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Callum pushed off the wall. OK—that was definitely enough! ‘Right, well, I’m off,’ he said, forcing a cheery note into his voice as he advanced into the room from behind them.
Hailey blushed. She felt like she’d been caught prying, fishing for background info. She hadn’t asked for any of it and she most certainly didn’t want to know it. All it did was give this little boy and his father an even bigger inroad to her heart, and that was the last thing she wanted.
‘Are you sure?’ Callum asked Hailey again. He hoped he looked normal. Not like he’d been eavesdropping.
Hailey looked at him, feeling nervous and all fluttery inside. Poor Callum had been through the mill and Tom’s innocent admission that Callum still missed his wife made her heart ache for him. ‘It’ll be fine,’ she said quietly over Tom’s head. ‘Just go.’
Callum nodded. He crossed to say goodnight to his son. ‘You be good for Hailey, OK?’ Callum leaned down to drop a kiss on Tom’s head. Hailey’s cleavage came into view and her scent, like raindrops on roses, enveloped him. He pulled away sharply after the merest of pecks.
‘Yes, Daddy.’
‘Another half hour,’ Callum said, clearing his throat, not daring to look at Hailey. ‘Then bed.’
‘Oh, but, Daddy…’
Callum laughed and tousled his son’s hair. ‘No, “oh-but-daddys”.’
‘Thanks,’ he said, forcing himself to look Hailey in the eye. ‘Have you eaten?’
‘I’m not really hungry,’ she said, still recovering from the brief moment when his face had been, oh, so close to hers.
‘Well, if you do develop an appetite, feel free to help yourself to anything you want in the kitchen.’
Hailey nodded, absently brushing her chin against the crown of Tom’s head. His hair was soft and smelled like soap.
‘I’ve left my mobile number on the fridge. In case.’
Hailey stilled as Callum said goodbye to Tom and headed for the door. In case? In case of what? She felt a nudge of worry spike her bloodstream and kick her pulse up a notch. Tom hadn’t been well. He’d had leukaemia with a complicated course of treatment. What if he got sick while she was looking after him? Like Eric had?
She quickly moved Tom and settled him in the armchair, then hurried to catch Callum at the front door. ‘You mean in case he gets sick?’ she said, her voice low.
Callum smiled. ‘Or falls out of a tree. Or breaks his arm. Or cuts a major artery. You know, the usual.’
Except he wasn’t likely to do anything of those things, was he? Tom was hardly usual. But he could relapse at any stage. ‘What if he gets a fever or becomes lethargic?’
Oh, God, how did he do it? How did he let go after Tom had been so sick? How did he ever leave him? Why wasn’t he constantly worried, constantly alarmed at the things that could befall a kid whose immune system had been completely wiped out not that long ago? ‘What if…what if he gets a rash?’
Callum’s smile died on his lips when he met her unblinking gaze. Hailey’s alarm was genuine. Why should any of those things concern an experienced paediatric nurse? Annie’s mother maybe, but Hailey? He frowned. Was that what was freaking her out? Why she had been reluctant to come tonight? To get involved with them? Tom’s illness? Had losing her baby made her hyper-vigilant?
‘I’m only going to be gone for two hours, Hailey,’ he said gently. ‘I’m sure no calamity will strike in that time that you can’t handle.’
Hailey felt the cold hand of fear clutch at her gut. What if she couldn’t? What if she missed something? An image of Eric lying critically ill on a ventilator played on her inward eye. Paul’s gut-wrenching grief echoed in her head.
‘Hailey.’
Callum’s strong, confident voice reached through her escalating panic. She looked at him.
‘Tom’s in remission. He’s fine. Look at him. Nothing’s going to happen to him while I’m out.’
Hailey held Callum’s gaze for a few moments before forcing herself to look down at Tom. Tom, who had come to find her, book in hand. He chose that moment to look up at her and smile one of his cheeky smiles. Callum was right. He did look fine.
But her confidence had taken a real hit when Eric had fallen ill so quickly. It had taken many months to trust her instincts again. To realise that no one could have foreseen the rapid onset of the meningitis that had claimed his young life.
She took some deep, calming breaths. ‘Of course.’ She shot him a confident smile. The second last thing he needed other than thinking she’d rather have a hole drilled in her head was that he was leaving his son with a complete basket case. ‘Of course. Go. We’ll be fine, won’t we, Tommy?’
