Pregnant With Her Best Friend's Baby. Alison Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ had to stop herself crossing her fingers, the way she used to when she was a kid and believed that the gesture excused you if you were about to tell an outright lie.

      ‘Me, too.’

      * * *

      ‘You’re a brave man, Cooper Sinclair.’

      ‘Why is that, Joe?’ His colleague was grinning. ‘Because I’m taking the plunge and getting married?’

      ‘Nah... You’re on a hilltop in famously windy Wellington and you’re wearing a skirt.’

      It was more than a hilltop. They were actually standing on the top of a cliff, with a spectacular view of the sea and islands through the archway that would frame the ceremony due to begin shortly. And, yes, while it was a gloriously sunny day, the currents of air were enough to be stirring the hemline of the kilt Cooper was wearing.

      Cooper snorted. ‘What else would a Scotsman wear for the happiest day of his life?’ He wasn’t looking at Joe, however. His gaze was fixed on the Castle Cliff resort buildings and he obviously couldn’t wait to catch the first glimpse of his bride coming to meet him. He glanced at his watch then—a nervous gesture that was completely out of character.

      ‘It’s time...’

      ‘I’d better find a seat, then.’ Joe left his friend standing alone and headed for the far side of the last row of white seats that had been arranged in a semi-circle facing the archway. He wasn’t at all bothered that the first rows were already full of settled guests. He was happy to be attending this celebration but he didn’t want to be too close to the action. Weddings made him a little nervous, too. Didn’t Cooper and Fizz realise what a huge risk they were taking? How high the chances were that it wasn’t going to turn out to be happy-ever-after? And they had decided to get married because there was a baby on the way. Not that he was going to say anything but it felt a bit close to a death knell to Joe.

      Just before he turned to sit down, he noticed another kilt-clad figure appear on an upper balcony of the resort building, a set of bagpipes cradled in his arms. At the same time, three figures were hurrying down the steps from the lower veranda, two of them wearing dresses. The other was a small boy and Joe knew that it must be Laura’s son, Harrison, who was apparently in charge of the wedding rings. Laura had to be watching over her son, as she always did, and that meant that the other woman was most likely her flatmate and close friend. He didn’t really need the glimpse of sunlight catching blonde curls to light them up like a halo to confirm his guess.

      Maggie...

      Joe sat down with a thump and fixed his gaze on the scene ahead of him, where the celebrant had joined Cooper.

      The level of discomfort Joe was aware of now was far greater than anything weddings normally engendered. He hadn’t seen Maggie for days. Hadn’t wanted to see her after that shocking conversation at the end of their last shift together, and as the time apart was increasing, so was the level of...what...awkwardness? Certainly tension, anyway.

      It wasn’t something he’d ever been aware of with Maggie. She was, in fact, probably the only woman he ever felt completely at ease with. Other than Shirley, of course, but the self-appointed housekeeper of the Aratika Rescue Base was a mother figure for everyone there, with zero risk of her wanting anything inappropriate from her relationship with Joe. He’d thought his friendship with Maggie was just as sacrosanct. That they were real friends who trusted each other and that there was no threat of the usual sexual tension that inevitably seemed to develop when he tried to be simply friends with a woman.

      The other seats in this back row were filling up quickly from the aisle side as people realised the ceremony was about to start. Joe noticed Don, the base manager, take a seat and then Tom, one of the emergency department consultants at the Royal, took the next seat, leaving only two spaces. Tom was becoming more involved with the base, having taken over the shifts Fizz had had to relinquish when she’d discovered she was pregnant. Laura went past Joe on the other side, holding Harrison’s hand, leading him to where a seat had been saved in the front row, and then there was a swish of blue fabric right in front of Joe.

      ‘Excuse me.’

      He pulled his feet closer as Maggie edged past his knees. Seeing Laura and Harrison had been a reminder of the example of successful single parenthood that Maggie was inspired by and that was yet another sharp reminder of the awkwardness that now lay between them. The fact that she was choosing to sit beside him came as something of a relief. Perhaps they could get past what was threatening to be an elephant in the room when they next had the opportunity to talk to each other, let alone the next time they had to work together.

      Except that a quick glance showed that the empty seats beside Joe were the only ones available and Maggie chose the one next to Tom, leaving an empty seat between herself and Joe. She flicked him a quick smile of greeting but then turned to say hello to Tom and the slightly nervous way she had avoided more than a split second of eye contact gave Joe an odd jolt of something that he couldn’t define but which he definitely didn’t like.

      Wow...how could a simple, white chair that wasn’t even solid suddenly feel like an impenetrable barrier?

      The mournful wail of the bagpipe music starting in the background only added to the sensation that something had changed. Or been lost? Something potentially huge?

      Like everyone else, Joe turned his head to watch Fizz come out onto the veranda and then walk down the steps towards the central aisle that led to the archway where Cooper was waiting. It was no surprise that she wasn’t wearing a white dress. Joe knew that she’d been there and done that once already and that her first husband had been tragically killed in an accident on their honeymoon. Maybe it wasn’t even surprising that she’d chosen to wear a bright red dress because that was Fizz all over, wasn’t it? Daring as well as confident enough to pull off something so different. Her long, dark hair was hanging loose down her back and she looked gorgeous, Joe decided.

      And so happy...

      No wonder there was a collective sound like people were catching their breath around him. He thought he heard a happy sigh coming from Maggie, too.

      Was she a believer as well? If she was, why hadn’t she already conducted a successful husband hunt? She could have done it years ago and then she wouldn’t have had to worry about the clock running out on her reproductive years. She wouldn’t have had to even think about alternative routes to motherhood and she wouldn’t have tried to involve him when bringing a child into the world was, without doubt, the last thing he would ever contemplate doing.

      The celebrant welcomed everybody as the wail of the bagpipes finally faded.

      ‘You have all been invited to attend today,’ she told the gathering, ‘because you are the family, friends and colleagues of Cooper and Fizz and they want you to witness their commitment to each other and share the joy of that promise.’

      Joe sucked in a deep breath. He wasn’t feeling particularly joyful right now. It was more than awkwardness filling that space between him and Maggie.

      He was angry, that’s what it was.

      Or maybe it was more that he was sad. He let out that breath in a long sigh. He knew that Maggie had heard that sigh because he could feel the sideways glance he received. Turning his head just a fraction, he could catch a reflection of what he was feeling in her own eyes.

      That hint of sadness.

      There СКАЧАТЬ