Christmas Brides And Babies Collection - Rebecca Winters Mills & Boon e-Book Collections

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even though he knew it couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes. But at last they were there and he parked as close to the entrance as possible, then grabbed a wheelchair from the entrance.

      ‘I can walk,’ Ella protested.

      ‘I know, but this is faster. Let me do this, Ella. Please. I won’t smother you in cotton wool, but I want to get you in there for that scan.’ His voice cracked and he wondered if she’d heard it and realised that he was as emotional about the situation as she was. And, actually, maybe she needed to know it. ‘Not just for you. For me. I need to be sure you’re both all right.’

      He was almost breaking into a run by the time they got to Teddy’s.

      ‘Later,’ he said to the nurse on the reception desk, who looked at Ella in shock as he wheeled her through. ‘I’ll explain later.’

      Annabelle had texted him to say that Room Three was reserved for him, if she wasn’t there when he brought Ella in. Oliver wheeled Ella into the room, scooped her out of the wheelchair and laid her on the bed. The fact that she made no protest this time really scared him.

      ‘Can you bare your tummy—?’ he began, but she was already doing it.

      Please, please, let the baby be all right, he begged inwardly, and smeared the gel over her stomach.

      His hands were actually shaking as he stroked the head of the transceiver across her abdomen.

      But then he could see the little bean shape, and the heart was beating strongly.

      Thank you, he said silently, and moved the screen so Ella could see it, too. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be OK. There’s a really strong heartbeat, not too fast and not too slow. Everything’s going to be fine, Ella.’

      Her shoulders heaved, and then she was crying in earnest. He held her close, stroking her hair, and realised that tears were running down his cheeks, too.

      He wanted this baby. So did she, desperately. Surely there was a good chance that they could make a decent life together—the three of them, because now he realised how much he wanted that, too.

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      Finally Ella was all cried out—and then she realised that Oliver was still holding her. And she’d soaked his shirt. And was it her imagination, or were his eyes wet, too? She’d been so frightened that she hadn’t been able to focus much on what he’d said to her, but had he said that he was scared, too?

      She wasn’t sure, and her first instinct was to back away in case she was making a fool of herself again. ‘We ought to—well, someone else might need this room.’

      ‘I want to admit you now and keep you in overnight,’ he said, ‘for observation.’

      She shook her head. ‘I’ll be fine.’

      ‘You’re on bed-rest. Don’t argue,’ he said, ‘and there’s no way in hell you’re working your shift today, so don’t even suggest it.’

      ‘But someone else might need the bed on the ward more than I do.’

      ‘Ella, you’re pregnant and you were in a car crash.’

      ‘A minor crash. At low speed.’

      ‘Bad enough that they had to get a tow-truck for your car,’ he said. ‘And you were spotting. If any of your mums came in presenting like that, what would you say?’

      ‘Go home and rest,’ she said, ‘and come back if you’re worried.’

      ‘And if it was a mum you knew damn well didn’t know the meaning of the word rest?’

      ‘Then I’d suggest staying in,’ she admitted.

      ‘I know you think I’m wrapping you up in cotton wool,’ he said, ‘and I know that drives you mad—but what I don’t get is why you won’t let anyone look after you.’

      ‘It’s a long story,’ she said.

      He shrugged. ‘I’ve got all the time in the world.’

      He really expected her to tell him? Panic flooded through her. ‘I don’t know where to start.’

      ‘Try the beginning,’ he said. ‘Or the middle—or anywhere that feels comfortable—and you can take it from there.’

      She knew where to start, then. ‘The baby. I didn’t try to trap you.’

      ‘I know. You’re not Justine.’

      She frowned. ‘Justine?’

      ‘It’s a long story.’

      What was sauce for the goose… ‘I’ve got time,’ she said. ‘And maybe if you tell me, it’ll give me the courage to tell you.’

      He looked at her for a long moment, then finally nodded. ‘OK. I’ll go first. Justine was the daughter of my parents’ friends. They’d kind of earmarked her for me as a suitable future wife, even though I wasn’t ready to settle down and I wanted to get all my training out of the way first so I could qualify as an obstetrician. They fast-tracked me and I was just about to take my last exams when Justine told me she was pregnant.’

      Ella went cold. So this wasn’t the first time Oliver had been faced with an unexpected baby; it also went some way to explaining why Oliver’s mother had been so disapproving about the baby, if the Countess had been in that position before. But as far as Ella knew Oliver didn’t have a child. What had happened?

      ‘I really wasn’t ready to be a dad,’ Oliver said. ‘I’d been so focused on my studies. But I did the right thing and stood by her.’

      ‘Like you’re standing by me?’ she couldn’t help asking.

      He didn’t answer that, and she went colder still.

      ‘So we found a nice flat, moved in together, and sorted out a room for the baby.’

      Oliver definitely wouldn’t have abandoned the baby. This must have ended in tragedy—or maybe Justine had refused him access to the baby and that was why the Countess had been adamant that Oliver should have custody.

      His grey eyes were filled with pain and she squeezed his hand. Clearly the memories hurt him, and she didn’t want that. ‘You don’t have to tell me anything more.’

      ‘Yes, I do,’ he said. ‘I don’t want there to be any more secrets between us. I should’ve told you about this a long time ago.’ He dragged in a breath. ‘We’d planned to get married after the baby was born. But then one day she accidentally picked up my phone instead of hers and went out. I assumed that the phone on the table was mine and was about to put it in my pocket when a text came through.’ He grimaced. ‘Obviously I didn’t set out to spy on her and read her texts, because I trusted her, but the message came up on her lock screen and I read it before I realised it was a private message for her.’ He looked away. ‘It was from another man, and the wording made it clear they were having an affair. I tackled her about it when she got home and she admitted the baby was his, not mine.’

      ‘So that’s why—’ She stopped abruptly. Now wasn’t the time to tell him that his mother wanted her to have a paternity test.

      ‘Why what?’

      ‘Nothing. I’m so sorry, Oliver. That was a vile thing to do to you. But why would she lie to you like that?’

      He shrugged. ‘You’ve been to Darrington Hall and met my family. I guess it was the kind of lifestyle she wanted and the other guy couldn’t give her that.’

      Now Ella could understand his mother’s comments about gold-diggers. But did Oliver think she was a gold-digger too—despite the fact that she’d told him she wasn’t? He’d been in that situation before. And now she realised why he’d been so controlling with her when she’d told him about the baby,

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