Barbara Hannay - A Very Special Holiday Gift

That was how he’d thought of Liv back then—full of fun and life.

Now...he couldn’t believe that her life had been extinguished.

‘But we were able to save the baby,’ the English doctor said.

Baby? Now Zac sank in weak-kneed horror onto the edge of the bed. What baby? How could there be a baby?

‘Are you there, Mr Corrigan?’

He swallowed. ‘Yes.’

‘You’re listed as your sister’s next of kin, so I’m assuming you knew that Olivia was pregnant?’

‘Yes,’ he lied when in truth he’d had no idea. When he’d phoned Liv only two weeks ago, she hadn’t said a thing about being pregnant. Right now, he felt as if the world had gone quite mad.

‘Your sister was already in labour,’ the woman said. ‘We believe she was on her way to hospital when the accident occurred.’

‘Right.’ Zac sagged forward, elbows on knees. ‘So—’ he began and then he had to stop and take a shuddering breath, which wasn’t much help. He forced himself to try again. ‘So—this baby. Is it OK?’

‘Yes, a beautiful baby girl, perfectly unharmed and born by Caesarean section only a couple of weeks before her due date.’

Zac pressed a shaking hand to his throbbing forehead. His stomach churned. He was sweating again. This woman was trying to tell him that some crazy twist of fate had snatched his beautiful sister’s life and left a baby in her place. How bizarre was that?

He wanted to drop the phone, to be finished with this absurd conversation. No way did he want to deal with the gut-wrenching news that had just been so calmly delivered.

But, of course, he knew he had no choice.

With a supreme effort, he shut off the hurt and pain and, like the cool-headed businessman he usually was, he forced his mind to confront practicalities.

‘I presume you’ve contacted the baby’s father?’ he said tightly, recalling the man who’d convinced Liv to run away with him. A guy from a band—a band no one had heard of—an older man with dreadlocks streaked with grey and restless eyes that could never quite meet Zac’s gaze.

‘Your sister wasn’t able to tell us the name of the baby’s father. There was a man in the car with her, but he assured us he was only a neighbour and not the father, and our blood tests have confirmed this.’

‘But he could tell you—’

‘I’m afraid he doesn’t know anything about the father’s identity.’

‘Right.’ Zac drew a deep, shuddering breath and squared his jaw. ‘So this baby is, for all intents and purposes, my responsibility?’ Even as he said this, he knew it hadn’t come out right. He’d sounded uncaring and hard. But it was too late to try to retract his words. He could only press on. ‘I’ll...er...make arrangements to come over to London straight away.’

* * *

Chloe had just finished pinning the last decoration in place when her boss rang back.

‘Chloe, I know it’s late, but I need you to book me a flight to London.’ His voice was crisp and businesslike, but tight, too, the way people spoke when they were fighting to keep their emotions in check. ‘You’d better make it the soonest flight possible. First thing tomorrow morning, if you can.’

‘Of course, and would you like a hotel reservation as well?’ Chloe hoped she didn’t sound too surprised, or worried... If there was a crisis, the last thing Zac needed was an anxious, fussing PA.

‘Yes, book a hotel room, please. Somewhere central.’

‘No problem.’ Already she was firing up her computer.

‘And I’ll need you to sort out those accounts with Garlands.’

Chloe smiled to herself. ‘All done.’

‘Already?’ He sounded surprised. ‘That’s great. Well done.’

‘Anything else?’

‘Could you ring Foster’s and tell them that Jim Keogh will represent me at tomorrow’s meeting.’

‘No problem.’ Chloe paused, in case there were any more instructions. ‘That’s all then?’

‘Actually, Chloe...’

‘Yes?’

‘You’d better book two flights to London. Just two one-way seats at this stage. I’m not sure how long I’ll need to be over there.’

Ridiculously, Chloe’s heart sank. An annoying reaction. Why should she care if her boss wanted to take the giggling girl who’d answered the phone with him on an all-expenses-paid trip to London? Of course, she couldn’t help wondering how much use the girl be would if Zac had been called away to something urgent.

‘What name for the second ticket?’ she asked smoothly as the company’s preferred airline’s website came up on her computer screen.

‘Ah...good question. Actually...’

Another pause. Chloe began to fill the boxes on the flights search. Point of departure... Brisbane, Australia . Destination... London, UK . Date of flight...

‘How busy are you, Chloe?’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Could you spare a few days?’

‘To fly to London?’

‘Yes. This is an emergency. I need someone...capable.’

Chloe was so surprised she almost dropped the phone. Was Zac really asking her to go to—to London? At Christmas?

‘I know it’s short notice and it’s almost Christmas and everything.’

Her head spun, first with shock and a fizz of excitement, and then with dismay as she thought about her elderly parents at home, waiting for her, depending on her to look after the shopping and to cook Christmas dinner and to drive them to church. They would never cope without her.

‘I’m sorry, Zac. I don’t really think I could get away at such short notice.’

As she said this, there was the sound of a door opening behind her and she jumped. Turning, she saw her boss striding into the office. Of course, he’d had his phone in the hands-free cradle while he was driving.

As always, Chloe’s heart gave a pitiful little skip when she saw him, but at least she was used to that nuisance reaction now. She knew it wasn’t significant—pretty much the automatic reaction shared by most women who encountered Zac Corrigan’s special brand of tall, dark and handsome.

This evening he looked paler than usual and his grey eyes betrayed a shock he hadn’t been able to shake off.

‘If you can come with me, I’ll pay you a hefty Christmas bonus,’ he said as he strode across the office to Chloe’s desk.

But he’d already paid her a generous Christmas bonus. ‘Can you explain what this is about?’ she asked. ‘What’s happened?’

* * *

What’s happened?

Zac lifted his hand and rubbed at his brow, where a headache had been hovering ever since he took the call from the hospital and now throbbed with renewed and vicious vengeance.

‘Are you all right, Zac? You look...’

Abruptly, Chloe pulled a swivel chair from the nearest desk and pushed it towards him. ‘Here, sit down.’

He held up a hand. ‘It’s OK, thanks. I’m fine.’

‘I’m sorry, but I don’t think you are.’

To Zac’s surprise, his PA took a firm grasp of his elbow, gripping him through his coat sleeve. ‘I think you should sit down now before you fall down.’

Zac sat.

‘Can I get you a cup of tea?’

If he wasn’t feeling so strung out, he might have smiled at this old-fashioned response from his conservative and over-conscientious PA. She was dressed in one of her customary businesslike suits. Her white blouse was neatly buttoned and tucked in, and there wasn’t a strand of her light brown hair out of place. Good old, reliable Chloe.

He was so relieved to see her tonight. He’d been desperate to get away from the giggling Daisy and, by contrast, cool, collected Chloe was a reassuring and comforting sight.

‘I don’t need tea,’ he said. ‘I’d just like to get these flights sorted, and I could really do with your assistance in London.’