A Very Special Holiday Gift. Barbara Hannay

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       CHAPTER THREE

      IT WAS RAINING when they touched down at Heathrow, but somehow that couldn’t dim Chloe’s excitement. As business class passengers with only carry-on baggage, she and Zac didn’t have to hang around in long queues and soon they were outside, suddenly very grateful for their warm overcoats and scarves.

      While they waited for a taxi she made a quick phone call to her parents.

      ‘We’re about to go down to the dining room,’ her mum told her excitedly. ‘We’ve already checked out the menu and we’re having lamb cutlets and then rhubarb crumble. Give our love to Zac.’

      They were having the time of their lives and, within moments, Chloe was climbing into a proper shiny black London taxi and her excitement mounted as they whizzed along busy rain-slick streets filled with other taxis and cars and bright red double-decker London buses. Ahead, on a pedestrian crossing, people huddled beneath umbrellas glistening with rain.

      Zac asked the taxi driver to stop at their hotel to leave their luggage and Chloe caught a brief impression of huge glass doors, massive urns filled with greenery and enormous gold-framed mirrors in a white marbled foyer.

      ‘Now, we’d better head straight to the Metropolitan Police,’ Zac said when he returned.

      ‘Yes.’ Chloe dug out her phone and checked the arrangements she’d made for Zac to meet with Sergeant Davies. She gave their driver the address and then they were off again.

      Three blocks later, they had stopped at traffic lights when she saw the trio of soldiers. The tall, broad-shouldered men were simply standing and chatting as they waited to cross a road, but all it took was the sight of their camouflage uniforms and berets to bring back memories of Sam.

      It could still happen like that, even though she’d had three and a half years to recover. The smallest trigger could bring the threat of desperate black grief.

       Not now...I can’t think about him now...

      But now, on the far side of the world with her handsome boss, this painful memory was a timely reminder of the heartache that came with falling in love. Chloe knew she had to be super-careful...and she was grateful she’d trained herself to think of Zac as nothing but her boss...glad that she’d become an expert at keeping a tight lid on any deeper feelings...

      At the police station, Sergeant Davies was very solicitous as he ushered them into his office. He told them that Liv’s death had been clearly accidental and there was no reason to refer it to the coroner.

      ‘The young man who was driving your sister to the hospital is definitely in the clear,’ he added. ‘He’s a Good Samaritan neighbour. He was injured, but he’s going to be OK. A badly broken leg, I believe.’

      Zac sat stiffly, his face as grim as granite, as he received this news.

      ‘We’ll be laying serious charges against the driver of the other car,’ the sergeant then told them.

      ‘Driving under the influence?’ Zac asked.

      This was answered by a circumspect nod of assent.

      Zac sighed and closed his eyes.

      * * *

      Outside, Chloe wanted to suggest that they found somewhere for a coffee. She was sure Zac could do with caffeine fortification, but perhaps she shouldn’t have been surprised that he was determined to push on with his unhappy mission. At work he always preferred to confront the unpleasant tasks first. It was one of the things she’d always admired about him.

      Within moments of hitting the pavement, he hailed another taxi and they were heading for the cold reality of the Royal London Hospital.

      Once there, Zac insisted on seeing his sister, but as Chloe watched him disappear down a corridor, accompanied by a dour-looking doctor in a lab coat, she was worried that it might be a mistake. Her fears were more or less confirmed when Zac returned, white-faced and gaunt, looking about ten years older.

      She had no idea what to say. There was no coffee machine in sight, so she got him a drink of water in a paper cup, which he took without thanking her and drank in sips, staring СКАЧАТЬ