Anne Fraser - Cinderella of Harley Street

He studied her for a moment as if he was about to press her further but then he seemed to change his mind. ‘They live on Skye. They’ve been married for forty years and still crazily in love with each other. That’s the way I want it to be if ever I get married.’

A familiar ache in her chest made her catch her breath. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to believe love could last? They halted under an acacia tree. In the distance, small fishing boats lit by glowing lanterns bobbed about the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the smell of jasmine hung on the heavy night air.

Leith tipped her chin so she was looking up at him. ‘God, you’re beautiful.’ The world stopped turning as he brought his mouth down on hers. For a moment she felt as if she could hardly breathe. His kiss was gentle at first, his lips warm and questioning. But as she melted into him, his kiss became deeper, more demanding, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting more of him.

She could feel his desire for her against her pelvis and an answering warmth flooded through her. She wanted him. She wanted to feel his naked skin on hers, to have his hands all over her body and hers on his. She didn’t even care that after she’d left here she would never see him again—all she needed right now was this.

When they pulled away they were both breathing deeply.

‘Come back to the ship with me,’ he said simply.

When she nodded, he took her hand.

Cassie woke to bright sunshine streaming in through the porthole. At first she didn’t know where she was, but as the fog of sleep lifted she remembered. She smiled and stretched as a warm peace filled her. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this good.

She propped herself up on her elbow and studied Leith. Even in his sleep his mouth turned up at the corners. She trailed her fingertips over the hard contours of his chest and as she did so his eyes snapped open and he caught her hand in his.

‘Morning,’ he said with a smile.

‘Morning,’ she whispered back.

He ran his hand along her shoulder and down the curve of her waist and every nerve in her body tingled. They had made love twice last night, but now she wanted him again with a need that shocked her.

She moulded the length of her body against his so that it seemed as if every inch of her skin was in contact with his.

He pulled her tighter. ‘I can’t seem to get enough of you,’ he groaned.

Or her him. They didn’t have long, but why think about the future and what couldn’t be? Why not just be happy while she could?

It was her last coherent thought before she gave herself up to him.

Leith found himself humming under his breath at the oddest moments and when he wasn’t with Cassie he was thinking about her. He constantly sought her out and loved to catch even the briefest glimpses of her, squatting on her heels in the dust, talking to a group of women, or distracting a child while carrying out some unpleasant procedure by making funny faces or dangling a colourful toy just out of reach before relinquishing it to them.

Sometimes he would find her on her own on the deck of the ship, staring out to sea with a wistful, almost sad expression on her face. But then she would catch sight of him and her face would be transformed by the smile he’d grown to love. It felt as if their coming together had been inevitable. Which was strange—very strange. He wasn’t a man who believed in fate.

However, it felt good. It felt right.

But he still knew little more about her than he’d known at the start. Normally that would be good but with Cassie he wanted to know it all. In the past he’d always kept his relationships light-hearted and stayed away from the heavy stuff, but no one had made him feel the way he had since the first moment he’d spotted her lugging her suitcase along the quay.

However, he wasn’t going to think about what might or might not be. He was going to make the most of being with Cassie while he could.

He was smiling as he opened the email he’d received that morning.

He read it through and clicked on the attachment. It was a photograph of a boy of around four with large green eyes. He stared disbelievingly at an image that could have been him as a child.

An hour later, Leith was still trying to come to terms with what he’d learned. He had a son. He was a father. It just didn’t compute. Okay, so he’d always thought that he might, one day, have children, but ‘one day’ were the two key words. One day in the future. So far in the future he couldn’t even really imagine it.

But he’d better start imagining it.

He had a child.

He wasn’t ready to be a father. Not yet. He liked his life just the way it was. No ties, no obligations. Doing what he wanted. Work, women and travel—that’s what he liked. A child would put a stop to that. He’d have to be responsible, for God’s sake. Cut down on his working hours, reduce his travel commitments, be selective about the women he dated.

He examined the picture for the umpteenth time. The child was clearly bright—anyone could see that. And he had the same set to his jaw that Leith recognised from his own childhood pictures, which his mother brought out every time he was at home; hundreds of him as a baby naked on a blanket, as a toddler standing proudly next to his father with his own child-sized fishing rod, on his mother’s lap as she read him a story, all depicting the years until his graduation photograph and beyond. As his racing mind conjured up an image of him taking his son fishing or out on the boat, just as his father had taken him, something shifted inside his chest.

He studied the photograph again. In his childhood photographs he was always smiling—he might look the worse for wear, with patches on his knees and a dirt-smeared face, but he always looked blissfully happy.

He drew closer to the screen and his skin chilled. His son didn’t look happy—he didn’t look happy at all.

No child of his should look like that.

Cassie was happier than she could ever remember being. After the night she’d spent with Leith, they took every moment they could to be together. As soon as their medical duties were over they’d slip away, either to walk into the African veld or sometimes take a blanket down to the beach where they’d sit and talk about their day as the waves lapped against the shore.

Her heart cracked a little every time she thought about it ending. Leaving wasn’t supposed to be this hard. Wasn’t this the reason she’d always promised herself never to care too much?

Tonight they were sitting on their favourite spot by the shore. Leith was behind her with his legs and arms wrapped around her as she rested against his chest.

‘Do you have to go to Sudan?’ he asked suddenly.

The question caught her unawares and silence hung heavily before she answered. ‘Why? What else would you have me do?’ she asked lightly.

‘Come to London. You could get a job with the practice or in one of the teaching hospitals. Someone with your credentials should find it easy to get a job anywhere.’

She doodled a picture in the sand, stalling for time. ‘Now, why should I do that?’

His arms tightened around her. ‘I’m not ready to let you go.’

Her breath stopped in her throat. For a moment her carefully constructed future held no allure, her need and want of him overriding every rational thought. Perhaps it needn’t end? The thought shook her. Was she really thinking that this could last? What he was asking was impossible—she couldn’t let her employers down at this late stage. Especially not for a dream that might not come to anything. ‘I can’t not go to Sudan, Leith. I’ve made a commitment.’

She felt his sigh. ‘Damn it.’

Wriggling out of his arms, she turned to face him.