Authors: Nell Dixon
“The doctor wants you to stay here overnight, Poll,” Evan explained. “I've phoned Nanny, and she's going to bring us a bag. The doctor says I can stay with you.”
A tear slid down the side of Polly's face.
Nathalie wiped the tear from the child's cheek with the edge of a clean tissue from her pocket. “It's just for tonight, darling. The sooner you get better, the sooner I'll come to your house to see you. I'll bring you a present, something very special and princess-y from my shop. I promise.”
Polly lifted her hand to hold Nathalie's.
“That'll be something to look forward to.” There were strain lines around Evan's eyes, but his expression was warm with gratitude.
A nurse bustled into the cubicle, clipboard in hand. “Miss Polly Davies? I'd better check you over before the porter comes to move you up to the children's ward.” She wheeled over a blood pressure machine and began to attach a cuff to Polly's arm.
“I should go.” Nathalie put down her half-drunk cup of tea on top of the locker and edged toward the curtain. Suddenly she felt awkward and in the way.
“Polly and I are really glad you came.” Evan glanced at his daughter.
“If I go over to the post-grad now, I can get a lift home from Daddy. It's his teaching afternoon with the medical students.” She hitched her bag higher onto her shoulder. “Will you call me and let me know how she is?”
“Of course.” He took both her hands in his. “Thanks again, Tali. For everything.” His lips brushed her forehead, and a shiver of delight ran through her body from her head right down to her feet.
She opened her eyes and pulled her hands free. “Bye. Polly, I'll see you soon.” Polly gave a weak wave with her fingers as the nurse undid the cuff from her arm. Seizing her chance, Nathalie slipped out of the cubicle and walked swiftly away along the corridor toward the exit.
****
Nathalie popped her head around the half-open door of the office. “Hello, Daddy. Any chance of a lift home?”
“Nathalie! What a pleasant surprise. I was just about to leave.” Her father looked up from the pile of case notes on his desk. “Are you coming back for supper? You know your mother wants to find out how your appointment went.”
Nathalie grimaced. “Supper would be lovely.”
“I take it from the look on your face that you're going to go ahead with the surgery.” He lifted off his glasses and placed them in his spectacle case.
“I've a provisional date for the autumn.”
Her father stood up and gathered her in his arms as if she were no bigger than Polly. “I'm sorry, my dear, but I can't say I'm surprised. I think you're doing the right thing.”
Nathalie closed her eyes and hugged her father, revelling in the feeling of security. “Thanks, Daddy. It's a big step, but no matter how I look at things, it seems that having my womb removed is the only sensible solution.”
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Gemma had a cup of tea waiting for her when she arrived at the shop the next morning. “How did your appointment go at the hospital?”
“I'll need some time off in the autumn. I'm having my surgery then.” Nathalie shrugged.
“I'm sorry.” Her assistant's expression was sympathetic. “At least you won't be in so much pain, though, and you spend a fortune on tampons. Hey, think of the money you'll save!” she joked in a clear attempt to lift Nathalie's spirits.
Nathalie smiled at her friend. “Trust you to turn a negative into a positive.” She took a sip of tea.
“More to the point, how did you get on with Mr. Hunky yesterday?” Gemma leaned across the counter, her eyes alight with curiosity.
“You are so nosey! He's put an offer in for a house.”
The other girl raised an eyebrow. “So, he'll be looking for a housekeeper then?” she hinted.
“Gemma! Actually, he's got other things on his mind at the moment. His little girl was taken ill yesterday afternoon while we were out. He's spent the night at the hospital with her.”
“Oh, that's awful! Is she all right?”
“I rang the ward this morning before I left home, and they might let her go home later. She has asthma. I think this sort of thing has happened before.” Nathalie cradled her mug in her hands.
“You're very fond of that little girl, aren't you?”
“Yes, I am. She's a lovely child.”
“Her dad's not so bad, either.” Gemma winked.
“You are hopeless! Stop trying to play matchmaker.”
“That's rich, coming from you. How many times did you try to set Nate up with someone before he fell in love with Jenni?”
Nathalie grinned. “Okay, you might have a point,” she conceded.
After a few minutes' pause, Gemma asked, “Have you told Evan about your illness?”'
She drank the last of her tea and went to the sink to wash her mug. “No.”
Nathalie heard her friend cross the small room to stand beside her, then felt a comforting arm across her shoulders, hugging her. “Don't you think you should?” Her voice sounded gentle.
She thought about it. Perhaps she should tell Evan about her problem. It wasn't fair to prejudge his reactions, and he seemed worried about her. “Maybe. I don't know.”
“It's not the end of the world, not being able to have children. If he loves you â and I, for one, think he does â he'll understand.” Gemma tightened the hug for a moment.
“I'll think about it.” Nathalie moved away to place her mug back in the cupboard.
She left Gemma on the shop floor while she cocooned herself in her office. She opened her ledger, ready to start the paperwork, but her thoughts kept wandering away from invoices and payments and back onto Polly and Evan.
When she'd rung the children's ward at breakfast time, she'd expected to speak to a nurse, but instead they had put Evan himself on the line to talk to her. He had sounded weary as he'd answered her questions. Nathalie guessed he hadn't had much sleep, having spent the night lying on a camp bed at Polly's bedside.
She sighed and tapped the end of her pen thoughtfully against her cheek. Gemma had made a good point earlier. She ought to tell Evan about her illness. A secret had come between them once before, though then it had been Evan who hadn't placed his trust in her. Was she guilty of the same thing by not telling
her
secret?
The phone rang and startled her out of her reverie. “Hello, Bridal Belles?” she answered without thinking.
“Hi, Nathalie. It's Evan.” The sound of his voice made desire pool in her stomach like liquid amber.
“Is everything okay?”
“Fine. I was just ringing to let you know Polly and I are home.”
“You must be exhausted.” She pictured his face, blue eyes shadowed with tiredness and his jaw dark with stubble.
“I'll be okay once I've grabbed a shower and had something to eat. Polly's lying on the sofa watching television.” His voice rumbled low and husky in her ear.
“It sounds as though she's on the mend.” Nathalie wondered if Polly missed her mother at times like these. Her heart ached for the little girl. From what Evan had told her about Laurel's relationship with Polly, Nathalie doubted if the model would cancel her engagements or drop everything to be with her sick child.
“Children heal quickly. That's one good thing I've learnt from Polly's problems,” he said.
Nathalie felt the smile in his voice. “I promised Polly I'd visit her once she was home. Would it be okay if I call in tomorrow?”
“Of course. She'd love to see you.”
“Tomorrow it is, then. I'll come once I've closed the shop.” She replaced the phone in the cradle, glad that Polly seemed better.
****
The phone rang again straight after Evan had finished talking to Nathalie. “Hello?”
“Hi, Evan.” The fake mid-transatlantic twang of his ex-wife's voice resonated from the receiver.
“Hello, Laurel.” He peeped through the hall door into the lounge, where Polly was still engrossed in the television, before pulling the door shut. “What can we do for you?” He hadn't bothered attempting to track Laurel down to tell her about Polly's hospital admission. He knew from past experience that she wouldn't be interested.
“Can't a mother just call to check on her baby?” Laurel's voice took on the pouty little girl tone she always adopted when she wanted something.
Evan's heart sank. Polly had begun to settle in her new surroundings. The last thing she needed was her mother upsetting her all over again. “Most mothers, yes. But let's be honest, Laurel: you're not the maternal type.”
“Maybe not, but she's still my daughter,” Laurel snapped, all pretence of pleasantry at an end.
“What do you want?” Evan felt too tired to hold an argument with Laurel, especially when there was a risk that Polly might overhear.
“I'm flying in tomorrow, and I want to see Polly.”
“She's not very well at the momentâ”
Laurel didn't wait for him to finish. “Bring her down to London. I'm staying at the flat.”
“She's not well enough to travel. She spent last night in hospital. You'll have to come here if you want to see her.” He wondered what else was on Laurel's agenda. She usually only asked to see Polly when she wanted something.
“Oh, that's very inconvenient!” Laurel huffed.
Evan gritted his teeth. “You're welcome to come here to see her.”
“Are there any good hotels?”
“There's a five-star country club, The Langstone. I'll book you a room.”
“Make sure it's a suite. I can only spare one night. I've something exciting to tell Polly.”
Evan suppressed a sigh. Whatever Laurel had to tell Polly probably wouldn't be good. It never was. “Do you want me to tell her you're coming?”
“Of course. I'll be there Saturday morning.”
“We'll look forward to it.” The irony in his voice went over Laurel's head, and she rang off.
He opened the door to the lounge and went through to break the news to Polly.
“What does she want?” Laurel had hurt Polly too often in the past for there to be much trust between them now. Even so, hope mixed with the wary expression on her small face.
“She wants to see you. She said something about some exciting news she had to tell you.” Evan hugged his daughter, cuddling her up close on the sofa where they both sat.
Polly sighed and picked at the stitching of the fleecy throw over her legs. “She doesn't want me to live with her again, does she, Daddy?”
Evan did his best to reassure her. “I don't think so. This is our home now. I'll take you to see our new house soon, when you're feeling better.”
“I don't want to live with Mummy.” A tear rolled down Polly's face, and Evan's heart squeezed in pain.
“Hey, no tears. You're staying with meâit's all settled, remember?” She sniffed and snuggled up against him. “I phoned Nathalie earlier. She's coming to see you tomorrow.”
Polly brightened and sat up. “Is she bringing me a present?”
Evan laughed. “I don't know. You'll have to wait and see.”
She settled down with a contented expression to play with her doll. It didn't take much to make Polly happy, Evan decided as he held his daughter close. But he wished Laurel would try a bit harder to put her daughter first in her list of priorities. Sadly, he could never see that happening. The only person on Laurel's list was herself.
A bigger contrast to Nathalie would have been hard to find. When he first met Laurel, he'd been taken in by her good looks and apparent charm. They'd only dated for a few weeks before he'd realised her charm only existed if there was something for her to gain from it.
His brief relationship with Laurel had been the biggest mistake of his life, excluding the fact that it had given him Polly. When they had broken up and he'd returned to his hometown, he'd thought he'd never see her again.
Then, when he'd become reacquainted with Nathalie and they'd begun to date, he'd fallen in love for the first time in his life. Their lives had been in front of them. He'd intended to ask her to marry him. They'd made plans and discussed the future.
Then, out of the blue, Laurel had dropped the bombshell of her pregnancy, and everything had changed. One meeting with her had convinced him that she wasn't going to be fit to care for a baby alone â at least, not
his
baby â so he'd proposed.
He kissed the top of Polly's head. For a solicitor, he'd been pretty stupid, but how could he regret his child?
****
Holding a small gold gift bag, Nathalie waited on the doorstep for Evan to answer the bell.
“Hello, Nathalie.” Evan still looked tired. He must have been at work, because he still wore his dark grey business suit.
“I'm not disturbing you, am I?”
“No, come in. She's waiting for you.” He led the way into his mother's sitting room. Polly sat on the floor in her pyjamas, a row of dolls lined up next to her.
“What a lot of dolls!” Nathalie smiled at Polly.
The little girl's face lit up when she saw the bag in her hand. “I got them all ready to see you. I told you I'd got lots of princess clothes for them.”
“I've got something special for you, too.” Nathalie beckoned Polly to come sit beside her on the sofa. Evan sat opposite them in an armchair and slackened his tie as he watched.
Nathalie passed the bag to Polly. Nathalie's heart pounded as she watched her open it. She hadn't been too sure what a small girl like Polly would really like, but she'd wanted it to be something special.
“Oh!” Polly gasped, her mouth a small
O
of astonishment as she drew out a tiny gold crown made of filigree.
“I thought every princess should have her own crown. So, this one is yours.” Nathalie took it from the child's trembling fingers and settled it on top of her blonde curls.
“Daddy, look! I'm a princess!” Polly turned to Evan. Her eyes shone with excitement.
“Princess Polly.” He smiled at her, then his gaze locked with Nathalie's. She read the silent thank-you there.
“Can I go and show Nanny?” Polly bounced to her feet.
“I think you should say thank you to Nathalie first,” Evan reminded her.
Polly threw her arms around Nathalie and hugged her tightly. “Thank you.” Then she let go and went skipping from the room.
Silence grew. Nathalie plunged into speech, determined to fill the gap. “She looks much better. The antibiotics must be working well.”
“I'm hoping she'll be able to go back to school on Monday.” Evan rubbed his face. Exhaustion lines pulled at the corners of his eyes.
Nathalie longed to cross the room and kiss his strain away. She pulled herself up at the craziness of her thoughts.
“I appreciate you coming to see Polly. The asthma attack has unsettled her again, just as she was about to get to know her new classmates.” Evan pulled his tie from round his neck and undid the top button on his shirt. His simple action caused the breath to catch in Nathalie's throat. She realised how hollow her protestations to Gemma about Evan being just a friend had been.
“You look exhausted.” Her eyes lingered on the open neck of his shirt. She really had to stop staring.
“I didn't get any sleep at the hospital, and Polly is awake a lot in the night. Her medicine makes her hyper, and when she lies down the coughing starts.”
“Are you working from home?”
“For the moment. I'll probably go to the office tomorrow. Mum's going to stay with Polly.” He folded his tie and placed it across the arm of the chair. “Let me go and make you a drink. Tea or coffee?”
Nathalie felt awful that he planned to wait on her when he looked as if he'd like nothing better than to go to sleep. “I don't want to be in the way.”
“Polly will be back in a minute. Mum's gone to have a lie down,” Evan assured her.
“I'll have coffee then, please. Can I do anything to help?”
Polly came twirling back into the room. She'd dressed herself in a ballerina skirt over the top of her pyjamas. The gold crown was still perched on top of her head, and she waved a toy wand in her hand.
Nathalie smiled at the comical sight. “You look lovely.”
Evan raised an eyebrow and shook his head in disbelief at his daughter's outfit. “I'll get you a drink, Tali.”
Polly picked up her dolls and started to show them all to Nathalie. By the time Evan returned with a tray of cups, the sofa was covered with toys. Nathalie was unused to playing with small children and felt awkward at first when Polly instigated a game. Much to her surprise, though, she enjoyed herself.