fine,’ she said. ‘I’m happy to wait until you’re ready.’
‘I’m ready,’ he said. Although it had been good to see Ned again, Oliver was seriously upset by the way his parents had been so cool to Ella, dismissing her. Maybe they were worried he was going to get hurt again, the way he had with Justine—but, as they’d been the ones to introduce him to Justine in the first place and had put so much pressure on them to get together, they were hardly in a position to judge Ella. And he was still furious about the way his mother had grilled Ella about her background. As if it mattered in the slightest what her parents did.
‘I really ought to find your parents and thank them for inviting me,’ she said.
Oliver would rather leave right now, but he knew Ella was right. Manners were important. It was a pity that his parents seemed to have forgotten that tonight. Though he’d make that point to them later, when Ella wasn’t around to be embarrassed by his bluntness.
Thankfully they managed to keep their leave-taking really brief. But Ella was quiet all the way back to Cheltenham. And, when he parked outside her flat, she didn’t invite him in for coffee.
Maybe she was tired. It was common for women to be really, really tired in early pregnancy, he reminded himself.
Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Before the party, he’d kissed her—and she’d definitely responded. Kissed him back. They’d been very close to him picking her up and carrying her to her bed. And the way she’d been so firmly on his side about his career, making him feel that they were in an equal partnership and she’d fight his corner just as hard as he’d fight hers… He’d felt that they’d moved closer, were nearer to understanding each other better and getting to the point where they could agree to make a go of things. And now he realised he knew what he wanted: to be part of her life as well as the baby’s. To make a proper family with her.
Right now she’d become remote again. This felt like one step forward and two steps back. Was it because his parents had been so awful? Did she really hate the world he came from? He knew if he asked her what was wrong, she’d say everything was fine. If he tried to kiss her, he had a feeling that this time she wouldn’t respond—that he’d be deepening the chasm between them.
How could he get her to talk to him without making things worse?
‘Thank you for this evening,’ she said politely. ‘I’ll see you on the ward.’
Maybe the best thing to do now would be to give her some space. ‘Sure,’ he said, and waited until she was safely indoors before he drove back to his own place.
Was he overreacting, or was Ella going cool on him?
No. He was being ridiculous and paranoid. She’d told him she was tired. And Ella was straightforward. He was just seeing things completely out of context, because seeing his parents always rubbed him up the wrong way. He’d hoped that tonight he could re-establish a better relationship with his parents, or at least the beginnings of one. But they hadn’t changed. Right now, he was just out of sorts and seeing shadows where there weren’t any. Tomorrow, he’d see Ella on the ward and she’d be her usual sunny self, and everything would be just fine.
It would.
ELLA SLEPT BADLY that night. She kept waking up, shivering, after horrible dreams of Oliver delivering the baby and then his mother snatching the child before he could give it to Ella and slamming the door behind her.
When her alarm clanged, Ella was feeling out of sorts and upset. A shower and washing her hair didn’t make her feel much better, and she could barely face a single slice of dry toast for breakfast.
She drove in to work and was relieved to discover that Oliver was in a meeting, so she wouldn’t have to face him. Even though part of her wanted to tell him about what his mother had said—and to get a bit of reassurance about her nightmare—she knew that wouldn’t be fair to him. It’d be like asking him to choose between her and his family. Annabelle was off duty, so Ella couldn’t discuss it with her, either. Annabelle had texted her that morning.
How did it go?
Ella had texted back with a total fib, saying it was all fine. She didn’t want to burden her best friend, especially as she knew how hard things had been for Annabelle and Max. She was glad it had worked out for them, but at the same time she felt slightly wistful, as she couldn’t see how things could ever work out between herself and Oliver. Prue and Ned had been kind, but his parents would never accept her, and Ella didn’t want to be responsible for the final rift between Oliver and his parents.
‘Hey, sweetie. Are you doing OK?’
Ella looked up to see their heavily pregnant neonatal cardiothoracic surgeon, standing before her. ‘Morning, Sienna. Of course I’m OK. Why wouldn’t I…?’ Her voice tailed off as she realised what Sienna meant. ‘Oh. You know.’
‘’Fraid so.’ Sienna patted her arm. ‘You’ve replaced me as the hottest topic of gossip at the Royal Cheltenham, right now.’
Ella bit her lip. ‘Hopefully everyone will find something else to think about soon.’
‘Of course they will. How did the scan go?’
‘Good, thanks. Everything’s positive.’
‘That’s great.’ Sienna smiled at her. ‘I’m glad that Oliver supported you, too.’
Oh, help. They’d used the cover story that her family was far away so Oliver was supporting her, but had everyone guessed the truth—that Oliver had been there as the baby’s father? ‘He’s the Assistant Head of Obstetrics, so I guess he feels responsible for his staff,’ Ella said hesitantly.
‘He’s a good man. He offered to go with me for my scans, too.’
So Sienna didn’t know that Oliver was the father of Ella’s baby. Which meant that nobody else did either—because Ella knew that Annabelle would’ve kept her confidence. ‘Thanks for not asking.’
‘About who the dad is?’ Sienna laughed. ‘Given my situation, I could hardly be that hypocritical. Sometimes this is just how things happen—and it’s much better for a baby to have one parent who really loves them, than two who fight all the time.’
That sounded personal, but Ella wasn’t going to intrude by asking. ‘Yes, you’re right.’
‘I just wanted to say, if you need a confidential ear at any time, you know where I am—I know I’m going on leave soon, but I’ll still be around.’
‘Thanks, Sienna.’ It was kind of her to offer, even though Ella thought that the doctor was going to be way too busy with her newborn baby. ‘And I’m still on your babysitter list—the bump won’t change that.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ Sienna patted her arm again. ‘It’ll be good practice for you. We’re both used to newborns, but we’re also used to handing the babies over and I think it’s going to be a bit of a shock to our systems.’
‘Ah, but I get to teach new mums how to
