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Worse than that, he’d almost offered to take the pair of them sailing. He frowned. Had he gone mad? Since when was taking a child sailing his idea of a good day out?
He gave himself a mental shake.
He needed to pull himself together.
Kat O’Brien wasn’t the woman for him. All right, so she had curves that should be made illegal and a personality that drew him like a magnet, but she wouldn’t be the sort of woman happy to indulge in a light-hearted relationship. She wasn’t the woman for him and he most certainly wasn’t the man for her. No matter how good she looked in her nightdress.
She’d expect him to bond with her son. And he wasn’t equipped to be anyone’s father figure. The weekend had proved that. It hadn’t even occurred to him that it was strange for a six-year-old to be wandering around without a parent. He’d been too busy thinking about his boat.
Josh ran a hand over his face and forced himself to concentrate on what he was doing. ‘I’m going to send him for an X-ray,’ he told the mother, ‘just to be on the safe side.’
He was pretty sure it was fractured.
‘An X-ray? But we’re on holiday.’ The mother looked annoyed. ‘Will it take long?’
Josh looked at her, struggling to hide his disapproval. He didn’t know much about parenting but he was pretty sure that Kat wouldn’t have reacted that way. She would have been worried about her son. She would have put him first no matter what. And she wouldn’t have been thinking about her holiday if her little boy was injured.
He didn’t think he’d ever forget the expression on her face when she’d come flying into his garden to claim her child. He’d seen terror, relief and a love so powerful that it had pulsed like a force field, protecting her child from danger.
Josh shook himself.
There he was, doing it again! Thinking about Kat and her son. It was time to get a grip.
He pulled himself together and rose to his feet. ‘I realise that you’re on holiday, but it will take as long as it takes,’ he said easily, delivering a smile that melted the woman’s annoyance like butter in a microwave. ‘But you’ll have a better time once he’s sorted out.’ He handed her a form. ‘Follow the green line on the floor—it leads you to X-Ray.’
He watched them go and then turned round to find his sister-in-law watching him, laughter in her eyes. ‘Hello, handsome. How do you do it?’ Louisa walked forward, stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. ‘She was all ready to moan.’
‘You know me.’ He gave her a hug, careful of her bump. ‘Can’t bear moaning women. Talking of which, how’s the hippo doing?’ He winked at her. ‘And what are you doing here? I thought we’d got rid of you once.’
‘I’m fat and uncomfortable,’ Louisa said happily, ‘and I’m here because I need you to do me a favour.’
Josh groaned but his eyes were twinkling. ‘The answer is no.’
‘You never say no to me,’ Louisa said placidly, rubbing a hand over her stomach in an automatic gesture, ‘and I need you to take a look at Vera. I would have asked Mac but he’s windsurfing.’
‘Is he now?’ Josh felt a rush of jealousy. ‘Lucky devil.’
‘He’s enjoying his last few weeks for freedom,’ Louisa reminded him. ‘You’ll still be out there windsurfing when he’s walk
ing around soothing a baby with colic.’
‘True.’ Josh looped his stethoscope round his neck. ‘So what’s the matter with Vera?’
Vera was the elderly lady who lived near his brother and Josh knew that Louisa kept a close eye on her and her equally elderly sister.
Louisa’s smile faded. ‘I don’t know. I popped round to take her one of my chocolate cakes this afternoon and she was very confused. Not herself at all.’ She hesitated, chewing her lip. ‘I’m worried she might have had a stroke or something. Do you think that’s possible?’
‘I don’t know until I see her,’ Josh pointed out gently, thinking how sweet Louisa was and how well she suited his brother. ‘Where is she now?’
‘Sitting in my car. I’m parked in the ambulance bay.’
Josh rolled his eyes. ‘It’s a good job you’re pregnant or you would have been shot.’ He took her arm. ‘Come on, then, let’s get her out and see what’s going on. And, for goodness’ sake, move your car before the paramedics start moaning at me.’
‘Thanks, Josh. You must be thinking I’m a nuisance.’
‘Actually, I’m thinking that my previously uptight, stiff-necked, stubborn big brother is a lucky guy.’ He adjusted his stride so that she could keep up, eyeing her abdomen with a curiosity that wasn’t all professional. ‘Does that hurt?’
She laughed and shook her head. ‘Not hurt, exactly. But it’s uncomfortable and I’ve stopped getting any sleep at night because it wakes up and kicks me.’
