Single Dads Collection. Lynne Marshall
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Название: Single Dads Collection
Автор: Lynne Marshall
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
Серия: Mills & Boon e-Book Collections
isbn: 9780008900625
isbn:
‘I’d love to,’ she said, and took the baby into her arms. ‘Gosh, she feels heavier than Kizzy!’
‘She probably is. She’s a real porker, and Kizzy was very tiny.’
She nodded. ‘She was. She’s catching up now, though. Actually, there’s something else I should tell you—something else I’ve done which is incredibly stupid and just makes letting her go even harder. I’ve started breastfeeding her.’ She swallowed and forced herself to meet Georgie’s eyes, waiting for the revulsion, but there was only sympathy and compassion.
‘Oh, Em,’ she whispered. ‘Oh, how can you let her go? Now, after that?’
‘Wet nurses always did.’
‘They were usually poor women doing it for money or members of the same family. But you’ve done it for love.’
She looked down at little Lucie, and sighed. ‘Yes. Yes, I have, but I shouldn’t have done. It was silly, but it turns out that formula upsets her, so I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t been around.’ She brushed her finger over Lucie’s tiny palm, and it was immediately enclosed in a tight grasp. ‘Oh, she’s beautiful. Really strong. I’m so happy for you. I think you’ve been fantastic, both of you, taking on the kids, and I’m so glad you’ve got your own baby now. It just ties all of you together.’
She sighed and handed her back. ‘I have to go. I’ve got work to do, and—’
‘Television news to watch?’ Georgie said astutely, and she gave a sad little laugh.
‘Maybe. You get some rest. She’ll be crawling before you know where you are. Enjoy her while she’s tiny, it’s over so very fast.’
‘I will. And ring me—any time you want to talk. Or come over. You know you’re always welcome.’
Emily hadn’t lied.
She did have lots to do, not least bringing order to Harry’s garden. If she could get it into some sort of shape before he came back, then it would be one less thing for them to have to deal with.
She was convinced they had no future. Sleeping with him had been rash and stupid—and she wouldn’t have changed it for the world, but it hadn’t been her cleverest move. And she was more than ever certain that when he came back, he’d put the house on the market, give Kizzy up for adoption and that would be the last she’d see of him. If the garden was done, he’d be gone all the sooner and she could get back to normal.
She scrubbed the silly, foolish tears from her eyes and marshalled the children. ‘Who fancies a picnic in the garden?’ she said brightly. They chorused, ‘Yes!’ at the tops of their voices.
‘Right, in the kitchen, everybody. Let’s make it now. Uncle Dan?’
Uncle Dan unfolded himself from his chair, grabbed Beth and tickled her in passing and presented himself in the kitchen. ‘Give me a job,’ he said, and she handed him a pile of bread and the butter.
‘Just a scrape,’ she reminded him. ‘We’re having sandwiches.’ And she busied herself pulling out food from the fridge and the cupboards, and refused to allow herself to think about Harry or what he might be doing…
It was horrendous.
The heat, the flies, the stench of bodies trapped beneath the buildings. Harry scrambled over the rubble in his path and walked down a street he’d known for years—a street now unrecognisable. The buildings had crumbled, the shops and houses falling in on each other, and everywhere there were desperate people digging.
He paused beside a house and spoke to a young man who was digging in the rubble with his bare hands. They were running with blood, but he didn’t seem to notice.
‘My wife and child,’ he told Harry, and the dust on his face was streaked with tears. ‘Just a baby. Help me.’
Harry’s knowledge of the language was patchy, but the man’s simple plea was universal. He questioned him a little more, then turned back to the cameraman.
‘This is Ismael. His wife Rom is inside, with their two-week old baby son. He’s desperate, because he can hear them crying, but there aren’t enough rescue workers to help him find them, and time’s running out. They won’t have any food or water, and the baby’s cries are so weak now he can hardly hear him. He’s found a hole, and he’s trying to clear it to see if he can get inside. I’m going to help him.’
He turned back to the man, tapped him on the shoulder and took the rock from his hands, lobbing it behind him. Together they shifted a large slab of what had once been wall out of the way, and crouched down, peering in through the hole. Ismael called his wife, and they heard a whimper from deep inside the building.
Fresh tears spilled over the man’s cheeks, and he set about the rubble with renewed energy. Finally they shifted the last big lump of concrete out of the way, and the man lay down and squirmed in, calling as he went. He had a torch, and he was shining it around, then there was a shout from inside and Harry lay flat and stared after him.
There, in the mass of rubble and wood and twisted metal that had been their house, he saw a hand, reaching out, and he saw the man take it, clasping it as if his life depended on it.
Or hers.
He turned back to the camera. ‘He’s reached her. Tim, get help. I’m going in.’
‘You can’t, Harry!’ the cameraman said, but Harry ignored him. He had no choice. There was enough room in there for two of them, and if they shifted that pile of rubble, there was a good chance they could get her out, or get medical aid to her. He shrugged off his jacket, emptied his pockets and crawled inside.
‘Ismael,’ he said, touching the man’s leg, and he turned his head. ‘Let me help. We can get her out.’
He could hear the shouts outside, the chorus going up, ‘Survivors!’
But at that moment, as they were so close to success, he felt the ground gather itself.
No. Not again. Not another one, he thought, and as the shaking started, he heard the woman scream.
‘EM?’
There was something about Dan’s voice that sent a chill right through her. He was watching the news—something she’d steadfastly refused to allow herself to do—and she left her desk and went through to the sitting room.
Dan was standing there in front of the television, and he took her hand. ‘Em, it’s Harry, they’re filming this live. He’s pulling some crazy stunt. He’s gone inside this house to help the man find his wife and baby, and—
The picture shuddered, and the cameraman exclaimed in shock, but he kept filming, live, on the other side of the world, as a cloud of dust rose up and the building shifted and settled.
She stared at it, СКАЧАТЬ