A Christmas Affair

by Carole Mortimer

  There was a protest from Ann when it came to this, at which Dominic gave a disdainful look down his arrogant nose, and which Cathy chose to ignore; after the upsetting couple of days the other woman had had, she was entitled to have minor hysterics if she wanted to.

  When a worried-looking man of about thirty came rushing through the door about half an hour after their arrival, Cathy had no doubt as to his identity. Her certainty that this must be Paul Freeman was confirmed as he spoke to the receptionist and she pointed in their direction as she answered him.

  He was quite a handsome man, tall, and as dark as his wife, although his good looks were marred by his worried frown as he hurried over to them.

  'Ann—?'

  'She's fine,' Cathy instantly assured him, standing up to smile at him. 'She's with the doctor now, and—'

  'Doctor?' he echoed worriedly, glancing towards the closed doors that led to the exam­ination-rooms. 'Is she ill? They didn't say any­thing about that when—'

  'She isn't ill,' Cathy soothed him, giving Dominic an angry frown for not helping her reassure this stricken man. Couldn't he see that Paul Freeman was worried out of his mind about his wife? Surely he could forget his per­sonal prejudice against Ann for the moment. 'But we did find her unconscious—'

  'She has been injured—' The man's panic returned.

  'Just a slight fall,' Dominic cut in firmly, also standing up. 'It isn't anything serious,' he added with slight impatience. 'Why don't you sit down? I'm sure she won't be long now.'

  Paul Freeman didn't so much sit down as fall down, landing heavily in a chair as his legs no longer seemed capable of holding him, a dazed look on his face. 'I don't understand any of this,' he buried his face in his hands. 'Ann loves me and the kids, I'm sure of it,' he told them fiercely, as if daring them to deny it was true. 'What would make her do something like this?' He looked at Cathy appealingly.

  She swallowed hard. 'I don't—'

  'I know things are difficult at the moment,' he continued as if she hadn't answered him, 'that we haven't had an easy time of it lately, but—'

  'I'm sure your wife will explain everything to you once the doctor has finished with her,' Dominic calmed him irritably.

  The panic in Paul Freeman's face didn't lessen. 'Oh, God, I hope she's all right. Nothing else matters as long as she's all right.'

  'Of course she is.' Cathy patted his arm awkwardly. 'We've all been examined. It's just routine after an experience like this one.'

  He looked hopeful. 'Is it?'

  'The police insisted on it,' Dominic agreed dourly, obviously still displeased at their request.

  Paul gave a self-derisive grimace. 'I somehow thought I would just be able to pick Ann up, take her home, and forget any of this had ever happened.'

  Cathy watched the surprise, and then curi­osity, flicker across Dominic's face. Obviously this hadn't been the reaction he had expected from Ann's husband at all.

  'Excuse me for saying so,' he said quietly, 'but your wife told us she had left you when she got caught in the storm.'

  Paul bristled resentfully at the reminder. 'She had her reasons, I'm sure of it.'

  Just as Cathy was sure he was right in his earlier claim that Ann loved him and their children. Whatever Ann's reasons for leaving them at this time, it hadn't been because of any lack of love on her part. Or Paul's, by the look of him.

  Dominic continued to look at him searchingly for several minutes, before shrugging his shoulders dismissively. 'There's a machine just outside in the corridor where we can get some drinks. Why don't we go and get some coffee while we're waiting for the doctor to come back?'

  Cathy watched the two men as they left the room, looking through the money in their pockets for the right change for the machine. She was just relieved that the meeting had passed by without incident. The way Dominic had backed down was too puzzling to even think about just now. She had half expected him to advise the other man to cast Ann aside and tell her never to darken his door again!

  But her relief turned to anxiety again as the two men didn't return straight away, and she chewed worriedly on her bottom lip, afraid that Dominic had taken this time alone with the other man to voice his opinion, and half expecting him to come back with another bruise on his face, this time inflicted by a punch. Not that Paul Freeman looked any more powerful than Dominic, but he would have pure anger on his side to spur him on!

  Finally it was the nurse's returning that necessitated Cathy's going in search of the two men. They stood in the corridor quietly talking, obviously with no intention of a fight breaking out. She wondered briefly what they could have been talking about—on the surface they seemed to have little in common—and then she re­membered the reason she was here.

  'The nurse says you can go in and see Ann now,' she told Paul softly.

  Relief brightened his face, and then he frowned. 'See her? You mean they haven't let her go yet?' Panic strained his voice. 'What—?'

  'She's probably just resting,' Dominic calmed him. 'She did faint, remember.'

  The other man didn't look any less worried as he hurried back to the waiting-room, his movements uncoordinated in his distress.

  'Poor devil,' Dominic muttered grimly.

  Cathy gave him a sharp look. Why did he have to be so damned hard and cynical all the time? Couldn't he see that Paul Freeman didn't care why his wife had left him the way that she had, that he was just grateful to have found her safe and relatively well again? Love like that was incomprehensible to Dominic, she knew.

  'We may as well have that coffee now,' he said drily. 'I have a feeling we've still got a long wait ahead of us.'

  Cathy could cheerfully have hit him for his obvious cynicism. But what good would it do? Nothing she did or said at this late stage was likely to change Dominic's opinion of love and emotion, not if their having made love so beautifully hadn't reached him.

  Paul was missing when they returned to the waiting-room, but the nurse stood waiting for them. 'You're both free to go now.' She smiled brightly, a tiny redhead with a pretty freckled face. 'Your X-rays were fine, Mr Reynolds, although the doctor advises you take it easy for a few days yet,' she added briskly.

  Dominic frowned at the air of authority in this tiny woman. 'And what, exactly, does that mean?'

  She shook her head. 'I think he would prefer if you didn't travel back to London for the time being.'

  'But—'

  'Mr Reynolds has no intention of travelling back to London immediately,' Cathy cut in firmly. 'He will be staying at my sister's home for the next few days.'

  'Oh, I will, will I?' Dominic taunted once the nurse had left to return to her duties.

  'Yes, you will,' Cathy answered challengingly. 'Use your common sense, Dominic,' she continued fiercely. 'You've been involved in an accident, you have a nasty bruise on your head, and you've spent the last few days in a freezing cold cottage; you need the rest badly!'

  He raised dark brows. 'Was I arguing?' he mocked softly.

  'You need to just take things easy for a few days, and you'll be able to do that at—

  What?' She had suddenly realised what he had said.

  He shrugged. 'I'm quite willing to accept that it would be more sensible to take advantage of your brother-in-law's invitation in the circum­stances. And no, I'm not in more pain or feeling more exhausted than I've been telling you,' he drawled at her searching look. 'I just realise it would be the best thing to do.'

  She could never remember that making any difference to him before. Dominic had always been a law unto himself, whether he was right or wrong. Maybe that bump on the head had affected him more than he realised!

  Whatever the reason for his agreeing to stay at Penny and Simon's after all, it didn't really matter; all that was important was that he had agreed.

  And now, far from parting today and never seeing each other again, as she had been expecting would happen, they were going to spend the rest of the holiday together. It had to be the longest goodby
e. Oh, what sweet torture!

  Although from the way Dominic was looking at her now you would never know the change that had occurred in their relationship during the last couple of days, never realise the rapture she had known in his arms. But she had felt the quickening of his body as he lay beside her the night before, knew that he hadn't felt that desire for one night only, that last night he had fought against wanting her.

  'Good,' she answered him inadequately, dis­turbed by her own thoughts.

  He chuckled wryly. 'You're very inarticulate all of a sudden!'

  She pulled a face. 'Having you agree to something without argument would have that effect on an angel!' she defended.

  His mouth twisted. 'And we both know you're too spirited to be that!'

  'You—'

  They both turned as the swing doors into the examination-rooms swung open with a bang and Paul Freeman hurried into the room, a Paul Freeman who looked dazed and yet ju­bilant at the same time.

  Cathy stood up, unsure of what could poss­ibly be wrong. Ann had seemed fine a few minutes ago—a little shaky, perhaps, but otherwise quite well in the circumstances. She sensed Dominic moving to stand at her side.

  'Paul, what—?'

  'She's pregnant!' he announced to no one in particular, almost seeming to be talking to himself. 'Ann is pregnant!' Excitement entered his voice, his eyes starting to glow as he looked at them. 'The timing is lousy, which is why Ann panicked and ran the way that she did, but we're expecting a baby in seven months' time!'

  CHAPTER NINE

  'THAT was rather unexpected, wasn't it?' Cathy remarked casually.

  Dominic had been strangely quiet since Paul Freeman had made his excited announcement.

  The two of them were once again alone in the waiting-room. Simon was expected to pick them up at any moment, and Paul had re­turned to his wife's side.

  Cathy had been in to see Ann briefly before they took her down to the ward they had de­cided to admit her to just so that they could keep an eye on her for a few days and make sure there were no complications.

  When Cathy had entered the examination room, the other woman had certainly looked happier, clinging on to her husband's hand as if she might never let go.

  Ann gave a sheepish grimace. 'I just didn't know which way to turn once my pregnancy was confirmed, you see. Paul doesn't have a job at the moment because the firm he was working for made him redundant several weeks ago. Christmas had been a nightmare to or­ganise as it was, without my dropping this extra burden on Paul; I stupidly thought he and the children would be better off without me.' She gave a wan smile.

  'Never,' Paul denied fiercely. 'We'll manage, love, you'll see.'

  'Things do have way of working out,' Cathy put in quietly, her heart going out to the other couple, her reassurances sounding weak and meaningless; but what else could she say?

  'That's what I said,' Paul nodded. 'Darling, we made this baby together, out of love, just as we did Chrissie and Rachel.'

  Cathy had blinked back the tears at the simple sincerity of that statement. What did it really matter that Ann and Paul were strug­gling at the moment? They had each other, and a love strong enough to get them through it. Nothing else really mattered.

  Although she doubted Dominic saw it that way. And she had a feeling something else about the situation was bothering him. 'The possibility of my being pregnant is extremely remote,' she told him distantly. 'So I wouldn't worry about it if I were you!'

  He looked at her blankly for several minutes, then a rather stunned expression came over his face, as if the idea hadn't even occurred to him before now.

  Then what had he been looking so distracted and pensive about?

  'I wasn't worried about it.' He frowned.

  'But you are now,' she realised with a sigh as he still looked stunned.

  His mouth firmed. 'Not for the reason you are obviously supposing. But, as you said,' he added abruptly, 'the possibility is very remote.'

  Nevertheless, it was a possibility, and one that filled her with an aching longing, re­kindling that impossible dream she had once had of a dark-haired baby in her arms with green eyes. Dominic's child. But it would be silly to let her imagination run away with her again, although she couldn't help feeling en­vious of Ann.

  'You—'

  'Cathy!' came a glad cry from the doorway, causing them both to turn sharply, just in time to see Penny hurrying across the room towards them. 'Thank heavens you're safe!' she choked as she reached Cathy and the two of them fell into each other's arms.

  Cathy returned the hug, tears flooding her eyes at the relief of seeing her sister again. Now that they were together again she had to admit to herself that there had been a couple of times during the last few days when she had wondered if it would ever happen.

  'We've been so worried about you.' Penny was crying unashamedly as she stood back to look at her. She was a blonde, like Cathy, but there the similarity ended, Penny being 'short and cuddly', as Simon liked to say affection­ately. 'The boys have refused to have Christmas until you can be with us.' She laughed shakily.

  'Oh, no,' Cathy groaned emotionally. 'The little darlings!'

  'Don't let them hear you call them that.' Penny grimaced. 'Although, to be honest, the two of them only realised last year that there's no such thing as Father Christmas!'

  'Where's Simon?' Cathy frowned, unable to believe her brother-in-law would have let Penny drive all this way on her own.

  'Parking the car,' her sister supplied rue­fully. 'I couldn't wait that long to come in and make sure you really were all right.'

  'I don't—' She suddenly became aware of Dominic standing just behind them, having stood up as soon as Penny entered the room. 'Penny, I don't think you've met Dominic Reynolds.'

  Her sister's eyes widened on him curiously, and Cathy bit her lip to stop herself from smiling, able to read almost exactly what Penny must be thinking: this gorgeous man was the one Cathy had claimed was a tyrant and a despot!

  'How nice to meet you at last,' Penny said warmly, holding out her hand, recovering well from the surprise she had just received. 'I had no idea-You see, when the police informed us that two women, one of them Cathy, and a man, had been rescued from a remote cottage, we assumed—at least, I did—that it was Cathy and another couple. Well, I know how stubborn Cathy can be,' she added with af­fection. 'And so I was sure she wouldn't have accepted your offer to drive her here, Mr Reynolds—'

  'Dominic,' he put in quietly.

  'Dominic,' she repeated, a little too coyly for Cathy's comfort. 'But I was sure Cathy would be driving down alone, that she must have taken refuge with the other couple. I had no idea,' she repeated brightly, obviously thrilled by the way things had turned out. 'You really must accept our invitation to stay now, Dominic'

  'I—'

  'Cathy!' A jubilant Simon came bouncing into the room, trudging snow from outside across the floor despite having wiped his shoes as he entered, the receptionist frowning at him as he did so, although with his usual innocence Simon remained unaware of the fact. 'Thank God you're all right!' He gave Cathy a bear-hug. 'You had us worried, pumpkin,' he told her softly.

  'I hope I haven't ruined your Christmas,' she said gruffly, all this emotion starting to make her defences crumble.

  'Of course you haven't.' His eyes twinkled merrily. 'We can have an even better Christmas once we get you home; we have so much more to celebrate and be grateful for now.'

  'Simon, this is Dominic Reynolds,' Penny informed her husband pointedly.

  He turned to the other man with narrowed-eyes, assessing him at a glance. 'Good to see you.' He held out his hand, obviously liking the other man. 'I had no idea—'

  'We've already been through that bit once, darling,' Penny cut in affectionately. 'What say we load the luggage into the car and be on our way? We can talk on the journey, and the quicker we get back, the sooner we can re­assure the others.'

  Simon grinned at the other man as he picked up one o
f the suitcases. 'I hope Cathy hasn't given you too much trouble,' he teased, quirking a mocking brow at her.

  She gave him a playful punch on the arm as they went outside.

  'Not too much, no,' Dominic drawled, helping Simon put their things into the car. 'Although you're right about Cathy's stub­bornness, Penny. I hadn't realised until re­cently just how stubborn she can be.'

  Cathy glared at him, receiving an innocently questioning look back. As if he didn't know exactly what he was doing! 'I took lessons from an expert,' she returned with saccharine sweetness.

  'Really?' He arched dark brows. 'I can't think who!'

  'Can't you?' she returned drily, knowing from the look that passed between Penny and Simon that they were enjoying the verbal ex­change, probably reading a lot more into it than there actually was. Or ever could be—despite the intimacy they had shared the last two days.

  'I'm really sorry we've upset the boys' Christmas in this way.' She frowned, wanting to change the subject, take the focus off Dominic and herself, although she knew there would be questions from her sister later.

  'Are you kidding?' Simon, firmly ensconced behind the wheel of the car, turned to grin at her. Dominic was sitting at his side at Penny's insistence that he would have more room there, and the two women were in the back of the vehicle. 'They think it's great that they still have Christmas to come while everyone else's is over!'

  'I might have known,' she said indulgently, shaking her head.

  Penny kept trying to attract her attention on the drive to the school that the other couple owned and ran, and Cathy knew her sister had to be dying of curiosity about the time she and Dominic had spent alone at the cottage. Well, she would just have to remain curious, even once they had chance to talk privately; there was no way Cathy could tell her sister just how close she and Dominic had become at the cottage!

  Her sister gave up trying to catch her gaze, a frustrated look on her face, when it became obvious Cathy wasn't going to be drawn. The two men talked softly in the front of the car, and as Cathy listened to the steady tone of their voices she fell asleep.