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“I don’t know how she does it.” She took a sip of wine and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of Ryan’s hands on her. She felt the moment his touch changed, going from purposeful massage to something a bit more heated. Hmm, she thought to herself as her blood started to sing. Were her feet an erogenous zone? She smiled at him in the starlit darkness, placed her wine glass on the table and moved into his lap. Burying her fingers in his hair, she pressed her lips to his, delighting in the feel of his hands on her body. He leaned back in the recliner, pulling her with him so that she was half lying on top of him. She opened her lips, sighing when she felt his tongue tangle with hers. She’d never get sick of kissing him, she thought, as she slipped her hand under his shirt, running it over his chest. She felt his hand move down her back to her bottom, then further, down her leg to the back of her knee, pulling her leg up to his hip. She shifted so that she was lying on him more fully, reveling in the full body contact as she kissed him. Moving against him, she felt his hand move between them, to her breast, squeezing it through her sweater. As the dull ache between her legs increased, she pushed to her feet. She wanted him in bed. Now. She pulled him up with her and slid her arms around his neck.
“Wait.” Ryan stilled, his hands at her waist, following her gaze. A light had come on at the Keeper’s Cottage. It was very late. Rafe and Mikayla had gone to bed hours before. Leah and Callum had done the same, snuggled into the little cottage near the lighthouse. She felt a sliver of dread curl in her gut. “It’s probably nothing.” But it didn’t feel right. Something was off. Leah.
“Aye, most likely.”
Georgie couldn’t stop staring at the square of light glimmering through the trees. It seemed menacing. “Can we go and check?”
“Of course.”
As they approached the house, they saw a figure moving towards the cottage. Mikayla, medical kit in hand. A knot of dread in her stomach, Georgie said, “Rafe’s not with her.” She moved to knock on the front door.
Rafe pulled it open quickly. “Oh, hey. Can you watch Billy?” He pulled the door wide and they stepped inside.
“Of course. What’s going on?”
“Billy woke us up, crying and saying that Leah’s babies were scared. Mik’s gone to check. I’ll go and see if she needs a hand.”
“Alright.” Georgie moved into the loungeroom after Rafe went out. Billy was sitting on the couch in Thomas the Tank Engine pajamas, hugging a teddy. She sat down next to him and he climbed into her lap, resting his head on her shoulder. She put her arms around him and held him close. Her stomach was churning and she found it hard to breathe properly. She looked at Ryan, standing at the sliding door with his hands in his pockets. Tension radiated off him in waves. It didn’t make Georgie feel any better.
Her heart clutched with icy cold terror when she heard the sound of a siren splitting the air. Ryan turned and looked at Georgie. She got hurriedly to her feet, holding Billy in her arms. They left the house through the sliding door and walked across the grass to the little cottage. The ambulance pulled up, the siren stopped. The sudden silence was laden with fear. The blue and red lights flashed against the sandstone bricks ominously.
Len and Bluey got out and went to the back of the ambulance, removing a gurney. Rafe opened the front door and they went inside. Mikayla came out a few moments later and walked wordlessly to the Keeper’s cottage. She came out a few minutes later, fully dressed, stopping to stand next to Georgie and Ryan.
Georgie forced herself to ask, “What’s going on?”
“Leah’s unconscious. Blood loss. She’s fairly stable now. But we’re going to take her to Bairnsdale.” She stopped, made a visible effort to pull herself together. “Callum asked me to go.” She looked at Ryan, her eyes dark pools of fear in the flashing lights of the ambulance. “I can’t do it.” She took another deep, shuddering breath. “I have to do it.”
“You can and you will.” Ryan’s voice was rock steady. Georgie felt calmer and it seemed so did Mikayla.
“Right. You’re right.” She turned away. Len and Bluey were pulling the gurney through the door, Rafe and Callum coming out behind them. Georgie’s knees shook. She would have fallen if Ryan hadn’t slipped his arm around her waist. Leah, unconscious, on her side with an oxygen mask over her face. God, she looked tiny. Just so tiny. They lifted the gurney into the ambulance, moving aside for Callum to climb in behind her. Georgie felt a lump form in her throat when he took Leah’s hand in his, leaned over and brushed her hair back with heartbreaking tenderness. Mikayla took a deep breath. “I don’t…I need to call…”
“Do you want us to call your Mum and Dad? And Juniper and William?” Billy lifted his head at the sound of his parent’s names. Georgie rubbed his back.
“You don’t mind? I just don’t think I can, from the back of the ambulance. Callum definitely can’t.”
“Of course. I’ll do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Okay. Thanks.” She turned to Ryan. “Will you come with us? Follow behind? Be at the hospital, you know. Just in case.”
Georgie shied away from what Mikayla meant byjust in case.“Aye, if you like,” Ryan answered. The calmness in his voice reassured Georgie.
“Juniper’s car keys are in the bowl on the hall stand.”
“Okay.”
She took two deep breaths and walked to the ambulance. Callum said something in a low voice. Georgie couldn’t make out the words, but she heard Mikayla say, “Well, if you get out of my way, I’ll find out.” Her tone was deceptively calm, a little bit cheeky, completely belying the terror in her eyes from a few moments before. Rafe closed the doors behind her, holding his hands flat on the doors for a moment, his head bent.
“We’ll see ourselves back to HQ,” Len said.
“Right. Thanks.”
Bluey clapped him on the back, then gripped his shoulder. “Keep us in the loop.”
“Will do.” Rafe turned away, climbed into the ambulance, put it in gear and turned the siren back on. He eased down the steep drive and was gone.
