Saved By The Single Dad

‘Lynette’s fine. She’s over at the vicarage, drinking tea with my wife and complaining about all the fuss. She seems to have got it into her head that she’s got some say about when the baby arrives.’

‘You were right to call. At the very least she needs to be checked over.’

Martin nodded. ‘Thanks. Cass has gone to get your medical supplies. Goodness only knows how she’s going to manage it, but knowing Cass...’

Even the mention of her name made Jack’s heart beat a little faster. ‘She seems very resourceful.’

Martin nodded. ‘Yeah. Bit too resourceful sometimes. Now, important question. Tea or coffee? I don’t think I can keep the Monday Club under control for much longer.’

Jack chuckled. ‘Tea. Milk, no sugar, thanks.’

‘Good. And I hope you like flapjacks or I’m going to have a riot on my hands.’

‘You seem very organised here.’

Martin nodded. ‘This church has been taking people in for the last eight hundred years. Wars, famine, fires... Now floods. I’ve never seen anything like this, though, and I’ve been here fifteen years. Half the village is flooded out.’

‘How many people do you have here?’

‘Just a couple of families staying overnight. We’ve found everyone else billets in people’s homes. But everyone eats here, and we have an action committee...’ Martin shrugged, grinning. ‘That’s Cass’s baby. I confine myself to tea and sympathy.’

Jack reckoned that Martin was downplaying his own considerable role. ‘And hospitality.’

‘We’ve never turned anyone away before, and that’s not going to start on my watch.’ A trace of determination broke through Martin’s affable smile and was quickly hidden. ‘Anything else you need?’

‘A phone? I’d like to call home.’

‘Yes, of course. The landline at the vicarage is still working; you can use that.’ Martin turned, making for the door. ‘Come to the kitchen when you’re ready and I’ll take you over there.’

CHAPTER TWO

MARTIN OPENED A side door that led out of the kitchen and they walked along a paved path, sheltered by makeshift awnings that boasted a few scraps of soggy coloured bunting hanging from the corners. Then through a gate and into the vicarage kitchen, which oozed warmth and boasted a table large enough to seat a dozen people.

Lynette was red-haired like her sister, her features prettier and yet somehow far less attractive. She was heavily pregnant and Jack’s first impressions were that she was in the best of health. Although she’d been having minor contractions, she seemed stubbornly positive that the baby wasn’t coming yet. Jack begged to differ, but kept that thought to himself.

He left Lynette on the sofa by the kitchen range and sat down at the table, where a cup of tea was waiting for him. ‘I’ll be able to examine you a little more thoroughly when your sister gets back with my medical bag.’

‘Thanks. But there’s really no need to worry. First babies are always late, aren’t they?’

Sue, the vicar’s wife, frowned. ‘Not necessarily. My Josh was early.’ She pushed a large plate of flapjacks across the table towards Jack. ‘If I eat another one of those I’ll be sorry when I get on the scales. I wish the Monday Club would stop cooking...’

Lynette laughed. ‘Not much chance of that. Mrs Hawes doesn’t like to see anyone going hungry.’

Sue sighed, looking up as someone rapped on the glass pane of the back door. ‘It’s open...’

The door swung inwards and two bags were placed inside. Then Cass appeared, her hair wet and slicked back from her face, holding her muddy boots in one hand and her wet jacket and overtrousers in the other. Sue relieved her of them and disappeared to put them in the front porch.

‘You got two across?’ Jack bent to inspect the contents of the bags.

‘Yeah, we got a line over about quarter of a mile down from the bridge. Mimi’s okay and she’s going back to the hospital with what’s-his-name.’ The corners of her mouth quirked into an expression that would have been unfathomable if Jack hadn’t been able to guess the situation. ‘She sends you her love.’

Jack nodded, drawing a stethoscope and blood pressure monitor from the bag. ‘Right, ladies. If you’re comfortable here, Lynette, I’ll get on and do a more thorough examination.’

* * *

He’d given Lynette one last flash of those tender eyes and smiled at her, pronouncing that everything was fine. Lynette hadn’t even noticed what he hadn’t said, but Cass had.

‘She’s in the early stages of labour, isn’t she?’ Cass had shown him through to the small room behind the church hall, which had been earmarked as his sleeping quarters and already boasted a hastily erected camp bed in the corner, with sheets and blankets folded on top of it.

‘Yes. Although this could be a false alarm...’

Another thing he wasn’t saying. ‘And it might not be.’

‘Yes.’ He scrubbed his hand back across his scalp, his short dark hair spiking untidily. ‘I have everything I need, and I’ve delivered babies plenty of times before.’

‘Really?’ Jack was saying everything she wanted to hear, and Cass wondered how much of it was just reassurance.

‘It’s not ideal, but we’ll get her to the hospital as soon as the weather lifts. In the meantime, you’ve done your job and you can rely on me to do mine.’

A small curl of warmth quieted some of the fear. ‘Thanks. This baby is...’ Important. All babies were important, but this one was important to her.

‘I know. And he’s going to be fine.’ His eyes made her believe it. ‘Is the father on the scene?’

‘Very much so. He’s not here, though; Lynette’s husband is in the Royal Navy and he’s away at the moment. My father works abroad too; Mum was going to come home next week to help out.’

‘So it’s just you and me then.’ He contrived to make that sound like a good thing. ‘You’re her birth partner?’

‘Yep.’ Cass pressed her lips together. Going to classes with Lynette had seemed like the most natural thing in the world. The most beautiful form of sharing between sisters. Now it was all terrifying.

‘Good.’ His gaze chipped away at yet another piece of the fear that had been laying heavy on her chest for days, and suddenly Cass wondered if she might not make a half decent job of it after all.

‘I’d rather be...’ Anything. ‘I’d rather be doing something practical.’

He laughed. ‘This is the most practical thing in the world, Cass. The one thing that never changes, and hopefully never will. You’ll both be fine.’

She knew that he was trying to reassure her, and that his You’ll both be fine wasn’t a certainty, but somehow it seemed to be working. She walked over to the coil of ropes and pulleys that had been dumped here while she’d taken the bags through to the vicarage.

‘I’ll get these out of your way.’

‘Let me help you.’ Before she could stop him, he’d picked up the rope, leaving Cass to collect the remaining pulleys and carabiners up and put them into a rucksack. ‘You used this to get the bags across?’

‘Yeah.’ Hopefully he was too busy thinking about childbirth to take much notice of what he was carrying. The cut end was clearly visible, hanging from the coil of rope. ‘I borrowed the gear from one of the guys in the village who goes mountaineering.’ She slung the rucksack over her shoulder and led the way through to the storeroom, indicating an empty patch of floor, but Jack shook his head.

‘Not there; it’s too close to the radiator and rope degrades if it dries out too fast. Help me move these boxes and we’ll lay it flat over here.’

Cass dumped the rucksack and started to lift the boxes out of the way. ‘You know something about rope?’

‘Enough to know that this one’s been cut recently, while it was under stress. Mountaineering ropes don’t just break.’ He bent to finger the cut end and then turned his gaze on to her.

The security services had missed a trick in not recruiting Jack and putting him to work as an interrogator. Those quiet eyes made it impossible not to admit to her greatest follies. ‘I...cut the rope.’

Somehow that wasn’t enough. He didn’t even need to ask; Cass found herself needing to tell him the rest.

‘Mimi shouted across, asking if we had a harness. They both seemed determined to try and get across, and medical bags are one thing...’

‘But lives are another?’ he prompted her gently.

‘Yeah. I was worried that they’d just go ahead and do it, and as soon as one of them put their weight on the ropes I wouldn’t be able to stop them. So, when we got hold of the second bag, I cut the rope.’

He grinned. ‘I couldn’t see Mimi letting you haul a bag over and staying put herself on the other side. Nice job.’

Cass supposed she might as well tell him everything; he’d hear it soon enough. ‘Not such a nice job. I miscalculated and the rope snapped back in their direction. Another few feet and it would have taken Mimi’s head off.’

‘It was...what, thirty feet across the river?’

‘About that.’

‘Weight of the bags...’ He was obviously doing some kind of calculation in his head. ‘Wouldn’t have taken her head off. Maybe given her a bit of a sting.’

‘Well, it frightened the life out of me. And what’s-his-name...’

‘Rafe...’

‘Yeah, Rafe tackled her to the ground.’

Jack snorted with laughter. ‘Oh, I’ll bet she just loved that. Rafe always was a bit on the protective side where Mimi’s concerned.’

‘She didn’t seem too pleased about it. What is it with those two? Light the blue touchpaper?’

‘Yeah and stand a long way back.’ Jack was still chuckling. ‘Shame, really. They’re both good people, but put them within fifty feet of each other and they’re a disaster. Always will be.’

‘I know the feeling...’ All too well. Only Cass would be a disaster with any man. She’d never quite been able to move on from what Paul had said and done, never been able to shake the belief that he was right. She’d felt her heart close, retreating wounded from a world that had been too painful to bear.

He didn’t reply. As Jack bent to finish arranging the ropes so they’d dry out properly, Cass couldn’t help noticing the strong lines of his body, the ripple of muscle. That didn’t just happen; it must have taken some hard work and training.

‘So you’re a mountaineer?’

He shook his head, not looking at her. ‘No. My father. It’s not something I’d ever consider doing.’

That sounded far too definite not to be a thought-out decision. ‘Too risky?’ Somehow Cass doubted that; Jack had just braved a flood to get here.

‘There’s risk and risk. My father died when I was twelve, free climbing. Anyone with an ounce of sanity would have used ropes for that particular climb, but he went for the adrenaline high. He always did.’ The sudden bitter anger in Jack’s voice left Cass in no doubt about his feelings for his father.

‘I’m really sorry...’

He straightened up. ‘Long time ago. It was one of the things that made me want to go into frontline medicine. Going out on a limb to save a life has always seemed to me to be a much finer thing than doing it for kicks.’

‘And of course we both calculate the risks we take pretty carefully.’ Cass wondered whether Jack knew that the current calculation was all about him. She wanted to know more about the man who was responsible for Lynette’s safety, to gauge his weaknesses.

He nodded. ‘Yeah. Needs a cool head, not a hot one.’

Good answer. Cass turned to the door. ‘Shall we go and see whether there’s any more tea going?’

* * *

They collected their tea from an apparently unending supply in the kitchen, and Jack followed Cass as she dodged the few steps into the back of the church building. She led him along a maze of silent corridors and through a doorway, so small that they both had to duck to get through it.

They were in a closed porch. Arched wooden doors led through to the church on one side and on the other a second door was secured by heavy metal bolts. Tall, stone-framed windows, glazed in a diamond pattern of small pieces of glass, so old that they were almost opaque. A gargoyle, perched up in a corner, grinned down at them.

‘I reckoned you might like to drink your tea in peace.’ She reached up to switch on a battery-operated lantern, which hung from one of the stone scrolls which flanked the doorway. ‘Martin’s lent me this place for the duration. I come here to think.’

It looked more like somewhere to hide than think. Jack wondered why she should need such a place when she was clearly surrounded by family and friends here. She seemed so involved with her community, so trusted, and yet somehow she held herself apart from it.

All the same, for some reason she’d let him in and it felt like too much of a privilege to question it. Jack took his jacket off and sat down on one of the stone benches that ran the length of the porch. She proffered a cushion, from a pile hidden away in an alcove in the corner, and he took it gratefully.

‘You’ve made yourself at home here. It’s warm as well. And oddly peaceful.’ Jack looked around. Listening to the storm outside, rather than struggling against it, made the old walls seem like a safe cocoon.

‘I like it. These stones are so thick it’s always the same temperature, winter or summer.’ She laid her coat out on the bench and smoothed her half-dried hair behind her ears.

‘Makes a good refuge.’ He smiled, in an indication that she could either take the observation seriously or pass it off as a joke if she chose.

‘Yeah. You should ask Martin about that; he’s a bit of a history buff. Apparently there was an incident during the English Civil War when Cavaliers claimed refuge here. They camped out in this porch for weeks.’

Fair enough. So she didn’t want to talk about it.

‘I’d like you to stay with Lynette tonight, at the vicarage. Keep an eye on her.’

She nodded. ‘I don’t have much choice. My house is a little way downriver from the bridge. It was partially flooded even before this afternoon.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

Cass leaned back, stretching her legs out in front of her. ‘I’ve been expecting it for days and at least I had a chance to get everything upstairs, which is a lot more than some people have had. It’s my own stupid fault, anyway.’

‘So you’re the one, are you? That’s been making it rain.’

She really was stunningly beautiful when she smiled. Warm and beautiful, actually, with a touch of vulnerability that belied her matter-of-fact attitude and her capable do-anything frame. But she seemed far too ready to blame herself when things went wrong.

‘I wish. Then I could make it stop. The house has been in my family for generations and it’s always been safe from flooding.’

‘But not on your watch?’ Jack realised he’d hit a nerve from the slight downward quirk of her lips.

‘There used to be a drystone wall, banked up on the inside, which acted as a barrier between the house and the river. My grandparents levelled a stretch of it to give easy access to build an extension at the back. When they died they left the house to Lynette and me and, as she and Steven already had a place up in the village, I bought her out. I was pretty stretched for cash and thought I couldn’t afford to reinstate the wall for a few years. Turns out I couldn’t afford not to.’

‘You’re being a bit hard on yourself, aren’t you? I’d be devastated if my place were flooded.’

Cass shrugged. ‘I’m concentrating on Lynette and the baby. Bricks and mortar can wait.’

Jack nodded, sipping his tea.

‘So how about you?’ She seemed intent on changing the subject now. ‘You have children?’

‘A little girl. Ellie’s four.’

She smiled. ‘That’s nice. I’m sorry we’re keeping you away from her.’

If he was honest, he was sorry about that too. Jack knew exactly what it was like to have to come to terms with the idea that his father was never coming back, and he’d promised Ellie that he would always come back for her. Right now the storm and the floods made that impossible, and the feeling that he was letting Ellie down was eating at him.

Cass didn’t need to know that. ‘I’m concentrating on Lynette and the baby too.’ He received a bright grin in acknowledgement of the sentiment. ‘I’d really like to call my daughter to say goodnight, though. Would you mind if I borrowed your phone?’

‘Yes, of course.’ She stood up, handing her phone over. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’

‘That’s okay. Say hello to her.’

She hesitated and then sat back down with a bump. Awkwardly, she pointed to one of the icons on the small screen.

‘You could try a video call. She might like to see you.’

‘Yeah, she would. Thanks.’

Jack couldn’t remember his sister’s mobile number so he called the landline, repeating Cass’s mobile number over to Sarah. ‘My sister’s going to get back to us.’

‘Your wife works too?’

‘I’m a single father. Sarah has a boy of Ellie’s age and she looks after her when I’m working.’

‘Sounds like a good arrangement.’ She seemed to be getting more uncomfortable by the minute. If he hadn’t already come to the conclusion that Cass could deal with almost anything, he would have said she was flustered.

He didn’t have time to question why because the phone rang. Cass leaned over, jabbing an icon on the screen to switch on the camera and answer the call.

* * *

He was so in love with Ellie. Cass had reckoned that a wife and family would put Jack firmly out of bounds, which was the best place for him as far as she was concerned. But he was handsome, caring, funny...and single. She was going to have to work a little harder now, because allowing herself to be tempted by Jack was just an exercise in loss.

‘Daddeee!’ An excited squeal came from the phone and Cass averted her gaze. Jack held the phone out in front of him, his features softening into a grin that made her want to run away screaming.

‘Ellie! What are you up to, darling?’

‘We’re having tea. Then Ethan and me are going to watch our film.’

‘Again, sweetie? Doesn’t Auntie Sarah want to watch something else on TV?’ He chuckled as a woman’s voice sounded, saying that if it kept the kids quiet, she was happy.

‘Listen, Ellie...’ He waited until the commotion on the other end of the line subsided. ‘Ellie, Daddy’s got to work, so you’ll be staying with Auntie Sarah for tonight.’

Silence. Then a little voice sounded. ‘I know. Miss you, Daddy.’

Cass almost choked with emotion. When she looked at Jack, he seemed to have something in his eye. ‘I miss you too, sweetie. You know you’re always my number one girl. And I’ll be back soon to give you big hugs.’

‘How big?’

‘As big as a bear. No, bigger than that. As big as our house.’

A little squeal of delight from Ellie. Cass imagined that Jack’s hugs were something to look forward to.

‘As big as our house...’

‘Yeah.’ Jack was grinning broadly now. ‘Be good for Auntie Sarah, won’t you.’

‘I’m always good.’ Ellie’s voice carried a note of reproof.

‘Sure you are. Would you like to meet my new friend?’ He winked at Cass and her heart jolted so hard she almost fainted. ‘She’s a firefighter.’

‘She has a fire engine?’ Ellie was obviously quite taken with the idea.

‘Why don’t you ask her?’ Jack chuckled and handed the phone over to Cass.

A little girl was staring at her. Light brown curls and luminous brown eyes. She was the image of Jack.

‘Hi, Ellie. I’m Cassandra.’ She wondered whether Ellie was a bit young to get her tongue around the name. Child development wasn’t her forte. ‘All my friends call me Cass.’

‘You’re a fire lady? With a fire engine?’ Ellie was wriggling excitedly.

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘Do you have a ladder?’

‘Yes, more than one. And we have a hose, for putting out all the fires.’

‘Auntie Sarah...!’ Ellie clearly wanted to share this exciting news.

‘Yes, I heard. Tell Cassandra that you’ve seen a fire engine.’ The woman’s voice again, laughing.

‘I’ve seen a fire engine.’ Ellie turned the edges of her mouth down theatrically. ‘It was a long, long, long way away...’

Suddenly Cass knew exactly what to say to Ellie. ‘Tell you what. We’re having an Open Day at our fire station soon. We’re showing all the children around...’ She was about to add that Ellie would have to ask her father if she might come, but that seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

‘Yesss! Daddeee!’

Jack shot Cass a wry smile. ‘Do I get to come along too, Ellie?’

Cass thought she could almost see the little girl roll her eyes.

‘You have to take me, Daddy. I can’t drive...’

‘Ah, yes, of course. Looks like it’s the two of us, then. Say thank you to Cassandra.’

Jack leaned in, speaking over her shoulder, and Cass swallowed a gasp, suddenly aware that his body was very close.

‘Thank you, Cassandra.’

Ellie managed the name without even blinking, and Jack chuckled.

‘Time to say bye-bye now, sweetheart.’ Ellie responded by waving and blowing a kiss, then Jack took the phone from her to say his own goodnight to his daughter.

Cass stood up, her limbs suddenly trembling. It was impossible to fall in love in so short a time and over the phone. And, if she was honest with herself, she hadn’t fallen in love with Ellie’s brown eyes but with Jack’s. But he was a grown man. It was much easier to admit that his child was all she could see.

‘She’s gorgeous.’ Cass had let him finish the call, looking away when he blew kisses to Ellie.

‘Yeah.’ His fingers lingered lovingly over the blank screen for a moment, as if he couldn’t quite let go of the memory of his daughter’s face, and then he handed the phone back. ‘I didn’t think she’d manage to pronounce Cassandra.’

The second time he said her name was just as disturbing as the first. Awakening thoughts of what it might feel like to have him whisper it.

‘She must be growing up fast.’

‘Seems too fast, sometimes.’ He shrugged. ‘She loves fire engines...’

‘Yeah, me too. You didn’t mind me asking her to the Open Day?’

‘Mind...?’ He laughed. ‘Sounds like fun. Do I get to sit in the driver’s seat?’

‘No. Children only. Dads get to watch.’

CHAPTER THREE

THEY’D EATEN IN the church hall, the dreaded Monday Club turning out to be a group of perfectly nice women who cooked good food in large quantities and didn’t mind a laugh. The evening was spent at the vicarage with Lynette and Cass, who persuaded Martin to make up a fourth for board games. Then Jack made his apologies and retired to his sleeping quarters, shutting the door and lying down fully dressed on the camp bed.

Suddenly he felt very alone. Ellie would be tucked up in bed by now and although he knew that Sarah would have given her bedtime kisses on his behalf, he hadn’t been there to give them himself. Mimi was probably exhausted and looking forward to a good night’s sleep. Cass was...

He wasn’t going to think about where Cass was. He had a child, and he had to protect her. Jack had made up his mind a long time ago that the best thing for Ellie was that he remained single.

He must have drifted off to sleep because the next thing he knew was a tingle behind his ear, and his eyes shot open involuntarily as he realised that someone was rubbing their finger gently on his skin. He blinked in the light that was flooding in through the doorway and saw Cass.

For one moment all he could think was that this was a delicious way to wake up, coaxed out of unconsciousness by a red-haired goddess. Then the urgency on her face snapped him back to reality.

‘Her waters have broken. Jack...’

‘Okay. I hear you.’ Jack swung his legs from the bed and shook his head to bring himself to. He’d been hoping that this wouldn’t happen. He had the training and the experience for it, and this certainly wasn’t the most outlandish place that he and Mimi had delivered a baby before now. But without the possibility of any backup, and only the medical supplies that Rafe had sent, it was a heavy responsibility, which he had to bear alone.