His Perfect Bride? (11 page)

The ability to see the surface you were walking on was something everyone took for granted. But when that view was obscured—when you
didn’t know what you were walking on, or walking through—you couldn’t have any idea of how dangerous it was. You had to trust to luck…or trust the person who walked alongside you.

I trust Olly. I know he’s a man I can trust.

She knew she had to stop thinking of him in that way. But she couldn’t help it. He was just so easy to like and depend upon, and those good looks of his didn’t help any. He had a natural wholehearted appeal. He was a handsome, kind-hearted and generous man, who happened to be single, who happened to be holding her hand and trying to protect her. What was there not to like?

It would be so easy to kiss him and get carried away.

Even though her cheeks were already rosy from the cold and the exertion she flushed a deeper colour and felt her heart skip along a whole lot more merrily than it already had been! Thinking of Olly in such a way made her stomach do a tiny flip, too. It was like having a whole heap of cheerleaders in there, egging her on to find out how it would truly feel if she did give in to her desires and grab Olly and kiss him.

‘Ruby?’ she called again, trying to take her mind off her train of thought.

The track ahead curved off to the left, and then it looked as if there was a natural fork in the trail.
She felt Olly slow, and when they got to the fork he stopped and frowned.

‘The path splits. We need to check both ways, but I’m not happy about you going off on your own.’

‘I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m a grown woman. I’ve looked after myself this long without getting hurt.’ She smiled to take away some of the harshness of her words. She didn’t want to offend him.

‘But you’ve already slipped once, and you don’t know these woods.’

‘Do you?’

‘A little—though I must admit I’ve never had the opportunity to enjoy them fully during the summer. Always too much work on.’

‘Well, we need to check both paths if we’re to search properly. Do the paths conjoin further on?’

‘I think so. I’m sure I can remember Dad telling me they did. But it’s been so long…’

‘I’ll be careful, Olly.’ She pulled her hand free from his tight grip. ‘You be careful, too.’ She could see the uncertainty in his eyes.

‘Blow your whistle if you see any sign of her or get into trouble.’

‘I will.’

‘Promise me?’

If someone could market the perfect picture of a face filled with concern, then Olly was it. It was
nice that he was so worried about her. But Lula was used to looking out for herself.

‘I promise.’

As she set off down her path she realised she could no longer feel her toes or her fingers. The socks she was wearing were normal socks, not hiking socks. They weren’t fit for the purpose of trudging through deep snow for hours.

I wished I’d thought of that earlier.

She held on to the whistle around her neck as she hiked through the thicker snow. Looking over, she could see that Olly was now out of sight. Perhaps he’d gone down a dip, or the number of trees was blocking the view of him. It felt good to know that he was somewhat close, though.

‘Ruby?’ she called, hearing Olly call the same thing in the distance.

There were indentations in the snow, so it looked as if someone might have walked this path earlier. She had no idea if it had been Ruby. It might have just been a dog walker.

‘Ruby? It’s Dr Chance!’

No response still.

She trudged on, slipping slightly, feeling the ice beneath the surface snow. As she went to correct her balance, putting all her weight on her left foot, the snow gave way. She landed with a thump on her coccyx before sliding part way down a bank and into icy-cold water up to her bottom.

‘Oh!’

When she struggled to a standing position the water was only ankle-deep, but her boots were going to be ruined and the back of her trousers was cold and soaked. The base of her spine hurt where she’d fallen directly on to it and she felt slightly winded. Turning, she noted the muddy track of her slide down into the water.

‘Great. Just what I needed.’

There was no way to tell where the edge of the small stream was, so she lifted up her feet in her water-filled boots and tried to find the bank. A tree root stuck out slightly, so she reached to grab for that and pulled herself through the water and up onto firmer ground.

Her feet and legs were
freezing
!

Normally Lula loved snow. Loved the excitement of it and the fun of it. But having soaking wet, freezing cold feet in soggy socks and boots wasn’t much fun. She wiped the mud off her bottom and clambered up. At the top of the bank she pulled off one boot and poured out the water. Then she did the same with the other foot. It felt awful to have to slide her feet back into them when all she could think of was warm, cosy slippers, or dry feet wriggling in front of a roaring open fire.

But she did it. She had to.

She continued on, cursing every step, feeling the ache in her bottom gradually fade away.

By the time she met up with Olly again a good twenty minutes had passed and her teeth were chattering.

‘Any j-j-joy?’

Olly looked her up and down. ‘You’re soaked!’

‘N-Not really. I’m more ice now than water.’ She managed a smile.

‘You can’t go on like that. Come on—I’ll take you home.’

‘We need to look for Ruby.’

‘And have my new doctor get hypothermia? I don’t think so.’

‘But the police think we’re looking in this area. We can’t leave.’

‘I’ll let them know what’s happened and how far we searched. First rule of emergency support: make sure it’s safe for yourself. I won’t have you walking around in those boots and wet trousers.’

‘What if I refuse?’

He looked hard at her, his steely blue eyes firm and sure. But then a hint of a twinkle filled them before he scooped her up into his arms suddenly, the way a groom might carry a new bride over the threshold. ‘Then I’m forced to do this.’ He looked into her eyes with amusement, daring her to say anything.

Lula blushed, but also laughed. Olly was
strong. She could feel him holding her tightly and safely in his arms. ‘Why, Dr James!’

He grinned and began walking the path back to the car. ‘Let’s just hope I don’t hit the ice or we’ll both be doomed.’

Lula didn’t think he’d continue to carry her all the way back to the car. It was so
far
! But somehow he did. Okay, he was huffing and puffing, and his cheeks were fiery red, and she’d sagged slightly in his arms by the time they got there, but he still held her. He only put her down when they reached the stile at the entry point to the woods.

‘Thank you. You didn’t have to carry me so far.’

‘Yes, I did. I couldn’t have your feet in the snow. Not wet like that.’

‘Well, it was very chivalrous of you.’

He accepted her thanks with a grin and a nod of his head. ‘I do try to be a gentleman.’

‘You do it very well. This maiden is thankful.’

She smiled then, and kissed his cheek, but when she pulled away her smile faltered as she saw the way he was looking at her mouth. As if he was hungry for her. As if he was going to kiss her back and it wasn’t going to be a friendly peck.

Hurriedly, suddenly afraid of what she might do if she let him, she turned away and clambered over the stile, her whistle clinking against the buttons on her coat. Lula waited on her side of the
car, glad that she had the space of a car between them, but clambered in eagerly when he opened up her side and turned on the heater.

Hot air billowed into the car and gratefully she peeled off her boots and socks and perched her bare feet up on the console, near one of the heating vents.

‘Oh…
bliss
!’

Her toes were very pale—almost white. She wriggled her toes to try and feel them, to try and get some life back into them, whilst Olly reversed out of the car park.

They passed some other searchers on the way back, identified by the whistles on their lanyards.

When they got back to Moonrose Cottage Olly insisted on carrying her to her front door.

‘I can walk!’

‘In bare feet?’

He scooped her out of her seat and once again carried her easily up to the front door. She had her keys ready and unlocked the door. She waited for him to set her down.

‘I’ll restart the fire.’

He nodded. ‘I’ll make you a hot drink.’

She watched him disappear into the kitchen. She scooped a pair of thick boot socks off the back of a chair and was just stacking some bigger logs onto the burgeoning flames when she heard him call out.

‘Lula?’

‘Yes?’

‘Have you been in the garden shed?’

There was a garden shed?

‘No, I haven’t.’

‘The door’s hanging open. There’s tracks.’

Lula padded into the kitchen, her brow lined in question.

But Olly had already unlocked the side door and set off into the garden. From the window, she watched him traverse the long length of the garden towards a ramshackle old shed that she’d not noticed earlier. Then she saw him dash in and heard him calling her name.

Lula rushed to the back door, unable to go out since she had nothing on her feet but clutching the door frame, hoping he’d found Ruby.

He had.

Moments later Olly emerged sideways from the shed with a pale young girl in his arms, wrapped in blankets. He carried her all the way up the garden.

Two maidens in one day.

‘Be careful! It’s slippery!’ Lula warned. She didn’t need him to fall over now and drop the young teenager in the snow.

He carried her into the house and Lula rushed to the front room to pull one of the chairs in front of the now roaring fire.

‘I’ll make her a hot drink.’

Normally Lula wouldn’t give someone needing medical attention any drink or food, in case they needed an operation, but with Ruby it was essential she be warmed up slowly. As neither of them had any warm intravenous fluids handy to push into her veins, blankets, a fire and a hot drink would have to do.

When she hurried back into the front room, holding a steaming mug of sweet tea, Olly was just getting off the phone.

‘I’ve called for an ambulance.’

‘Notify the police, too. Call off the search.’

He nodded and flipped open his phone once again.

Lula knelt in front of the young girl, noting her pale features, the way she clutched the blankets. She was still shivering—which was good. It meant true hypothermia hadn’t set in.

‘Sip this. Slowly.’ She held the mug to Ruby’s lips and waited for her to take a sip. The solitary action seemed to exhaust the young girl. ‘Oh, Ruby! Everyone’s been looking for you. Your mother’s been frantic.’

‘E-E-Everyone?’ she stammered.

Lula nodded slowly. ‘A lot of the village came out in an organised search. And the police…Dr James and I.’

‘I d-didn’t know where else to go.’

Lula offered the tea again and Olly returned to kneel by her side. ‘The police are on their way.’

Ruby looked frightened.

‘It’s okay, Ruby. They just want to make sure you’re all right.’

‘Am I in t-trouble?’

They both shook their heads, though truthfully neither of them knew exactly how Ruby’s mother might react. Would she be angry that her daughter had disappeared and had a baby in secret? Or would she cry? Ask questions? Be sympathetic? Understanding?

‘You had a baby, didn’t you?’ Lula asked.

Ruby met her gaze and tears welled up in her eyes. ‘It hurt.’

Lula and Olly smiled. ‘Of course it did. You were so brave to go through it on your own. Where did it happen?’

‘In my bedroom. Mum was at work, so no one heard.’

‘We searched the house. Didn’t find any sign of the afterbirth or anything.’

‘I used a plastic sheet. Mum p-painted the hall a few weeks ago, in time for Christmas, and bought plastic sheets to protect the carpet. I used one of those.’

‘Where did you dispose of it?’

‘The public litter bin by the church.’ She sipped at the tea a bit more. ‘That’s good.’ She paused
briefly, her eyes welling once again, before she asked, ‘How’s my baby?’

Lula patted her knee. ‘Good. Safe and warm in hospital. You did a good job, wrapping her up warm and placing that hot water bottle under her. It kept her safe. Though you were lucky I found her. I’d only just moved in. Did you know that?’

Ruby nodded, pulling the blankets tighter around her. ‘When I was smaller I used to play here in Mrs James’s garden all the time. She used to let me play in the orchard at the bottom, and the shed was my Wendy house of sorts. She put an old chair in there, an oil heater, and some blankets for when the weather was cold and I didn’t want to go home.’

‘Why didn’t you want to go home?’

‘My mum and I didn’t get along and Mrs James was always kind. Like a grandmother to me.’

‘You knew my grandmother?’ Olly asked.

‘Very well.’ Ruby smiled. ‘She was lovely. When I’d left the baby on the doorstep I was so tired, and it hurt to walk, I knew I had to rest and I remembered the shed. I hoped the heater still had oil in it and it did.’

Lula looked incredulous. ‘You were in there all that time?’

Ruby nodded.

‘I never noticed. How did I not notice?’

‘There weren’t any lights. How would you know?’

She looked at the young girl. ‘You could have frozen to death.’

‘I was too tired to care.’

Lula glanced at Olly, trying her best not to cry at the young girl’s revelation. He reached out and rubbed her shoulder in support.

She blinked away the tears. ‘We were worried that you might have a retained placenta.’

‘What’s that?’

‘It’s where not all of the afterbirth comes away.’

‘It seemed okay.’

‘Are you in pain now?’

‘A bit. But isn’t that normal after giving birth?’

They all heard a siren in the distance, getting closer.

‘I’m in so much trouble!’ She began to cry.

Lula knelt forward and wrapped her arms around the young girl. She still felt so cold! And she was shuddering and shaking from crying so much.