message was just words and it was impossible to tell the sender’s tone, she knew from his choice of words that he was absolutely livid. And she couldn’t blame him: this was news he should have heard from her and nobody else.
He’d be hurt, too. Because she’d let him down. She’d promised him no more secrets—and then this had happened.
But she’d tried to get hold of him. Hadn’t he heard her message?
Maybe his voicemail was having problems. She’d text him instead. And Hazel was bound to tell him that she’d phoned, so he would at least know she’d tried to get hold of him.
Sorry, not meant to be like this. We need to talk. Please call me.
She had no idea when he’d pick up the message. Maybe during his break or at the end of surgery—and despite the fact that consultations were only supposed to take ten minutes, Dragan never rushed his patients. Sometimes his surgery overran slightly, cutting into his lunch-break, and he’d been known to fit in extra patients, too, not wanting them to have to wait until the next surgery.
Wait.
Ha.
All she could do right now was wait.
She didn’t dare venture outside. Given that the press had the news of her pregnancy, the place was probably crawling with paparazzi, and she really didn’t feel up to answering questions. But there was another call she had to make.
She rang the surgery. ‘Hi, Rachel, it’s Melinda. Is George around?’
‘He’s just finishing with a patient. Want me to grab him before his next appointment and get him to ring you?’ the receptionist asked.
‘Yes, please. Is, um, is everything OK down there?’
‘We had a few people in but George got rid of them,’ Rachel said. ‘Are you all right, Melinda?’
No. Far from it. ‘Yes,’ she lied.
Five minutes later, George called her back. ‘This is getting to be a bit of a habit,’ she said wryly. ‘And I apologise. I take it you’ve seen the papers today?’
‘Yes.’
‘Things are a bit messy,’ she said.
He laughed. ‘We’ve got siege conditions outside. I hope you’ve got your blackout curtains up.’
‘George, I would’ve told you. But I only found out myself two days ago. I don’t even know when the baby’s due. I’m waiting for my ultrasound appointment.’
‘It’s all right,’ he reassured her. ‘Legally, you don’t have to tell me yet anyway. But I’m glad I do know, because I need to make sure your job conditions are suitable.’
‘I’m a vet, George. And the surgery’s just had a refit.’
‘Not those sorts of conditions. In our profession, you know as well as I do there are cases you need to avoid during pregnancy on health and safety grounds. So there are some rules, and they’re not breakable under any circumstances. Number one, you don’t go anywhere near lambs; number two, you’re meticulous about hygiene; and, number three, you wear gloves if you go anywhere near a cat. Understood?’
‘I know. Because of the risks of chlamydophilia, listeria and toxicarosis.’ Organisms that could all be harmful to unborn babies—and to their mothers.
‘Exactly. You don’t take any risks. You don’t take any of my calls to large animals. And if there’s a heavy animal in the surgery that needs to be up on the table, you get help—
you don’t do the lifting yourself. Got it?’
‘Got it,’ she said.
‘Good. Now, try and get some rest today. Everyone in the practice is under instructions to say “No comment” to just about anything. But if you need anything, you just tell us. Rachel can nip out to the shops for you if you need something and she can bring it in to you through the back.’
‘George, you’re a wonderful man and I don’t deserve you as a boss. I owe you your body weight in chocolate,’ she said feelingly.
‘I might just take you up on that,’ he teased. ‘Still, at least your other half’s a doctor. He’ll keep a good eye on you.’
‘Mmm.’ Though right now she wasn’t too sure Dragan was still her other half. Far from the baby drawing them closer together, overcoming the last hurdles between them, the news could be the thing to shatter their relationship for good.
She waited all morning. And finally, at lunchtime, Dragan called her. His voice was like ice when he said, ‘It isn’t very nice discovering through the newspapers that you’re going to be a father.’
‘I’m sorry. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way.’ She hadn’t even begun to think how she’d tell him, but she’d never intended him to find out like this. She sighed. ‘Look, I really don’t want to talk about this over the phone. Can I see you?’
‘With all the paparazzi swarming round? The surgery’s besieged.’
‘It’s bad here, too.’
‘I doubt if we can both give them the slip. So it’s the phone or risking more speculation. Your choice.’
‘Believe me, you won’t be the one in the news tomorrow,’ she said dryly. ‘That will be me. And then, as an ex-princess, I’ll cease to be news and they’ll go away.’
‘Ex-princess? What do you mean, ex-princess?’
‘I’ll explain when I see you.’ She swallowed hard. ‘So do I come over to you or are you coming here?’
‘I’ll come over.’
The few minutes it took to walk from the surgery to the vet’s felt like hours. Cars were parked everywhere—including on the double yellow lines—and people were shouting at him.
‘Congratulations, Dr Love-ak!’
Lord, how he hated the way they’d mangled his name for the headlines.
‘How does it feel to be a soon-to-be dad?’
How the hell should he know? He hadn’t really had time to take it in.
‘Are you going to be king of Contarini?’
Absolutely not.
‘Give us a smile!’
Yeah, right.
He resolutely ignored them. And he wasn’t leading them to Melinda’s back door either; he walked through the front door into the vet’s.
‘Dr Lovak!’ Rachel looked up from the reception desk at him, surprised. ‘I didn’t think Bramb—Oh.’ Her voice tailed off as she realised that, for once, the dog wasn’t with him.
At
