Sydney Harbor Hospital: Zoe's Baby

by Alison Roberts

  ‘Mum?’

  Celia stopped.

  ‘It’s horrible, isn’t it?’ Zoe said softly. She was edging sideways. Trying to get herself between Celia and the edge of the cliff. She could see Teo poised, ready to leap but undecided about whether it was the best thing to do. ‘Feeling lost. Feeling like nobody understands.’

  The baby’s cries were getting louder. Celia swung her head from side to side. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ she moaned.

  ‘You’re doing the right thing,’ Zoe said. ‘You’re helping to look after Emma. That’s what grandmothers do. But Emma needs her mum now. She needs me.’

  ‘You…?’

  ‘I’m her mum. She needs me. You’re my mum. I need you.’

  ‘No…nobody needs me.’

  ‘You’re family.’ Teo’s voice came from closer than Zoe expected. He was right beside her. ‘We all need our family.’

  Celia was staring at Zoe again. ‘Who is this, Zoe?’

  ‘It’s Teo, Mum,’ Zoe said. ‘He’s family too.’

  She stepped forward and took Emma from her mother’s arms. The sheer relief of holding her baby was enough to make her knees buckle but it didn’t matter because there was a strong arm to support her. And Teo had a free arm. He used it to gather Celia close.

  ‘That’s right,’ he said. ‘I’m family and families look after each other.’ He was moving them all away from the edge of the cliff. Towards a safe place.

  A phone call would be all that it would take and they would have all the help they needed. The police. An ambulance that could take Celia to where she needed to be to get the kind of help that even Teo couldn’t provide.

  She could take Emma home and look after her and know that her precious baby was safe again.

  That she herself was safe because she wasn’t about to lose her daughter.

  Or the man she loved so much.

  Zoe snuggled closer to Teo’s body. Help would certainly come and very soon, but she didn’t need to be anywhere else to feel safe. Teo’s arms did that for her and she knew they always would.

  Overwhelming relief gave way to gratitude.

  Love.

  Enough love for everybody. Even her mother.

  ‘Teo’s right, Mum,’ she said softly. ‘Everything’s all right. Or it will be. You’ll see.’

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  TEO had been so right about so many things.

  About how she needed to relax and not stress so much.

  About how she was not her mother and that she was in control of her own destiny.

  About how she wouldn’t believe the kind of party she’d be having the next time she was back in the islands.

  A wedding party.

  It was over now. The celebration and music and a feast. Emma was asleep, safely surrounded by what was now her own family. The couple at the centre of the celebrations had slipped away to have a quiet moment together.

  Getting married on the same beach where she and Teo had first made love had been too perfect for words. In bare feet, with baby waves lapping at her toes and dampening the hem of the most beautiful white dress that had ever been created. Zoe still had the fragrance of frangipani coming from the flowers in her hair as they found themselves back on the beach. She had the warmth of a tropical night surrounding her and the colours of a glorious sunset painting the evening sky.

  Best of all, she had the arms of the man she loved around her. His lips touching hers, his eyes holding the promise of everything she could ever want in her future.

  ‘We’ll have to do this again,’ she said.

  ‘What…this?’ Teo kissed her again. Long and slow and so tenderly.

  ‘Mmm.’ Zoe smiled. ‘Definitely. But I meant get married.’

  ‘I don’t think so.’ Teo sounded very stern. ‘I have no intention of getting unmarried, thanks very much.’

  ‘Just another ceremony. Back in Sydney. So that everybody from the Harbour can be there. So that…Mum can be there, when she’s well enough.’

  Teo nodded. ‘Did I rush you? So much has happened in a very short space of time.’

  ‘It’s perfect.’ Zoe reached up to touch his face. ‘When something feels this right, why wait? It would be special to share it with people back home, that’s all.’

  ‘But this is home, too? Will you be happy spending as much time in the islands as I’d like to?’

  ‘Being with you is my home, Teo. It has been, since I first met you. Being here in the islands is a huge bonus. I love it.’

  ‘We’ll have to come often for the next year or so. To supervise building that new wing on the hospital.’

  Zoe’s smile was joyous. ‘Won’t it be wonderful? Who would have thought that Gran’s property would be worth so much? Millions.’

  ‘You’re a very wealthy woman, Zoe.’ Teo’s smile was just as wide. ‘Thank goodness you met me before you knew it.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because with that kind of wealth I’d imagine you could get anything you want. Anyone you want.’

  ‘But I did.’ Zoe stood on tiptoe to kiss Teo again. ‘I want you, Teo Tuala. I was the richest woman on earth before I even knew about Gran’s place. I will never stop wanting you. Loving you.’

  A rogue wave swept in and washed around her ankles. Zoe squeaked and Teo scooped her into his arms. He didn’t seem to mind that the trousers of his lovely dark suit were getting soaked. He stayed right where he was in the foam and looked down at the woman in his arms.

  ‘For ever’s not going to be long enough,’ he said. ‘For loving you.’

  And then he kissed her. Again.

  * * * * *

  ISBN: 9781459223905

  Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Alison Roberts for her contribution to the Sydney Harbor Hospital series.

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