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For my sweet sister

Praise for Annie Claydon

“A compelling, emotional and highly poignant read that I couldn’t bear to put down. Rich in pathos, humor and dramatic intensity, it’s a spellbinding tale about healing old wounds, having the courage to listen to your heart and the power of love that kept me enthralled from beginning to end.”

—Goodreads on Once Upon A Christmas Night...

“A lovely story—I really enjoyed this book, which was well written by Annie, as always.”

—Goodreads on Re-awakening His Shy Nurse

“Well-written, brilliant characters—I have never been disappointed by a book written by Annie Claydon.”

—Goodreads on The Rebel and Miss Jones

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Dedication

Praise for Annie Claydon

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

EPILOGUE

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

THE RAIN BEAT down hard on the windscreen, the wipers only clearing it for a moment before water blocked visibility again. Jack was sitting next to her, watching the road ahead carefully.

‘Think we’ll make it?’

Mimi was gripping the steering wheel tight, gauging the way the heavy vehicle was responding in the wet conditions. ‘Yep. As long as the road doesn’t disappear out from under us, we’ll make it.’

The comment wasn’t as unlikely as it would have sounded when they’d last come this way, two weeks ago. It had been raining then, a fine mist that barely covered the road ahead of them. But since then, the rain hadn’t stopped. It had been a dismal summer and August had brought storms. Roads had been washed away in some areas of rural Somerset, and ambulance crews had been battling to get through to their patients.

‘Just think. In two weeks’ time you’ll be away from all of this.’ Jack leaned back in his seat. ‘Miss Miriam Sawyer. Paramedic.’

Despite herself, Mimi grinned. She’d worked hard, and the sound of her own name, spoken with the coveted qualification attached still made her smile every time Jack repeated it. ‘I’m not sure I would have made it without you.’

‘’Course you would. Although I like to think that my expertise and advice were helpful...’

‘And the incessant nagging, of course. But we don’t mention that.’

‘No, we don’t. Or my back seat driving.’

‘Especially not that.’ Two weeks seemed like a long time right now and Mimi’s promotion from ambulance driver to paramedic a long way away. Just getting to this call was about as far ahead as she was able to think, right now.

‘And I’ll be trying to get used to a new partner. Missing your unerring instinct for finding every bump in the road...’

‘Oh, put a sock in it.’ Mimi felt her shoulders relax. Jack always knew when the tension was getting too much, and always seemed to be able to wind things down a bit. ‘Anyway, you’re assuming that they’ll be able to find someone who’ll put up with you.’

‘Harsh, Mimi. Very harsh.’ Jack chuckled, leaning forward to see ahead of them, down the hill towards the river. ‘Looks as if the bridge is still there.’

‘Yeah, but I don’t think we should risk it. That bridge will only just take an ambulance at the best of times. I don’t want to get stuck in the mud on the other side.’ In the brief moments that the windscreen was clear enough to see any distance, it was apparent that the surface water, rolling down the hill on the far side of the river, had reduced the road to a slippery quagmire.

Jack nodded. ‘Looks as if we walk the rest of the way, then.’

‘We could try the A389.’ They’d been directed around this way because of reports that the main road into the village was closed. But maybe that was just a precaution and the ambulance would still be able to traverse it.

‘Nah, I checked and it’s under three feet of water. We’d never get through.’ Jack had been using his phone for updates while Mimi concentrated on the driving. ‘Right now, I think we need to just get ourselves there.’

‘And then?’ If the chances of getting the ambulance across the bridge and up to the village at the top of the hill on the other side were slim, the thought of arriving on foot didn’t appeal very much either. Bringing a pregnant woman back down that treacherous path was something that didn’t bear thinking about.

‘We can assess the situation. I’ve put a call in for a doctor to attend...’

‘Yeah. Right.’ She and Jack had delivered babies before together and, if needs must, they’d do it again. ‘I hope they’re not going to send some junior doctor who thinks he’s the one who’s going to save the world and that we should just stand back and make the tea.’

‘As a paramedic you’ll be making these kinds of decisions soon. What will you do?’ Jack smiled.

‘Oh, I think I’ll put in a call for a doctor to attend.’ Mimi grinned back at him, bringing the ambulance to a halt. She decided to stay put and not pull off the road on to the muddy verge. That was one sure way to get stuck, and a car could make it past in the other lane. Anything bigger wouldn’t be getting any further anyway.

‘Time to get your hair wet again.’

Mimi grimaced, tucking her blonde plait into the back of her shirt. Her hair had been wet so many times in the last week that she was beginning to wish that short hair suited her as well as it did Jack.

They pulled their wet weather gear on in the cabin and Mimi reached for the radio. The only response to her call signal was a burst of static. ‘Looks as if there’s a problem again...’

‘Yeah?’ Jack looked at the rain slamming into the windscreen. ‘Have you got a signal on your mobile?’

‘Probably not...’ Even in good conditions, mobile reception was patchy around here. ‘I might have to walk back up the road a bit. You go on; I’ll be right behind you.’

The ambulance rocked slightly as Jack pulled his heavy bag out of the back, slamming the rear doors closed. Mimi saw him trudge past, rain bouncing from his waterproofs, as she pulled out her phone and dialled.

Nearly... A staccato ringtone sounded on the line, but it was breaking up and then it cut out completely. Climbing out of the ambulance, she toiled back along the road, rain stinging her face. Some way ahead of her she could see an SUV travelling down the hill towards her, going as fast as the pouring rain would allow.

‘Careful, mate...’ She muttered the words to the unknown driver. ‘Any faster and you’ll be in the ditch.’

Forty feet gave her another bar on her phone, and another twenty feet one more. That should be enough. The SUV was closer now, and the driver was flashing his headlights.

‘Okay, I see you.’ Mimi stepped off the road, stumbling over the uneven, sticky ground.

Then she heard it. A distant rumbling sound that might have been thunder, but there had been no accompanying flash of lightning. Mimi turned in the direction of the noise, looking upstream, and then she saw its source.

‘Jack...!’

She shouted into the storm, at the figure on the other side of the bridge, screaming Jack’s name again when he didn’t react. It was impossible to tell whether he’d heard her this time, or the thunderous sound of water rushing downstream towards him, but he turned around.

Jack took one look at the water and dropped the heavy bag he was carrying. He seemed about to try and run, but the steep slope ahead of him was slippery with mud and water.

Mimi stared in horror, unable to do anything, and knowing that Jack had only seconds to make a decision. Run for it, or find something to hang on to. There was a large spreading tree at the side of the road and she willed him towards it. As the water crashed down, she saw him run for the shelter of the tree, clinging on to one of the four split trunks which rose up from the earth.

‘Jack... Hang on...’ She sobbed the words even though she knew he couldn’t hear them. Maybe he knew she’d be saying it, just as surely as she’d known which decision he’d make.

The noise of the water was almost deafening and, in an apocalyptic touch to the scene, the storm chose this moment to shoot a bolt of lightning through the sky, followed by a deep growl of thunder. The rush of water crashed past, taking a few chunks of the bridge with it, and Mimi kept her gaze fixed on the spot where she’d last seen Jack.

‘Hang on, hang on, hang on...’ It was as if she could repeat it enough times to somehow make his grip firmer. The water was subsiding now as it followed the course of the river, and she could see him, tangled in the framework of twisted tree trunks.

Maybe he was holding on or maybe unconscious; she couldn’t see from here. Mimi started to run for the bridge, hoping that it hadn’t been weakened too much by the impact of the water.

A voice sounded behind her but the words were whipped away in the storm. And then someone grabbed her from behind, lifting her off her feet.

‘Mimi...!’

‘Let go of me.’ She struggled and, when he didn’t let her go, she kicked against him. The feel of him was familiar, but Mimi didn’t even stop to wonder how. Another sickening roar was coming from upstream.

‘Jack!’ She screamed his name as the second wave of water came crashing down into the valley. This one was bigger and swept the bridge away almost in one piece as the water boiled and rushed downstream.

‘You can’t reach him, Mimi. You’ll only kill yourself.’

That voice... Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her and it wasn’t him at all. But Rafe’s voice was unmistakable. A trace of public school, softened by years of not caring to mark himself out as any different from the next man, and currently spiced with an urgent growl. ‘Let go of me! My ambulance...’

Water spilled towards them, this time reaching the parked ambulance, pushing it sideways across the road. For a moment, Mimi thought it was going to be okay, that the vehicle would come back to rest on the tarmac, but then it slipped onto the mud by the side of the road, tipping and coming to rest against a tree, as the water retreated again.

If Jack was injured, how was she going to get him back to the hospital now? In fact, how was she going to get to him at all? The bridge was gone and the river had burst its banks and become a lethal, fast-running torrent.

‘Someone’s coming for him—look.’ The arms around her loosened and Mimi struggled free. She’d deal with the sick feeling in her stomach, prompted by the feel of his unrelenting body, later. She had more important things to think about right now.

She watched as five...no, six figures appeared from the trees on the other side of the river, scrambling and sliding in the mud. Two stopped to retrieve the medical bag, which had been deposited in a clump of brambles, and four made for the twisted tree trunks, where Mimi could see Jack’s bright high-vis jacket.

For what seemed like an age, he lay motionless, tangled in the branches like a broken doll. One of the figures squatted down next to him as if talking to him.

Please, please, please... Yes! Through the curtain of rain, she saw him move and then Jack was helped to his feet. She strained to see as the rescue party clustered around him, and then saw him turn towards her.

‘Looks as if he’s still in one piece...’ Rafe’s voice again, behind her.

She could see that. ‘Jack, are you okay? I’ll meet you up at the village...’ she called across.

‘There’s no way through, Mimi.’

‘Only my friends call me Mimi.’ In the sudden shock of seeing him again, all she could think about was that she wished Rafe wouldn’t call her Mimi. Everyone else did, but she’d never wanted to hear him say her name ever again. If he wanted to call her something, he could call her Miriam. Or actually Ms Sawyer would be just fine.

‘All right then. Miriam...’ He shot her a look that told her he knew full well that she was being petty. ‘We both have the same information from the control centre. Unless you’re considering sprouting wings and flying...’ He gestured towards the raging stream, frustration written clearly in every abrupt movement.

Mimi didn’t reply. The most satisfying course of action right now was to hold Rafe responsible for both the state of the roads and the fact that her ambulance was sitting at a precarious angle in a ditch, even if that wasn’t fair. Rafe had gone out of his way to teach her that life wasn’t always fair.

Jack was waving and she waved back, tears springing to her eyes. Then that familiar gesture, the one she’d seen hundreds of times before. I’ll call you. She looked around for her phone, and Rafe picked it up from where she’d dropped it, handing it to her. Mimi took it without looking at him.

She checked that the phone was still working and then signalled back a thumbs-up to Jack. Okay. Then she watched him turn, as the men with him helped him back up the hill, towards the village.

Now that Jack was out of sight, she couldn’t put the moment off any longer. Mimi turned to face Rafe.

He was still the same. Dark hair, wet and slicked back with one wet spike caressing his brow. Deep blue eyes, so striking that it was difficult not to stare. He still stole her breath away, and right now that felt like robbery of the cruellest kind.

If anything he seemed a little taller, but she knew that was impossible. He was staring down at her, no hint of emotion on his face, and she wondered what he saw.

‘We’ll wait for Jack to call, and then I’ll take you back to the hospital.’ Finally Rafe spoke.

‘You’re not taking me anywhere. My vehicle and my partner are here.’

‘Your vehicle doesn’t look as if it’s going anywhere, and you can’t get to your partner.’

Rub it in, why don’t you? Rafe had clearly not forgotten how to hurt her. His strong, silent approach, unafraid to face the facts and able to make hard decisions, had been one of the things that had made Mimi notice him in the first place. But this time it wasn’t up to him to make the decisions.

‘It’s not your call, Rafe.’ If he thought that a failed relationship gave him any right to tell her what to do then he was wrong. He’d given that up five years ago, when he’d walked out on her.

‘Okay. So what are you planning on doing?’

‘I’ll wait until Jack phones. Then I’ll decide.’ That was final, and there was nothing that Rafe could do about it.

* * *

Rafe had steeled himself against the possibility that he might bump into Mimi when he’d volunteered to help in the area. When he hadn’t, he’d had to steel himself against the possibility that he might not.

Something about the way she moved had told him that it was her as he’d driven towards the figure in the rain, but he’d dismissed the idea, deciding that the woman was just another of those ghosts which had appeared before him and then turned out to be someone else. But as soon as he’d seen her start to run, he’d known. The kind of passionate loyalty that had sent her towards the wall of water instead of away from it might be foolish but it was Mimi all over and he still admired it.

Not that she’d shown very much passion when he’d left. Perhaps cool indifference was all he’d deserved after the way he’d behaved, but it had still hurt. This bristling anger, the naked hostility would have been almost refreshing if it wasn’t so badly timed.

‘Come and sit in the car.’ He gestured back to where his SUV was parked and she glared at him. He shrugged. ‘Or you could just suit yourself...’

She marched towards the car and, in a series of hurried movements, she managed to get her waterproof jacket off without getting too wet. When she was inside, she took off her overtrousers and heavy boots, hanging her coat on the clip behind her and dumping her boots in the footwell.

‘I hope you don’t mind my getting your car wet.’

She was sitting in the front seat frowning at him, legs drawn up in front of her, her feet in a pair of thick woolly socks. One of the things that hadn’t changed about Mimi was that she was wiggling her toes. She always did that when she was unsure of her next move.

‘Nope. Any time.’ Rafe hung his own coat in the back of the car, and it started to drip.

‘We’re staying here. Until I say so, right?’

‘Yes. That’s right.’ Mimi and Jack had always been close and always looked out for each other, but that had never inspired this sharp ache of jealousy before and it took Rafe by surprise. It had been five years. Even if it felt like just a few days since he’d last wrapped himself in her warm scent before drifting off to sleep. If she and Jack were together now, it was hardly a surprise.

She relaxed slightly into the seat. ‘Might take a while. If you get tired of waiting...’

‘You think I don’t care about Jack?’ They’d all been friends once. Whatever had happened since, Rafe still reserved the right to be concerned for him.

Her honey-brown eyes considered the question for a moment. ‘No. I don’t think that.’

She leaned forward, propping her phone on the dashboard, and Rafe wondered whether he should turn on the car radio to mask the silence. She looked just the same. Dark blonde hair, captured in a plait that was currently tucked into the back of her shirt. How many times had he watched her weaving it into that plait in the morning before she went to work?

‘What are you doing here, Rafe?’ The question had obviously been circulating in her head for a while and she didn’t meet his gaze when she asked it.

‘This area’s the worst hit by the weather conditions. All the hospitals in the county are sparing staff where they can.’

‘And you drew the short straw?’

‘I volunteered.’ Suddenly it seemed important that she know that. ‘I’m on leave for two weeks...’

‘This is your holiday?’ She raised her eyebrows.

‘Yeah. Beats the South of France any time.’

She gave a little nod. ‘Thanks.’

The thank you was more likely to be on behalf of her hospital to his, but Rafe preferred to take it personally and think that Mimi was actually glad to see him, despite the evidence to the contrary. All the same, she seemed to be relaxing a little now.

‘You and Jack are still a team, then?’

‘Not for much longer. I passed my exams and I’m a qualified paramedic now.’ She almost smiled. Almost but not quite.

‘You’re staying here to take up your promotion?’

‘No, I’m moving.’

‘Jack’ll miss you.’

‘I won’t be going that far...’ She broke off suddenly, staring at him. Maybe he’d been a little too obviously fishing for information. ‘Who I’m going out with is none of your business, Rafe.’

‘No, I know. But, out of interest, are you...and Jack?’

‘Like I said, none of your business. What about you?’

‘Nah. Jack’s not my type.’

‘I didn’t mean...’ The outrage drained out of her and she started to laugh. ‘He’d be very glad to hear you say that.’

She fell suddenly silent, her brow creased in a frown, as if making her laugh had now become a hanging offence. Rafe settled back in his seat, watching the rain drum on the windscreen and wondering whether it was worth cracking a few more jokes, just to see how cross he could make her.