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His finger touched her cheek. ‘I’d just had the best six months of my life—professionally and personally—and then poof!’ He blew into his fingers. ‘The best thing disappeared.’
Amy could hear thudding in her ears. Was that the sound of her heart beating? Had he really just said that?
She felt a tingling sensation across her skin. Wasn’t this what she’d really wanted to hear but he’d never said? She couldn’t stop staring into those eyes. Those dark blue rims were really fascinating up close. Her throat felt dry, closed up, and she swallowed nervously. ‘You never said anything,’ she whispered. ‘I thought I was just your summer fling.’
‘I think six months qualifies as a little more than a summer fling.’ He blinked, breaking off his gaze and staring back down at the sand. ‘And, anyway, what was there to say?’ His voice sounded rueful. ‘I met a gorgeous girl and spent six fantastic months in bed with her, then she disappeared.’ He never lifted his head, just kept staring at the sand, his hand scooping up big piles that he let run through his fingers again.
‘I contacted a few people and tried to get your number, called Human Resources—who said that you’d quit. No one else on the boat seemed to have contact details for you. So that was it.’
So that was it. It sounded so final.
‘You should have told me, Amy. You should have told me you were sick.’ The sand was trickling through his fingers again. ‘I don’t think I can forgive the fact you didn’t tell me.’
The words spun around in her head. After all this time, and all her explanations, he was still angry with her. The tiny spark that had been ignited inside her was dying. Being described as someone he’d ‘spent six fantastic months in bed with’ didn’t fill her with inspiration. It made her feel like a sex object. Not a living, breathing human soul.
Not someone who he’d connected with. And definitely not someone he might have loved.
CHAPTER SIX
LINCOLN laid baby Esther on the scales again. Four pounds twelve ounces. A slight increase on her birth weight and she was finally feeding well. He gave Jennifer a little smile. ‘Well, I think I can officially give the First Daughter a clean bill of health. There’s really no reason to keep her here any longer.’
‘I can go home?’ The relief in Jennifer’s eyes was apparent. Her husband, Charlie, had had to leave again two days ago and she was anxious to be with him.
Lincoln gave a nod.
‘Do you have a preferred paediatrician in Washington? I’d like to handover to him or her before you go home.’
Jennifer gave a little nod. ‘David Fairgreaves recommended someone to me—Linda Hylton. Have you heard of her?’
Lincoln nodded. ‘We were paediatric residents together. She’s great and she’ll look after you. I know her number so I’ll give her a call this afternoon.’ He rolled his eyes at the black-suited figure visible through the glass in the door. ‘I’ll speak to your security detail. If you go home tomorrow, I’d expect you to see Linda in the next few days.’ His nose wrinkled. ‘I don’t suppose you’re going to be able to attend a regular appointment.’ He shook his head, ‘Obviously not. Once I’ve spoken to Linda, I’ll give James Turner her information and let him sort the appointment details out. Are you happy with that?’
Jennifer gave a watery smile. ‘I’ll just be happy to get home,’ she whispered, then looked up again. ‘Wait a minute—is Linda Hylton one of your love victims? Should I be careful what I say about you?’
Lincoln rolled his eyes. ‘I don’t know where you get these crazy ideas. I don’t go out with every woman I meet.’
Jennifer folded her arms. ‘So what was wrong with Linda Hylton?’
Lincoln smiled. ‘Okay, you got me. She was dating one of my friends. Satisfied?’
Jennifer nodded her head, stifling her laugh.
‘What about some help with your breastfeeding? Do you want me to arrange some support for you?’
Jennifer breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thankfully that’s the one thing that I arranged a few months ago. I’ve got a friend who’s a specialist NICU nurse in Washington—she’s taking a leave of absence from her work for a few weeks and she’s going to be around.’
Lincoln sat in the chair next to her, scribbling a few notes in the chart. ‘Let me try and sort out the logistics of this.’ He glanced around her jam-packed room, where even more presents seemed to have materialised. ‘You just worry about how you’re going to fit all this stuff into Air Force One.’
Jennifer shook her head. ‘Now, now, Lincoln. It’s only Air Force One if the President is on board—I thought everyone knew that. It’s just an ordinary plane without him.’
Lincoln shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t let you fly with a neonate this young on an ordinary plane, Jennifer. But I’ll do a final check on Esther before you go. Everything looks fine, so I don’t imagine there will be any problems.’
Jennifer paused. ‘Just out of interest, Linc. What does your “friend” make of your flirting?’
He stopped. The question had thrown him. He shrugged, shuffling the notes in his lap. ‘Funnily enough, she’s not interested in this hot body, she’s only interested in my clinical skills.’
Something about saying those words made his stomach clench. He’d said them in jest but the irony wasn’t lost on him. Amy had been clear about why she was here. For his skills as a neonatologist.
He went to stand up but Jennifer reached over and touched his arm. ‘Did she like the maternity clothes?’
‘Yes…yes, she did. Thank you. And you were right. They fitted perfectly.’
Jennifer gave a little nod, a little smile appearing on her face. ‘I thought they might.’ She waved her arms around the room. ‘And your friend—does she need anything else? Anything for her baby?’
He shook his head. ‘She’s picked out most things and paid for them already. She just needs to pick them up.’
Then it struck him. Pick them up. From where? Suddenly it all seemed so ridiculous to him. How on earth was she going to be able to pick up her baby things?
He’d seen the baby catalogues stuffed in her bag and she’d showed him the items that she’d chosen. A white wooden baby crib and chest of drawers, a bright red pram and stroller, a zebra-print baby seat and a polished wooden high chair.
All apparently paid for and waiting in a store in Santa Maria, Butte County. Four hours away from where he stayed in San Francisco and even further from Pelican Cove.
‘Thanks for all your help, Lincoln…’ The First Lady was talking to him but his mind had drifted off. He was just about to discharge baby Esther, which meant that he, and his whole entourage of staff and equipment, should pack up and leave. Leave to go back to NICU at San Francisco Children’s Hospital. Something that deep down he knew they all wanted to do.
But that would mean leaving Amy with no facilities for her baby. No staff and no equipment for a premature delivery. Her blood pressure was still borderline, with no particular response to the anti-hypertensives. She should be reviewed on a daily basis. Who would do that if they all left?
‘So I was wondering if you would mind?’
‘Mind? Mind what?’ Lincoln snapped out of his thoughts with the distinct impression he’d just missed something important.
Jennifer laughed, the amused expression on her face unhidden. ‘You haven’t listened to a single word I said—have you?’
Lincoln felt embarrassed.
‘You’re too busy thinking about a beautiful redhead, I imagine.’
‘What? No? Of course not.’ He was babbling and he knew it.
‘Oh, don’t make excuses, Linc, you’ve done everything you can for me…’ she bent her head and kissed her baby on the forehead ‘…and Esther.’ She waved her hand in the air. ‘So go and see your lady fr
iend.’
Lincoln’s lips formed a tight smile and he left the room, stopping in the middle of the corridor. What on earth was he going to do? He’d promised to look after Amy’s baby—how could he do that in San Francisco?
He strode quickly down the corridor. Right now he needed someone to talk to. Someone who could give him some advice. But all his friends were in San Francisco, and the only other people he knew well were Val and Ruth. He couldn’t discuss Amy with them, it just wasn’t his style.
He walked out the front doors of the hospital into the Californian sunshine. It was another gorgeous day. Just like the one a few days ago when he’d taken Amy for the picnic on the beach.
The day that had left an awkward and uncomfortable silence between them. He’d obviously said something to offend her—but, for the life of him, he couldn’t think what it was. She seemed almost…disappointed in him.
