A knock at the door…

Will change her life!

After the heartbreak of losing her husband and baby, GP Sophie Bradford donated her eggs hoping to bring happiness to another couple, instead. Then Dr. Finn Connelly arrives on her doorstep with his orphaned nieces—and her biological twin girls! Sophie had vowed never to risk creating another family, but Finn and her adorable little daughters start to melt the ice around her heart…

“The first three books of this series are engrossing and fast-paced and this story is no different. Really, right from the beginning, this story had me hooked….”

—Harlequin Junkie on Rescued by Her Mr. Right

“Ms. Roberts has delivered a really good read to open this series where the chemistry between this couple was intense; the romance was special…and the words the hero says to the heroine that shows how in love he is with her.”

—Harlequin Junkie on The Shy Nurse’s Rebel Doc

ALISON ROBERTS is a New Zealander, currently lucky enough to be living in the South of France. She is also lucky enough to write for the Mills & Boon Medical Romance line. A primary school teacher in a former life, she is now a qualified paramedic. She loves to travel and dance, drink champagne, and spend time with her daughter and her friends.

Also by Alison Roberts

A Life-Saving Reunion

The Surrogate’s Unexpected Miracle

Sleigh Ride with the Single Dad

The Shy Nurse’s Rebel Doc

Rescued by Her Mr Right

Their Newborn Baby Gift

Rescued Hearts miniseries

The Doctor’s Wife for Keeps

Twin Surprise for the Italian Doc

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Twins on Her Doorstep

Alison Roberts

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08967-8

TWINS ON HER DOORSTEP

© 2018 Alison Roberts

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

THIS ROAD WAS ENDLESS.

And winding.

It was also quite spectacular along this particular stretch, with surf crashing onto rocks at the bottom of tall cliffs, but Finn Connelly wasn’t interested in the view of the Cornish coastline any more than he had been in any of the sleepy villages he’d already driven through. The GPS told him that the one he was heading for, North Cove, was still about an hour away. Miles from anywhere.

And who knew? He might get there only to have to turn around and come straight back again. It wasn’t that he thought this was going to be the answer he was looking for, it just seemed like the right thing to do. But after this? He had no idea…

A glance in the rear-view mirror showed him that the children were sitting quietly in their car seats. They weren’t looking at the scenery, either, which was understandable, but they were so quiet and that was even more worrying than the fact that they’d barely eaten anything the last time they’d stopped on this road trip.

With every mile that passed, Finn’s doubts about the wisdom of what he was doing were increasing, to the point where his head was starting to ache now. There was the slight ethical problem with this plan as well, although that had been easy enough to push aside when he’d had this crazy idea in the first place. He’d want to know, if it were him at the end of this road, wouldn’t he? Even if it was going to change his life so dramatically?

‘You guys hungry yet?’ He turned his head briefly to smile at his passengers. ‘I’ve got apples. And crisps. And those little packets of raisins. You like raisins, don’t you?’

‘No.’

‘Are you thirsty?’

‘No.’

‘It’s getting colder, isn’t it?’ Finn knew he was on a losing streak but he had to keep talking. To try and make this seem a little more normal, perhaps, when it was anything but. He wasn’t hungry, either. It had been an effort to force down even half his sandwich when they’d stopped for lunch some time back. He’d actually felt slightly nauseated.

‘Look at those big, black clouds up there.’ Was he putting too much effort into trying to sound cheerful? ‘You girls warm enough?’

He risked another glance in the mirror to find four large brown eyes staring at him. How could three-year-olds look so suspicious? Maybe it was just wariness, he told himself. And who could blame them?

‘Ellie? Emma?’ He tried one more time. ‘You want me to stop and find your coats? Those pretty pink ones?’

Two small heads shook slowly in a negative response and Finn suppressed a sigh. It was becoming the standard reaction to being asked anything, wasn’t it? They didn’t want their coats. They didn’t want treats to eat. They didn’t want to be here, with him, and he understood that. This was confusing. Frightening, even. He might be their uncle but he’d only met them for the first time a couple of weeks ago so he was still virtually a stranger.

Guilt could get added to the worry and the doubts. It wasn’t a pleasant mix.

There was only one thing that these little girls wanted—the life they’d had until now. Their family. And he couldn’t give it to them.

Nobody could.

Was it the weather outside or the trauma of recent events that made him suddenly shiver?

‘I’ll put the heater on for a bit,’ he said.

‘Sophie…how are you, lovie? It’s a bit cold today, isn’t it? I think we’re in for some rain.’

‘I’m the one who’s supposed to be asking how you are, Mrs Redding.’ Sophie Bradford smiled. ‘I’m the doctor here.’

‘I know, love. But I always see your dad.’ Maureen Redding closed the door behind her. ‘I know you’ve been here for a few years now but I still think of you as that little girl with the wildly curly hair running past my place to get to school.’

Automatically, Sophie reached up to touch her hair. Those unmanageable corkscrew ringlets she’d been born with were currently saturated enough with product to enable them to be scraped back into a ponytail but she could feel the undulations on her scalp and she knew that, at any moment, a curl could rebel and spring free to make her look unkempt. Unprofessional, in fact. Amazingly, they were standing up to the stress of an unusually busy day and behaving perfectly, for now.

‘Dad’s still out on his house calls at the moment but he should be back soon. If you want to wait, he can probably squeeze you in.’ Sophie closed the screen where she’d just entered the notes on her last patient, clicked to bring up Maureen’s history but glanced up with concern a moment later as she heard her new arrival’s rasping breaths. ‘You’re a bit short of puff today, aren’t you?’

‘Aye…’ Maureen Redding sighed heavily as she eased her large frame onto the chair and placed her handbag on top of Sophie’s desk. ‘I’ve got the cold that’s been going around and, you know, it’s the same old story…’

‘I know.’ Sophie was on her feet. She’d seen enough on screen to know that Maureen’s visits were usually due to exacerbation of her chronic respiratory disease. ‘Let’s have a good look at you and see what’s happening with your oxygen levels and blood pressure. Did you walk up the hill to see us today?’

‘Oh, no… It’s hard enough getting to the corner shop for a pint of milk at the moment. Jim, next door, gave me a ride.’

‘That was kind of him.’

‘He needed to come in himself, to get his prescription for his heart pills. He’s going to wait for me, but I don’t want to keep him waiting too long, so I’m happy to see you, love. Everybody says that you’re a wonderful doctor.’

‘That’s good to know.’

‘He’ll be having a yarn with your mum, I expect. He said he hadn’t seen her at the markets for a while.’

‘Mmm… We’ve all been a bit busy.’

Sophie’s mother was the nurse in this family-run general practice but, given how full the waiting room had been the last time she’d set foot outside this consulting room, Judy Greene wouldn’t be stopping to chat with Jim or anyone else today.

She handed Maureen a handful of tissues as the older woman began coughing and warmed the disk of her stethoscope in the palm of her hand as she waited for the spasm to finish.

Then she paused, frowning. ‘Has that happened before?’

‘The blood? Oh, once or twice… Your dad says it’s usually a sign of infection.’

Antibiotics were likely to be needed, Sophie thought. And a short course of steroids for the inflammation in Maureen’s lungs. A trip to the nearest hospital for a chest X-ray might be called for if there was any indication that this could be pneumonia rather than simply bronchitis. And had any mention been made of having home oxygen available for episodes like this?

‘I saw your dad coming out of the pharmacy yesterday,’ Maureen said. ‘He’s looking a bit peaky, I thought.’

‘Oh?’ This might be the only general practice in this out-of-the-way Cornish fishing village, Sophie thought, but she wasn’t about to start discussing her father’s state of health with one of their patients. It was a close community but there had to be some boundaries.

‘It’s time he retired, isn’t it? I went to school with him so he has to be at least seventy-three.’

‘Thereabouts. And he will retire soon. When we’ve found someone suitable to join us. Now, stop talking for a moment, Maureen. I want to have a listen to your chest.’ Sophie had to concentrate on which lung fields were being affected by the fluid and inflammation. Despite the closed door, she could hear the faint wail of an unhappy child in the waiting area, which wasn’t helping.

Fifteen minutes later, she was holding the door open. The wailing had suddenly become a shriek that made Sophie wince.

‘Get Jim to take you straight to the pharmacy. He’ll be going there to fill his own prescription, I expect. Make another appointment in a couple of days, or sooner if you’re not feeling any better, but, if it gets any worse, call us straight away.’

‘I will… Ooh, look. There’s your dad.’ She sailed ahead of Sophie. ‘Yoo-hoo! Dr Greene? I wanted to have a wee word with you.’

Sophie’s father was crouching by a boy who was holding one arm across his chest with the other and glaring at the doctor. ‘Not now, Maureen. Sorry, but we’re a bit busy, as you can see.’ He looked up and Sophie could see the tense lines in his face relax just a little. ‘Ah… Could you take young Toby here through to the treatment room, Dr Bradford? He’s fallen off his skateboard and given himself a bit of a fracture. If you can splint it and make him comfortable, his mum can drive him to the hospital.’

‘I could call an ambulance.’ Judy Greene was behind the reception desk.

‘No need.’

Jack Greene got to his feet. Slowly. He did look peaky, Sophie realised. Maybe she’d just got used to how tired he always looked these days and hadn’t noticed that his colour wasn’t so great, either. So pale it was almost grey. He was pushing himself too hard. Working himself into an early grave?

‘But I want an ambulance,’ Toby sobbed. ‘With a siren.’

It was Sophie’s turn to crouch and be on eye level with the seven-year-old. ‘Toby…you’re a big boy now. You know that it’s important that an ambulance is only called for really serious emergencies, don’t you?’

‘But…but I’ve broke my arm. Again…’

‘I know.’ Sophie’s tone was full of sympathy. She flicked a swift glance up at her father, who gave a single nod.

‘Baselines are all good. Simple FOOSH.’

A fall on an outstretched hand. The sort that often happened when you fell off your skateboard or out of a tree, as young Toby already knew. He had broken his left wrist last year. This time it was his right. But, if his baselines were good, that meant there was no danger of losing hand function from a compromised blood supply or nerve damage. In any case, Sophie knew she could make him a lot more comfortable with a good splint and some paracetamol, and it would actually be quicker for his mother to take him to the nearest emergency department. Even if there was an ambulance available instantly, it was at least twenty minutes away. Thirty, if there was any traffic or the threatening storm broke.

‘I’m going to give you a lovely splint that will help your arm stay very still and not hurt so much.’

‘And I’m going to drive you to the hospital,’ his mum added firmly. ‘Otherwise, how are we going to get home? Daddy can’t just turn his boat around to come and get us, you know. And a taxi would cost the earth. About as much as that new game you want for your computer, I reckon, and which one of those would you rather have?’

Reluctantly, Toby followed Sophie, who sent an apologetic glance to people still waiting. Emergencies played havoc with queues but everybody knew that. Old Mr Dobson was getting to his feet.

‘I can come back tomorrow if I need to,’ he said. ‘It’s probably nothing a bit of cod liver oil can’t fix.’

Maureen and Jim were heading for the door, too, but Maureen paused to touch Jack Greene’s hand.

‘I just wanted to say that your Sophie’s a credit to you,’ she said. ‘We’re so lucky to have the next generation of wonderful doctors here in North Cove.’

‘Thanks, Maureen.’ But Jack didn’t smile as he gazed around the room. ‘Who’s next, then?’

There was a painful-looking nappy rash on a baby, an adult with a rash and a terrible headache that was probably the early signs of a dose of shingles. Another patient had chest pain and had to jump the queue, but it was easily resolved with a spray of medication. The twelve-lead ECG Sophie took was reassuringly normal as well.

‘It’s not a heart attack, Colin. You need to use your spray as soon as it happens next time, not wait for me to give it to you. You know it comes on when you start moving furniture around, don’t you?’

‘I don’t like using stuff unless I really need to. And I was right next door.’

‘Get those young lads of yours to do the heavy lifting from now on. And, if you start getting pain more often, or when you’re just sitting around, let me know. I’m also going to book you in for some more tests at the next cardiology clinic at the hospital.’

The door opened before Colin could touch the handle.

‘Sophie? Could you come, please? Now?’

Sophie’s heart sank. Her mother was a very experienced and calm nurse. She had never seen a look of fear in her eyes like this.

She raced into the adjoining room after her mother. Was her dad having a crisis with one of his patients? A cardiac arrest, maybe?

But Jack was alone in the room.

Slumped over his desk.

‘Dad?’ Sophie was by his side in an instant, her hand on his wrist. ‘Can you hear me? What’s happened?’

She could feel a pulse, thank goodness. A bit faint, maybe, but it was steady.

And her father responded with a groan as he pushed himself upright. ‘I’m fine,’ he growled. ‘Just a bit of a dizzy spell. Stop making a fuss.’

‘Did you eat lunch?’ Judy demanded.

‘Don’t move,’ Sophie ordered. ‘I’m going to take your blood pressure.’ She unbuttoned his cuff, pushed the shirt sleeve up and wrapped the cuff around his upper arm. ‘Any other symptoms? Are you feeling nauseated? Any chest pain?’

‘No. And no.’ Jack sighed. ‘And no, I didn’t have time for lunch. My house calls turned out to be a bit more complicated than usual.’

‘Your blood pressure’s a bit low,’ Sophie said, releasing the valve. ‘One ten over sixty. I’m not surprised you felt faint. Now, where’s your blood glucose kit?’

His blood glucose level was on the low side as well.

‘At least I haven’t got diabetes.’ Jack pushed his chair back. ‘Now, will you two let me get on with my work?’ He got to his feet but then closed his eyes and raised his hand to rub at his forehead.

‘Headache?’ Sophie was watching him intently. ‘Still dizzy?’

‘I just need a cup of tea. And a paracetamol. Go away, Soph. You’ve got patients waiting.’

‘We’re almost done. Mum, take him home, will you? Give him something to eat and make him rest. I’ll have a good look at him as soon as I get back.’

It was only a short walk through the car parking space at the back of the clinic to the gate in the fence that led to the house Sophie had grown up in. Hopefully nobody would notice because otherwise the whole village would be alarmed that there was something seriously wrong with their beloved GP. It was probably nothing more than the fact that he’d forgotten to eat, on top of being a bit run down, but the way that her father had agreed to the plan with minimal grouching was enough to make Sophie even more worried.

Something had to be done about reducing his work load. Soon.

Her last patient of the day had deliberately been given the final appointment because she’d known she couldn’t put a time limit on this one.

Shirley needed to talk as much as she needed any review on whether her medication was helping.

‘I’m still not sleeping properly. And I still burst into tears all over the place. It’s embarrassing. It happened in the supermarket the other day, when I saw the cans of baked beans.’ Shirley fished in her handbag for her handkerchief. ‘It’s was Bob’s favourite tea…baked beans on toast…with a poached egg on top…’

Sophie was sitting alongside her patient this time. It meant that she could give the hand she was holding a squeeze.

‘I know. It’s hard. So hard…’

Shirley sniffed and nodded. ‘I know you know, dear. That’s why it’s so good to talk to you. You had such a tough time after your Matthew passed away. We were all so worried about you, what with you losing the baby and all…’

Even after five years, the pain was still there, wasn’t it? Not crippling now, though. More like a simple sadness, but one that could still squeeze her heart hard enough to be painful sometimes. At least she’d become an expert in pushing it into a place that she rarely chose to visit.

‘I’m fine now,’ Sophie said gently. ‘I found the answer was to focus on the good things I did still have in my life. Like my family and friends. My work. Being lucky enough to live in such a beautiful place.’ She gave the older woman’s hand another squeeze. ‘You’ve got both your daughters nice and close. And all those gorgeous grandchildren of yours. Are you spending plenty of time with them?’

‘Oh, yes… They’re in and out every day, wanting Granny’s cake, but…but I just haven’t felt up to baking yet.’

‘They’ll be missing those cakes.’ Sophie smiled. ‘Everybody knows that no one can make a better chocolate cake than you can, Shirley. And you’ve got a new grandbaby due to arrive in…ooh…about six weeks, isn’t it? I saw Jenny for her check-up just a couple of days ago.’

‘Bob was so excited about this new baby.’ Shirley’s smile trembled. ‘He was sure it was going to be a boy, finally. And now he’ll never know…’ She blew her nose again. ‘I haven’t even finished the cardigan I started knitting weeks ago. I just can’t seem to focus.’

‘It’s only been a couple of months since you lost Bob,’ Sophie said gently. ‘It takes time to grieve.’ She got up to find her prescription pad. ‘I’m going to give you something to help you sleep. And, if you like, I can refer you to a grief counsellor?’

Shirley shook her head. ‘I feel better just coming to see you, dear.’ She got up from her chair. ‘You understand…’

Sophie went to see her out. That way, she could lock the front door to the clinic and there wouldn’t be any last-minute obstacles to getting home to see how her father was. Hopefully, he would be feeling a lot better after some hot food and having put his feet up for an hour or two. If not, she was going to be laying down the law about getting a thorough physical check-up from a specialist in Truro—the largest hospital in Cornwall. And reducing his hours here, which was probably the best she would be able to manage until they could find a locum.

Her heart sank like a stone when she noticed the unexpected arrival sitting in the waiting area.

A man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. A man who was good-looking enough for her gaze to snag for an extra heartbeat of time. Probably the father of the two children sitting beside him, she decided. Small girls who were wearing pink, puffy anoraks and little black ankle boots.

Shirley was fussing with the fastening on her umbrella as she headed to the door so she didn’t even notice the trio in the corner but Sophie gave them a second glance as she passed. There was something compelling about these people.

The man was definitely not a local, unless he’d just moved here, but the children looked vaguely familiar. No. She shook her head as she closed the door behind Shirley and flicked the lock. There were no identical twins in North Cove, she was quite sure about that. They had to be tourists, but she couldn’t turn around and tell them that an appointment was needed for afternoon surgeries at this clinic unless it was an emergency.

After all, there were children involved, and even the brief impression she’d already gained suggested that these little girls were subdued enough to be potentially unwell.

She pasted a smile on her face as she turned back.

‘I’m Dr Bradford,’ she said. ‘How can I help you?’

The man got to his feet. He was tall, Sophie noted, well over six feet, although he looked a little stooped right now. As if he was over-tired. Or sad, maybe. His jaw was shadowed as if he hadn’t shaved for a while and his dark hair looked tousled, as if he’d run his fingers through it more than once recently. In the same instant she had the thought, he raised his hand and rubbed at his forehead, exactly the way her father had done earlier and, yes, he completed the action by shoving his fingers through his hair.

Then he nodded.

‘I’m Finn Connelly,’ he told her. ‘I’m…ah…sorry for turning up like this without an appointment.’

The Irish accent confirmed her assumption that he was a tourist.

‘That’s okay,’ Sophie said. She smiled at him, because he certainly looked like he needed a bit of reassurance, and instinct told her that it wasn’t something he normally needed. For some reason, this man was way out of his comfort zone and part of her job was to provide a safe environment. Besides, he did look sad, and that never failed to tug at her heartstrings, but there was more than sympathy happening here. There was a pull that she didn’t understand and it was putting her slightly out of her own comfort zone.

‘We’re always available for emergencies,’ she added.

Shifting her gaze to the seats behind the stranger, she smiled even more warmly at the children.

‘Hi there,’ she said. ‘What are your names?’

The girls stared at her but said nothing. They looked more than a little frightened and Sophie felt a beat of alarm. What, exactly, was going on here? Children who were scared of going to see a doctor would normally be clinging to their parents, not sitting there like two little mop-haired statues.

That hair…

Clouds of tangled blonde ringlets. Impossible to comb without causing pain. Sophie knew what it was like to have hair like that.

The sudden chill that ran down her spine almost made her shiver visibly. She swallowed carefully.

‘So who’s sick?’ she asked. ‘Or has there been an accident?’

‘Nobody’s sick,’ the man said quietly. ‘I…um…is there somewhere we could have a quiet word?’ The movement of his head, along with the expression in a pair of very dark eyes, was easy to interpret. This Finn Connelly wanted to talk to her somewhere the children couldn’t overhear.

‘There’s no one else here,’ Sophie said apologetically. ‘I can’t leave the children unattended in the waiting room.’

She wasn’t sure she wanted to go somewhere private with this man, either. Again, her instinct was giving her a clear message, and this time it was warning her that she wasn’t going to like what she might hear. Had these children been abused in some way? Were they in danger?

She actually jumped when a door behind her opened.

‘I forgot my bag.’ Judy hurried towards the reception desk and bent to retrieve it. ‘I was so worried about Dad that I just left it behind.’ She straightened up and then froze when she saw that Sophie was talking to someone.

‘Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.’

‘It’s okay.’ Sophie straightened her back. Fate was giving her a push here and she had a moral obligation to comply. ‘Could you spare a minute, Mum?’

‘Of course.’ Judy came out from behind the counter.

‘Could you keep an eye on these children for a minute? Their dad wants to talk to me.’

‘Oh…’ The different note in her mother’s voice advertised that she was instantly aware that something a little odd was happening.

‘I’m not their father,’ Finn said. ‘I’m their uncle. This is Ellie. And that’s Emma.’

Judy had stepped closer. She was staring at the little girls and Sophie watched in horror as the colour drained from her mother’s face. She moved fast as she saw her start to sway on her feet, but it was Finn who caught Judy before she crumpled completely.

This was unbelievable. Both her parents having dizzy spells on the same day? Was there some horrible virus going around? That would be a catastrophe that could potentially close this health centre on which her community depended.

But Judy seemed to be recovering quickly. She clung to Finn’s arm as he helped her towards the chair behind the reception desk, and then she sat, taking several deep breaths before raising her head.

‘Sorry,’ she murmured. ‘But it’s like seeing a ghost. Two ghosts…’

‘What do you mean?’ Sophie had followed them and now had her hand on her mother’s wrist, feeling for her pulse.

Judy’s mouth opened. And then closed again. Her gaze slid away from Sophie’s, back to the other side of the waiting room to where the children were still sitting quietly, and then up, to the man who was towering above her.

‘Who are you?’ she asked.

‘And why are you here?’ Sophie added. Her words came out sharply. She’d been aware of her own anxiety about this situation but the fact that it had affected her mother so dramatically made it unacceptable. She wanted the truth. And she wanted it now.

‘I think you’ve guessed,’ Finn said slowly. ‘Or your mother has, anyway.’

‘Mum?’

But Judy didn’t seem capable of finding any words. It was Finn who spoke.

‘It’s Ellie and Emma,’ he said, so quietly there was no chance of either of them hearing what he was saying. ‘They’re your daughters, Sophie.’

CHAPTER TWO

THIS COULDN’T BE HAPPENING.

They had promised her that nothing like this could ever happen.

And yet, here it was. Happening.

The shock waves kept on rolling in. There was no point at all in trying to summon denial to deal with this. At some level, Sophie realised, she’d known from that first instant with that puzzling sense of recognition when she’d seen the twins. And her poor mother…

No wonder Judy had almost fainted with the shock of feeling as if she’d stepped back three decades in time and was seeing not only her own young daughter again but seeing double.

How could anyone think it was acceptable to shock people like this? Her mother could have had a heart attack. Sophie was already worried about her father’s state of health and now that anxiety had just increased exponentially to include her mother. As for her own state of mind… Well, she wasn’t even going to go there right now. This should not be happening. For this man to have tracked her down meant that somebody, somewhere—perhaps in the very IVF clinic she and Matthew had used themselves—had broken confidentiality.

Had broken the law?

Okay. Sophie knew how she felt now. Angry. Furious, in fact.

‘You shouldn’t be here,’ she hissed fiercely, keeping her voice as low as possible. ‘How did you even find out who I was?’

Finn was still watching her intently after dropping that bombshell, so she couldn’t miss the flash of…guilt? Yes, that was what it was all right. He knew he’d done something he shouldn’t have. But it was gone as fast as it had appeared and what took its place looked disturbingly like defiance. Finn Connelly might know he’d done something that could get him into serious trouble but he was prepared to stand up for himself. He had a reason for doing this and he believed he could defend it.

Judy took a gulp of air in. And then another. Sophie had to admire the way her mother was pulling herself together. She was staring at the two children on the other side of the room and she was also protecting them from hearing any of this conversation. Her voice was a whisper.

‘This has something to do with the eggs you donated, Sophie, doesn’t it? These girls are your biological children? My…’

The whisper cracked and faded into silence but what she’d been about to say hung in the air as loudly as if it had been spoken.

My grandchildren…

This…this stunt…hadn’t just detonated an emotional bomb in her own life, it was going to affect other people. Her parents. They’d had to grieve the loss of their son-in-law and then the devastating extra loss of their unborn grandchild. It had taken years for them all to accept those losses and build a new version of their lives but they had done it. Together. With the help of a loyal and close community.

This was such a slap in their faces. A living, breathing reminder of what had been lost. These were someone else’s children but they were what her own would have looked like. Who could have known that the genes for her type of uncontrollable hair were so strong? Sophie could feel the sharp teeth of her own grief against her heart, getting ready to bite with a force she hadn’t had to deal with for years. Her mother shouldn’t have to cope with this as well—it was just so unfair.

But Judy seemed to be coping better than she was herself. She looked up at the two people who were staring at each other over her head and then she pushed herself to her feet. She was still pale, but seemed quite steady as she turned to Finn.

‘You know what? I’m thinking you’ve had a long drive, haven’t you?’

Finn nodded slowly. ‘We’ve come from Wexford, in Ireland. Took the earliest ferry.’

‘You must be very tired.’ Judy’s tone held the kind of sympathy that made her patients comfortable to follow any advice she might have to offer. ‘And those little girls are probably exhausted.’

She walked towards the twins. Sophie found herself holding her breath. Her mother was the quintessential maternal figure—more than a little overweight, a bit rumpled, with a smile so genuine nobody could resist smiling back—and babies and children adored her.

How would these subdued little girls respond? Could they actually be aware, at some subconscious level, that there was such a strong genetic link?

‘You’re Ellie, aren’t you?’ Judy was smiling. ‘No…you’re Emma. I’m right, yes?’

The twins nodded. They couldn’t possibly be aware of any link, Sophie thought, but there was no mistaking that they were falling under Judy Greene’s spell.

‘Would you like to come with me?’ she asked. ‘I’m thinking that you’re probably very hungry. Am I right?’

Her query earned another nod. Slightly more enthusiastic this time, and Sophie heard what sounded like a defeated sigh escape from Finn.

‘Let’s put your hoods up. It’s raining outside but we don’t have far to go.’ Judy had a twin holding each of her hands as she came back towards where Finn and Sophie were still standing.

‘If it’s all right with you,’ she said to Finn, ‘I’m going to take the girls to the house and give them something to eat.’

Finn seemed to be falling under her spell as well. He just nodded.

‘You two need to talk,’ Judy added.

‘But…what about Dad?’ Sophie caught her mother’s gaze. Her father had already given them a health scare. Wasn’t it a risk to add this shocking development to an already tough day?

‘He’s fine,’ Judy said. ‘All he needed was some food and a rest.’

‘But…’ Desperately, Sophie tried to grasp some element of control in an impossible situation. It might be better if her father didn’t see these children. ‘He might guess. Like you did…’

‘We can hardly keep it a secret, Sophie.’ Her mother’s gaze was steady. ‘It’s already too late for that. Talk to—’ Her eyebrows rose as she turned her head.

‘Finn,’ he supplied. ‘Finn Connelly.’

‘Talk to Finn.’ Judy nodded. ‘And then you can come and talk to me and Dad.’

The twins seemed happy to follow her towards the back door of the clinic. Judy paused as she opened it.

‘And make that poor lad a cup of tea, Sophie. He looks done in.’

The mechanics of making a cup of tea in the tiny kitchenette of the clinic were helpful. The actions of filling the electric jug and pushing the button to make it work, opening a cupboard to take out mugs, opening the old toffee tin to find some teabags—was a curiously normal bubble in the aftermath of the explosion.

Had her mother known that it would make Sophie feel a little calmer?

‘Do you take milk?’

‘Yes.’

‘Sugar.’

‘Yes, please. Two.’

Sophie poured boiling water into the mugs and then paused to wait for them to steep. She didn’t turn to where she knew Finn was leaning against the wall.

‘You can’t have done it legally.’

His hesitation said it all. ‘Not exactly, no…’

She turned to hand him a mug and then waited for him to lift his gaze again.

‘So who broke the law?’

His gaze shuttered. ‘I’m not saying. I will say that she’s a friend of mine and…and she was persuaded by the circumstances.’

Sophie sipped at her own drink but she was eyeing Finn over the rim of her mug. Yeah…with those looks and that Irish brogue, she had no doubt that he could turn on the charm and persuade women to do whatever he wanted them to.

Well…she wasn’t one of those women, even if she had been drawn to give him a lingering second glance when she’d first laid eyes on him.

‘You want a biscuit?’

‘No, thanks. I’m not hungry. Could we…ah…sit down somewhere for a moment?’

Sophie would have been quite happy to have this conversation standing up. It wasn’t as if it was going to be a cosy chat, was it? But her mother had been right in saying that this uninvited guest looked done in. Well-honed instincts suggested that he might even be unwell given that it wasn’t warm enough in here to have provoked what looked like a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. She’d had more than enough people threatening to collapse on her today already.

‘Fine…come with me.’

The chairs in her consulting room were still as she’d positioned them to talk to Shirley. Side by side instead of one in front and one behind the desk. Briefly, Sophie considered dragging her chair to make the desk a kind of protective barrier but the unexpected gesture of Finn waiting for her to be seated first made it a step too far. Or maybe it was the hint of a crooked smile—as if he knew exactly how she might be feeling and he was offering an apology.

She did, however, shuffle the chair further away from the one he took. There was definitely no need to be within hand-holding distance this time.

‘So…’ Sophie put her mug down on top of a medical journal she hadn’t had time to open yet. ‘What kind of circumstances were enough to persuade this friend of yours to break the law?’

Finn had both his hands wrapped around the mug because it was providing a source of warmth that his body was currently craving.

He hadn’t felt this cold since…oh, no…not since he’d picked up that dose of malaria when he’d backpacked through Thailand on his way to Australia. Now the lack of appetite and his headache could be attributed to more than the stress he was dealing with. This could be yet another problem but, right now, there was a bigger issue to address. A whole heap bigger.

‘Ten years or so ago,’ he told Sophie, ‘my brother, Sean, met and fell in love with a nurse. Stella, her name was.’

Never mind that he’d been the one who’d met Stella first. That he had fallen in love with her first. That he’d taken her home to Ireland that Christmas with the intention of popping the question. Sophie didn’t need to know the sordid details of his family’s betrayal and his subsequent estrangement from them.

‘They wanted to have a family straight away,’ he continued. ‘But it wasn’t happening. They spent years trying and having investigations and, in the end, it turned out that it wasn’t going to happen naturally at all. Stella had had major problems with endometriosis and it had apparently affected the quality of her eggs. The only way they were going to have kids was by egg donation.’

Sophie made an impatient noise. ‘I don’t need the back story,’ she muttered. ‘However touching it is. I want to know why you’re here, with these children, on my doorstep. What you’re expecting me to do?’

‘I don’t expect anything.’ Finn closed his eyes.

He was telling the truth. He didn’t expect anything, especially in the face of the defensiveness that was radiating from this Sophie Bradford. He’d known she would be shocked but he could actually feel the solid barriers she had put up around her. This wasn’t just the last thing she had expected to happen. It was the last thing she had wanted to happen. He wasn’t about to let the future of his nieces be influenced by someone who didn’t even care. It was more than disappointing, however. On some level, it felt as if he already knew this woman. He certainly would have recognised her in the street after the amount of time he had now spent with his nieces. They were gorgeous children. This Sophie Bradford was a gorgeous woman—to outward appearances, anyway…

The coldness that had seemed bone-deep was ebbing fast. Being replaced by heat. He had the medication he knew he needed but it was in his bag in the car. He couldn’t exactly excuse himself and go to fetch it, could he? He opened his eyes and focused on the woman beside him. This wouldn’t take long. He could tell her what she needed to know and then leave her to think about it. He would go and find the girls and then find somewhere to crash for the night and, if he dosed himself up well enough and got a good night’s sleep, maybe tomorrow would bring more than a new day. Maybe it would bring some kind of solution?

‘Okay…’ He kept his voice matter-of-fact. ‘Three weeks ago Sean and Stella were in a car crash. The kids were home with a babysitter. Stella was killed instantly. Sean was badly injured and in a coma. He was put on life support and I was contacted as next of kin. I flew back to find that my role as the closest relative was to give permission to turn off the life support and make his organs available for donation. There was a double funeral for them yesterday.’

Finn could feel sweat trickling down between his shoulder blades and prickling at his hairline. He rubbed his forehead and wasn’t surprised to feel the alarming heat on his skin. He was sick all right, and getting rapidly sicker. It was getting harder to focus as well.

‘Are you all right?’ Sophie’s voice sounded oddly distant.

‘I will be. It’s just a bit of a relapse, that’s all. I know how to deal with it. I’m a doctor myself.’

She was silent. Was his brain playing tricks on him already or did the silence feel judgemental? Maybe she thought he was an alcoholic, perhaps? Or a drug addict, or on death’s doorstep from something like leukaemia?

‘Who’s been looking after the children?’

‘They were taken into foster care after the accident but I took them back to their own house with the help of a nanny while things got sorted. As their guardian, it was obviously my responsibility to make decisions about their future, along with planning the funerals and everything.’

There was another silence. What had the question been? Oh, yeah…why was he here?

‘It didn’t seem right to hand Ellie and Emma over to Social Services for fostering or adoption when they had a living relative who had no idea what was going on. It’s not that I’m expecting anything… I just thought you had the right to know, that’s all.’

Sophie’s breath came out in a huff that sounded incredulous. ‘What about you? You’re their guardian. And you’re alive…’ Her tone changed into one of concern. ‘Although you’re not looking that great at the moment. Maybe I should have a look at you…’

Finn could feel his energy levels dropping alarmingly. He couldn’t even start to feel that disappointment morphing into any kind of resentment that he’d come up against a human brick wall who had no interest in her biological children. All he wanted to do was find a bed and curl up. To take his pills and then ride out the fever and chills until he could surface and think clearly again. But he didn’t have that choice, did he? Somehow, he had to keep going.

‘My life is in Australia,’ he told her. ‘I’m single and that’s not about to change. I work in the Outback with the Flying Doctor service and I have a punishing roster. I live on the base, and I can get called out at any time, and there’s no guarantee of when I’ll get back. It’s no place to raise kids.’

‘They’re your nieces.’

‘I hadn’t even met them until I had to turn off their father’s life support.’

The silence this time held an edge of shock. Curiosity, too, perhaps, but Finn wasn’t about to tell her anything else. With a huge effort he pushed himself to his feet.

‘This was a mistake,’ he said. Was it his imagination or were his words a little slurred? ‘I’m sorry.’

Why had he thought it was remotely the right thing to do? Because he’d felt guilty? He hadn’t needed Sophie to remind him that he’d broken ethical codes, if not the law, in getting the information he’d needed to track her down.

What had he thought might happen here? That he’d find a woman who already had her own family but had been altruistic enough to donate eggs to help someone else achieve the bliss of motherhood? That she’d instantly recognise the biological bond and welcome some new additions with open arms?

The way her mother seemed to have done?

Finn shook his head. Where had the mother taken the girls? He needed to find them and get out of here. But shaking his head had been a mistake. It triggered a spinning sensation that rapidly escalated. He tried to catch the edge of the desk to steady himself but only succeeded in knocking over the mug of tea that he’d never finished drinking. He watched the puddle of liquid spreading to reach a stack of medical journals as Sophie leapt to her feet.

‘Sorry,’ he said again. ‘I’m really sorry.’

And then he felt her arm go around his waist.

‘I don’t believe this,’ he heard her mutter as she looped his arm around her neck. ‘Not again…’

He was moving now. Towards the bed in the corner of this consulting room. He was being helped up the step and being turned so that he could sit and then lie down. The spinning hadn’t stopped but the pillow felt cool and soft.

So did Sophie’s hand against his forehead.

A soft touch, he thought. Nice…

‘What’s going on, Finn?’ There was no animosity in her tone now. She had a patient and she was determined to help him. ‘What’s wrong with you?’

‘Malaria… Had it once before but this is the first relapse. I’ve got the drugs I need…out in my car…laptop bag…’

‘Keys?’

‘In my pocket.’

He felt her hand against his hip and then the rattle of the keys being extracted; then, as the shivering kicked in, the weight of a woollen blanket being draped over his body.

‘Don’t move,’ she ordered. ‘I’ll be right back.’

CHAPTER THREE

THE PACKET OF TABLETS, a combination therapy for the treatment of malaria, was easy enough to find in the bag that Sophie carried back into her consultation room in North Cove’s medical centre.

Finding head space where she could even start trying to process this turn of events in her life was rather more difficult.

Impossible, even.

Her daughters? Hardly. The mother of those two little girls was a woman called Stella who’d chosen to bring them into existence. Who’d carried them in her belly for nine months and given birth to them.

It would be a different story if she’d had these babies herself and then given them up for adoption but her only contribution had been an egg donation. She’d given up some biological material to be used by someone who’d had need of it.

Like giving a blood donation. It had been made and that was the end of it.

So why did it feel as if an uncontrollable series of future events was only just beginning?

It was too huge even to know where to start.

And she had something more important to think about right now, in any case.

‘I’m not sure I’m happy to hand out drugs without making a clinical diagnosis,’ she told Finn.

He looked as though it was taking an effort to open his eyes. Such dark eyes, Sophie noticed, that it was hard to tell if his pupils were dilated or not. And, when his gaze touched hers again, there was something different about it. Because she knew why he was here, now?

No. Sophie suspected it would have been the same if they’d caught each other’s gaze on a street somewhere. There was something else here. A sense of connection. Recognition, even?

‘You’re not handing them out. They’re mine. I diagnosed myself. I’ve kept the drugs on hand ever since I contracted malaria in the first place. In case this happened.’

‘What about differential diagnoses?’

Finn sighed. ‘Such as?’

‘A viral illness like influenza. Sepsis. Food poisoning. Hepatitis…’ Sophie racked her brains. Malaria wasn’t a common illness in these parts. ‘Plague,’ she added.

Unexpectedly a corner of Finn’s mouth twitched. ‘It does kind of feel like plague at the moment, I have to confess.’

So he had a sense of humour? Even more unexpectedly, Sophie felt a twinge of liking this guy, closely followed by a wave of sympathy. He hadn’t actually come here with the intention of ruining her life, had he? He was faced with a massive problem and he’d been grasping at straws.

‘Even if your self-diagnosis is correct, it’s my job to decide whether you’re sick enough to be admitted to hospital.’ Sophie picked up her tympanic thermometer and fitted a plastic shield onto it. She smoothed back rather damp waves of his hair to find his ear hole. It was a perfectly normal thing to be doing, so why did it suddenly seem a little too personal? Intimate, even? Maybe her words were for herself as much as him. ‘Right now, you’re a patient in my medical practice.’

Finn submitted to having his temperature taken. ‘It was uncomplicated malaria the first time round. I don’t need to be admitted anywhere. I just need to take my medication and find somewhere to stay for a day or two. Until I’m fit to drive.’

Oh, yeah… He’d already realised that he’d made a mistake and he’d been intending to rectify it by leaving and taking the children with him. She had to admire that decision given that he’d said he was no more in a position to take on his orphaned nieces than she was.

But why had he only met them so recently? There was more to this story than she’d been given. Possibly because she hadn’t wanted to listen and had told him as much in no uncertain terms. She hadn’t wanted her heartstrings tugged, to get involved with this story at any meaningful level.

The thermometer beeped and Sophie glanced at the readout. ‘Forty point one,’ she announced. ‘That’s quite an impressive fever.’

‘Which will probably drop quite soon and then make a reappearance later.’ But Finn was pushing away the blanket she’d covered him with. ‘Would you have a glass of water available? I’d like to take my pills.’

‘Just a minute… I want to have a listen to your chest. And a feel of your tummy, if you don’t mind.’

Finn’s head dropped back against the pillow again. ‘It’s not necessary.’

‘You’re currently my patient,’ Sophie reminded him. ‘You don’t get to fall over in my consulting room and then tell me what is or isn’t necessary. Okay?’

He made no response but Sophie almost got the feeling that he was happy to comply. Maybe he was feeling so awful that being forced to get checked was almost a relief?

Malaria could have nasty complications. Fatal ones, such as cerebral oedema, organ failure and coma due to hypoglycaemia. This might be the first case of malaria that Sophie had come across but the professional part of her brain was actually revelling in retrieving information learned long ago.

‘Your lungs sound clear. No pulmonary oedema.’

‘I could have told you that. I’m not having any respiratory issues.’

Sophie had got past that disturbing beat of feeling that this situation had a personal rather than purely professional edge. She was totally focussed now. ‘Would you mind undoing your jeans for me, please?’

She laid her hand on a very flat abdomen, pressing gently to examine a lower quadrant. ‘When did you last have something to eat?’

‘I’m not sure. We stopped for lunch but I was more worried about whether Ellie and Emma were eating. Which they weren’t…’

‘Don’t worry. If I know my mum, she’ll be filling them up with something like fish fingers and ice-cream right about now. Hmm…that hurt, didn’t it?’

‘A bit…’ The admission was reluctant.

‘That’s right over your spleen and I’d say it’s enlarged. It can rupture, you know, in a severe case of malaria.’

‘Yeah…thanks for that.’

‘I’m going to take some blood as well. I can do a blood glucose here but I’ll have to send the rest away to check on your renal function.’

She helped him roll up the sleeve of his woollen jumper and pulled a tourniquet tight above his elbow. He didn’t flinch when the needle pierced his skin. A high pain threshold? She’d need to take that into account the next time she was pressing on his abdomen.

‘Blood sugar’s low normal. Could just be a result of you not eating recently.’

‘You happy now? Can I have my meds?’

Sophie handed over the packet of pills and filled a glass of water from the basin in the room. She would hardly call her state of mind any shade of happiness.

What on earth was she going to do now?

‘Let’s see how steady you are on your feet,’ she said, finally. ‘I’ll take you to my parents’ house which is just past the car park. Between us, I’m sure we can sort something out about a place you can stay. Not that North Cove has much in the way of hotels, but there are a few B&Bs and a guest house or two.’

The rain had settled into a steady downpour and the pace that Finn seemed capable of managing was nowhere near fast enough to stop them both getting noticeably wet by the time Sophie led him through the back door of what had been one of the original farmhouses in the area. The door led into a huge kitchen that smelled of hot food and home but it was empty at the moment so she kept going to the living room across the hall. There she found her father, putting another log onto the open fire.

‘Dad? This is Finn Connelly.’

Jack Greene straightened. He was still looking a bit pale, Sophie noted, but that could be due to the startling arrival of two children he was biologically related to as much as his earlier dizzy spell today.

Oh, man… Her life was suddenly spinning out of control and she didn’t like it one little bit.

‘Where’s Mum?’

‘I’m here…’ Judy appeared through the door. ‘I was just tucking up the girls.’ She met Sophie’s stare with one of her own. ‘I didn’t know how long you were going to be, Sophie. They were exhausted, poor little loves. And there was your old room with its two beds. They were asleep almost as soon as their heads touched the pillows.’ She smiled at Finn. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I gave them some dinner that wasn’t particularly healthy. Fish fingers and ice-cream.’

Sophie’s gaze flew to catch Finn’s and there was a moment of silent communication.

Told you so…

Yeah… I get it. You’re always right…

He spoke, however, to Judy. ‘That’s fine. You’ve done better than I have today, finding something they actually wanted to eat.’

‘Oh, my goodness. You’re soaked. Come over here by the fire. I’ll get you a cup of tea.’

‘I’m a bit warm,’ Finn said. ‘I might stay here.’ He sank down onto one end of the huge, worn leather sofa.

Jack was staring at the newcomer with a frown on his face. ‘You don’t look right, lad.’ He shifted his gaze to Sophie. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Malaria,’ she said.

‘What?’ Jack pushed his glasses back up his nose. ‘That’s ridiculous. How did you diagnose that on the spot? When have we ever had a case of malaria in North Cove?’

‘Finn’s a doctor,’ she told him. ‘And this is a relapse, not a primary infection. He diagnosed it himself but his signs and symptoms certainly fit the clinical picture. Fever, headache, fatigue. Oh, and a rather tender spleen. I’ve taken bloods. I’ll get them off to the lab myself on my way home.’

She could feel the curious glance coming from Finn. Had he thought she still lived here, with her parents? She was thirty-four, for heaven’s sake. Would he still consider living with his parents?

No. His parents clearly weren’t in the picture if he had been his brother’s only relative. And he’d said he hadn’t seen his brother in years, either.

Okay. Her father wasn’t the only curious one.

‘So you’re a doctor?’ Jack moved to sit on the other end of the couch. ‘A specialist? Where do you work?’

‘I’m an emergency medicine specialist. I spent five years or so in a London A&E but I’ve been in Australia for the last few years. I’m hoping to sign a new three-year contract with the Flying Doctors service there.’

Glances were exchanged between Sophie’s parents as the implications of his statement sank in. They would both realise how unlikely it was that he would be taking two young children to Outback Australia.

‘I’ll help you make some tea,’ Sophie said to her mother. ‘We need to find somewhere for Finn to stay for a day or two as well. He’s not in a fit state to drive.’

She hoped that Finn would be filling in the gaps for her father while she was in the kitchen doing the same thing for her mother. She kept it short and to the point and Judy listened quietly as she put cups and saucers onto a tray and waited for the kettle to boil.

‘Well…’ she said finally. ‘I’m not waking those girls up to get dragged off to a B&B. They’ll have to stay here, for tonight at least. Find the biscuit tin, would you?’

A plate was put in front of Sophie with a clatter. A sure sign that Judy Greene was not happy.

A moment later and her father came into the kitchen. He didn’t look happy, either.

‘That lad needs to be in bed,’ he said. ‘I’d probably admit him if he was my patient but I don’t expect he’s going to like that idea.’

‘He doesn’t need admission. He needs somewhere to rest for a few days with someone checking up on him frequently. What about Mrs Murphy’s guest house?’ Sophie suggested. ‘It’s just up the road.’

‘You’d put a sick man in a guest house?’ Judy sounded horrified. ‘And Colleen Murphy? She’d be round here first thing tomorrow morning, and one look at those girls and she’ll know exactly what’s going on. Like I did.’ She shook her head as she poured boiling water into the teapot to warm it. ‘That hair…’ She swirled the pot and tipped the water out before reaching for the tea caddy. ‘And if Colleen knows, the whole town’ll hear about it soon enough.’

The teapot hit the bench with a thump. ‘He’ll have to stay here, in our guest room. Unless you want to take him home, Sophie?’

‘Why on earth would I want to do that?’

Judy spoke quietly. ‘Because he’s the uncle of your daughters, perhaps?’

‘They’re not my daughters.’ It felt as if the walls were closing in around Sophie. ‘And he’s not much of an uncle, by all accounts. He only met them a matter of days ago.’ She felt her hands curling into fists. ‘He doesn’t want them. He wants to get back to Australia and that exciting job he’s got with the Flying Doctors. I think he wants me to have them.’

Her voice had risen with the incredulity of it all, so the silence after her outburst made the air feel almost too thick to breathe. It seemed that neither of her parents shared her opinion of how unreasonable this was.

Her father cleared his throat. ‘Well…biologically, they are your daughters, Soph. Which makes them…our grandchildren…doesn’t it?’

‘No…’ Sophie was cradling her forehead in both her hands now. ‘For heaven’s sake, Dad. I donated eggs. It doesn’t make me suddenly responsible for what happens to them, does it? What if I’d donated a kidney to someone? And…and they turned up on the doorstep and said they were homeless now? Would I have to invite them to live with me for the rest of my life?’

Dropping her hands, she looked up, and the look on her parents’ faces was enough to break her heart. It took her back instantly to that moment when their excitement at the prospect of becoming grandparents had morphed into yet another grief when faced with the reality of her miscarriage. When all their lives had changed for ever.

That had been her child. Hers and Matthew’s. The egg she’d chosen to have implanted that first time. The baby she’d fallen in love with the instant she’d seen that tiny heart beating on the ultrasound screen.

‘They’re not my children,’ Sophie whispered into the silence. ‘Can’t you understand? I’m finally at the point where I’m not missing Matthew and our baby every single day. I love my life just the way it is. I don’t want to be a mother. I’m not ready…and…and I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready again.’

‘You don’t have to be.’

It wasn’t either of her parents who had spoken. Oh, help… How long had Finn been standing in the kitchen doorway? How much had he heard?

Enough, obviously.

‘I’ll sort it out,’ he said. His face twisted with what looked like regret as he spoke to Judy. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he added. ‘I didn’t think. I’ve created a problem for everybody.’

Judy’s shoes tapped on the flagstones as she crossed the room. ‘You did what you thought was the right thing,’ she said softly. ‘We all need some time to think about this so…’ She was smiling at him now—that gentle smile that advertised the warmest heart in the world. ‘Who knows? Maybe it’s a good thing that you’re not well enough to go anywhere else right now.’

‘I can’t stay here…’ Finn might look as if he was about to topple over at any moment but he was fighting hard. ‘Can you please tell me where that guest house is?’

‘You’re not going to win this one, lad.’ Jack’s smile for his wife conveyed an understanding born of a great many years. And a great deal of love. ‘Come with me. I’ll show you where our guest room is. It’s got its own bathroom so you’ll be quite private.’

‘Find him a pair of your pyjamas, Jack. I’ll bring him a cup of tea in a minute. And maybe some soup.’ Judy caught Sophie’s gaze as she headed back to the teapot. ‘You going to stay for some soup, too, love?’

Sophie shook her head. ‘I need to get those blood samples to the lab.’

She had to get out of here. Control of her life was being torn out of her hands and she couldn’t deal with this. She needed some time to herself. A lot of time. At least her father would be here if Finn’s condition deteriorated so she wouldn’t have to add any worry about a new patient to the mess already in her head.

She couldn’t help another glance in his direction, however. A glance that was intended to reassure herself that she could, at least, put worrying about the potential complications of malaria to one side.

Finn had one hand on the frame of the door, as if he needed the support to stay upright. He had been watching her, she realised, as her gaze connected with his. For what seemed like a very long moment, they held the eye contact.

She didn’t want to feel sorry for this man. Or have to repress the instinctive urge to offer assistance and reassurance but…that look in his eyes was a plea that was impossible to ignore.

He was lost, wasn’t he?

Torn.

Wanting to do the right thing but, for whatever reason, feeling incapable of taking the step that they both knew would be the right thing to do here. The only thing to do, in fact.

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