LITMIR.BIZ

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side of town.’

      ‘You don’t think it was an accident that he was there?’ Stella warmed her cold hands on her mug. ‘How could he possibly have known where I was meeting the guy? Even you didn’t know.’

      ‘Actually, I did.’ Patrick pulled a face. ‘Alfie told me.’

      Stella groaned. ‘Alfie? You think he said something to Daniel?’

      ‘I think he might have done. The two of them were talking earlier. Money changed hands. Sorry, Stella.’

      ‘It isn’t Alfie’s fault. And to be honest, it wasn’t even a secret. I suppose I didn’t imagine for a moment Daniel would be interested. And even if he knew where I was going …’ Stella put her mug down. ‘Why would he bother coming? It doesn’t make sense.’

      ‘Doesn’t it? If you want my opinion, I think my beloved twin couldn’t face the thought of you seeing someone else. It isn’t just me he doesn’t want you to have a relationship with.’ Patrick took a mouthful of coffee. ‘It’s anyone. What does that tell you?’

      ‘That he’s lost his mind,’ Stella muttered, rubbing her forehead with her fingers as she tried to make sense of what he was saying. ‘He didn’t want me.’

      ‘Oh, he wanted you, angel. And he obviously still wants you.’

      Did he want her? Stella thought about the kiss and felt her cheeks turn pink. Quickly she picked up her coffee again. ‘Even if the chemistry is still there, nothing has changed.’ She was saying it to remind herself as much as Patrick. ‘We want different things.’

      ‘Yes. I know. That’s what makes the whole thing complicated.’ Patrick suppressed a yawn. ‘So what did he say to you tonight?’

      ‘He basically turned into a macho, chest-thumping, over-protective …’

      Stella ran out of adjectives. ‘He didn’t like the idea of me meeting a stranger.’

      ‘Neither do I.’

      ‘You didn’t turn up and hang over me.’

      ‘No, but I confess I did ring the landlord and ask him to watch out for you.’ Patrick handed her his empty mug. ‘I’d better go. I need to check that Alfie isn’t watching unsuitable movies.’

      ‘You rang the landlord?’ Stella was stunned by that confession but Patrick simply smiled.

      ‘Daniel isn’t the only Buchannan brother who can be macho and over-protective.’ He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Goodnight. I’ll leave you to your internet search. Next time make sure you pick someone who is going to show up.’

      CHAPTER FIVE

      ‘STELLA, have you seen Daniel?’ Ellie hurried into the treatment room where Stella was just finishing a dressing. ‘The paramedics are bringing in a baby with breathing problems. I need him.’

      ‘I haven’t seen him.’ She’d made sure she hadn’t seen him. She didn’t want to set eyes on him until she’d calmed down.

      The more she thought about what had happened the evening before, the angrier she became.

      Stella saw her patient out of the room and Ellie looked at her closely.

      ‘All right, tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been hiding in the treatment room all morning.’

      ‘I’m not hiding.’

      ‘Your evening didn’t go so well, did it? When you texted me to say you were at home, I gathered something was up. Was he creepy?’

      ‘He didn’t show up.’ Neither had he emailed. Stella frowned, finding it a little strange that he hadn’t given her some reason for the fact that he hadn’t shown up. Mind you, she hadn’t given him her mobile number, had she? Apart from ringing through to the pub, he’d had no way of contacting her once she’d left the stable for the evening. But there had been no email waiting when she’d arrived home. ‘Obviously he changed his mind.’

      ‘So you just sat there for a bit and then left?’

      Daniel’s dark, handsome features swam in her brain. ‘That’s right. Early night.’ And she felt horribly confused about the whole thing. Too confused even to talk to Ellie.

      ‘You look tired for someone that had an early night.’ Ellie leaned forward and gave her a hug. ‘Why don’t you come over to my house one evening this week? I can get the kids to sleep early and we can open a bottle and watch something romantic.’

      ‘Romance isn’t working for me at the moment, but thanks.’ Stella hugged her back. ‘You need to make the most of your evenings with Ben. You see little enough of him.’

      ‘That’s true, but there’s something wonderfully soothing about talking to a girlfriend and ranting about the things that men just don’t understand.’ Ellie glanced at her watch. ‘The ambulance will be here in a moment—I’d better go and find Daniel. I don’t suppose I could persuade you to work in Paediatric Resus, could I?’

      ‘What’s happened to Andrea?’

      ‘She had to transfer a patient to Theatre and she isn’t back yet. And on top of that she irritates Daniel because she’s slow.’

      Knowing that to refuse would raise more questions than she wanted to answer, Stella gave a nod. ‘All right. Tell me about this baby.’

      ‘Five months old. Born at thirty-six weeks by Caesarean section—one of Patrick’s, I think.’ Ellie frowned. ‘Anyway, the mum called the emergency services tonight after the baby turned blue and stopped breathing.’ They hurried towards the paediatric area of the emergency department and met Daniel heading in the same direction.

      It was the first time Stella had seen him since the previous evening—since the kiss—and she felt the colour flare in her cheeks. Despite her best intentions, all she could think about was the way his mouth had felt against hers.

      His eyes raked her face, held hers for a disturbing moment and then his jaw tightened and he pushed open the doors to Resus with slightly more force than was necessary. ‘What have we got?’

      A mess, Stella thought helplessly, thinking of their own situation.

      ‘Five-month-old baby …’ Ellie repeated the information she’d given Stella, just as the paramedics arrived with the baby.

      A pale-faced woman with no make-up and untidy hair was with them, holding a squirming toddler by the hand. ‘Please don’t make me go and sit in the waiting room. I can’t bear to leave Poppy.’

      ‘You’re her mother?’ Daniel walked across to the trolley and the woman nodded.

      ‘We’ve been up all night for three nights and I can’t even think straight any more.’ Her eyes filled. ‘She stopped breathing.’ She broke off as the toddler started to whine and Stella took one look at his exhausted, stressed mother and scooped him up.

      ‘Come and see what’s in my magic box,’ she whispered into his ear, and the toddler stopped grizzling and looked interested. Stella pulled out the toy box that was hidden away for occasions such as this, and settled the toddler on the floor. ‘This is full of exciting things. See if you can find my special blue car. I’m just going to see to your sister. I’ll be back in a minute.’

      While Daniel was questioning the mother, Stella attached the baby to a cardiac monitor and a pulse oximeter.

      ‘Sats are 92 in air,’ she murmured, and Daniel glanced at the monitor.

      ‘Let’s give her humidified oxygen and ask the paediatric registrar to come down. Whatever the outcome of my examination, she’s going to need to be admitted.’ Removing a stethoscope from his pocket, he turned back to the mother. ‘You say that you’ve been up all night for three nights. Was that when she first became ill?’

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