‘A couple of miles. I come in by tube. But, you know, there will be other vacant flats in the city…if you’ve got time to chase them up.’
The thought of having Kyle living in the same complex made her heart leap, but there was no way that she was going to appear too eager.
He nodded. ‘No doubt. But time is what I haven’t got. Anyway, thanks for the information, and now I must seek out Jack Krasner, who’s going to give me the lowdown on our specially adapted Eurocopter.’
But Kyle didn’t move immediately when she’d left to join the others. He remained seated at the desk, his face sombre in the light from the window.
He was being a miserable blighter with Hannah. He admitted it, but finding her as part of the helicopter response team earlier in the day had stunned him.
When he’d seen her name on the paperwork his predecessor had left for him he’d been sure it would be another woman of the same name. To discover that it wasn’t and that she was just as beautiful as he remembered had thrown him into such a state of disbelief that he’d felt the hard approach was the only way not to make a fool of himself.
And now, after warning her off, he’d asked Hannah of all people if she could help him find somewhere to live. He must be crackers!
It wouldn’t be surprising if he was. Today of all days he’d wanted to be on top form as he took over the reins on the helipad. He’d been highly recommended for the job and was keen to show those who’d appointed him that they’d made a wise decision, and what had happened?
He’d seen the Eurocopter in the sky above as he’d driven to the unit where he was going to be based and had followed it, wanting to see at first hand how his staff would handle the situation that awaited them.
But he’d had a surprise and they didn’t come any bigger. The past had leapt out at him in the form of a slender blonde doctor, and everything else had become of secondary importance.
‘Get a grip on yourself, Templeton,’ he told himself. ‘She didn’t answer when you asked if she was in a relationship, and even if she isn’t, there’s nothing colder than love that’s gone off the boil.’
All very profound reasoning, but it didn’t stop him from ringing the house agents before he went to find Jack, and that turned out to be an abortive errand as while he’d been discussing the vacant apartment a call had come through from the ambulance emergency services and the Eurocopter was ready for take off.
As Graham Smith, Hannah and a paramedic hurriedly climbed on board, the operations officer called across, ‘An iron gate has fallen onto a child at a primary school in Battersea, sir. There are serious injuries from the sound of it.’
‘Then what are they waiting for?’ he asked abruptly, as a vision of Ben in a similar situation made him break into a sweat.
But as he well knew, the helicopter emergency service wasn’t waiting for anything. It never did. That was the whole point of its existence, and as the raucous clatter of the helicopter drowned all other sounds it rose into the early evening sky and one of the strangest days of both their lives drew a little nearer to its close.
CHAPTER TWO
A SUMMER sun was setting over London as Hannah stood on the pavement below the helipad, waiting to hail the first empty taxi that came along.
The tube was all right in the morning, but not at this hour when the crowds had gone and the platforms were less busy. She’d tried it once and had been unnerved at the sight of loiterers on the stairways and passages.
Smitty and the others had gone to the pub for a quick drink before making their way home and she’d been invited to go with them, but the need to be by herself was overwhelming.
Her mind was in chaos. Had been from the moment she’d seen Kyle. And though she was proud of the way she’d handled herself, now that she was out of the building and away from him she could feel herself crumbling.
The day had seemed never-ending for more reasons than one. Not only had his presence on the unit made her aware of every minute, but at this time of year days were long and the helicopter emergency service was on call from half past seven in the morning until sunset.
Any emergencies once daylight had gone were dealt with by ambulance, the authorities being of the opinion that it would be dangerous for the helicopter to be flying around the city during the hours of darkness.
As a black cab came whizzing round the corner she stepped forward to hail it—only to discover that the day wasn’t yet over as far as she and Kyle were concerned.
‘I’ll join you if I may,’ his voice said from behind. ‘I believe that we’re both going in the same direction. My hotel isn’t far from your apartment block.’ As she turned round slowly he added, ‘That is, if you’re going home?’
‘Of course I’m going home,’ she said edgily, dismayed that she was back to watching what she said and did. ‘Where else would I be going at this time of night after being on the go since seven this morning?’
‘I’ve no idea,’ he said calmly, and as the taxi driver cleared his throat to remind them that he was still there, Kyle took her arm and opened the door.
‘So how has your first day gone?’ she asked politely as the vehicle moved off.
It was a crazy question to ask. He might just tell her that it had been going all right until she’d appeared on the scene.
‘Fine. I’ve a lot of experience in the accident and emergency services and this unit is the type that I prefer the most. Obviously every set-up is different but I soon adjust.’
Hannah relaxed. If he was going to talk shop that was fine. She could cope with that. Making sure that he continued to do so, she said, ‘Will you be office-based, or can we expect you to go out on call?’
‘Both. I shall certainly be going out with the teams. You might recall that I’m more of an action man than a penpusher…if you can take your mind back that far.’
The trap was there and she fell into it. ‘Yes, I do recall that. I also remember that some of your actions were extremely hasty.’
That brought his head round to face her in the shadowed taxi. ‘That’s a matter of opinion, wouldn’t you say?’
‘No. I wouldn’t. It’s the truth,’ she told him steadily.
The taxi driver called over his shoulder, ‘Is this where you want dropping off, madam?’
Hannah said, ‘Yes, thanks.’ And before Kyle could reply, she was gone.
Once inside the flat she threw herself into the nearest chair. She’d just done the very thing she’d vowed not to. Tried to justify herself to a man who probably hadn’t given her a thought in years. Where was her pride?
The phone was ringing when Kyle went into his hotel room and when he picked it up his mother’s voice came over the line.
‘Hi, Mum,’ he said with a lift to his voice. ‘How’s Ben?’
‘Fast asleep,’ she said. ‘He wanted to wait up for you, but we kept trying to get you and there was no answer. So in the end I said that I’d ask you to ring him first thing in the morning.’
‘He’s not fretting, is he?’ he asked anxiously. He was aware that moving to a new country was a big enough step for a seven-year-old, without being placed with grandparents he only saw rarely.
‘He’s missing you, of course,’ his mother replied, ‘but apart from that he’s enjoying the village school, and loves playing with all the toys your dad has bought him. Those two are getting on like a house on fire.’
‘That’s great,’ Kyle enthused. ‘Once I’ve got settled into the job I’ll look for a house with a garden and advertise for a good housekeeper. In the meantime I’m about to rent an apartment which will do for the time being until I’ve sorted out a proper home for him.’
‘There’s no rush as far as we’re concerned,’ his mother said. ‘We love having him.’
‘I know you do, Mum,’ he said gently, ‘and I suppose you think that a Cotswold village would be a better place for him than amid the London smog, but I’m missing him already and it is where my job is.’
‘Yes, dear, I know that. We d
o understand, you know.’
When she’d gone off the line he stood staring into space. He doubted if anyone, even his mother, understood how much Ben meant to him. Maybe it was because he’d been left to bring him up on his own.
He’d been in a strange mood during those first months in Queensland all that time ago. Bitter and resentful at the way he’d been let down by Hannah, he’d let a nurse at the hospital where he’d been working make a play for him, and in no time at all she’d been telling him she was pregnant.
The news had brought him up with a jolt, and when she’d announced that she was going to give the baby up for adoption he’d been filled with self loathing. Wanting to make things right, Kyle had managed to persuade the mother to give him sole custody of the child. Marriage had never been discussed. Both sides had been glad to be free of each other, and by the time the baby was born she had already moved on to another man. Kyle had become a single parent and he’d been determined that Ben would have all the love and security he could ever want.
He’d told Hannah that he was alone in London and at that moment it was true, but not for long. He’d seen no reason to start explaining that he was responsible for a child he had fathered within months of their break-up.
For one thing he wouldn’t come out of it as having been exactly devastated at the end of their affair. The fact that he’d let bitterness overcome common sense was a weak excuse and, anyway, Kyle wasn’t the sort of man who made excuses.
Back in Australia it had been easy enough to arrange his domestic life, with an excellent nanny during Ben’s first years and then, when he’d started school, a motherly housekeeper.
He’d intended that it should be the same here once he’d got his bearings, but meeting up with Hannah again had thrown him completely.
He was missing Ben, missing him a lot, but today’s happenings had taken his mind off it for a while. Hannah was back in his life. On the edge of it maybe, but back in his sphere nevertheless, and amongst the tortuous thoughts that had been going round in his mind was the realisation that if things had worked out differently he and she might have had children of their own by now.
But that clinging-vine brother-in-law of hers had put paid to that, and she’d been willing to let him do so if what he’d seen on the ghastly morning when he’d walked in on them had been anything to go by.
So why had nothing come of it? Hannah had said that Paul had married again, but it hadn’t been to her. What a mess it had all been. And now she was telling him that he’d been too quick to jump to conclusions. But she would, wouldn’t she? She’d said it often enough at the time, but he’d been too enraged to listen.
However, he’d changed a lot since then. He was more patient, not as idealistic and fiery, and, that being so, could he endure six months of them working side by side?
Hannah awoke feeling hot and sticky in a humid dawn. She’d made herself a hot chocolate and then gone straight to bed when she’d got in. She’d decided that the only way she would get to sleep was by not letting herself look back over the day’s events, and it had worked.
But she hadn’t allowed for her subconscious and she’d dreamt of Kyle for most of the night. He’d been forgiving, welcoming her with open arms, but as she’d been about to throw herself into them he’d changed into Paul, her brother-in-law, and she’d pushed him away.
Her mouth was dry, her head ached, and going to the French windows of her bedroom she stepped out onto a small balcony that overlooked a park down below.
It was only half past four and yet it was daylight. Outside, the deafening throb of London was tuned down to a hum that would soon be back to its full volume, and in just two and a half hours she would be on her way back to the operations room beside the helipad…and Kyle would be there.
And if he took the penthouse at the top of the apartment building, she wouldn’t just be in his orbit on the job, he would be encroaching into her private life, too.
So what’s wrong with that? a voice inside her said. Why don’t you make the most of it, instead of being so defeatist? The fates once did you a very bad turn. Maybe they’re out to make amends.
All the major traumas that the helicopter service dealt with were followed up, mainly to prove its importance to those funding the unit.
Not all of those they were called out to recovered. Sometimes the condition of the patient was so critical that no power on earth could have saved them. Others had died before they’d even got to them. But many of those attended by the team had lived, due to prompt attention on the spot and the fast transfer to hospital.
There was news on the small girl who’d been crushed by the school gate the previous day, and it wasn’t good. They’d arrived at the scene to find that she’d had head, chest and possible pelvic injuries, and at one time her heart had stopped beating.
Grim-faced, Smitty and the paramedic had worked on her and when they’d got her heart restarted the frantic dash to the nearest hospital had begun. The trauma team had been waiting on the rooftop for her arrival, and after they’d been put in the picture she had been rushed into Theatre.
As Hannah and the two men had been leaving, her parents had arrived, the father white-faced and the mother hysterical.
‘Heads will roll for this one,’ Smitty had said sombrely. ‘There should be better maintenance to school property than that.’
And now the follow-up report had come in. The child was in Intensive Care. Hopefully there would be no brain damage due to the prompt restarting of the heart, but her injuries were severe.
Hannah was the last to arrive on the unit. She’d overslept, having gone back to bed for a couple of hours after her disturbed night, and only caught the tail end of the message.
Graham had filled her in and then amazed her by saying, ‘Kyle Templeton was saying that he can imagine how the girl’s parents are feeling as, like some of us, he’s got a child of his own. Apparently the kid’s staying with his parents somewhere in the Cotswolds until he finds a suitable house here in London. There was no mention of a wife, though.’
Hannah was goggling at him. Kyle had a child! He’d never said. But, then, why should he? The man didn’t have to unburden himself to her of all people. But, as Graham had just said, where was his wife?
Her newly made resolution to make the best of what the fates were offering died at birth as jealousy swept over her.
She didn’t want Kyle to have given his heart to another woman. Childish and ridiculous though it might be, she just didn’t. Which meant that she’d been expecting him to have lived like a monk all those years. Some hope!
Yet she hadn’t exactly lived a life of celibacy either. But there’d never been anyone to take his place. If she could have found him during that time she would have insisted until he’d believed her that any passion he’d witnessed between herself and her brother-in-law had all been on Paul’s side.
She would have made him understand what she’d suffered for looking like her dead twin sister and how, because she’d sympathised with Paul’s grief, she hadn’t fought him off quickly enough when he wouldn’t release her from that disastrous kiss.
Kyle was talking to the operations officer, unaware that Hannah and Graham were discussing him, but when he looked up the other man had gone and just Hannah was there, eyeing him questioningly.
‘What is it?’ he asked as he came across. ‘You’re looking very serious.’
She dredged up a smile. ‘Am I? Perhaps it’s because I’ve just learned that you have a son.’
‘Oh, that. I see. What difference does it make?’
Do rub it in, she thought grimly. If my life has been on hold, it would appear that yours hasn’t.
‘You said that you hadn’t brought anyone with you,’ she pointed out with chilly exactness.
‘I said that I had no one with me here in London, which was true. Ben is with my parents in Gloucestershire for the time being, but I’m sure that you aren’t interested in my domestic affairs.’
‘Y
ou’re right. I’m not.’
‘Fair enough, but I might be interested in yours,’ he said, unperturbed. ‘Let’s have a bite together at lunchtime and you can tell me how life has been treating you in recent years.’
‘I doubt you’ll find what I have to say very interesting,’ she said coolly, wondering just what he was leading up to. ‘Perhaps you’re feeling that as you’ve been landed with me for the next few months you might as well try to get to know me…again.’
Cool, dark eyes locked with hers. ‘Perhaps I am,’ he said with the same calm smoothness. ‘One o’clock, shall we say?’
‘All right,’ Hannah agreed, unable to pass by the chance of talking to him about something other than the job. ‘But won’t it be going against what you said yesterday…no cosy chats?’
‘Did I say that?’ Kyle said blandly.
‘Yes, you did,’ she countered, ‘and the fact that we are already known to each other won’t be under wraps for long if we’re seen lunching together on what is only your second day on the unit.’
‘How do you know that it won’t be seen as my having met you and liked what I saw, that I’m moving in on you before anybody else does?’
‘If that should be the case I would have to inform them that it was about as likely as pigs being able to fly.’
He ignored that. ‘One o’clock it is, then.’ And he went back to continue his discussion with the operations officer.
They didn’t lunch together. At one o’clock Hannah was at the side of the M25, watching a desperately injured man being treated by David Wainright and one of the paramedics.
The police had stopped the traffic and an ambulance had been already there when the helicopter had touched down on the motorway and they were greeted with the news that the patient had thrown himself off an overhead bridge into the path of the traffic below.
‘It’s incredible that there wasn’t a pile-up,’ a grim-faced police sergeant said. ‘If he’d landed in front of, or on top of, an oncoming car it would have been chaos, but by a miracle he didn’t and the only person the poor devil hurt is himself.’
Emergency Reunion Page 3