended to now. Are you a relative?’
‘I’m Gabby’s teacher.’
Luke moved forward to join them. ‘And I’ve got her dog in my car, so I need to see her too.’
Miss Roberts looked up at the clock and then told the woman behind the counter, ‘I can’t stay. I have to go and pick up my elderly mother. Can Gabby wait for her mother here?’
The woman frowned. ‘Isn’t there someone else who can pick up your mother? The child’s a bit young to leave on her own.’
‘No. My mother has dementia and she’s at the day care place. She wouldn’t go with anyone else but she still recognises me.’
‘I’ll sit with Gabby,’ Luke volunteered. ‘And the people can see her from here, so she’ll be safe. I can’t leave till I’ve asked her mother about the dog.’
‘Very well.’ The teacher turned and walked away.
Another shiver reminded him to ask the receptionist about his jacket. ‘I used it to keep Mrs Small warm and I need it myself now.’
She looked as if she was going to refuse to look into that, so he said, ‘Please! I’m really cold.’
‘Could you describe it, please, sir?’
Impatiently he did so, enumerating the contents of the pockets as well.
She beckoned to an orderly, who went off to look for it.
When he looked round, there was no sign of the teacher.
Gabby looked up at him. ‘Miss Roberts said I was to stay in reception and not go off with you in your car.’
‘Fair enough.’
‘Here you are, sir.’ A man held out the jacket.
Luke took it back with relief. It was a bit creased but not damp on the inside, so he shrugged into it, glad of the extra warmth.
He phoned Dee to tell her he’d be late, was about to explain why, when she said OK and broke the connection. With a sigh he put the phone away.
An unconscious man was brought in just then and people came rushing with a crash cart.
‘Please wait over there, Mr Morgan, I’ll call you when the doctor’s finished with Mrs Small.’
He gestured to some seats and the child sat down next to him.
‘Where’s Helly?’ she asked.
‘In my car.’
‘Did she come to you?’
‘Yes. But I had a biscuit.’
‘She doesn’t usually go to people, only the ones she thinks are all right. Mum says she has good instincts. I feel safe with you anyway. You have a nice smile.’
‘Thank you.’
There was something about the child that touched him. He’d definitely stay with her till they’d finished with the mother, wanted to make sure she was all right. The A&E people were all very busy. Who knew how long Gabby would have to wait for them to finish with her mother?
Anyway, there was still the dog to think about. He hated to think what she was doing to his car.
Chapter Two
After yet another glance at the clock on the wall, Luke noticed Gabby looking longingly at a machine dispensing drinks. He was about to offer to buy her something when a nurse came through a door to one side of the reception desk, checking it to make sure it was locked behind her.
When the receptionist pointed to them, the nurse walked across. ‘They’re just X-raying your wife’s shoulder and arm now, Mr Small. The doctor doesn’t think anything is broken, but her shoulder’s been dislocated and we have to be certain there isn’t a hairline fracture. I’ll fetch you when that’s been done and the shoulder strapped up, but she’ll be at least an hour, probably longer. They’re really busy in X-ray today.’ She smiled down at the child. ‘Goodness, you do look like your mother!’
She turned and started walking briskly away before he could correct her mistake about him being Claire’s husband.
Another shiver made him gesture to the drink dispenser. ‘Would you like something warm to drink, Gabby?’
The child’s face lit up. ‘Could I have some drinking chocolate, please? It’s much nicer than tea or coffee.’ From the look on her face, she was hungry as well, so he bought them a packet of crisps each.
‘Mum and I can’t afford to buy crisps now,’ she confided, licking her lips. ‘I haven’t had any for ages.’
She looked at the small, shabby Christmas tree next to the vending machine. ‘Isn’t it pretty? We have one at school, but Mum can’t afford one for home this year.’
She ate half of his crisps as well as her own, then sat quietly beside him, swinging her feet to and fro, watching everything that was going on around them with great interest.
‘Do you have any relatives we could contact, Gabby?’
The open expression immediately vanished. ‘No. And we don’t want any. There’s just us and Helly, and that’s a nice little family.’
‘Yes, but – well, you don’t know me and – maybe you’d be better with someone you do know.’
‘You mean like stranger danger. That was why my teacher brought me here, not you, wasn’t it?’ She looked up at him. ‘You don’t look dangerous to me and the policeman told my teacher he knew you.’
Another long gaze at him, then, ‘You’d better dry your hair, though. It’s still soaking wet and it’s dripping all over your shoulders.’
‘Your fringe is dripping too.’
She grinned and swiped at her forehead. ‘It’s nice and warm in here, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’ He found himself smiling back, enjoying the company of this child, who was treating him like a favourite uncle and telling him all sorts of things about how she and her mother managed without much money, things which would embarrass the injured woman big time, he was sure.
Gabby was a great kid. She reminded him of what his own daughter had been like a few years ago.
He was beginning to suspect that this child and her mother were on the run from the father, but in that case, why had they lumbered themselves with the dog? It didn’t make sense.
By the time another nurse came looking for them, he’d bought them each a second cup of hot chocolate and found the ladies’ restroom for his companion.
‘Mr Small?’
He shook his head.
Gabby giggled. ‘This is Mr Morgan. I’m Gabby Small, though. He’s a friend and he brought me here to see my mum.’
The nurse smiled down at her. ‘Well, you’d better come with me, then, Gabby. She’s asking for you.’
Luke stood up. ‘All right if I come, too? I need to find out what she wants me to do with the child, and with her dog.’
‘Yes. But be warned. Mrs Small’s very groggy. She may not make much sense.’
He was taken first to see a doctor, who spoke rapidly, with one eye on the clock. ‘The good news is that your wife’s arm isn’t fractured; she’d only dislocated her shoulder, which has now been put back in place. That area of her body will be very sore for a while, though, and she should use the arm as little as possible for the next few days. She’s been given strong painkillers so she’ll not be very coherent.’
Luke was greatly relieved the injuries weren’t worse, because he still felt guilty about the accident.
‘Mrs Small ought to stay in here overnight but she’s insisting on going home, and I must admit we’re short of beds. But it’ll be best if she stays a little longer, so we can keep an eye on her recovery. If there are any problems after you take her home, don’t hesitate to bring her straight back. The nurse will give you some more of the painkillers for her.’
As the doctor walked away, Gabby tugged Luke forward and they followed the nurse along a line of cubicles, all with other patients in them.
The injured woman lay flattened against the pillows of the high, narrow bed, eyes closed. She looked like a limp rag doll. He felt sorry for her after talking to the child and realising how hard their life was.
He glanced sideways and saw that Gabby’s lips were quivering and she looked as if she was fighting back tears. Before he knew it, he’d held out his hand and she was clutching it again.
She leant closer to whisper, ‘Mum looks so pale. And why is she still asleep? Will she be all right?’
‘Of course she’ll be all right. She’s just resting.’
When he looked down at their joined hands, a strange feeling shivered through him, as if it was right to hold her. He hadn’t been able to hold his own daughter’s hand for several years; Dee was too old for that now.
Angie had been openly hostile to him when they broke up, as if it was all his fault, when she was the one who had initiated it to ‘find herself’. She’d only let him have Dee for a day here and there since then. What made him furious was how she seemed to have poisoned Dee’s mind against him – or was it against all men? And how cunning Angie had been about changing the arrangements for him to see Dee at the last minute.
He’d tried lawyers’ letters but she always had an excuse for cancelling.
And then after years of rubbing it in his face that she had custody, Angie had dumped the girl on him without warning. Not that he’d have refused to have Dee, of course he wouldn’t, but he’d have appreciated a bit of notice. He’d only just moved into a new house and hadn’t even had a spare bed that first night, had had to sleep on the sofa.
He realised the nurse was talking to Gabby and got annoyed with himself for not paying better attention.
‘Your mother’s a bit sleepy from the anaesthetic and painkillers, dear, but she’ll be all right.’
As if she’d sensed her daughter’s presence, Mrs Small opened her eyes and looked sideways. ‘Gabby.’ Her voice was a croak and her cheeks were colourless, but her loving smile lit up her whole face. ‘You all right, love?’
Gabby let go of him and went to clutch her mother’s hand, leaning on the bed beside her. ‘I was worried about you, Mum, but my teacher brought me here and Mr Morgan found Helly. He’s been looking after me and bought a drink of hot chocolate. No, two drinks.’
Claire stared at Luke. ‘Who on earth are you?’
‘I’m the guy who knocked you down.’
‘Ah. Yes. I remember now. You held my hand. But the accident was my fault, not yours. I didn’t look where I was going. We don’t need to call in the police, do we?’
‘They’ve already attended the scene of the accident. They breathalysed me and took statements from witnesses. I don’t know whether they’ll want to speak to you, too, but I don’t think there will be any charges or need to follow things up. And my car doesn’t seem to be damaged, maybe a scrape or two on the paint, which can easily be fixed.’ Though not cheaply, but he could easily afford it and she couldn’t.
‘Thank goodness.’
Gabby tugged her mother’s hand to get her attention. ‘Helly’s outside now, waiting in Mr Morgan’s car.’
‘Thank you. That’s such a … relief.’
Luke watched as Claire tried desperately to stay awake. Her eyes closed slowly, then snapped open again, but she looked as if she was having trouble focusing properly.
He went to the end of the cubicle and beckoned to the A&E nurse, who came across and checked the patient. ‘Is she all right? She keeps falling asleep in the middle of saying something.’
‘She’s fine, Mr Morgan, but she’ll be in and out of consciousness for a while as she recovers from the anaesthetic, and the painkillers make you dopey too.’ Someone called and she yelled, ‘Coming. You can wait with her here, if you like, as long as you don’t make a noise. These curtains aren’t soundproof.’ She indicated the blue curtains surrounding the cubicle as she hurried away.
So they sat there for a few minutes, then a sudden scream nearby made Claire jerk awake again and stare at him as if she didn’t know where she was.
‘You’re in hospital,’ he reminded her. ‘You’ve got concussion. You need to rest.’
‘Oh, yes. Sorry. Thank you for looking after Gabby, Mr …’ Her voice trailed away and her eyelids began to droop. ‘Just give me a little time to recover, darling, and then we’ll go home.’
The nurse had just come back and overheard that. ‘You really ought to stay in hospital overnight, Mrs Small.’
‘No! No, I can’t!’
Luke frowned. That was definitely fear on Mrs Small’s face and panic in her voice. The child was looking anxious too. What the hell were they afraid of? He knew Bartons End – the worst things you usually met there were problems with parking, and a few drunks in the evening, who were usually fairly cheerful about the world. He’d enjoyed living in a village, had only moved away when Angie left him and they’d had to sell the house as part of their divorce settlement.
‘I can’t stay here. I have to look after Gabby. Have to …’ Claire’s eyes closed and she sighed into sudden sleep again.
‘I can sit here next to the bed till Mum’s more awake,’ Gabby volunteered. ‘I won’t be any trouble.’ Then her face fell. ‘Oh, but what about Helly? She’s still shut up in your car.’
‘Hospitals don’t usually let people sleep in their chairs, especially children on their own. Maybe you have some friends you could go and stay with tonight? I could drive you there.’ Oh, no. He’d better not. The police hadn’t wanted him to do that.
‘We’ve only just come to live in Bartons End. We don’t know anybody in the village. That’s why we went there.’
What a strange thing to say! His guess must be right and they were running away from someone. ‘Where does your mother work, then?’ Though wherever it was would probably be closed by now.
‘At home. On her computer.’
‘Oh.’
The nurse exchanged glances with him. ‘We’d better call social services to help with the child.’
‘No!’ Claire exclaimed.
She must have heard the last bit. He watched her struggle in vain to sit up.
‘Please don’t try to call anyone. Give me an hour to rest and I’ll be all right, then my daughter and I will go home. We can get a taxi. I’m feeling much better already. Really I am!’
‘If you have no other adult at home, you’ll definitely need to stay in overnight, Mrs Small,’ the nurse insisted. ‘You need someone to watch you. It’s important.’
‘I can’t stay here.’
Luke looked from mother to child and saw that both had the same expression on their face. Fear. Definitely fear. He tried to tell himself not to get involved, but he couldn’t help feeling that he had a responsibility to look after them, because he was the one who’d knocked Claire down. Though he had more than enough on his plate at the moment with his daughter and the new house, without taking on anything extra.
The trouble was, he wanted to protect and comfort them both, because he hated hearing fear in a child’s voice, especially a delightful little girl like Gabby, who was looking at him now as if she trusted him to solve the problem.
If the mother was with them, no one could complain of him giving the child a lift in a car. Besides, there was one large wet dog waiting outside as well.
A tear trickled down Claire’s face, silver on white. That tear tipped the scales.
‘Look, there’s no problem, nurse. They can come both home with me. I’m a friend of the family and my daughter lives with me, so she’ll help as well.’ Well, he was a friend now, he hoped. And surely Dee would lend a hand.
The woman in the bed looked at him in puzzlement, but without fear, at least.
The nurse was shaking her head, so he dealt with her first. ‘I’ve done a first aid course, so I have some idea of what to look for after concussion.’
‘Well …’
He turned back to Claire. ‘Is that all right with you?’
‘We’re not your responsibility.’
‘He’s kind. I like him.’ The child beamed at him and that warm feeling ran through Luke again.
‘I have a large house and you won’t be any trouble,’ he said. They would cause him some extra work, of course, but not much. Well, he hoped not much. ‘And my garden is fenced in properly, so the dog won’t be able to get out.’
On second thoughts, he wasn’t sure he placed much reliance on that, though he didn’t say so. Helly looked intelligent and he’d bet she came from a long line of escapologists. But hey, that was a minor consideration. Christmas was coming. Peace and love and all that jazz.
He glanced at his watch. Damn, he was very late. Not that Dee would be worrying where he was now he’d phoned her. She’d have her headphones on and be listening to something weird and loud. He and his daughter definitely did not share the same taste in music. Or in anything else, it seemed. He sometimes felt as if she’d built a fence around herself, a fence he was desperate to knock down.
‘Look,’ he said to the nurse, ‘leave us to talk it over for a few minutes, will you? You’re obviously busy. We’ll work something out, then I’ll come and find you.’
The nurse looked at the patient for confirmation, received a nod and left.
Claire didn’t beat about the bush. ‘Why are you offering to help?’
He shrugged. ‘Because I feel guilty.’
‘You needn’t. As I’ve already admitted, the accident was my own fault. And Helly’s.’
‘Mr Morgan’s a kind person, Mum. Helly likes him and so do I.’ The child lifted her mother’s hand, pressing it against her cheek for a moment. ‘I think we should go and stay with him. We’d be safe there.’
It was ridiculous how touched Luke was by the child’s simple, tender gesture with her mother’s hand. And by the expression of love in the woman’s eyes as she turned to look at her daughter.
‘I don’t know – can’t seem to think straight.’ She moved her head restlessly and winced again.
He intervened. ‘Then stop trying to think and leave everything to Gabby and me.’
She closed her eyes. ‘I shouldn’t. But just for tonight, if it’s not too much trouble.’
He waited a couple of minutes, but she didn’t open her eyes again, so he put one finger to his lips and gestured to the child to come away from the bed. This part of A&E consisted of a line of beds in curtained-off spaces, and the staff looked to be very busy. What a wonderful job these people did!
‘We’ll let your mother sleep for an hour or so, Gabby, to give her time to recover properly, then we’ll come back and get her. We’ll see if we can find something to eat while we wait and I’ll phone my daughter again to let her know I’ll be even later than I thought.’
They spoke to the nurse, then went back into reception. The man who was now behind the counter said there were a few shops just across the car park where they could get something to eat.
Luke went to the entrance and stared outside. The small row of shops was only about a hundred yards away. Two or three of them had their lights on and were clearly still open. He was starving hungry and one of the shops was so brightly lit he could read the sign. ‘Do you like pizza, Gabby?’
‘I love pizzas. Mum makes them for us sometimes.’
‘Are you hungry?’
‘Yes. But I can manage if you can’t afford to buy one. The best way when you’re hungry is to think of something else.’
What sort of life had she led? ‘You don’t need to manage without. I can definitely afford pizza and I’m ravenous. We’ll share one. Come on. I think the rain has stopped for the moment.’ Again, he held out one hand without thinking and she took it immediately.
No one called after them to stop. No one here cared. And he knew he’d never hurt a child.
They went inside the shop and found another scrubby little Christmas tree winking at them from a corner and some elderly and rather dusty tinsel draped across the inside of the window.
Gabby stopped, head on one side. ‘I’ll save a piece of my pizza for Helly, if you don’t mind, Mr Morgan. She’ll be hungry, too.’
Damned if that didn’t bring a lump into his throat as well. ‘We’ll get enough to give her a share, don’t worry. And call me Luke. What toppings do you like?’
‘Anything. We can’t afford to be fussy.’
The dog wasn’t fussy, either. She gulped down a couple of pieces of pizza, obligingly peed on the grass when told to ‘be a good girl’, lapped up some water from a rainwater puddle then got back into his car.
He hoped Gabby hadn’t seen him wince as Helly scrabbled her paws on his leather upholstery, but he had nowhere else to keep the creature. Perhaps she wouldn’t have actually scratched the leather, just dirtied it.
He’d have the car detailed once this had been sorted out. Definitely. Damp dog was not his favourite perfume and there was mud scattered around too.
When Claire opened her eyes again, she was alone in a hospital bed. Terror rose in her as she looked round. Where was Gabby? Had they taken her away? She saw a bell and rang it, then rang it again impatiently.
The nurse came into the cubicle, took her pulse, examined her eyes and said dubiously, ‘Your colour’s a little better now, but you really ought to stay in here overnight.’
‘Where’s my daughter?’
‘She went out into the waiting room with your husband. He’s very good with her, isn’t he?’
‘Um – yes.’ She’d better not reveal how little she knew about him, Claire decided, or they might call social services after all. If he could get her out of here, she’d persuade him to take her home to get some clean clothes, then refuse to go anywhere else. He didn’t look like a violent man, though, had been really nice with Gabby.
She and her daughter would manage till the shoulder got better. They always did. Yes, that would be her best plan. Get him to take her home, then thank him and send him on his way.
The nurse came back with a plastic cup of water. ‘Time for another painkiller.’
Claire hesitated, but the shoulder did hurt, so she swallowed it.
Her daughter came back a short time later with her usual breathless rush, but it was the stranger Claire watched as she listened to the tale of the pizza and how he’d bought an extra-large one so as to have some left for Helly, who had wolfed her share down and then been a good girl again on the hospital lawn.
‘You’ve been very kind,’ she told him when there was a break in Gabby’s recital.
He shrugged. ‘Least I could do.’
‘We’ll be all right now, though.’ She struggled to sit up in bed and it was harder than she’d expected because her shoulder hurt when she tried to put any weight on that arm. The next few days were going to be – challenging.
‘You’re definitely going to need help for a while, Mrs Small. Look, I’m not offering you the earth, just a bed for the night.’ He studied her face and amended that to, ‘Maybe even for two nights. Just think how virtuous that’ll make me feel!’
