‘Oh, Lin...’ Ellie dropped to her knees and scooped her cousin into her arms. ‘It’s OK. I’m here now. Everything’s going to be fine.’
‘I thought no one was ever going to get here—’ Lindsay broke off with a gasp of pain and clutched at Ellie’s hand. ‘Paul’s away and it’s going to take him hours to get home, the midwife is stranded, I thought I was going to be on my own...’
Ellie hugged her tightly. ‘You’re not on your own. And you should have known I’d get here.’
Lindsay gave a sob. ‘If the midwife couldn’t manage it, how come you could?’
‘I had a stroke of luck,’ Ellie said evasively, not wanting to mention the ford. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Scared. It’s not meant to come this early, and I’m not meant to be at home. Oh, Ellie, what’s going to happen?’
‘You’re going to have a baby, and it’s going to be fine.’
‘Ugh!’ Lindsay shrank away from her. ‘You’re soaked!’
‘Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a storm raging outside,’ Ellie reminded her. ‘It’s raining.’
Lindsay gave a soft gasp of pain and rubbed her bump gently. ‘This is the Lake District. It always rains. It has to or we wouldn’t have lakes. You’d better help yourself to some dry clothes.’
‘In a minute.’ Ellie looked at her closely. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Honestly?’ Lindsay bit her lip and shook her head. ‘No. I’m really panicking. I know it’s all going to go wrong.’
‘Why should it go wrong?’
A deep male voice came from behind them and Ellie turned in surprise and shock. For a brief moment she’d forgotten about the man in the car. When she’d left him at a run she’d assumed that he’d be driving back down the lane and out of her life. Instead, he was leaning against the doorway of the bathroom, surveying them both through slightly narrowed eyes.
Lindsay glanced at him and then back at Ellie, her expression bemused. ‘I— Who are you?’
‘A doctor. In the circumstances, I thought you might be glad of some help.’
Ellie gaped at him. He was a doctor? ‘You don’t look like a doctor.’
‘You shouldn’t be influenced by appearances.’ His gaze mocked her as he reminded her of their earlier conversation and she gave a weak smile.
‘Touché.’
Lindsay was staring at him. ‘You’re an obstetrician?’
‘No.’ His tone was clipped and businesslike. ‘But I have delivered plenty of babies in the course of my career. Your cousin mentioned that she isn’t a midwife so I thought I’d better check whether you needed help before I left.’
Ellie felt her body flood with relief. She’d been secretly terrified that she’d end up delivering the baby on her own. But he was a doctor.
He’d saved her life twice in one night.
‘We need help,’ she said firmly, ‘most definitely, don’t we, Linny?’
Lindsay looked apprehensive. ‘But we don’t know him, El.’
‘I do. He’s already rescued me once tonight already and it’s only nine o’clock. Trust me, he’s a hero. Cool, calm and totally in control. The perfect person to have around in a crisis. A bit tense, maybe...’ Ellie’s green eyes twinkled with laughter as she glanced at the stranger ‘...but he can’t help that. I’ll make him a bacon sandwich if I get a minute. I’m sure his blood sugar is low.’
‘My blood sugar is fine. And I’m beginning to think I should have left you stranded by the side of the road.’ He looked at her with exasperation and then his gaze flickered to Lindsay. ‘Is she always like this?’
‘Worse usually,’ Lindsay informed him, a weak smile touching her lips despite her own predicament. ‘She’s totally irrepressible. Says what she thinks and always laughs at the wrong time.’
Ellie looked indignant. ‘I don’t see that there’s ever a wrong time to laugh.’
Lindsay was staring at the doctor. ‘What did you mean when you said you should have left her at the side of the road? Why was she at the side of the road?’
Ellie reached for a towel and started rubbing her hair. ‘My car broke down.’
Lindsay’s eyes widened. ‘Why?’
‘Who knows?’ Ellie ignored the man’s ironic glance. ‘Anyway, this man saved me. And his name is—is...’
She broke off and stared at him blankly, suddenly aware that she hadn’t even asked his name.
‘Maybe you should have asked me that before you climbed into my car and stripped off,’ he suggested softly, and Lindsay’s expression was comical, her voice little more than a squeak.
‘What does he mean, you stripped off?’
‘I was soaking wet,’ Ellie explained quickly, glaring at the man crossly. What was she supposed to have done? Stayed in her sodden clothes?
He watched her for a long moment and a ghost of a smile played around his mouth.
‘I’m Ben MacAllister,’ he said finally, turning his attention back to Lindsay. ‘I can assure you that I’ve delivered babies on several occasions in conditions far more challenging than this.’
Ellie looked at her cousin. ‘There we are. Fate brought him to your doorway.’
Lindsay put a hand on hers and took a deep breath, clearly battling with a contraction. After about a minute she spoke again. ‘I don’t know. I...’ She dropped her voice, clearly embarrassed. ‘We don’t know him, Ellie. And we don’t really need him. You could do it if you had to.’
Oh, no, she couldn’t!
Ellie patted Lindsay’s hand and shot Ben a pleading glance. No way did she want him leaving!
‘Lindsay, I’m an A and E nurse, not a midwife,’ she pointed out hastily. ‘I’ll be here to help Ben and give you moral support, but I can’t take responsibility. You know I can’t. It wouldn’t be right. And I’ve known him long enough to know we can trust him. And, anyway, I’ve got one of my feelings.’
Lindsay groaned. ‘Good or bad?’
‘Good,’ Ellie said in a definite tone. She had to convince Lindsay. They needed a doctor.
Her eyes slid to his broad frame but he was still watching Lindsay, his eyes flicking down to his watch as she was racked by another contraction.
‘Only three minutes since the last one,’ he said softly. ‘I’d say this baby is in rather a hurry.’
‘Oh,
