Fiona Harper - Snowkissed! - The Midwife's Marriage Proposal

Suddenly realizing that she’d revealed too much, she dropped her eyes to her plate. ‘After Ama Dablam, I travelled. I met a friend and we went mountain biking around Nepal—that was great. We had a good time.’

‘A friend ?’ Bryony’s eyes teased her from across the table. ‘We want to hear more about this friend. ’

Everyone laughed except Tom, who gazed at her face in brooding silence.

‘You went mountain biking in the Himalayas?’ Helen looked at her in awe. ‘You make me feel exhausted just thinking about it. Didn’t you relax at all?’

Sally fiddled with her food and gave a half-smile. ‘I find climbing relaxing.’

It required all her concentration and that left no room for other thoughts to intrude. Thoughts of Tom. She’d run so that the pain couldn’t catch her and she’d continued to run until she’d finally been sure that she’d left the worst of the agony behind.

‘Well, it certainly doesn’t sound relaxing to me.’ Helen gave a little shudder and Oliver laughed and took her hand.

‘My wife is a townie at heart,’ he teased gently, ‘but we’re trying to convert her. If she doesn’t wear high heels for a few days she has serious withdrawal symptoms.’

Helen’s eyes mocked him. ‘You’re always so derogatory about my choice of footwear, but I don’t hear you complaining when we go out.’

‘I admit it.’ Oliver grinned at her. ‘My fatal weakness. A woman in high heels.’

‘Enough of your strange fetishes.’ Bryony frowned at her brother and turned back to Sally. ‘I had your letter from the Karakorum.’

Helen looked confused. ‘Where—or what—is the Karakorum?’

Tom stirred. ‘It’s a range of mountains in Pakistan.’ He looked at Sally. ‘You went to K2?’

‘I worked as base camp manager for one of the expeditions,’ she told him, ‘and in one of the clinics there. And when that finished one of them persuaded me to travel to Australia so I did and I got a job as a midwife.’

The conversation switched to obstetrics and Sally concentrated on her meal, wondering why she couldn’t relax.

She’d grown up with these people. They were the closest thing to family she had, and yet the only person she was aware of was Tom.

Despite the fact that his chair was several inches from hers, she was supremely conscious of him. The hard muscle of his thigh was tantalizingly close to hers and suddenly she wished she could flick a switch in her body that would delete for ever her awareness of this man.

And he was tense.

She could feel it.

He lounged in his chair, listening to the conversation, his long fingers tapping the table.

‘All right, pay attention. We have some news.’ Bryony tucked her hand into Jack’s and beamed at everyone.

Sally looked at her friend with interest, glad of a distraction from Tom. ‘What news?’

‘I’m pregnant.’ Bryony spoke softly, her gaze slightly shy as she looked at Jack. ‘Two months gone. Not very much really, so we haven’t told anyone except Mum. And now you.’

Helen gave a squeal of delight and dashed round the table to hug Bryony. Oliver shot Jack an amused glance.

‘No need to ask what you were doing on your honeymoon. Congratulations.’

‘Yes, congratulations.’ Genuinely pleased for her friend, Sally smiled across the table. ‘It looks as though I came home at the right time. I’ve got seven months to get used to the idea of answering to “Aunty Sally”.’

Tom’s gaze was fixed on her face. ‘Why did you decide to come home?’

Sally reached for her wine, her hand perfectly steady. ‘Because it was time,’ she said softly, still smiling at Bryony. ‘I realized I was missing out on the lives of people who matter to me.’

Bryony looked at Tom. ‘I want you to deliver me.’

Tom frowned and his fingers stilled. ‘That would not be a good idea, and you know it.’

‘You delivered Ellie MacAllister.’ Bryony’s gaze softened as she looked at her brother. ‘You saved her life.’

‘Ellie is not my sister.’

‘But she’s a close friend.’

Tom let out a long breath. ‘That’s different.’

‘I don’t see why your sister should be deserving of less than a friend. There’s no one else I trust,’ Bryony confessed quietly, and Tom sighed.

‘Bry, I can’t.’ He took a slug of wine and stared broodily at his glass. ‘I’ll have a word with Chris Knight. He seems pretty good to me.’

‘Pretty good isn’t good enough,’ Bryony said tartly, and Jack grinned.

‘“Pretty good” is high praise from your brother, you should know that. The guy’s obviously a genius.’

Tom gave a wry smile. ‘He seems solid enough and we think along the same lines.’

‘I want you ,’ Bryony said stubbornly, and Tom’s gaze shifted to Jack.

‘Don’t look at me,’ Jack muttered. ‘When Bry gets something stuck in her head, there’s no shifting it. You should know that.’

Tom was silent for a few moments and then he looked at his sister. ‘I promise to be there when you deliver, but I’m not being responsible for the actual delivery.’

Bryony hesitated. ‘You’ll be there? You’ll intervene if you see them doing something wrong?’

‘People don’t do things wrong in my department.’ Tom ran a hand over the back of his neck. ‘And, yes, I’ll be there.’

Bryony smiled at him, warmth and gratitude in her eyes. ‘Thanks, Tom.’

Sally was suddenly aware that he was studying her again and she felt the tension rise inside her.

Why had he asked her that question about her reasons for coming home?

Had he expected a declaration of undying love?

If so then he was doomed to disappointment.

She stood up, suddenly needing to be in her own.

‘I’d better go. I’m on an early tomorrow.’ She glanced at her watch and then smiled at Helen. ‘It was a wonderful meal and a lovely evening. Thank you so much for inviting me.’

‘Come again soon.’ Helen glanced at Jack and Bryony. ‘Are you giving Sally a lift home? She can’t possibly ride her bike this late.’

‘You’re talking to a girl who mountain biked around the Himalayas,’ Oliver said dryly, his eyes amused as he looked at his fiancée. ‘I don’t suppose anyone looked out for her then.’

‘Well, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look out for her now,’ Helen said firmly, ‘and she isn’t riding that bike of hers home this late at night.’

Something shifted inside Sally and she felt an instant bond with Helen.

She was an incredibly kind person.

‘Thank you,’ she said gruffly, ‘but I’ll be fine, really.’

‘Helen’s right, you shouldn’t cycle this late. I’ll give you a lift.’ Tom rose to his feet and lifted an eyebrow in her direction, challenging her to refuse.

She lifted an eyebrow. ‘You’re on a bike, too, remember?’

Tom’s eyes gleamed with amusement. ‘Not the same thing, as you well know.’

Sally glanced down at herself. ‘I’m hardly dressed for a ride on a motorbike in freezing March.’

‘I’ve got a spare helmet and you can borrow a set of leathers from here,’ Tom said easily. ‘Oliver?’

‘We’ll take her,’ Bryony interrupted quickly, her expression troubled as she looked at Sally. ‘She doesn’t want to go on the back of your motorbike. It’s a totally uncivilized mode of transport.’

‘Sally isn’t like you,’ Tom said softly, his blue eyes fixed firmly on Sally. ‘She used to love my motorbike. I can’t believe she’s really changed that much.’

Sally stared at him, hardly able to breathe. Why did she have the feeling that this conversation wasn’t about motorbikes? It was about the person she used to be.