would never be truly happy unless he did.
* * *
It was almost eight a.m. before Polly felt that she could safely leave the hospital. Lauren had been rushed to Theatre as it appeared that her appendix was on the point of rupturing. A scan had shown that her baby was safe and well and now she just needed to get through the operation. Although it wasn’t ideal in her condition, the surgeon seemed confident that all would be well.
‘Thanks again for everything you’ve done, Polly.’ Lauren’s husband, Sam, hugged her. ‘Having you there really helped Lauren—it stopped her panicking so much.’
‘I was happy to help, and even happier that the surgeon is so positive about the outcome.’ She hugged Sam back. ‘Everything will be fine, Sam, you’ll see.’
‘I hope so.’ Sam dredged up a smile, but it was obvious that he was deeply worried about them losing this much-wanted child. ‘Anyway, you get off now. Lauren will never forgive herself if you’re late because of her.’
‘Tell her from me that she’s not to give it another thought,’ Polly said quickly. She bit her lip, wondering if she should explain, but her brother, Peter, had insisted that he would be the one to break the news. She had phoned him as soon as she had read the letter Martin had left for her. Peter was based in New York these days and had only flown into the country that afternoon but he had hired a car and driven straight over to Beesdale. They had spent the night discussing what to do until in the end Peter had insisted that she should leave it to him. It had been a relief, if she was honest. The thought of the upset it was going to cause so many people wasn’t something she relished, so she would do as Peter had suggested, drive to York and catch the train to London as she and Martin had planned to do. At least it would give her a breathing space, time to make fresh plans, because that was what she was going to have to do now, of course.
It was a scary thought. Polly did her best not to panic as she said goodbye and left. She would take things one step at a time and eventually she would come out the other side, even though she couldn’t imagine what her life was going to be like in the future. A sob caught in her throat. All her plans were up in the air; everything she had expected to happen now wouldn’t take place. It was a daunting prospect, to say the least.
Polly was so deep in thought that she had made her way outside before she remembered that she had left her car in Beesdale. Lauren had begged her to go in the ambulance with her and Polly hadn’t given any thought to what she would do after she left the hospital. She sighed wearily. If her case hadn’t been in the car then she could have taken a taxi to the station but she would need the clothes she had packed, even if they had been chosen for a very different reason...
‘Do you want a lift?’
Polly glanced round when a taxi drew up alongside her, her eyebrows rising when she recognised the man seated in the back as the driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident. ‘What are you doing here?’ she said with a sad lack of grace.
‘It appears that I’ve pulled a muscle.’ He winced as he carefully rotated his shoulder. ‘The paramedics insisted I should be checked over—something to do with any action my insurance company may decide to take in the future. It’s a lot of fuss about nothing, in my opinion.’
‘It’s always safer to get these things checked out,’ Polly murmured, feeling guilty that she hadn’t asked him earlier if he had been injured. She had been too busy putting him in his place and it wasn’t like her to behave that way but, there again, nothing that had happened in the last eight hours was normal. Once again she felt panic well up inside her. Could she cope with a future that was going to be so very different from the one she had planned?
‘Look, do you want a lift or not? You may have nothing to do today but I need to get home.’
The impatience in the man’s voice was just what she needed to steady her. Polly glared at him. ‘Are you always this charming? Or are you making a special effort just for me?’
‘Believe me, I have treated you exactly the same as everyone else,’ he retorted.
‘Then you obviously need to work on your people skills,’ Polly shot back, wrenching open the taxi door.
She settled back in the seat as the driver set off, feeling weariness wash over her. The lack of sleep plus all the emotional turmoil she’d been through had left her feeling drained. Opening her bag, she took out the letter that Martin had left for her, forcing herself to re-read the few brief lines it contained. It was still hard to believe it was true but there it was, in black and white. He had met someone else and, although he was very sorry, he had realised that he wanted to be with her and not Polly. In the meantime, he was going away and would leave it to Polly to tell everyone that the wedding was cancelled. If she preferred to say that it had been a mutual decision then that was fine with him. He only hoped that in time she would understand that he had made the right decision for both of them.
Polly took a deep breath as she folded up the letter and put it back in her bag. She hoped so too, hoped that a time would come when she didn’t feel so completely and utterly at sea. She glanced at her watch, feeling the ready tears scalding her eyes. In a couple of hours’ time everyone in Beesdale would know that she wasn’t getting married today.
ELLIOT REACHED FOR his wallet as the taxi drew up. He still wasn’t sure why he had offered the woman a lift. Normally, it wouldn’t have crossed his mind and yet the moment he had seen her standing outside A&E he had felt compelled to help her. Why? Because she had looked so lost, so forlorn? Why should he care how she felt? He had no idea but he could have no more left her standing there than he could have...have flown to the moon!
‘Here we are then,’ he said, dismissing that ridiculous thought as they climbed out of the cab. He drummed up a smile, making an effort to appear a shade more cordial than he had been earlier. Just for a moment he was tempted to explain about the frustrating week he’d had before he thought better of it. Explanations were for the weak, for those people who were prepared to give others an advantage over them. And he had decided many years ago that he would never let anyone take advantage of him again. ‘Right back where we started.’
‘Oh...erm...yes.’
The woman jumped as though she had been lost in a world of her own and once again Elliot’s interest was piqued. Was she worrying about Lauren and her baby, he wondered, or was there something else troubling her? The question hovered on his lips but he forced it back. He wouldn’t ask, wouldn’t invite any confidences, wouldn’t get involved in any way at all. His life was fine the way it was. He had Joseph and his work to fill it and he didn’t need anything else. If and when he needed sex then he organised it with the same attention to detail that he arranged everything else. He always chose a woman who felt the same as he did, who didn’t want commitment but merely wanted to satisfy a need. He knew without even having to think about it that this woman didn’t fall into that category. No, she would expect the lot—marriage, commitment, a lifetime of togetherness—all the things he had sworn he would avoid after he and Marianna had divorced.
The thought of his ex-wife made his mouth tighten and he saw the woman beside him colour. Reaching into her bag, she took out her car keys. ‘I won’t detain you any longer. Thank you for the lift. I appreciated it.’
With that, she walked over to her car. Elliot watched her go, wondering why he felt as though he should have said something, but what exactly? Should he have thanked her
