Her unexpected rescuer

When newly qualified paramedic Mimi Sawyer is separated from her colleague in a flash flood, the last person she wants to come to her rescue is Dr. Rafe Chapman—the man who broke her heart when he walked out five years ago…

Talking about his feelings has never been easy for Rafe. But their forced reunion means confronting the truth of the past. It’s suddenly clear that Mimi has always been the one for him, yet to win her back he’ll need to convince Mimi that he’s the one for her!

Stranded in His Arms

Falling in love in the face of danger!

As the water level rises in a Somerset village ambulance partners Mimi Sawyer and Jack Halliday race towards a pregnant woman fast approaching her due date. But when a river bursts its banks this fearless team is separated, and Mimi and Jack find themselves facing the strongest challenge yet to the walls around their hearts...!

Don’t miss this exciting new duet by

Annie Claydon

Mimi and Rafe’s story

Rescued by Dr Rafe

and

Jack and Cass’s story

Saved by the Single Dad

Available now!

Dear Reader,

I’ve often thought that to read—and write—romance you have to be a believer in redemption. Is it really possible to leave the past behind and make a new future? Mimi and Rafe have a tough task on their hands, because they’ve hurt each other before and have spent the last five years rebuilding their lives. The last thing either of them wants to do is go back and revisit that pain. So working together for even a few days, in a flood-ravaged area, is a particular challenge for them.

But sometimes tough times will give us the chance of a new beginning. Looking back on my own life, I can see the many good times have given me joy and hope, but it’s the difficult times which have shaped me the most and given me the opportunity to change. And, of course, to appreciate those good times all the more!

Thank you for reading Rafe and Mimi’s story. I always enjoy hearing from readers, and you can contact me via my website at annieclaydon.com.

Annie x

Cursed with a poor sense of direction and a propensity to read, ANNIE CLAYDON spent much of her childhood lost in books. A degree in English Literature followed by a career in computing didn’t lead directly to her perfect job—writing romance for Mills & Boon—but she has no regrets in taking the scenic route. She lives in London: a city where getting lost can be a joy.

Rescued by Dr Rafe

Annie Claydon

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For my sweet sister

Praise for Annie Claydon

“A compelling, emotional and highly poignant read that I couldn’t bear to put down. Rich in pathos, humor and dramatic intensity, it’s a spellbinding tale about healing old wounds, having the courage to listen to your heart and the power of love that kept me enthralled from beginning to end.”

—Goodreads on Once Upon A Christmas Night...

“A lovely story—I really enjoyed this book, which was well written by Annie, as always.”

—Goodreads on Re-awakening His Shy Nurse

“Well-written, brilliant characters—I have never been disappointed by a book written by Annie Claydon.”

—Goodreads on The Rebel and Miss Jones

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Dedication

Praise for Annie Claydon

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

EPILOGUE

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

THE RAIN BEAT down hard on the windscreen, the wipers only clearing it for a moment before water blocked visibility again. Jack was sitting next to her, watching the road ahead carefully.

‘Think we’ll make it?’

Mimi was gripping the steering wheel tight, gauging the way the heavy vehicle was responding in the wet conditions. ‘Yep. As long as the road doesn’t disappear out from under us, we’ll make it.’

The comment wasn’t as unlikely as it would have sounded when they’d last come this way, two weeks ago. It had been raining then, a fine mist that barely covered the road ahead of them. But since then, the rain hadn’t stopped. It had been a dismal summer and August had brought storms. Roads had been washed away in some areas of rural Somerset, and ambulance crews had been battling to get through to their patients.

‘Just think. In two weeks’ time you’ll be away from all of this.’ Jack leaned back in his seat. ‘Miss Miriam Sawyer. Paramedic.’

Despite herself, Mimi grinned. She’d worked hard, and the sound of her own name, spoken with the coveted qualification attached still made her smile every time Jack repeated it. ‘I’m not sure I would have made it without you.’

‘’Course you would. Although I like to think that my expertise and advice were helpful...’

‘And the incessant nagging, of course. But we don’t mention that.’

‘No, we don’t. Or my back seat driving.’

‘Especially not that.’ Two weeks seemed like a long time right now and Mimi’s promotion from ambulance driver to paramedic a long way away. Just getting to this call was about as far ahead as she was able to think, right now.

‘And I’ll be trying to get used to a new partner. Missing your unerring instinct for finding every bump in the road...’

‘Oh, put a sock in it.’ Mimi felt her shoulders relax. Jack always knew when the tension was getting too much, and always seemed to be able to wind things down a bit. ‘Anyway, you’re assuming that they’ll be able to find someone who’ll put up with you.’

‘Harsh, Mimi. Very harsh.’ Jack chuckled, leaning forward to see ahead of them, down the hill towards the river. ‘Looks as if the bridge is still there.’

‘Yeah, but I don’t think we should risk it. That bridge will only just take an ambulance at the best of times. I don’t want to get stuck in the mud on the other side.’ In the brief moments that the windscreen was clear enough to see any distance, it was apparent that the surface water, rolling down the hill on the far side of the river, had reduced the road to a slippery quagmire.

Jack nodded. ‘Looks as if we walk the rest of the way, then.’

‘We could try the A389.’ They’d been directed around this way because of reports that the main road into the village was closed. But maybe that was just a precaution and the ambulance would still be able to traverse it.

‘Nah, I checked and it’s under three feet of water. We’d never get through.’ Jack had been using his phone for updates while Mimi concentrated on the driving. ‘Right now, I think we need to just get ourselves there.’

‘And then?’ If the chances of getting the ambulance across the bridge and up to the village at the top of the hill on the other side were slim, the thought of arriving on foot didn’t appeal very much either. Bringing a pregnant woman back down that treacherous path was something that didn’t bear thinking about.

‘We can assess the situation. I’ve put a call in for a doctor to attend...’

‘Yeah. Right.’ She and Jack had delivered babies before together and, if needs must, they’d do it again. ‘I hope they’re not going to send some junior doctor who thinks he’s the one who’s going to save the world and that we should just stand back and make the tea.’

‘As a paramedic you’ll be making these kinds of decisions soon. What will you do?’ Jack smiled.

‘Oh, I think I’ll put in a call for a doctor to attend.’ Mimi grinned back at him, bringing the ambulance to a halt. She decided to stay put and not pull off the road on to the muddy verge. That was one sure way to get stuck, and a car could make it past in the other lane. Anything bigger wouldn’t be getting any further anyway.

‘Time to get your hair wet again.’

Mimi grimaced, tucking her blonde plait into the back of her shirt. Her hair had been wet so many times in the last week that she was beginning to wish that short hair suited her as well as it did Jack.

They pulled their wet weather gear on in the cabin and Mimi reached for the radio. The only response to her call signal was a burst of static. ‘Looks as if there’s a problem again...’

‘Yeah?’ Jack looked at the rain slamming into the windscreen. ‘Have you got a signal on your mobile?’

‘Probably not...’ Even in good conditions, mobile reception was patchy around here. ‘I might have to walk back up the road a bit. You go on; I’ll be right behind you.’

The ambulance rocked slightly as Jack pulled his heavy bag out of the back, slamming the rear doors closed. Mimi saw him trudge past, rain bouncing from his waterproofs, as she pulled out her phone and dialled.

Nearly... A staccato ringtone sounded on the line, but it was breaking up and then it cut out completely. Climbing out of the ambulance, she toiled back along the road, rain stinging her face. Some way ahead of her she could see an SUV travelling down the hill towards her, going as fast as the pouring rain would allow.

‘Careful, mate...’ She muttered the words to the unknown driver. ‘Any faster and you’ll be in the ditch.’

Forty feet gave her another bar on her phone, and another twenty feet one more. That should be enough. The SUV was closer now, and the driver was flashing his headlights.

‘Okay, I see you.’ Mimi stepped off the road, stumbling over the uneven, sticky ground.

Then she heard it. A distant rumbling sound that might have been thunder, but there had been no accompanying flash of lightning. Mimi turned in the direction of the noise, looking upstream, and then she saw its source.

‘Jack...!’

She shouted into the storm, at the figure on the other side of the bridge, screaming Jack’s name again when he didn’t react. It was impossible to tell whether he’d heard her this time, or the thunderous sound of water rushing downstream towards him, but he turned around.

Jack took one look at the water and dropped the heavy bag he was carrying. He seemed about to try and run, but the steep slope ahead of him was slippery with mud and water.

Mimi stared in horror, unable to do anything, and knowing that Jack had only seconds to make a decision. Run for it, or find something to hang on to. There was a large spreading tree at the side of the road and she willed him towards it. As the water crashed down, she saw him run for the shelter of the tree, clinging on to one of the four split trunks which rose up from the earth.

‘Jack... Hang on...’ She sobbed the words even though she knew he couldn’t hear them. Maybe he knew she’d be saying it, just as surely as she’d known which decision he’d make.

The noise of the water was almost deafening and, in an apocalyptic touch to the scene, the storm chose this moment to shoot a bolt of lightning through the sky, followed by a deep growl of thunder. The rush of water crashed past, taking a few chunks of the bridge with it, and Mimi kept her gaze fixed on the spot where she’d last seen Jack.

‘Hang on, hang on, hang on...’ It was as if she could repeat it enough times to somehow make his grip firmer. The water was subsiding now as it followed the course of the river, and she could see him, tangled in the framework of twisted tree trunks.

Maybe he was holding on or maybe unconscious; she couldn’t see from here. Mimi started to run for the bridge, hoping that it hadn’t been weakened too much by the impact of the water.

A voice sounded behind her but the words were whipped away in the storm. And then someone grabbed her from behind, lifting her off her feet.

‘Mimi...!’

‘Let go of me.’ She struggled and, when he didn’t let her go, she kicked against him. The feel of him was familiar, but Mimi didn’t even stop to wonder how. Another sickening roar was coming from upstream.

‘Jack!’ She screamed his name as the second wave of water came crashing down into the valley. This one was bigger and swept the bridge away almost in one piece as the water boiled and rushed downstream.

‘You can’t reach him, Mimi. You’ll only kill yourself.’

That voice... Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her and it wasn’t him at all. But Rafe’s voice was unmistakable. A trace of public school, softened by years of not caring to mark himself out as any different from the next man, and currently spiced with an urgent growl. ‘Let go of me! My ambulance...’

Water spilled towards them, this time reaching the parked ambulance, pushing it sideways across the road. For a moment, Mimi thought it was going to be okay, that the vehicle would come back to rest on the tarmac, but then it slipped onto the mud by the side of the road, tipping and coming to rest against a tree, as the water retreated again.

If Jack was injured, how was she going to get him back to the hospital now? In fact, how was she going to get to him at all? The bridge was gone and the river had burst its banks and become a lethal, fast-running torrent.

‘Someone’s coming for him—look.’ The arms around her loosened and Mimi struggled free. She’d deal with the sick feeling in her stomach, prompted by the feel of his unrelenting body, later. She had more important things to think about right now.

She watched as five...no, six figures appeared from the trees on the other side of the river, scrambling and sliding in the mud. Two stopped to retrieve the medical bag, which had been deposited in a clump of brambles, and four made for the twisted tree trunks, where Mimi could see Jack’s bright high-vis jacket.

For what seemed like an age, he lay motionless, tangled in the branches like a broken doll. One of the figures squatted down next to him as if talking to him.

Please, please, please... Yes! Through the curtain of rain, she saw him move and then Jack was helped to his feet. She strained to see as the rescue party clustered around him, and then saw him turn towards her.

‘Looks as if he’s still in one piece...’ Rafe’s voice again, behind her.

She could see that. ‘Jack, are you okay? I’ll meet you up at the village...’ she called across.

‘There’s no way through, Mimi.’

‘Only my friends call me Mimi.’ In the sudden shock of seeing him again, all she could think about was that she wished Rafe wouldn’t call her Mimi. Everyone else did, but she’d never wanted to hear him say her name ever again. If he wanted to call her something, he could call her Miriam. Or actually Ms Sawyer would be just fine.

‘All right then. Miriam...’ He shot her a look that told her he knew full well that she was being petty. ‘We both have the same information from the control centre. Unless you’re considering sprouting wings and flying...’ He gestured towards the raging stream, frustration written clearly in every abrupt movement.

Mimi didn’t reply. The most satisfying course of action right now was to hold Rafe responsible for both the state of the roads and the fact that her ambulance was sitting at a precarious angle in a ditch, even if that wasn’t fair. Rafe had gone out of his way to teach her that life wasn’t always fair.

Jack was waving and she waved back, tears springing to her eyes. Then that familiar gesture, the one she’d seen hundreds of times before. I’ll call you. She looked around for her phone, and Rafe picked it up from where she’d dropped it, handing it to her. Mimi took it without looking at him.

She checked that the phone was still working and then signalled back a thumbs-up to Jack. Okay. Then she watched him turn, as the men with him helped him back up the hill, towards the village.

Now that Jack was out of sight, she couldn’t put the moment off any longer. Mimi turned to face Rafe.

He was still the same. Dark hair, wet and slicked back with one wet spike caressing his brow. Deep blue eyes, so striking that it was difficult not to stare. He still stole her breath away, and right now that felt like robbery of the cruellest kind.

If anything he seemed a little taller, but she knew that was impossible. He was staring down at her, no hint of emotion on his face, and she wondered what he saw.

‘We’ll wait for Jack to call, and then I’ll take you back to the hospital.’ Finally Rafe spoke.

‘You’re not taking me anywhere. My vehicle and my partner are here.’

‘Your vehicle doesn’t look as if it’s going anywhere, and you can’t get to your partner.’

Rub it in, why don’t you? Rafe had clearly not forgotten how to hurt her. His strong, silent approach, unafraid to face the facts and able to make hard decisions, had been one of the things that had made Mimi notice him in the first place. But this time it wasn’t up to him to make the decisions.

‘It’s not your call, Rafe.’ If he thought that a failed relationship gave him any right to tell her what to do then he was wrong. He’d given that up five years ago, when he’d walked out on her.

‘Okay. So what are you planning on doing?’

‘I’ll wait until Jack phones. Then I’ll decide.’ That was final, and there was nothing that Rafe could do about it.

* * *

Rafe had steeled himself against the possibility that he might bump into Mimi when he’d volunteered to help in the area. When he hadn’t, he’d had to steel himself against the possibility that he might not.

Something about the way she moved had told him that it was her as he’d driven towards the figure in the rain, but he’d dismissed the idea, deciding that the woman was just another of those ghosts which had appeared before him and then turned out to be someone else. But as soon as he’d seen her start to run, he’d known. The kind of passionate loyalty that had sent her towards the wall of water instead of away from it might be foolish but it was Mimi all over and he still admired it.

Not that she’d shown very much passion when he’d left. Perhaps cool indifference was all he’d deserved after the way he’d behaved, but it had still hurt. This bristling anger, the naked hostility would have been almost refreshing if it wasn’t so badly timed.

‘Come and sit in the car.’ He gestured back to where his SUV was parked and she glared at him. He shrugged. ‘Or you could just suit yourself...’

She marched towards the car and, in a series of hurried movements, she managed to get her waterproof jacket off without getting too wet. When she was inside, she took off her overtrousers and heavy boots, hanging her coat on the clip behind her and dumping her boots in the footwell.

‘I hope you don’t mind my getting your car wet.’

She was sitting in the front seat frowning at him, legs drawn up in front of her, her feet in a pair of thick woolly socks. One of the things that hadn’t changed about Mimi was that she was wiggling her toes. She always did that when she was unsure of her next move.

‘Nope. Any time.’ Rafe hung his own coat in the back of the car, and it started to drip.

‘We’re staying here. Until I say so, right?’

‘Yes. That’s right.’ Mimi and Jack had always been close and always looked out for each other, but that had never inspired this sharp ache of jealousy before and it took Rafe by surprise. It had been five years. Even if it felt like just a few days since he’d last wrapped himself in her warm scent before drifting off to sleep. If she and Jack were together now, it was hardly a surprise.

She relaxed slightly into the seat. ‘Might take a while. If you get tired of waiting...’

‘You think I don’t care about Jack?’ They’d all been friends once. Whatever had happened since, Rafe still reserved the right to be concerned for him.

Her honey-brown eyes considered the question for a moment. ‘No. I don’t think that.’

She leaned forward, propping her phone on the dashboard, and Rafe wondered whether he should turn on the car radio to mask the silence. She looked just the same. Dark blonde hair, captured in a plait that was currently tucked into the back of her shirt. How many times had he watched her weaving it into that plait in the morning before she went to work?

‘What are you doing here, Rafe?’ The question had obviously been circulating in her head for a while and she didn’t meet his gaze when she asked it.

‘This area’s the worst hit by the weather conditions. All the hospitals in the county are sparing staff where they can.’

‘And you drew the short straw?’

‘I volunteered.’ Suddenly it seemed important that she know that. ‘I’m on leave for two weeks...’

‘This is your holiday?’ She raised her eyebrows.

‘Yeah. Beats the South of France any time.’

She gave a little nod. ‘Thanks.’

The thank you was more likely to be on behalf of her hospital to his, but Rafe preferred to take it personally and think that Mimi was actually glad to see him, despite the evidence to the contrary. All the same, she seemed to be relaxing a little now.

‘You and Jack are still a team, then?’

‘Not for much longer. I passed my exams and I’m a qualified paramedic now.’ She almost smiled. Almost but not quite.

‘You’re staying here to take up your promotion?’

‘No, I’m moving.’

‘Jack’ll miss you.’

‘I won’t be going that far...’ She broke off suddenly, staring at him. Maybe he’d been a little too obviously fishing for information. ‘Who I’m going out with is none of your business, Rafe.’

‘No, I know. But, out of interest, are you...and Jack?’

‘Like I said, none of your business. What about you?’

‘Nah. Jack’s not my type.’

‘I didn’t mean...’ The outrage drained out of her and she started to laugh. ‘He’d be very glad to hear you say that.’

She fell suddenly silent, her brow creased in a frown, as if making her laugh had now become a hanging offence. Rafe settled back in his seat, watching the rain drum on the windscreen and wondering whether it was worth cracking a few more jokes, just to see how cross he could make her.

CHAPTER TWO

IT WAS A great deal easier to dislike Rafe when he wasn’t around. Mimi stared gloomily at her phone, her finger tapping impatiently on the small screen.

The expected beep made her jump. A long text from an unrecognised number said that Jack was okay and in the Church Hall. He’d keep her updated as and when he knew more about the situation. And wasn’t that Rafe he’d seen with her on the other side of the water?

When Mimi texted back that it was, she received a smiley face. Clearly Jack hadn’t thought about the ramifications of the situation. She might have a lift home, but she would really rather have walked than it turn out to be Rafe.

She relayed the factual part of the message as dispassionately as she could, trying not to look at Rafe. The thought that she might need him wasn’t particularly pleasant, but she was going to have to face facts. She’d get this over with as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Her phone beeped again. Another long text. Mimi read it carefully.

‘What does he say?’

‘The stuff in his medical bag’s ruined. The water got to it.’ Mimi had been hoping against hope that at least some of the medical equipment that Jack had been carrying would have survived the drenching. ‘He’s staying with the patient until he finds a way to get her out, and there are some people coming down to try and get a second bag across. We’re to get it packed and ready, and wait for them to call.’

‘Tell him okay.’

‘Yeah.’ She’d just done that. Mimi surveyed the torrent of rushing water in front of them and hoped that the people who were coming to meet them had some idea how they were going to get the bag across the river, because she didn’t have a clue.

Rafe turned in his seat. ‘I’ve got pretty much everything he might need.’ He surveyed the boxes and bags in the back of the SUV. ‘What’s the patient’s condition?’

Trust Rafe to come prepared. He always came prepared, never thinking that someone else might have the situation under control.

‘She’s pregnant.’

Irritation tugged at his mouth. ‘I know that.’

‘Well, that’s all. She’s not in labour yet, but we were going to transport her to the hospital anyway, due to the weather conditions. No complications that I know of, but best...’ She was about to say that they’d best send whatever they could to deal with any eventuality, but Rafe had already got out of the car and was walking around to the tailgate. Opening it, he selected a sturdy holdall and began to stack it with boxes.

Mimi puffed out a breath and pulled her boots back on. She had no doubt that Rafe would do the right thing, or that she would, but it seemed that they were both going to do the right thing in the most unpleasant way possible.

The storm had done its worst and seemed to be easing off a little now. They didn’t have to wait long before four figures appeared on the other side of the river, carrying what looked like climbing gear.

Her phone rang and she answered it.

‘Hi, is that Mimi?’ A woman’s voice on the other end of the line, shouting over the roar of the water. ‘I’m Cass... Fire and Rescue...’

At last, some good news. It was always good to have a firefighter around, even in the pouring rain.

‘Hi Cass, Mimi here. How’s Jack?’

‘He’s fine. We’ve taken him up to the village to dry off and we’re going to try to get a line over to you now.’

‘What’s your plan?’

‘Along the river to the east the land rises on this side. I’m thinking we may be able to throw a rope to you and winch the bag across.’

‘Right you are; we’ll meet you there. We have two bags.’

‘That’s great. Thanks.’ The line cut and Mimi shouldered one of the bags. Knowing that Rafe would follow with the other, she slid carefully down the slope at the side of the road and walked into the trees.

Under the canopy of the leaves, the ground was wet but undisturbed and the clingy mud by the side of the road less in evidence. Rafe’s long strides quickly caught up with her.

‘There’s some high ground on the other side of the river, about a quarter of a mile in this direction. They seem to think they can get a rope across.’

He nodded. Apparently he’d run out of things to say, or perhaps he’d decided that keeping the peace was the better option right now. In the silence, broken only by their footsteps and the drip of rain from the trees, Mimi resolved to do the same.

She thought she’d left this all behind. Taken charge, caught whatever life could throw at her and thrown it back. But right now she felt just as alone as she had five years ago, when Rafe had left, and still weighed down by the memories from her past.

Seventeen years old and clinging to her twin brother, Charlie, on the night they’d heard their parents had died in a car crash. Promising that they’d always be there for each other...

That promise had been kept. And, as the pain of their loss had diminished, Mimi had known that Mum and Dad would be proud of the way that she and Charlie had stuck together.

Twenty-one years old. She’d thought that she’d been in love with Graham, and then he’d slapped her down with that list. A comprehensive catalogue of Mimi’s faults and failings, which he had used to justify having slept with someone else behind her back.

She’d let him go, but somehow the list had been harder to shake. Stamped on her brain, a reminder that she was irretrievably flawed and a warning against ever trusting a man again.

But Rafe had made her believe that one last try might be possible. He had been the handsome doctor in attendance when Charlie was brought into A and E, so terribly injured, after falling from a window. It was thanks to his skill and quick action that Charlie still had some mobility left in his legs, and could pull himself up from his wheelchair and walk a few steps.

Twenty-three. When Rafe’s mother had been diagnosed with cancer she’d tried so hard to support him, the way he’d supported her and Charlie, but he’d shut her out over and over again. Every day she’d felt him slip away a little more, and when he’d finally left it had been just a confirmation of everything that the list had taught her. She just wasn’t good enough. And it hurt so much more to be not good enough for someone you really loved.

Mimi had picked up the pieces and set her goals. Helping Charlie regain his independence. Getting her paramedic qualification. Wiping Rafe out of her life, and never giving any man the chance to break her heart again. And she’d achieved them.

So how come she was wet through, trudging through a wood with Rafe? Feeling all the insecurities that she thought she’d put behind her. Wondering what he was thinking, and whether he might be comparing her with someone else and finding her lacking.

The straps of the bag were cutting into her shoulder and she shifted it a little. She would deal with it. She felt bad, but that had never stopped her before. It would pass. Rafe would be history again, very soon.

As they approached the place that Cass had indicated the canopy of trees thinned slightly, giving way to long grass, which had been flattened and muddied when the river broke its banks. On the other side she could see Cass’s party, climbing a rocky outcrop that rose twenty feet above the level of the fast-flowing water.

‘If they’re going to get a line across, this is the place to do it.’ Rafe had come to a halt, looking around.

‘Yep.’ Mimi looked up at the iron-grey sky. ‘At least it’s stopped raining.’

He nodded. Finally it seemed they’d found something that they could agree on.

Cass and the men on the other side were securing the end of a long rope around the trunk of a tree. She was as tall as the men with her, and seemed to be directing them. As she worked her hood fell back off her head, showing a shock of red hair, bright against the browns and dirty greens of the landscape.

Mimi’s phone rang.

‘We’re ready.’ Cass didn’t bother with any preliminaries. ‘I’m going to try and throw a line to you. Be ready to grab it.’

‘Okay. Standing by...’ Mimi looked up at Rafe. ‘There’s a rope coming over.’

He nodded, and Mimi saw Cass swing the rope and throw it. The coil at her feet played out, but the rope was too light to travel far and dropped into the middle of the river, immediately carried downstream by the current. The men behind her hauled it back and she tried again. It travelled further this time, dropping into the river just yards from their reach and Mimi heard Rafe puff out a breath almost at the same time as she did.

‘They need to find something heavy to weight the rope...’ His voice was loaded with frustration.

Mimi bit back the temptation to tell him that he was stating the obvious, and that it seemed that Cass was already doing something about it. She had to get a grip. Rafe was acting perfectly reasonably and she should at least try to be civil with him. But she was still reeling from the double shock of nearly losing Jack and then of seeing Rafe again.

She watched as Cass selected something from one of the backpacks they’d brought with them and tied it carefully on to the end of a thinner, lighter length of twine. When Cass threw again, the line came whizzing across, followed by a shout of triumph as it cleared the river, the weight dragging along the ground as the twine sank into the water and was pulled downstream.

Mimi ran for it but Rafe was faster and he was already there, catching the weight just in time. Mimi took hold of the twine and together they dragged it clear of the water, pulling it back and winding it securely around the trunk of a tree.

Her phone rang again and there were more instructions from Cass, which Mimi relayed on to Rafe. A rope was hauled across and secured, along with clips and a pulley.

‘I wonder where she got all this stuff from.’ Mimi could see that the nylon ropes were strong and of high quality.

‘It looks like mountaineering equipment. This is a carabiner...’ Rafe was securing the rope around the tree with a no-nonsense-looking clip. ‘Watch your fingers.’

‘Well, give me a chance...’ Mimi whipped her hand away as Rafe tested the strength of the anchor and the rope snapped tight around the tree trunk.

He waved to the party on the other bank and the bag began to move. Slowly at first, and then speeding through the air, over the water. A small pause while it was unclipped on the other side, and then the pulley came spinning back towards them.

Mimi looked at the water, boiling over jagged rocks twenty yards downstream. She was afraid, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting across the river. ‘You have a harness?’

Cass didn’t seem to hear her, and Rafe shook his head.

‘Leave it.’ He clipped the second bag on to the pulley. As it began to move, he tugged at the ropes that anchored their end of the line around the tree trunk, assessing their strength.

Mimi knew exactly what he was thinking. Rafe was going to insist on being the one to make that perilous journey, with or without a harness. It had always been this way with him.

He’d been just the same when they’d lived together. Strong, dependable, always the first to get to grips with a problem and always the first to solve it. His quiet resourcefulness was one of the things that had drawn her to him but, after a while, standing back and watching Rafe deal with everything had begun to lose its charm.

And yet she’d done it. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing Rafe and she’d tried so hard to be the woman he wanted, someone he’d think was good enough to spend his life with.

Fat lot of use that had been. His family had obviously been hoping he’d find someone from the same background as him—big house, private education, an appreciation of the finer things in life and the money to buy them. They had probably heaved a joint sigh of relief when Rafe had left her.

She wasn’t about to let Rafe walk all over her again. ‘I’ll go first. I’m lighter than you are.’ She spoke casually, even though she knew that the words would be like a red rag to a bull.

‘You will not.’

‘Just watch me, Rafe.’ She threw the retort at him, watching as the group across the river retrieved the second bag. As they did so, a crack sounded across the water. One of the ropes came whipping towards them and she felt herself falling sideways as Rafe tackled her to the ground. The rope described an arc in the air above their heads and flopped down next to them.

‘Ow! Did you have to do that?’ Mimi rolled away from him, straight into a patch of mud. She’d been trying so hard to show him that he didn’t need to protect her any more. Rafe sweeping her off her feet, however dispassionately he’d done it, was the last thing she needed.

‘Nope. Could have just let it take your head off.’ He had the audacity to grin at her.

‘I’m beginning to wish you had.’ She brushed herself down, resisting the temptation to thank him. Instead she turned to the group on the other side of the river, who were standing motionless, staring across at them.

Mimi took her phone out of her pocket, dialling Cass’s number.

‘Sorry about that. You okay?’ Cass’s voice sounded down the line.

‘Yes, fine.’ Rafe was behind her, muttering something about tying her to a tree to keep her out of trouble, and she ignored him. ‘I’m going to try to get to you. I might be able to get through on the other road into the village...’

‘I doubt anyone’s going to get through safely tonight.’ There was a pause. ‘Jack said that he’s getting in contact with the HEMS team. When the rain gives over a bit they might be able to make it. If there’s anything he needs, you’ll be the first to know.’

That was sensible. And, coming from Cass, it didn’t sound like a put-down. ‘Okay, thanks. Give him my love...’

‘Will do. When this is over, there’s a bottle of red with our name on it, if you fancy a night out.’

‘I’ll be there.’ She waved across to the group on the other side of the river and ended the call. Thankfully, Rafe had decided not to make good on his threats and was already unclipping the remaining rope from around the tree, watching as it was hauled back across the water.

‘We’re going.’ It was an obvious statement, but it made Mimi feel good to be the one to say it. Turning away from him, she started to walk back towards the road as the rain started falling again.

They made the journey in silence. Perhaps Rafe was figuring out what he was going to save her from next. When they reached the stricken ambulance, he walked over to it.

‘I don’t think I’m going to be able to tow you out...’ He was peering underneath the vehicle. ‘In any case, it looks as if there’s a fair bit of damage, here.’

‘I’m going to call for a tow truck.’ Thanks, Rafe, but you’re no longer needed. You can go now. Treacherous regret tugged at Mimi’s heart at the thought.

‘Don’t forget the CD safe.’ There was a barb in his tone.

No, she hadn’t forgotten the controlled drugs that the ambulance carried, and she did know that she had to remove them.

‘I’ll let you get on.’ She turned, making for the back doors of the ambulance, and felt his grip on her arm.

‘Let me go, Rafe.’ She pulled against him, but he didn’t relent.

‘What are you expecting me to do? Leave you here with no shelter and no transport?’ He gave an incredulous shake of his head. ‘Think again.’

‘Let. Go.’ Every time he touched her, it was the same. The memories were almost like solid, living things, tearing at her heart and reminding her that once upon a time, in a land far, far away, she’d craved Rafe’s touch.

He uncurled his fingers from her wrist. Not too fast, not too slow. Rafe had always been a master of the art of good timing.

‘Stay if you must. I’m calling for the tow truck.’ She forced herself to look away from him, scrolling through the list of numbers on her phone for the vehicle recovery company.

* * *

If he had to put a name to that look, Rafe supposed that hostile arousal might just about cover it. He had no doubt that the hostility was there, but the arousal was probably just wishful thinking on his part.

He supposed he didn’t deserve anything else, but she didn’t have to ram it down his throat. It was obvious that she could cope without him, but he wasn’t entirely surplus to requirements. If she thought that leaving her hadn’t hurt him as well, then she could think again.

Rafe kicked disgruntledly at the tyre of the disabled ambulance. Mimi had taken hold of her life with both hands, gained a qualification and got a new job. His life was back on track, too. When he’d left, he’d made the right decision and now was no time to start re-examining it.

The ambulance was tipped at a slight angle in the mud, but it was wedged firmly against a tree and seemed stable enough. Rafe gave the vehicle a good shove and it stayed put, so gingerly he opened the back doors and climbed inside, looking around to assess the damage.

‘They’re sending a truck out. The tow company’s pretty busy, but they’re giving me priority, so they should be here inside an hour.’ She was standing in the rain, outside the ambulance, looking at him thoughtfully.

‘Good. Not long to wait, then.’ This couldn’t be easy for her. Medicine was all about teamwork, and he knew that the nature of the ambulance crews’ work tended to forge the tightest of teams. She must be feeling very alone right now.

She looked up at him and he thought he saw a flicker of confused warmth in her face. ‘How much of the ambulance equipment can you take in your car?’

‘Pretty much everything that’s portable.’ Rafe surveyed the inside of the wrecked vehicle. ‘Apart from the stretcher.’

‘I was reckoning on leaving that.’ Mimi was standing stock-still, her arms folded. As if she knew what she had to do but just couldn’t bring herself to start. Rafe picked up one of the bags, stowed away under the seat, and climbed out of the stricken vehicle, making his way to his car.

* * *

Rafe’s sudden appearance seemed to have peeled away everything she had built up in the last five years, like a bad skin graft sloughing off a wound, leaving it red raw. And now she was leaving Jack behind and stripping her ambulance of everything that could be moved. She could almost reach out and touch the feeling of loss.

She had to get a grip. Mimi repeated the words in her head, in the hope that they might sink in.

As usual, it was practically impossible to see what Rafe was thinking, but as they worked quietly together the atmosphere between them seemed to relax. He watched as she checked through the contents of the Controlled Drugs safe, countersigning the inventory, and then set to work helping stow as much as they could from the ambulance into his car.

Typically, the rain seemed to slacken off just as they were finishing, and the tow truck chose that moment to arrive as well. Tired and shivering, Mimi clambered into Rafe’s car and hung her dripping jacket in the back.

‘Here.’ He rummaged for a moment on the back seat, unzipped a bag and produced a sweater. ‘Put this on.’

He ducked back out of the car, closing the door, and Mimi picked up the sweater. She didn’t particularly want to follow his orders, nor did she want to wear his clothes, but refusing might give him the idea it meant something to her. And when she pulled it over her head it was warm and all-enveloping.

The key was in the ignition and she started the engine, putting the heaters on full and directing the ventilation up on to the windows. As they began to clear she could see Rafe, talking to the vehicle recovery men as the winch slowly pulled her ambulance out of the mud and on to the back of the truck.

He jogged back to the car and got in. ‘I’m ready whenever you are.’

‘Yes. Let’s go.’ She blurted out the instruction, knowing that he wouldn’t go anywhere unless she allowed it, and realising that somehow that didn’t put her in charge.

‘Hospital?’

‘Yes, thanks. We need to get the controlled drugs back there.’

He nodded, leaning forward to start the engine. Even in these conditions it wouldn’t take long before they were back at the hospital and then she could thank him and wave him goodbye.

CHAPTER THREE

RAFE WAITED WHILE Mimi argued with the ambulance control supervisor. They’d both turned around at the same time, to look at him for a moment, and then Mimi had turned away again, her eyes dead, as if he mattered rather less to her than the chair he was sitting on. The supervisor beckoned her into his office and she followed him, protest leaking from every movement she made.

He’d loved her fire. That unquenchable, unstoppable thirst for life that made the best out of everything had enchanted Rafe. It had challenged all the assumptions that his family had taught him. Boys don’t cry. A man should take care of the women in his life. He must handle his problems alone, not needing to talk about them.

And Rafe had come so close to quenching that fire. When his mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and his family had descended into a state of restrained crisis, Mimi had wanted to help, had fought him to let her in. But Rafe couldn’t. He’d already perfected the art of hiding whatever pain life threw at him and he didn’t know how to do anything else.

He didn’t blame her for giving up on him, but it had hurt all the more because Mimi never gave up on anything. Lying with her in their bed, unable to either sleep or to share his anguish, had taught Rafe the nature of true loneliness. Leaving had been his way of keeping her safe from the silence that had descended on their home.

That was all history now. He’d thought it could never change but, as the door of the supervisor’s office opened and he saw Mimi walk towards him, he began to wonder. He’d measured his failure in their relationship by the lack of emotion she’d shown when he left, but now anger was stamped all over her face and he had little doubt that most of it was directed at him.

‘Everything okay?’

She shook her head. ‘There are no spare vehicles and no one for me to partner with. They’re sending me home...’

‘Unless?’ Rafe had seen enough of the situation here to be able to guess what Mimi’s options were.

Her face was set in an expression of almost believable remorse. ‘I apologise for what I said. I should have thanked you for getting me out of the way of that rope when it broke.’

Mimi was still thinking about that? Then Rafe realised that this was the precursor to something else.

‘You’re welcome. I apologise for what I said too. I had no real intention of tying you to a tree.’ However appealing the thought had been at the time.

‘No. It didn’t really occur to me that you did. I think we were both letting off a bit of steam.’ She screwed her face into a frown. ‘My controller... He says that if you need any help I could always tag along with you.’

Deep down inside a primitive sense of triumph pulled at him. However much she disliked the idea, Mimi needed him. Rafe tried to think dispassionately. Two would be more effective than one, and he’d be able take more calls. Unless, of course, they spent the rest of the evening bickering over old grudges.

‘Do you think that’s going to work?’

Mimi took a deep breath, as if she was suppressing the urge to solve the problem by killing him and taking his car keys. ‘I’ll make it work, Rafe. I can’t sit this out; I’ll go crazy at home.’

There wasn’t even a decision to make. Turning down any assistance, let alone that of a trained paramedic, would be reckless at a time like this. ‘Happy to have you along. I’d appreciate the help.’

That was that, then. There was a lot of unresolved anger between them, but if they could put that aside this could work.

They stood for a moment staring at each other and then Mimi broke the silence.

‘Look, this is difficult, but we could make it a lot easier.’

‘Yeah, I guess we could. I’d like that...’ Rafe remembered not to call her Mimi this time. That was just the kind of thing that might shatter this unstable truce.

‘We’ll make a new start, shall we?’

Pretend that none of it had ever happened? That he hadn’t loved her and then left her, and that resentment wasn’t colouring everything they did now. It was a tough prospect, but if that was what it took... It was, in fact, an opportunity. If there was unfinished business between them, then maybe now was the time to finish it for good.

‘Yes. Okay, I’d like that. New start.’

* * *

Mimi felt better now that she’d had a chance to wash her face and comb her hair. She folded Rafe’s sweater, making a conscious effort not to bury her face into its softness, trying to catch one last trace of his scent. This was hard.

She stuffed the sweater into a bag, dragged her jacket on and marched out into the rain. He was sitting in the car, waiting for her. Her colleague. The one she’d slept with once upon a time, but that had been a mistake and it was all finished now.

‘Ready?’ She settled herself into the front seat of the car.

He nodded, turning the radio down until it was just a gentle beat, swallowed up by the drumming of the rain on the windscreen. ‘Yep. First one’s near Shillingford. We’ll have to go through Eardwell.’

Her home village. ‘Yes, that’s the best way.’

‘You want to call in on Charlie?’

‘He’s... I spoke to him a few minutes ago. He says everything’s okay.’ Mimi wished that Charlie would accept her help a little more readily, but she knew better than to fuss.

‘How’s he doing?’

‘A lot better. He plays in a wheelchair basketball team now.’

‘Sounds as if he’s a great deal more independent.’

‘Yeah. As time went by we all learned how to make that happen.’ The cottage that she and Rafe had rented, just across the road from Charlie’s place, had been a factor in that. Close enough to help, without crowding her brother. When Rafe had said he was moving, to take up a new job and be closer to his mother, he’d known full well that Mimi couldn’t abandon Charlie and follow him.

‘I don’t suppose he’s got a spare flask he can lend us. If he could fill it up with coffee it would be even better.’

She couldn’t help but smile. Rafe and Charlie had always got on well, and it seemed that Rafe still cared about her brother enough to find an excuse to pop in and see whether he was all right. ‘You want a sandwich as well?’

‘Sounds good. Call him and tell him we’re coming.’ Rafe swung the car out of the hospital car park and on to the road.

* * *

Rafe drove the familiar route, which he’d used to call the road home. He hadn’t reckoned on it being quite so hard. When he stopped outside their cottage, it looked just the same as it always had, the white render gleaming pale in the pouring rain like a ghost from his past.

‘You’re still here?’ He tried to make the question sound as casual as possible, as if there hadn’t been a time when he had dreamed about walking back to that door every night.

There was a slight pause, as if she was weighing up whether it was all right to answer. ‘Yes. I bought the place.’

‘Mrs Bates died?’ The elderly woman who had owned the cottage had gone into a nursing home and her family had rented the property out.

‘Yes. Four years ago. The family didn’t want the cottage and decided to sell, so I put in an offer.’

‘Smart move...’ Rafe bit his tongue. He wasn’t in a position to give Mimi advice on what to do with her life any more. All the same, he’d thought more than once that if the roomy cottage they’d rented ever came on to the market they should put in an offer for it.

She nodded as if she didn’t want to discuss it any more, and rather unnecessarily pointed to the driveway of Charlie’s one-storey house, right across the road. It had only been five years, not a century. And Rafe hadn’t forgotten.

He got as close to the front door as he could and switched the engine off, leaning back in his seat in an unequivocal signal that he’d wait. Turning up here with Mimi wasn’t the most tactful of things to do.

‘Come and say hello to Charlie.’ She shot him a pretty fair counterfeit of a welcoming smile.

‘I thought... Wouldn’t you prefer me to stay here?’

‘I told him you were here when I spoke to him. He’s not going to eat you, Rafe.’

Maybe he would and maybe he wouldn’t. But Rafe had often wondered how Charlie was doing and he wanted to see him. Mimi had already got out of the car and was running up the ramp which led to the front door, her jacket over her head. It opened as she approached and Rafe saw Charlie inside.

Rafe swung out of his seat, following Mimi to the front door. Charlie looked great. Strong and smiling as he pulled Mimi down for a kiss. ‘You just couldn’t resist, could you...’

‘What?’ Mimi broke free, giving a look which was far too innocent to be believed, and Charlie grinned at her.

‘Couldn’t resist checking up on me.’

‘All I want is coffee. Then we’ll go. If you want you can go lie on the floor and I’ll step over you on the way out.’ Mimi turned her back on her brother and walked towards the kitchen area at the far end of the open-plan space.

‘You can finish making the sandwiches...’ Charlie called after her and then turned his attention to Rafe, his face suddenly impassive. ‘You’re back then.’

‘I’m here to help out, that’s all.’ Mimi seemed to be busy in the kitchen and Charlie was showing no inclination towards following her. Rafe sat down. If Charlie wanted to give him the third degree, he could do it face to face.

‘I hear that Jack’s marooned, and the ambulance was towed?’ Charlie seemed to be fishing for information, and Rafe guessed that Mimi hadn’t told him the whole story.

‘Yeah, that’s right. The river broke its banks near Holme and the bridge has been washed away. Jack got pretty wet, but we hear he’s okay. Mimi had walked back up the hill to make a phone call.’

‘Yeah. That’s what I heard too. Did she try to get across the river?’

‘She... Perhaps you should ask her.’

Charlie leaned forward. ‘I’m asking you, Rafe.’

‘I thought she might. I didn’t give her the choice.’ Rafe decided that telling Charlie he’d had to lift Mimi off her feet before she ran headlong towards a wall of water wasn’t a particularly good idea. And if she hadn’t mentioned anything about her plans for getting across the river he’d keep quiet about them as well.

‘Yeah. I reckoned that’s what happened.’ Charlie seemed to relax a bit. ‘Thanks.’

‘My pleasure. Although I’m not sure it was Mi...Miriam’s.’ Mimi’s full name sounded strange and very cold on his lips, but Rafe had made up his mind to play it safe and use it, since she seemed to object so much to his using her nickname.

‘Miriam...?’ Charlie’s face broke into a grin. ‘She is giving you a hard time, isn’t she?’

‘Do you blame her?’ Somehow Rafe couldn’t quite leave it at that. ‘There were reasons, Charlie. For my leaving...’

‘I dare say there were. That’s between you and Mimi. She told me to mind my own business enough times.’

A quiver of unexpected warmth jabbed at Rafe’s heart. Mimi could have said whatever she liked about him, and it was only to be expected that she’d bad-mouthed him to Charlie. He hadn’t realised until this moment how much he’d wanted her not to.

‘Do me a favour, though...’ Charlie interrupted his reverie.

‘Of course.’ Rafe had absolutely no intention of trying to rekindle anything between him and Mimi, and sex for old times’ sake definitely wasn’t on his agenda. He could reassure Charlie on that score, at least.

‘I know Mimi’s job has risks attached to it, and I also know she doesn’t tell me about half the scrapes she gets herself into...’

‘They’re not scrapes, Charlie, and she doesn’t get herself into them. She’s a trained professional.’ Rafe surprised himself by springing to Mimi’s defence.

‘Yeah, I know.’ Charlie ran his hand through his hair. ‘Look after her, will you? You know Mimi. She thinks she’s superwoman sometimes.’

‘You have my word on that.’ Rafe held out his hand, wondering if Charlie would take it. He did so without hesitation. He was so like Mimi, in both looks and mannerism, and it felt doubly warming that Charlie seemed ready to forgive.

‘It’s good to see you.’ Charlie’s irrepressible grin broke through his reserve. ‘I’ve missed our little talks.’

Rafe chuckled. Their little talks usually lasted until closing time in the local pub, when Mimi was working a late shift. ‘Me too. We should do it again some time.’

‘Yeah. That would be good.’

* * *

Things were going okay. Not good, but okay. They were adults and there was no reason in the world why she and Rafe couldn’t play nicely until the situation eased. There was just one thing that needed clearing up.

‘I heard what you said to Charlie.’

‘Yeah?’ He didn’t turn his gaze from the road ahead but Mimi supposed she shouldn’t expect that. She wouldn’t have done if she’d been driving either.

‘It’s quite unnecessary.’

‘Which bit of it in particular?’

‘About looking after me. There’s no need.’

Rafe’s shoulders moved in a tight shrug. ‘You want me to go back on my word?’

‘Far be it from me to get in the way of any male bonding that you’ve been engaging in, but I’d rather you didn’t involve me in it.’ Mimi shut her mouth tight. That sounded sharper than it should, but when she’d heard Rafe and Charlie’s quiet words she’d felt a little more hurt than she should too.

‘I didn’t say it to impress Charlie. It’s what I intend to do.’ The side of his jaw hardened in an obstinate line. She knew that look, and it had frustrated her when she’d been living with him. She didn’t need to put up with it any more.

‘I’ve been looking after myself for the last five years, Rafe, and I’ve met all the challenges that life can throw at me. I’m sorry if that tears a hole in your masculinity, but that’s the way things are. I don’t need you to look after me, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go around pretending that I did.’

She felt a little breathless. Almost free, as if that was something that she’d been waiting for a long time to say. Mimi dismissed the idea. There was nothing...nothing that she’d been waiting to say to Rafe.

The car suddenly pulled off the road, jerking to a halt. ‘You think this is all about my ego?’

‘Well, it’s not about mine...’ The atmosphere was zinging with hurt antagonism.

‘Not about you?’ He turned around to face her and she saw her own anger reflected in his face. ‘We all need each other at the moment. If you can’t deal with that then that’s all about you.’

‘Stop trying to twist things around, Rafe...’

‘I am not twisting anything. And I didn’t promise Charlie that I’d look after you because you’re a woman, or because we used to sleep together.’

Mimi caught her breath. He’d said the words they’d both been trying not to say. The words that could lead to all kinds of trouble...we used to sleep together. After all the efforts she’d been making not to think about it.

‘That’s all ancient history.’

His lip curled in disbelief, and suddenly he was very close. That scent of his, a little soap, a little sweat. She’d always loved the way that Rafe smelled, and it was just as intoxicating as it had always been.

‘We need to get one thing straight. It’s fine with me if you just want to come along for the ride. I happen to think that would be a shame, because I was hoping that I could rely on you.’

‘What for?’ The words almost stuck in her throat. Suddenly she couldn’t think of one thing that Rafe would want to rely on her for.

‘You know these roads better than I do. You know the best way to get to where we need to go. And you have a lot of experience of working with people outside the hospital, which I don’t have. I could really do with your help.’

‘I...I want to help.’ Although they’d worked at the same hospital for over a year, Mimi had never worked with Rafe. She knew he was a fine doctor and had often wished she could have that opportunity.

‘Right then. So we’re a team?’

‘Yes... That would be good.’

‘In that case, I get to look out for you. The same way that I hope you’ll look out for me.’

Mimi swallowed hard. ‘You want me to look out for you?’

‘Why not?’ His sudden grin burned into her soul like a red-hot brand. ‘It’s expensive to train new doctors. You’d be doing the economy a favour.’

Right now, the economy was the last thing on her mind. She tried to drag her attention away from the curve of his lips.

‘Okay then—partners. I’ll look after you and you can look after me.’

He held out his hand and she took it, almost in a dream. One of those bright, happy dreams that had so often been shattered when she woke and found that Rafe wasn’t sleeping next to her.

‘Partners it is, then.’

Suddenly the dream cracked. Mimi had promised herself not to risk falling for another man and fantasising about Rafe, of all people, was plain crazy.

She let go of his hand, settling back into her seat. Five years ago she’d been foolish enough to believe that she meant something to him, and now... He’d be gone soon and he wouldn’t look back.

Perhaps that was the advantage of having a heart that had once been broken. It was stronger now, and well defended. Rafe couldn’t just walk back into her life and steal it.

* * *

The shining look on her face, the way her lips were parted slightly, had obliterated everything else. Mimi might be as tough as they came, but when she made love she was the softest, sweetest thing.

Don’t do this. Don’t even think about it.

He’d made one promise to Charlie, and another to himself. He wasn’t going to break either of them. Rafe switched on the engine, jamming the car into first gear with more force than was strictly necessary, and started to drive.

CHAPTER FOUR

THEIR FIRST CALL was to a man with cuts and bruises, from where a dry-stone wall had collapsed onto him. In better circumstances he might well have just turned up in A and E, but he’d called first and been passed on to the Disaster Control Team, who had told him to stay put and wait for someone to get to him.

With Rafe there, it was possible to treat him in situ. Not the best use of his skills, but it saved time and resources where they were needed the most. The kitchen table was turned into a temporary treatment area, and Eric’s arm lay supported on a wad of dressing as Rafe carefully injected the local anaesthetic on either side of the wound.

‘You’re the doctor’s assistant?’ Eric’s wife came to sit next to Mimi at the other end of the long table.

‘No.’ She flipped her gaze towards Rafe to check that he wasn’t grinning and saw that his concentration was wholly on what he was doing. ‘I’m a paramedic. Only my ambulance got washed away in the river.’

‘Up by Holme? I heard about that on the local radio news; they’re completely cut off now. No one hurt, I hope.’

‘No. Just got a bit wet.’

A baby started to cry in the other room and the woman hurried out, returning with her child in her arms. ‘We’re sorry to bring you out all this way. Eric was going to go into A and E, but I was worried about him driving and I called first. They said they’d send a doctor to us.’ Her tone was apologetic.

‘That’s all right. We’re trying to get as many people as possible treated at home because A and E is pretty stretched at the moment. It’s a lot better this way, all round.’

‘Not for you. It looks as if it’s going to be a filthy night again.’ The woman turned the edges of her mouth down in sympathy, and Mimi smiled.

‘I’ll be in bed, drinking cocoa and reading a book soon enough.’ Mimi thought she saw a movement from Rafe out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned he was already looking away again.

‘Whatever you earn you deserve more...’ Eric broke in, and his wife nodded.

‘I tell my boss that all the time.’ Mimi grinned, picking up a soft toy from the table and waggling it in front of the baby. There wasn’t much else for her to do. ‘What do you say to my making a cup of tea?’

‘Tea?’ Rafe seemed to hear the magic word. ‘That would be nice, thanks.’

Mimi swallowed the temptation to tell him that the tea was intended for their patient. Picking the kettle up and finding it empty, she went to fill it up at the sink.

* * *

Rafe stood at the end of the path, surveying the small cottage for any signs of life, and Mimi knocked on the door again. No answer.

‘I don’t suppose we’ve got the wrong address...?’

‘Nope. This is the right one.’ Mimi bent down to shout through the letterbox. ‘Toby. Open the door.’

Obviously she’d been here before. Or maybe she knew the elderly man who lived here. They’d been summoned by a concerned neighbour, who had noticed that he was limping and had seen an infected sore on his leg.

‘Do you think he might not be able to get to the door?’ Rafe suggested, wondering if they were going to have to break in.

‘Shouldn’t think so. He’s probably hiding out in the kitchen.’ Mimi walked to the side of the cottage, squeezing through the narrow space between the wall and a waterlogged hedge, and Rafe followed, avoiding the branches that sprung back behind her.

She clambered over a low wall, walking past a small kitchen garden to the back door. He stopped and waited, reckoning that Mimi probably knew what she was doing. She pressed her face against the glass, rattling the handle.

‘Toby, open up.’

There was a short pause, and Mimi banged on the door again. Then it opened, to reveal an elderly man.

‘You might have said it was you...’

‘Can we come in, Toby?’

‘You’d better. You’ll catch your death out there.’

Mimi entered and Rafe hung back from the door as Toby eyed him suspiciously.

‘This is Dr Chapman.’

‘Where’s the other lad?’

‘Jack’s up at the top of the hill, in Holme. He’s a bit tied up at the moment.’

Toby nodded sagely and beckoned Rafe inside. A black and white collie was sleeping by the fire and raised its head to inspect the visitors, then rested it back onto its front paws. The little kitchen was old-fashioned, yet clean and neat as a new pin.

‘What can I do for you?’ Toby sat down at the kitchen table, its polished surface dark and pitted from years of use.

‘Mrs March called us. She says you’ve got something wrong with your leg.’ Mimi’s tone was firm, but she was smiling.

‘It’s nothing.’ The old man’s chin jutted in a show of defiance. His face was like the surface of the table, dark from years spent in the open air, with deep lines at the side of his eyes.

‘No, probably not. But the thing is, now I’m here I have to have a look at it. Those are the rules.’

‘And him?’ Toby gestured in Rafe’s direction.

Mimi looked around, a trace of the smile that she’d bestowed on Toby still lingering on her face. After the uneasy truce between them, which seemed to have started to crumble as soon as it was made, it was like a ray of sunshine. ‘Yeah, he’s got to look at it as well.’

Toby sniffed. ‘One of you not good enough, then.’

Mimi directed a bright grin at Toby and the old man’s face softened. ‘Come on, Toby. Give me a break, eh?’

Toby shrugged and Mimi knelt down in front of him, pulling a pair of gloves from her pocket and carefully rolling Toby’s trouser leg up. Halfway up his calf, a large sore blazed red against the pallor of his skin.

‘Have you been wading in flood water?’ Mimi voiced the first question which occurred to Rafe. Flood water frequently carried a high concentration of bacteria, and in the circumstances it was the most likely candidate for turning a small injury into an angry, obviously infected wound like this.

‘Mebbe...’ Toby shrugged non-committally.

‘I’ll take that as a yes. You’ve been with your grandson up at the farm, have you?’

‘The lad needed some help to get all the animals inside. The pasture’s waterlogged.’

‘And when was this?’

‘Day before yesterday.’

‘Okay. This looks as if it hurts.’ Mimi gave Toby no chance to reply, clearly suspecting that he wasn’t about to admit it if it did. ‘I’d like the doctor to take a look at it, and he’ll tell us what needs to be done.’

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