His Little Christmas Miracle

Once the contraction had passed she checked the baby’s size and position, pleased to note the baby wasn’t breech. But she wasn’t so pleased when she discovered that Aimee’s cervix was already seven centimetres dilated. Aimee was in labour and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

‘Where is your husband?’ Jess asked. She’d noticed a wedding ring on Aimee’s finger but wondered where Mr Bertillon was.

‘He’s out skiing,’ Aimee replied. ‘Why?’

Jess smiled. ‘I thought he might like to be here to meet your baby.’

‘It’s coming now?’

‘Mmm-hmm.’ Jess nodded. ‘You’re about to become parents.’

‘Oh, my God.’

‘Does your husband have a mobile phone with him? Would you like me to call him for you?’ Jess asked.

‘No. I can do it. I think.’ Aimee put a hand on her distended belly as another contraction subsided. ‘If I hurry. Jean-Paul will be surprised. This was supposed to be our last holiday before the baby arrived and it wasn’t supposed to end like this.’ She gave a wry smile. ‘Maybe we’ve been having too much sex. Is it true that can bring on labour?’

Jess couldn’t remember the last time she’d had too much sex. She could barely remember the last time she’d had any sex. She nodded. ‘But not usually at this stage. I think your baby has just decided to join the party.’ She concentrated on Aimee. Thinking about sex always made her think about Lucas, especially since she was in Moose River, but now wasn’t the time for daydreaming. Aimee needed all her attention.

Aimee’s cell phone was beside the bed. Jess passed it to her and then picked up the hotel phone and asked for an ambulance to be sent. Aimee needed to go to the nearest hospital that had premature birthing facilities, which meant leaving Moose River.

Another contraction gripped Aimee and Jess waited as she panted and puffed her way through it. Jess checked her watch. The contractions were two minutes apart. How long would the ambulance take? She had no idea.

Once that contraction had passed and Jess saw Aimee press the buttons on her phone to call her husband she went to gather towels from the bathroom. She stuck her head out into the corridor and asked Margaret to fetch more towels from Housekeeping.

‘How did it go? Did you reach Jean-Paul?’ Jess asked when she returned to Aimee’s side.

‘No. It goes straight to his message service.’ Aimee gasped and grabbed her belly as another contraction ripped through her. ‘He’s gone skiing with a snowcat group so I can only assume he’s out in the wilderness and out of range.’

Margaret came into the room with an armful of towels and Jess asked if there was any way of getting a message to Jean-Paul.

‘Yes, of course,’ Margaret replied. ‘Will you be all right on your own with Aimee while I organise that?’

Jess nodded. Margaret wasn’t going to be of any further use. It was the ambos Jess wanted to see. Jess tucked several of the towels underneath Aimee. She knew it was probably a futile exercise but if Aimee’s waters broke she was hoping to limit the damage to the hotel bedding. Another contraction gripped Aimee and this one was accompanied by a gush of fluid. Fortunately it wasn’t a big flood and Jess suspected that meant the baby’s head was well down into Aimee’s pelvis.

Jess used the time between contractions to check Aimee’s cervix. Eight centimetres dilated. This was really happening. If the ambos didn’t hurry she would have to deliver the baby. What would she need?

She’d need to keep the baby warm. She put a couple of the clean towels back on the heated towel rail in the bathroom.

Aimee’s cries were getting louder and she had a sheen of perspiration across her forehead. ‘I want to push,’ she called out.

‘Hang on,’ Jess cautioned, and she checked progress again.

Oh no. The baby’s head was crowning already.

Jess felt for the cord. It felt loose and she just hoped it wasn’t around the baby’s neck.

‘Okay, Aimee. This is it. You can push with the next contraction.’

Jess saw the contraction ripple across Aimee’s skin. ‘Okay, bend your knees and push!’

The baby’s head appeared and Jess was able to turn the baby to deliver one shoulder with the next contraction and the baby slid into her hands. ‘It’s a girl,’ she told Aimee. Jess rubbed the baby’s back, checking to make sure her little chest rose and fell with a breath and listening for her first cry before she placed her on Aimee’s chest and fetched a warm towel. She took one-minute Apgar readings and clamped the cord just as the ambos arrived. Relief flooded through her. She’d done the easy bit, now they could finish off.

‘Congratulations, Aimee.’

‘Thank you.’ Aimee’s smile was gentle but she barely lifted her eyes from her baby. She was oblivious to the work the ambos were doing. Nothing could distract her from the miracle of new life.

Jess could remember that feeling, that vague, blissful state of euphoria. She tidied her things, packing them into her bag as she thought about Lily’s birth. Like Aimee, she’d done it without the baby’s father there.

She hadn’t wanted to do it alone but she hadn’t had a lot of choice. She hadn’t expected their relationship to end so suddenly. She hadn’t expected a lot of things.

By the time she’d discovered she was pregnant the ski fields had closed for the season and Lily’s father had been long gone, and despite her best efforts she hadn’t been able to find him. So she’d done it alone and she’d done her best.

She snapped her medical bag closed with shaky hands. Now that the drama was over her body shook with the adrenalin that coursed through her system. She stripped the bed as the ambos transferred Aimee and her baby onto a stretcher and wheeled them out the door.

She could hear voices in the hallway and assumed that Jean-Paul had been located. That was quick. She could hear an Australian accent too. That was odd. Jean-Paul didn’t sound like an Australian name. She listened more carefully.

A male voice, an Australian accent. It sounded a lot like Lucas.

Her stomach flipped and her heart began to race. She was being ridiculous. It had been seven years since she’d heard his voice, as if she’d remember exactly how he sounded. She only imagined it was him because he’d been in her thoughts.

It wouldn’t be him. It couldn’t be him.

But she couldn’t resist taking a look.

She picked up the medical bag and stepped out into the hallway. The ambos had halted the stretcher and a man stood with his back to her, talking to Aimee.

‘We’ve got a message to your husband,’ he was saying. ‘We’ll get him back as quickly as possible and I’ll make sure he gets brought to the hospital.’

The man was tall with broad shoulders and tousled blond hair. Jess could see narrow hips and long, lean legs. His voice was deep with a sexy Aussie drawl. Her heart beat quickened, pumping the blood around her body, leaving her feeling light-headed and faint.

It was him. It was most definitely him.

She steadied herself with one hand against the wall as she prayed that her knees wouldn’t buckle.

It was Lucas.

She didn’t need to see his face. She knew it and her body knew it. Every one of her cells was straining towards him. Seven years may have passed but her body hadn’t forgotten him and neither had she. She recognised the length of his legs, the shape of his backside, the sound of his voice.

The ambos were pushing the stretcher towards the elevator by the time she found her voice.

‘Lucas?’

CHAPTER THREE

JESS FELT AS if the ground was tipping beneath her feet. She felt as if at any moment she might slide to the floor. She could see the scene playing out in front of her, almost as though she was a spectator watching from the sidelines. She could see herself wobbling in the foreground and she could see Lucas standing close enough to touch. If she could just reach out a hand she could feel him. See if he really was real. But she couldn’t move. Life seemed to be going on around her as she watched, too overcome to react.

He turned towards her at the sound of his name.

‘JJ?’

She hadn’t been called JJ in years. It had been his nickname for her and no one else had ever used it.

She couldn’t believe he was standing in front of her. Lucas, undeniably Lucas. He still had the same brilliant, forget-me-not-blue eyes and the same infectious, dimpled smile and he was smiling now as he stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug. She fitted perfectly into his embrace and it felt like it was only yesterday that she’d last been in his arms. Memories flooded back to her and her stomach did a peculiar little flip as her body responded in a way it hadn’t for years. She tensed, taken by surprise by both his spontaneous gesture and her reaction.

He must have felt her stiffen because he let her go and stepped away.

Her eyes took in the sight of him. He looked fabulous. The years had been kind to him. Better than they’d been to her, she feared. His hair was cut shorter but was still sandy blond and thick, and his oval face was tanned, making his blue eyes even more striking. He had the shadow of a beard on his jaw, more brown than blond. That was new. He wouldn’t have had that seven years ago, but he hadn’t got fat. Or bald.

Her heart raced as she looked him over. He was wearing dark trousers and a pale blue business shirt. It was unbuttoned at the collar, no tie, and he had his sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms. He looked just as good, maybe even better, than she remembered.

Her initial surprise was immediately followed by pleasure but that was then, just as quickly, cancelled out by panic. What was he doing here? He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be in Europe or Australia. Eating cheese in Switzerland or surfing at Bondi Beach. He wasn’t supposed to be in Canada and especially not in Moose River. She was the one who belonged here. She was the Canadian.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked him.

‘I’m the hotel manager.’

‘In Moose River?’

‘It would seem so.’ He grinned at her and her stomach did another flip as heat seared through her, scorching her insides. He didn’t seem nearly as unsettled as she was about their unexpected encounter. But, then, he’d always adapted quickly to new situations. He seemed to thrive on change, whereas she would rather avoid it.

The ambos and Aimee and her baby had disappeared and a second elevator pinged as it reached their floor.

‘Are you finished up here?’ he asked.

Jess nodded. It seemed she’d lost the power of speech. It seemed as though Lucas had the same effect on her now as he’d had seven years ago.

‘I’ll ride down with you,’ he said.

He waited for her to enter the elevator. She tucked herself into the corner by the door, feeling confused. Conflicted. She wasn’t sure what to think. She wasn’t sure how she felt. One part of her wanted to throw herself into his arms and never let him go. Another wanted to run and hide. Another wanted desperately to know what he was thinking.

Lucas stepped in and reached across in front of her to press the button to take them down to the lobby. She hadn’t remembered to push the button, so distracted by him she wasn’t thinking clearly.

He was standing close. She’d expected him to lean against the opposite wall but he didn’t move away as the elevator descended. If she reached out a hand she could touch him without even straightening her elbow.

He was watching her with his forget-me-not-blue eyes and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. His familiar scent washed over her—he smelt like winter in the mountains, cool and crisp with the clean, fresh tang of pine needles.

The air was humming, drowning out the silence that fell between them. She clenched her fists at her sides to stop herself from reaching out. She could feel herself being pulled towards him. Even after all this time her body longed for his touch. She craved him.

They stood, for what seemed like ages, just looking at each other.

‘It’s good to see you, JJ.’ His voice was a whisper, barely breaking the silence that surrounded them.

He stretched out one hand and Jess held her breath. His fingers caught the ends of her hair and his thumb brushed across her cheek. The contact set her nerves on fire, every inch of her responding to his touch. It felt like every one of her cells had a memory and every memory was Lucas.

‘You’ve cut your hair,’ he said.

‘Many times,’ she replied.

Lucas laughed and the sound was loud enough to burst the bubble of awareness and desire and longing that had enveloped her.

She didn’t know how she’d managed to make a joke. Nothing about this was funny. She was so ill prepared to run into him.

Last time he’d seen her she’d had long hair that had fallen past her shoulders. She’d cut it short when Lily had been born and now it was softly feathered and the ends brushed her shoulders. She’d changed many things about herself since he’d last seen her, not just her hair. It was almost a surprise that he’d recognised her. She felt seventy years older. Not seven. Like a completely different person.

She was a different person.

She was a mother. A mother with a secret.

The lift doors slid open but Jess didn’t move. Lucas was in her way but even so she didn’t think she was capable of movement. She needed the wall to support her. Her legs were shaking. Her hands were shaking. She knew her reaction was a result of the adrenalin that was coursing through her system. Adrenalin that was produced from a combination of attraction and fear. Why had he come back? And what would his presence mean to her? And to Lily?

‘Mr White.’ A hotel staff member approached them. Lucas had his back to the doors but he turned at the sound of his name and stepped out of the elevator. ‘Mr Bertillon is nearly back at the lodge. He’s only a minute or two away. What would you like me to do?’

‘I’ll meet him here. Can you organise a car to be waiting out the front? We need to get him down the mountain to the hospital asap.’

Jess pushed off the wall and forced her legs to move. One step at a time, she could do this. Lucas turned back to face her as she stepped into the lobby. ‘Have you got time for a coffee? Can you wait while I sort this out?’ Jess shook her head. ‘I have to get back to the medical centre,’ she lied. She had no idea how to deal with the situation. With Lucas. She had to get away. She needed time to process what had just happened. To process the fact that Lucas was here.

‘Of course. Another time, then.’ He put a hand on her arm and it felt as though her skin might burst into flames at his touch. Her pulse throbbed. Her throat was dry. ‘We’ll catch up later,’ he said.

Jess dropped the medical bag off at the clinic before trudging through the snow back to her apartment. Seeing Lucas had left her shaky and confused and she used the few minutes she had to herself to try to sort out her feelings.

He said they’d catch up later. What would he want? She definitely wasn’t the naive teenager from seven years ago. She wasn’t the person he would remember.

What would she do? She needed to work out what to tell him. How to tell him.

She shook her head. This was all too much.

She’d have to try to avoid him. Just for a while, just until she worked out what having all three of them in the same place would mean for her and Lily. Just until she solved this dilemma.

Seven years ago she’d fallen in love. Or she’d thought she had. Seven years on she had convinced herself that maybe it had just been a bad case of teenage hormones. Lust. A holiday romance. But seeing him today had reinforced that she’d never got over him. How could she when she was reminded of him every day?

She knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid him for ever. Moose River wasn’t big enough for that. They were bound to bump into each other. But even if avoidance was a possibility she suspected she wouldn’t be able to resist him completely. Curiosity would get the better of her. She’d been thinking about him for seven years. She would have to fill in the gaps. But as to exactly what she would tell him, that decision could wait.

She opened her apartment door and was almost knocked over by an excited Lily.

‘Mum, where have you been? Kristie is here. We’ve been waiting for you for ages.’

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