She hit a speed dial button on her phone, spoke only for seconds and then headed behind the police vehicles towards where the curved side of the bridge started its rise on the other side of some railings. There were two sides to the curve connected by steel pipes that looked enough like a ladder to suggest it would be easy to climb.
‘Don’t go any closer.’ A police officer wearing a “Scene Commander” high-vis vest came swiftly in Kelly’s direction. ‘We’ve tried talking to her and she said she’ll jump if anyone tries to climb up. We’ve got a police negotiator on the way. She’s just a kid.’
‘I’m pretty sure I know her,’ Kelly told him. ‘And I’ve got a family member on his way.’
More than on his way, in fact. Ari must have run like the wind from the hospital to have got to this bridge so fast. He was out of breath but it didn’t stop him cupping his hands to try and make his voice carry further.
‘Stace? Don’t move... I’m coming up to get you.’
‘No...’ The sound was faint but unmistakable. ‘Stay away...’
Ari shook his head. ‘No way...’ He could have been talking to himself as he eyed the railing and the structure of the curves. ‘This is my fault. I can fix this...’
‘You’re not going up there,’ the police commander told him. ‘I’m not going to risk escalating this situation. We just need to wait until—’ He stopped talking abruptly as another call came from above.
‘What?’ He shouted. ‘Say that again?’
‘Kelly...’ Again, the words were faint but audible. ‘I want to talk to Kelly.’
Kelly could feel everybody staring at her, including Darryn, but she was only looking back at one person. Ari. Holding his gaze. She knew exactly how desperate he was to get closer to Stacey to make sure she could be kept safe. She knew how hard it would be—impossible, perhaps—for him to trust someone else with something this important. She took a step closer and kept holding that dark gaze. Trying with all her might to convince him that she would never do anything to hurt him. Ever...
‘Trust me, Ari,’ she said softly. ‘Please...’
‘Yeah, right...’ The taunting tone could only have come from one person. ‘Wouldn’t do that if I was you, mate...’
Kelly head snapped around to face Darryn. ‘Shut up,’ she told him. ‘You’re not only being completely unprofessional, you’re showing everyone what an abusive bully you are. And you know what?’ She didn’t wait for any response. ‘You don’t intimidate me in the slightest.’
And he didn’t, she realised. What had Ari said about working with her? That it felt as if he could do more than he ever could on his own? She felt the same way. She had more courage and confidence when she had Ari just standing close to her, let alone working with her. Even if the brief time they’d had together was all she’d ever have, Kelly would be grateful for the rest of her life for what he’d given her. It was this man who’d encouraged her to believe in herself—to believe in love—again.
Darryn—the abusive bully she’d been unfortunate to have had a relationship with—was never going to intimidate her again. Thanks to Ari, she was no longer afraid of this man on any level. She didn’t even bother looking at him as she pushed past.
‘Now...get out of my way.’
* * *
He’d seen her stand up to an aggressive man the first time they’d met and he’d been blown away by Kelly’s courage. He’d also seen her shrink in the face of abuse from this man but here she was, standing up to him with just as much authority as she had dealt with Vicky’s husband that day. Darryn was backing away, like the coward he probably was, and even amongst his fear for Stacey and the determination to be the one to protect her somehow and then get her to safety, he felt a burst of pride for Kelly and the satisfaction of realising that she was in the space he had wished for her to be in all along. A space where she could believe in herself and realise that she deserved so much better than anything a creep like Darryn could have offered her.
No wonder it was Kelly that Stacey wanted to talk to rather than him and, as hard as it was, Ari knew that he had to do what Kelly had asked him to do. He had to trust her. And it seemed like he wasn’t the only one who was prepared to do that. The police officer in charge had a slightly stunned look on his face as he stood back to allow Kelly climb the railing and gain access to the edge of the bridge structure.
Her face was set in tight lines that Ari had seen before. In that car with Zoe when it had shifted on the rocks in that flood and, for a moment, they had faced the reality of how much danger they were in. When he’d held Kelly’s gaze and tried to reassure her that he was going to do anything he could to protect her.
But he couldn’t protect her now. Even though it was tearing him apart, there was nothing Ari could do but to stand here and watch.
And trust...
* * *
This was scarier than anything Kelly had ever had to do in her work. Scarier than being in a car in a flooded stream even, but she’d been able to find the courage to cope with that and she could find that same kind of courage now because...because Ari was nearby and that changed everything. Like he felt himself, they were better together than alone and that meant that Kelly could be a version of herself that was only possible because she believed it was. Because Ari believed she was amazing?
She had begged Ari to trust her and now she had to trust herself. She’d got through to Stacey once before by being honest and not holding back. Was that why Stacey wanted to talk to her now? Because she knew that she could trust Kelly to tell her the truth, even if it was difficult to hear?
‘Don’t come any closer. I could still jump...’
Oh, God... The fear in Stacey’s voice was heart-breaking. Kelly had to fight back the threat of tears and it took a supreme effort to keep her voice calm.
‘No, you won’t,’ she said quietly. ‘You wouldn’t do that. Not when it’s going to hurt the people who care about you so much.’
‘They don’t care any more. Why would they? It’s my fault that Peggy got hurt. Ari said so.’
‘He was upset. People say things they don’t necessarily mean when they upset. But they don’t stop caring because something bad happens.’ Kelly climbed another rung. ‘I went to see Peggy today and you know what the only thing is that she’s worrying about?’
Stacey was silent for a long moment but Kelly waited until she felt compelled to ask. To buy into the conversation.
‘What?’
‘You. You...and your baby. Ari’s worried, too. He’s down there on that bridge and he’s holding his breath, waiting to see that you’re okay. He wants to take you to see Peggy. You’re a family, you guys. You need to be together right now.’ She climbed another rung and then two. ‘I’m not just saying this stuff, Stacey. You know I’m telling you what’s true.’ She was almost close enough to touch Stacey, who was clinging to the framework of the steel curve, her eyes screwed shut and her face tear-streaked and pale.
‘I can’t...’ Fresh tears were rolling down Stacey’s cheeks. ‘I can’t go down.’
‘You can.’ Kelly swallowed her fear. ‘I’m here. I’ll help you.’
‘No... I can’t. My back hurts too much and...and I’ve wet my pants.’
‘Oh...’ Kelly closed the distance between them as much as she could. The gap between the two sides that made the curve was wide enough for her climb right up beside Stacey. To put her arm around the frightened teenager. ‘You know what this probably means, don’t you?’
Stacey’s body was still rigid but she was leaning against Kelly as if she desperately needed the human contact. ‘What?’
‘Your baby might have decided it’s time to arrive.’ Kelly reached for her radio with her free hand, careful not to rock the weight Stacey was trusting her to support. ‘There’s a fire truck down there on the bridge with a long ladder and I think it’s just become even more imp
ortant that we get you safely back on the ground as fast as possible. Are you ready?’
‘No...they’re going to be mad at me...’
‘Who? Ari? Peggy? Are you kidding? They love you. You can trust that, you know. Always...’
* * *
He had known, deep down, that he could trust Kelly.
Always.
It hadn’t made it any easier to stand back and watch, however. It was, in fact, the first time that Ari could remember allowing himself to be so vulnerable. To have so much hanging on the outcome of trusting someone else.
He had been too far away to hear anything that was being said between Kelly and Stacey but he had felt the tension rising steadily as Kelly had climbed closer. And then she had her arm around Stacey and he heard her voice coming over the radio of the police officer in charge but, instead of relieving that tension, her words made Ari catch his breath in horror.
‘We need the ladder and basket to get down.’ Kelly sounded calm. ‘And an ambulance called, please, if there isn’t one on the way already. Stacey here is in labour. I don’t think we’re going to have time to get her up to ED at the Kensington.’
An ambulance arrived only minutes later, as the fire officers were getting both Kelly and Stacey safely into the basket on the top of the ladder. Ari watched it being lowered, the extendable ladder folding into itself until the basket landed gently on the ground. Ari was right beside it as the side was opened, ready to add his support to Kelly to get Stacey into the privacy of the ambulance. He could see how scared Stacey was and it was heart-breaking.
‘It’s okay,’ he told her, holding out his arms. ‘It’s all going to be okay, I promise...’
Stacey took a step towards him but then stopped, crying out as she doubled over in pain. Ari caught her as she leaned so far forward it looked as if she might fall, scooping her up into his arms as if she weighed no more than a child. He carried her to the warmed cabin of the ambulance, with Kelly following close behind, and, seconds later, it was just the three of them in that secure space, with no room for the ambulance crew if it wasn’t needed.
‘Something’s happening,’ Stacey sobbed, as Ari put her down on the stretcher. She pulled her legs up as Kelly was peeling the purple dungarees clear. ‘It feels weird. Like I have to...have to push...’
Ari had sterile gloves on already. ‘Your baby’s coming, Stace. I can see the head already. It’s crowning.’ He knew exactly what to do now to try and protect both Stacey and her baby. He didn’t have to trust anybody else but he couldn’t have wished for anyone other than Kelly to be by his side in these tense moments of trying to ensure that Stacey’s baby arrived safely in the world.
‘You’re doing so well, Stacey,’ Kelly told her. ‘Good girl...’
‘It hurts,’ Stacey groaned. ‘It’s burning.’
‘Don’t push,’ Ari told her. There was a risk of her tearing if she pushed right now. ‘Take short, shallow breaths like this.’ He showed her what he meant. ‘Pretend you’re blowing out a candle on a cake. And...’ he took hold of Stacey’s hand to direct it ‘...you can feel baby’s head just here. See? That his hair that you’re touching.’
‘Oh... Ohh...’ Stacey was touching her baby’s head but she was staring at Ari. ‘It’s real,’ she choked out. ‘A real baby...’ Her words got swallowed by another cry of pain.
‘You can push with this contraction,’ Ari told her. ‘Push as hard as you can...’
He checked to make sure the umbilical cord wasn’t around the baby’s neck as the head was born and then it took only minutes to coach Stacey through another contraction and catch the body of her baby as it appeared.
‘It’s a boy...’ Ari had never been this close to tears at a birth before. He’d witnessed the miracle of it happening countless times and some of those births had been remarkable enough that he would never forget them—like delivering Zoe’s baby in the car, for example, but this was something different again. This was the baby of someone he had cradled in his arms when she had been no more than a newborn herself. This was family and the love for this baby was already there.
Kelly had a soft towel ready to wrap the baby in and then they helped Stacey to take her son in her arms. And, as she cradled him, Ari met Kelly’s gaze over the top of the baby and he recognised, in that moment, what had been there all along—he just hadn’t let himself see it. He loved her. He had no more choice about loving Kelly Reynolds, in fact, than he’d had in his relationships with Peggy and Stacey.
It felt like his love for Kelly had always been there. How could he not have realised that Kelly had not only captured his heart virtually the moment he’d met her, but that she was the part of it that he’d been missing for ever. He’d felt that bond of trust and been amazed that he could achieve more in his work with her by his side than he could alone but this was more than that. Much, much more. This was about his whole life. His future.
And it seemed that perhaps Kelly understood the tsunami of emotion that was rushing through Ari in those intense seconds as Stacey gazed at her baby with total wonder and he was holding Kelly’s gaze with a very similar kind of wonder as he began to see how much his universe had just changed. It certainly looked as if she was feeling exactly the same thing.
This moment—that Ari knew he would remember for ever—would have to be broken very soon. Stacey and her baby needed to be transferred to Kensington Hospital’s emergency department to be checked and, as soon as they were cleared for discharge, there was an elderly woman in a ward upstairs who was going to be overjoyed to have her family gather in her room and to meet the newest member. The moment could be held for just a heartbeat longer, though, couldn’t it? Enough time for one of those swift, silent conversations that he and Kelly could have from just sharing a long glance.
From letting their souls touch for a heartbeat.
I love you, his gaze told her. I trust you. I trust us...
And he could read her reply as easily as if she’d spoken aloud.
So do I. Always and forever...
EPILOGUE
Three years later...
‘I WISH PEGGY was here.’
‘Oh, but she is...’ Kelly smiled up at Ari as she stood on tiptoe to kiss him softly. ‘She’s everywhere in this house. Don’t you feel it?’
She saw his gaze shift to the battered old couch that was still at the end of the kitchen, still draped in those colourful blankets made from knitted squares. Currently it was bathed in sunlight streaming through the open French doors that led out to the garden.
‘That’s where you were looking after her,’ Ari murmured. ‘That day that you got called here.’
Kelly let her head tilt so that it was tucked into a favourite spot, just below his collar bone, as she stayed snug in the circle of his arms. ‘You carried her to that couch,’ she said softly. ‘Do you know, I think that was the moment I started to fall in love with you? I wanted to be held like you were holding Peggy. To have someone who could make me feel that safe...that loved...’
Ari pressed a kiss to the top of her head. ‘And do you?’ he asked. ‘Still?’
‘More every day. Especially today...’ Kelly’s heart was filling again, so much that it brought tears to her eyes.
‘I reckon I fell in love with you the moment I wanted to hold you like that.’ She could feel the way Ari had to swallow hard. ‘There you were, a kick-ass paramedic with a dodgy situation under total control and then, suddenly, I could see the person inside. The Kelly that needed someone to hold her like that. To tell her that she was the most amazing person in the world.’
Kelly really had to blink tears away now as she turned to look out towards the garden, where a small girl with brown eyes and blonde hair was trying to tie ribbons around the tail of a very patient, large dog. ‘What do you think Maggie’s going to say when we tell her she’s going to get a little brother or sister?’
> ‘I think she’ll say she wants a brother. She adores Jack, doesn’t she?’
‘Who wouldn’t? Stacey’s doing such a wonderful job in bringing him up. Peggy would be so proud of her.’
‘And of her graduating as a nursery teacher. She was so determined to see her succeed. I reckon that was what made her live so much longer than any of us expected. At least she got to celebrate Stacey getting all the GCSEs she needed from night school.’
Kelly was smiling again. ‘She was just as determined that we would get together, too. If you hadn’t passed on her dinner invitation it might never have happened.’
Ari’s arms tightened around her. ‘I can’t imagine life if it hadn’t happened. And Peggy was still well enough to dance at our wedding. Still there to meet Maggie the night she was born. To know that we had named her Margaret-after her.’
Kelly turned her face back to nestle against Ari and they held each other very tightly for a moment. It was such a poignant memory because that had been the night that Peggy had slipped away from them, not long after holding her precious new grandchild in her arms. She had died in her sleep, surrounded by her closest family. Surrounded by the kind of love that the walls of this house still embraced. So much love but there was still an infinite capacity for more.
Kelly didn’t need to tell Ari how lucky she was feeling. Or how much she loved him and how excited she was to know that a new member of their family was on the way. All she had to do was look up and catch his gaze. It only took a moment for one of those lightning-fast silent conversations that could say everything that captured the past, present and future of those three little words.
I love you...
* * *
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