From Waif To His Wife

‘How?’

‘At nearly eight months pregnant, she’s not going to go far.’ A muscle flickered in his jaw.

He swung the car into the Raby Bay driveway and Grace came running out of the house.

‘Maisie’s in hospital! She had a minor traffic accident but they took her to hospital because she was pregnant and insisted on keeping her in overnight. Then she went into labour this morning, thankfully still in hospital, so they decided to ignore her request that nobody should be notified, and they tracked down the car. Oh, I feel so terrible!’

‘And if only I hadn’t been so wrapped up in my own affairs,’ Sonia cried.

‘Enough,’ Rafe growled. ‘Which hospital, Grace?’

She told him.

‘Coming?’ He glanced at Sonia.

‘Of course!’

Susannah Wallis made a surprisingly determined entry into the world, despite being six weeks early. She was rushed to the neonatal unit and a humidicrib.

Maisie got through it somehow but the pain-shot shadows she drifted in and out of were made all the worse by the concern that she’d brought this on herself. If she hadn’t been driving with an overburdened mind and a mist of tears in her eyes, she might have been able to avoid the accident.

Rafe and Sonia Sanderson arrived an hour after the event.

They were told that Maisie was fine but sedated because she seemed to be a bit more traumatised than was normal. They were told that the baby was expected to overcome the potential complications of her premature birth.

‘Did the accident bring it on?’ Rafe asked.

The doctor scratched his head. ‘That’s hard to say. Maisie did present symptoms of concussion, that’s why we kept her in, but no other injuries. I would have expected her, if the shock of the accident had caused it, to go into labour sooner, but there’s really no set formula for it. And, for instance, some premature births are simply spontaneous, in that, at least half of them have no known cause.’

‘Can stress be a factor?’

Sonia found herself holding her breath as Rafe asked this.

‘It can, yes. But before she embarks on any more pregnancies, Maisie should be checked for any uterine malfunctions that can, for example, cause premature birth, just to be on the safe side.’

‘Rafe,’ Sonia said, as they waited for Maisie to come round, ‘don’t blame yourself. You did everything you could for her.’

‘Except give her back to Tim,’ he murmured.

Sonia’s eyes widened. ‘Is that why she ran away? But would she have taken Tim back? From what you told me, he didn’t want her.’

‘Does that make you stop wanting someone?’ Rafe shoved a hand through his hair. ‘And something traumatised her into going. It had to be the news of Tim.’

He stared at Maisie looking so pale but with a livid bruise down one side of her face, and curiously frail in the hospital bed, as if all her sparkling vitality had been quenched.

She was hooked up to a drip and she had a name tag on one wrist; and he sighed heavily.

Maisie grew properly lucid that afternoon.

She’d known Rafe was there beside her bed for some time but the sedation had kept claiming her back into its soothing arms. Then it began to release her and at last her eyes were clear, she moved and pushed herself up a little.

‘Maisie,’ Rafe said, and took her hand, ‘they think the baby’s going to be fine, although they’ll keep her in the premmie ward for a while.’

Her fingers clutched his as a rush of relief hit her.

Then she frowned. ‘Are you sure? You’re not just saying it?’

He shook his head. ‘She’s also got your hair. Well,’ he smiled, ‘what there is of it is definitely gingery.’

‘Oh! I tried to tell her that if she had any say in the matter she’d be much better off as a blonde.’ Her eyes, so green against the unusual pallor of her skin, were humorous but she sobered rapidly.

‘Rafe-Rafe,’ she said and licked her dry lips, ‘you must be angry-I was going to post a letter to you…’ She found she couldn’t go on.

‘Maisie, I was much more concerned than anything else. But this is not the time for recriminations or explanations or decisions-except one.’ His eyes were steady and she suddenly realised he was paler than normal.

‘You need,’ he went on, ‘to recoup your strength and Susie is going to need all your care and attention for the next few months. Will you come back to Raby Bay, at least for the time being?’

She drew a deep breath-and nodded. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

‘You-’ But he stopped as Sonia tiptoed in, bearing two lidded paper cups of coffee.

And Sonia, after she’d assured herself Maisie was as well as could be in the circumstances, flung her arms around her sister-in-law and hugged her almost fiercely.

‘You were right. I went to see Liam and I told him all about me and how his news had acted as some sort of catalyst that made me really understand. But I said I was only telling him so I could come to terms with myself so he wasn’t to worry or feel guilty or sorry for me. Do you know what he said?’

Maisie shook her head somewhat dazedly.

‘That he’d only asked for a divorce because the separation was killing him but his pride wouldn’t allow him to say so!’

Maisie was given a sleeping pill that night despite the fact that she was exhausted. She was also sore and feeling strung-up and desperately anxious to be able to see her baby-they’d told her she could do that tomorrow- and supremely conscious of the irony of her situation.

Because her “clear-sighted wisdom” had worked for Sonia but not for her. Indeed, it had been born from her decision to leave Rafe, and explain, in all honesty, why she had reached it.

So she’d written a letter she’d planned to leave in the house for him. At the last minute she’d taken it with her and decided to post it to him just in case anyone else found it.

It was still sitting in her bag.

And she was now committed to going back to him for the time being anyway. But could she handle him knowing the truth for however long that “time being” might take?

She didn’t think so…

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THREE months later, Maisie nursed Susannah in her arms and sang softly to her on the patio at Raby Bay.

Wes was curled up at her feet and Susie was watching the pattern of light and shade the grapevine was creating. Then her lashes sank and she fell asleep.

Maisie rocked her a little longer, kissed her softly then she put her into her pram and adjusted the net. Susie didn’t stir.

‘There you go, Wes,’ Maisie murmured to the dog, ‘one contented baby! We’re getting pretty good at this!’

She got up and wandered to the edge of the patio where she stood looking out over the water but as if she was looking far, far away to a distant horizon…

That was when Rafe, who’d watched the little tableau of a girl and her baby unseen from inside, came to a decision.

Susie was thriving now and the ordeal of the neonatal clinic was well and truly behind them. Some complications had arisen but Maisie had been marvellous in the way she’d coped, refusing ever to lose hope.

Of course, it had been an anxious time when the baby had first come home, but once again Maisie had proved equal to the task.