His Perfect Bride? (12 page)

It broke her heart to think of what this young girl had gone through. Had her own mother experienced the same thing? Had she been through labour and birth alone and then left Lula on the beach because she’d been too scared to tell anyone she’d had a baby?

As the ambulance stopped in front of the property
and Olly let the paramedics in Lula vowed to stay by Ruby’s side until the young girl’s mother arrived.

Why should she be alone ever again?

Why should either of them?

* * *

Olly followed the ambulance to the hospital. Stuck in his own vehicle, he keenly felt his separation from Lula. She’d connected to Ruby—he could see that. She was obviously viewing her own past and abandonment in light of what had occurred with the young teenager.

He felt good that they’d found Ruby and that this story might end well. He hoped so. He could only hope that Lula would find her happy ending, too.

I’m going to help her find her mother
.

It was the most important thing to her. How could he
not
help? And if Lula found her mother within Atlee Wold then perhaps she’d stay. There’d be no reason for her to leave, would there? And if she stayed, that meant…he could have a future with Lula in it.

Parking his vehicle in the car park, he strolled into A&E, waving at one of the receptionists he knew. Sally beckoned him over.

‘Dr James! Good to see you. How long has it been?’

He was keen to get to Lula and Ruby, but he
didn’t want to be rude. ‘Too long, Sally. How’s Jack?’ Jack was Sally’s husband—a stroke nurse.

‘Good, thanks. Getting all nervous about his parachute jump in May.’

Parachute jump?
Was the whole world going mad and doing crazy things? ‘Parachute jump?’

‘It’s for charity. They’re raising money for brain tumour research. You could do it, too!’

Sally passed him a fundraising form and he took it, doubt in his head. But then he thought of Lula, and what she’d do and say if she knew he’d turned down an opportunity like this.

But did he want to throw himself out of an aeroplane to prove that he wasn’t stuck in a rut? That he did occasionally challenge himself? Heights didn’t bother him—but then he was normally inside tall buildings or planes, not about to throw himself out of one…

‘I don’t know…’

Sally smiled. ‘It’s a good cause. Think how you’ll feel when your feet touch the ground.’

His feet
always
touched the ground. He liked them there. It was safe.

But wasn’t that the issue?

Olly stared at the form.

Then at Sally.

He nodded.

CHAPTER SIX

I
T WAS A LONG
wait at the hospital. For the second time in two days, Lula sat by a patient’s bedside, watching her sleep.

Ruby’s mother had arrived—frantic, weeping, shaking with relief—and she and the young girl had had a tearful reunion. Ruby was physically all right, thankfully. No retained placenta, normal blood loss and she’d been slowly warmed up. Then the nurses had asked if Ruby had wanted to see her baby.

Ruby hadn’t known how to answer, but her mother had answered for her. Yes, they wanted to see the baby—because Ruby’s mother wanted to know if they could bring her grandchild home.

That had made Lula cry. It might have been a tragic story, Ruby and her baby. It might have had a disastrous ending. But it hadn’t. The family was being reunited. As Lula had hoped all along. It hadn’t happened in time for
her
. No one had found or tracked down EL from Atlee Wold for
her
. There’d been no desperate search in the snow for
her
.

Lula had remained alone. And then ill and alone. Until the Chance family had come along and offered her home comforts and love. She’d
been grateful to them, but she had always known she didn’t belong. That she wasn’t one of them. That it wasn’t her real family. And that yearning for actual roots, for actual blood relations, had burned her deep inside.

Olly hadn’t had a mother, either. Was that why he was looking for perfection? Was that why he kept everything safe and normal? So that he didn’t have to feel different from everyone else?

Because that was how not having a mother had felt to Lula.

Being on the outside, always looking in, had given her a tendency to keep away from people. When had she ever got involved with anyone? Deeply enough for it to hurt when it was over?

Just once
.

But there was something different about being in Atlee Wold. The people, the community feeling… It was hard to describe, but Lula felt at home here. As if she was in the right place. She
knew
her mother was here. Maybe even her father? Who knew? And the urge to stay was strong, even though she knew the chances that her mother wouldn’t welcome her with open arms could be strong. What if her mother wouldn’t acknowledge her? Wanted nothing to do with her?

Well, that would hurt, but I’d cope with it.

Lula knew that if she was to stay strong then no matter how the search ended she’d have to walk
away. Give her mother space. Give herself space and time to reflect. She’d have to put miles between them so as not to come on too strong and demand more from her mother than her mother was able to give. To build their relationship slowly if there was a chance of one.

Perhaps her mother had yearned for her over the years? It was possible, wasn’t it?

I do hope so.

And the chance to learn about the choices her mother had made would give Lula some closure, too. Nobody wanted to feel not wanted. Not loved. Especially by their parents. It was meant to be an unbreakable bond, the bond between a mother and her child.

Just to know that she held me in her arms and loved me…

Lula wanted that feeling very much.

* * *

Olly drove Lula back from the hospital once again, glancing over at her, looking at her secretly, hoping she wasn’t noticing how much he looked at her. It wasn’t like her to be this quiet. In the short time he’d known her she’d always been so bubbly, always so full of something to say. It was strange to have her so quiet.

He knew the situation with Ruby must have hit home with her. He knew she was searching
for her mother and he hoped she would find her. But he had no real idea of the anguish she was in.

He could only imagine it.

It must be terrible and he wanted to comfort her. Make her better. He decided to take the plunge and dive straight in.

‘Guess what I’m going to do?’

He felt her turn to look at him. ‘What?’

‘You won’t believe it.’

‘Try me.’

He grinned, his stomach flipping over in shock as he finally admitted to it out loud. ‘A sponsored parachute jump.’

Now she was
really
looking at him. ‘
What?’

He could hear the delight in her voice, the surprise and the joy. It thrilled him immensely—much more than he’d expected it to. Pleasing her made him feel good. Made him acknowledge that he’d stepped out of Mediocre Land and was going to take a huge leap into Extraordinaryville.

‘Really.’

‘That’s great, Olly! And so brave. I’m not sure I could do it—I’m afraid of heights.’

‘I’m sure you’ll think of something to challenge it.’

Back at Moonrose Cottage, she invited him in and he nodded his head, wanting to make sure she was okay before he left for the night. It was late. Almost eleven.

The fire had died out and there was a slight chill to the cottage, so he reset the fire whilst Lula sat on the sofa, holding an old quilt around her.

She looked so sad. It was an emotion he didn’t associate with her and he so wanted to put it right. There was something about Lula that reached out to him and made him care. Something he’d never experienced before.

The flames took hold slowly, building into a strong red-orange heat. As the wood spat and crackled he sat back and took a seat beside her, taking her hand in his, squeezing her fingers.

‘Will you be all right?’

She smiled and nodded at him. ‘Sure. It’s just been an eventful couple of days, that’s all.’

‘You can say that again.’

The flames were reflected in her eyes, dancing and leaping, and he suddenly found himself fighting the urge to reach out and stroke her face. Her skin looked so soft in the firelight. Instead he clenched his hands together, as if they were still cold, to stop himself from reaching out.

‘I mean, this must have touched you…personally?’

Lula smiled again, and nodded, and he could see tears glazing her eyes. His stomach ached at the thought of her hurting, and as a solitary tear ran down her rosy cheek he couldn’t stop himself. He had to reach out and wipe it away.

She looked at him as he did so, her eyes full of something he couldn’t decipher. He was too busy trying to understand the feelings ripping through his own body with the force of a blizzard. Only it wasn’t cold. It was intense heat. Heat he’d not felt for a long time.

‘I can’t help but think that…’

She didn’t finish her sentence. She just looked at him, and he saw her gaze drop to his mouth, then move back up to his eyes again.

Should he kiss her?

She was his colleague. The new doctor. A locum. A drifter. She wasn’t the type of woman he would normally go for. Lula was…
different
. And not just because she had the colours of the rainbow in her hair and a jewel in her belly button and tattoos on her toe-ringed feet. It was none of that. That was all window dressing.

It was Lula herself. So full of life! So full of spark! Always concerned for others, reaching out, doing that little extra. Never asking for anything herself even though she had her own troubles, her own concerns, her own needs.

She was funny and beautiful and kind and caring, and she made him feel he could achieve anything he wanted to. She made him feel as if…he wanted to kiss her.

Olly leaned in. Slowly.

What if she rejects me? What if…?

He never finished the thought because his lips touched hers and an explosion went off in his gut. His eyes closed as he sank into the kiss with Lula, enjoying the soft, sensual curve of her lips, the warmth of her mouth, the scent of her skin.

She didn’t protest. She didn’t push him away.

She welcomed him!

He took hold of her face and pulled her close, deepening the kiss.

She moaned a little and he couldn’t help himself. He lost control at the sound. He pulled her to him, pressing her small, lithe body against his as his tongue delved into her mouth to claim her, taste her, enjoy her.

Lula was something else. He’d never, ever experienced this sort of passion with a woman before. Yes, there’d been heat—but it had been perfunctory and fleeting. A case of him just going through the motions.

But this… This was something else!

‘Olly…’ she breathed as his mouth left hers to cover her jawline and sink down her throat, nibbling her skin and kissing, biting and licking at her pulse points. She smelt delightful. It was as if she was some sort of life-giving nectar that he had to suckle from. He had to taste, lick, bite, kiss.

Inhale her
.

He reached the waistline of her jumper and pulled it over her head, then removed the thermal tee shirt she had on underneath that. That was the problem with winter! Too many layers! He couldn’t get to her skin quickly enough. He
had
to have her.

All sensible thought had left his head completely. That she was his new colleague. That she was his friend. That maybe there could be a risk in doing this with her and then having to work with her afterwards if it all went wrong.

Who says it’s going to go wrong?

None of it mattered any more.

He unclipped her bra as she pulled off his top layers. Their hands were all over each other, and his skin was sizzling at her feathery touch. Cupping her breasts, he lifted her delicate nipples into his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut with ecstasy as she groaned above him, clutching his head, her fingers raking through his hair.

Is there anything sweeter than this?

Pulling Lula to the soft rug in front of the fire, he removed the rest of her clothes. When she’d pulled off his straining trousers she agonisingly kissed his skin, all the way down from his waist, and he thought he would just implode there and then.

When her mouth came back up to his he claimed it once again with his own, running his
hands all over her. Her soft, curvaceous body was lithe and delicate as he pulled himself over her. And he’d been right. There
were
tiny little tattoos all over her. A cute miniature mouse on her hip, a heart in the dimple of her bottom, a trailing sparkle of stars at the top of her thigh…

Condom, Oliver!

‘Damn, wait…’ He looked for his jacket and saw it over the back of a chair. Leaving her for just a moment, he grabbed his wallet, hoping and praying he had a condom in there.

When had he last needed one?

A while at least…

He couldn’t honestly remember if there was one in there!

Oh, thank God!

A small silver packet, tucked behind an old credit card that he never used any more but hadn’t bothered to dispose of yet.

Hoping it was in date, he tore at the wrapper with his teeth.

‘No. Let me,’ she whispered, her breath tickling his chest.

He closed his eyes in agonised lust and tried to gather his control as she slowly and tantalisingly rolled the condom down the length of his penis, almost gasping at the feel of her fingers wrapped tightly around him.

‘I want you…’ he muttered, but the words
didn’t mean enough. Not enough to convey just how much he wanted her and needed her right then.

She lay back and smiled at him, reaching out with her hands to pull him down on top of her.

He tortured himself as he deliberately teased her entrance, dying to thrust himself inside her but hesitating, touching briefly, sliding between her folds. Then, unable to hold back any more in case he physically imploded, he entered her. She gasped and grabbed his back, sliding her hands down to his bottom to pull him tighter against her.