Their Mistletoe Baby. Karin Baine

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СКАЧАТЬ in her ears, she put her head down and took her seat near the front of the plane, which was thankfully on the opposite side from Gillian’s. She didn’t want to spend the next few hours listening to a running commentary on her ex’s exploits since he’d returned from the wilderness. Left with no other choice, Gillian huffed out a breath and buckled herself in across the aisle.

      The lovely smiley member of the cabin crew who’d helped them decorate the inside of the plane with tinsel patted Freya on the knee to get her attention. ‘We’re just waiting for one more to arrive. Then we’ll close the doors and really get this party started.’

      ‘Of course. We wouldn’t be going very far without the doctor, would we?’ She prayed there wasn’t some sort of medical emergency holding up the very man who’d be coordinating the children’s medical care. They’d already had one of the non-medical volunteers pull out, leaving them short-handed. As lead nurse she’d agreed to supervise two of the children herself but they really couldn’t do without the doctor.

      ‘They’ve just called from the departure gate to say he’s on his way now.’

      At least the delay meant she could take a breather for a little while before she had to face her next challenge. Take-off was the one part of the flight experience she never enjoyed. That moment when the plane left solid ground and the world grew ever smaller beneath her was always a nail-biter.

      She settled back in her seat and attempted to relax. From the moment they were up in the air until the time they landed back in Scotland, there wouldn’t be much time for her to rest.

      ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have our last passenger on board, so we can close the cabin doors and prepare for take-off.’ The announcement was made as a windswept figure dashed on board and received a round of applause and a chorus of cheers.

      Not from Freya. She was dumbstruck. Too traumatised to even remember how to breathe.

      Lucas.

      Here.

      Now.

      Unless she was having some sort of sugar-induced hallucination, he’d just stepped onto the plane.

      ‘Sorry I’m late. Car trouble.’ The late arrival shook the rain from his thick blond hair. Freya blinked as the water droplets showered over her and she was forced to face the fact her ex-husband was actually here. Not only that, he had the nerve to smile and breathe as though he’d never crashed her whole world around her.

      She turned, open-mouthed, towards Gillian, who simply shrugged and mumbled, ‘I tried to tell you.’

      ‘Not hard enough,’ Freya hissed. This couldn’t be happening. She had no desire to see him or talk to him, not since it had become apparent he’d abandoned her and their marital home, and now he was here, gatecrashing her weekend away? That was cruel even by his standards.

      ‘The doctor who was supposed to be travelling with us took ill. I only found out myself this morning that Lucas had been drafted in to take his place.’

      ‘That still gave you time to tell me.’ Now the doors were locked, she was shut in this very small, very public space with him. It wasn’t the ideal place to face him for the first time in nearly a year when her emotions were bubbling so close to the surface they could very well blow out the doors of this aircraft. She was already hyperventilating; each gasping, shallow breath making it a possibility she might just pass out. That really would be the sour cherry on top of this mess.

      ‘I didn’t want to upset you or force you to back out. I’m sorry you’ve been put in this position. I know it’s not fair on you, but we need you here.’ Gillian wasn’t the kind to employ emotional blackmail to get what she wanted and Freya knew she’d only done what she thought was best in the circumstances. If she had been aware Lucas was going to be part of this, she might never have made it on board the plane herself and that would have put the entire trip in jeopardy. It didn’t make the prospect of spending enforced time with him any more palatable, though.

      ‘It should’ve been my decision to make,’ she grumbled, letting Gillian off the hook and directing her annoyance at the person who deserved it most. Lucas.

      This volcano of bubbling emotion inside her was exactly the reason she hadn’t wanted any contact with him. It was difficult to restrain herself from getting up and punching him in the face for running out on her the way he had or squaring up to him and demanding answers she probably wasn’t ready to hear. Neither option would settle her again now when the mere sight of him was still enough to make her heart beat a little faster. Memories, good and bad, flooded back so quickly, so intensely she had to forgo her candy cane to reach for the little paper bag in the seat pocket to breathe into.

      In.

      Their first kiss on a night out with colleagues after weeks of working side by side when he’d been called in for cover in Princes Street and she’d been trying to ignore the growing attraction.

      She’d never anticipated any sort of workplace romance, especially when he’d only been at the hospital on a temporary contract. That hadn’t seemed the ideal basis for any long-term relationship, and she wasn’t the type of woman who would ever find satisfaction in a fling, but he’d been so kind and attentive, to her and his patients, he’d eventually become the exception to her rule. Her gamble in letting her heart rule her head again seemed to have paid off since they’d kept dating long after his posting had finished, but she was still paying the price for her mistake now.

      Out.

      Lucas on one knee, promising he’d love her for ever and making her believe this time an engagement would mean marriage and a family and everything that had been taken from her in the past.

      She’d made no secret of the fact she wanted the same kind of special relationship her parents had one day and had thought he’d understood how sacred marriage was to her, not something to ever be taken lightly. The proposal, over a candlelit dinner at his place, had been perfect because it had been a private moment between the two of them, somewhere she hadn’t felt under pressure. The homely, romantic gesture had held more meaning to her than a scripted display of bravado in front of a crowd, and he’d made her believe he held the same values. Only to toss her aside when he’d grown tired of married life all too soon.

      In.

      Their wedding day, when she’d been on top of the world and had truly believed they’d be together for ever.

      It had been a small church wedding since Lucas had had no family he’d wished to invite to the service. He’d looked so handsome, and had seemed so utterly devoted to her during their vows to one another, he would’ve rivalled any fairy-tale prince. During their first dance as husband and wife at the reception she would’ve even sworn he’d had tears in his eyes, but the adoration hadn’t lasted.

      Out.

      The last image she had of him, walking out the front door only months later and breaking her heart in two.

      That dream of her picture-perfect family had vanished along with him that day. He hadn’t loved her enough to even work at their marriage, never mind raise babies with her. She guessed he’d decided somewhere along the way he hadn’t wanted to follow that traditional love, marriage, kids route after all.

      There’d been several self-centred men in her life since her first teenage infatuation, who’d run out on her when faced with the ultimate responsibility, but none of them had hurt her as much СКАЧАТЬ