Delicious Desires (17 page)

Chapter Twenty

It took Caroline just one night of dreadful sleep to know that she had to leave the area. There was no way that she could stay around here and perhaps accidentally meet him. That would be impossible for her. She went to talk to Cathy, asking her to meet up at a nearby café.

“But what about the business Caroline? You can’t just up sticks and leave us now.” Cathy wailed.

Caroline tried to reassure her friend.

“No, I know. I have too much invested in it anyway. No, I was thinking that if I took over wedding cake orders and more of the baking, Gemma can do the van with you. That’s if everyone is agreeable.” She looked at her friend
’s woeful face. “I’m sorry Cathy, I really am, but I can’t stay here with the possibility of bumping into him every other day. What if he was with her when I come up the road looking like I’m about to burst? I couldn’t take the humiliation, or the pain.” She added.

Cathy took hold of her hand.

“Are you sure about this Caroline? It’s a big step. You’ll have to sell your flat.”

Caroline sighed deeply.

“I know, but I’m going to have to sell anyway. There’s no way that my place is big enough with a baby around, so I might as well do it now. I’m not going to go too far. Just far enough.” Her voice was a little bitter. Adam had hurt her beyond all reason, and even the fact that he had now rescued her twice wasn’t going to keep her hanging around just to be hurt again.

Cathy tried to persuade her again.

            “But why don’t you tell him about the baby. It may change everything. That may be more important to him than she is.”

            
Caroline shook her head.

“I doubt it. That was the second time I’ve seen her.
She was out in Dubai with him, she drives his car and uses his personal phone. She’s obviously long term. I don’t see why a baby would make any difference to him.” Caroline looked at Cathy and then glanced out of the café window. “I’m seeing an estate agent later today. I should make a small profit on the flat so with a bit of luck, something further away being cheaper, I could get something nice and leave some money over. I hope so at any rate. David tells me that babies are horribly expensive.”

Cathy’s face darkened.

“But why should he get away with it scot-free?” She argued hotly. “He earns millions. He should pay for his kid. It shouldn’t be up to you to take over his responsibilities. You’ve got to tell him to pay up for his night of pleasure.”

“I’m not going to tell him anything yet.” Caroline scowled bitterly. “If I see him in the future, well, maybe I’ll decide differently. But it was my fault I was stupid with my pill. I have to accept the consequences and pay for them myself.” Her face was set
as she turned to leave the café. Cathy caught her arm.

“I know it’s your choice Caroline, but it is his baby. I really wish you would change your mind. For goodness
’ sake! He nearly killed himself saving your life. Are you really sure he doesn’t have feelings for you? I mean… Isn’t there anything I can say that will keep you here?

Caroline breathed in deeply.

“I’m sorry Cathy. I know what he did, but he would have done the same for anyone. It’s his job to save people, there was absolutely nothing different or special about it because it was me in trouble.” Her face crumpled. “Believe me, I wish I meant that much to him, but you didn’t see that woman fussing over his pillow and drooling at the thought of looking after his every whim. I was nauseated at the thought of them together. If you and the girls can manage the van then there’s absolutely nothing to keep me here.”

She turned and walked to the door. Cathy just stared after her friend, wishing that there were something she could do to make everything right for her.

Caroline returned to her flat and started tidying up immediately. David came to help her and they
cleared and dusted as much as they could before the estate agent arrived. Caroline dumped forgotten bags of flour and sugar into waste bins and David gathered yards of misfiled paperwork from cupboards.

The estate agent arrived on time and after he’d made his appraisal
he told Caroline he already had several interested parties. He would phone the same day. He didn’t even need to put up a sign. The flat could be sold by the end of the week. He left, confident that his commission would soon be in his pocket.

David closed the front door on the man.

“Why don’t you come and stay with Natalie and me for a few days?” David suggested after the estate agent had taken all his measurements, checked on all the facilities and shook their hands before he left. They were drinking tea and Caroline was trying to get her head around finding a new place to live. David nudged her arm. “It would get you away from here for a while. You can leave a key with the agents. Why not let them earn their money?”

She looked at him carefully

“Are you and Natalie speaking again now then?” Caroline asked suddenly interested.

David grinned.

“Of course we are. It’s as you said. These little tiffs soon blow over and I had to tell her what had happened to you anyway so I rang last week. I was going to go back home on Saturday but what with all the excitement of you being nearly drowned, I decided to stay here. Now we can go together, the kids will love seeing you. It’s been ages and it’ll give you some practice.” He laughed.

She smiled at him.

“Okay, you’re on. I’ll just check with Cathy and the girls, but I’m sure they will understand. Thanks David, I think I need the break. Go and give Natalie the bad news. I’ll start packing a few things.” She stepped into her bedroom and pulled down her travel bag from the top of the wardrobe.

It only took a couple of hours to get everything ar
ranged and piled into her tiny Mini and then they drove the hour’s journey back to David’s house.

There was an amazing reception waiting for them. For a few minutes, it was all squeals and shout
s from the children. David’s three daughters had drawn ‘welcome home daddy’ pictures and they threw them around like confetti as they flung themselves at him and Auntie Caroline, but she had to turn away as David drew Natalie into his arms and kissed her passionately. Seeing the love and devotion in their eyes was almost too much for her to bear.

She let the children drag her away to their playroom and she ‘
ooed’ and ‘ahhed’ enthusiastically over their myriad of new toys, more than glad of the distraction.

Chapter Twenty-one

Caroline’s few days stretched out and eventually she stayed for with David and Natalie for over three weeks.

She returned home to start the dismal task of clearing her flat
. It had sold quickly just as the estate agent had predicted, and all her time was now taken up with packing clothes and furniture and looking for a new place to live. She couldn’t believe how difficult it was to find the perfect house for her and her baby. She had looked at several and none of them were suitable.

Finding a unit to cook in
proved to be a lot easier. She signed the lease and quickly had fitted it out with all their requirements. The hygiene inspectors called and gave them a clean bill of health and Caroline and her team had increased their output by over fifty percent. Cathy and the girls managed the van brilliantly by themselves, drawing up a Rota for all the different routes. Caroline spent the days baking and experimenting with new recipes.

Though she had sold the flat quickly it took over three months to finally sign all the relevant papers. She still didn’t have a p
lace of her own to live in and had decided that the only answer was to rent for the time being. She found a larger flat on the outskirts of town which suited her perfectly and moved in until she could find a house.

She didn’t admit to anyone how she felt inside. On the surface, she was happy and busy enough, but
on the inside was a completely different story. She had thought the tears had stopped and that she was over Adam, but that had been before she had known that she was carrying his baby. That knowledge seemed to change everything for her. She wanted so badly to be with Adam, to share every moment with him. Each night as she lay alone in bed, feeling their baby moving inside her, she cried herself to sleep as thoughts of Adam washed over her.

The days began to meld together in a never-ending round of cooking, planning and invoicing new clients. The local pubs had taken well to the idea of cakes with coffee and she had seen a huge increase in her regular orders. The book work was taking a considerable amount of time and the next thing on her to do list was to find someone capable of running the office.

Before she
knew it, she had been in her new rented flat for over four months and her baby bump was becoming ever larger.

Caroline worked all hours, ignoring the tiredness in her body and the pain in her heart. Today was no exception. She was meeting David in the afternoon. They were house hunting again, even though she had rented her flat for a six-month lease and there were still another two months to run. If she didn’t find anywhere that very afternoon she had decided to extend the lease on her flat and stop looking until after the baby had been born.

David opened the car door for her and handed her the end of the seatbelt so that she didn’t have to twist. He nodded up at her flat.

“The six months will soon be up on this place and unless you buy something new, you know it takes about three months to get all the paperwork sorted. Your flat took that long to complete and that was a cash buyer.” David warned her when he picked her up. “You need to keep looking, believe me.”

Caroline rested her head on the back of the car seat.

“I know David, it’s just such hard work and the areas that I can afford don’t have schools or nurseries within easy reach. It’s something I have to consider if I don’t want to be in the car driving us both about all the time.” She winced and rubbed her stomach where the baby had just kicked her hard.

“Is he having a bit of a run about?” David asked, looking fascinate
d as he gazed at her stomach.

Caroline let out a long breath.

“He’s been doing it all day. It actually hurts along here where he kicks me.” She pointed to her belly where a lump protruded larger than the rest. She grimaced as pain shot through her again.

David nodded knowingly.

“Well they do that sort of thing. He’s just getting used to being active. When you think of who the father is, I bet he’s a whopper too. I imagine it’s getting to be a tight fit in there. He’s bound to protest at the cramped quarters.” He put his hand on her stomach and gently rubbed the hard spot that stood out through her dress. The baby was poking out an elbow or knee. It wriggled about inside her as he rubbed. She laughed and winced at the same time too.

“How long do y
ou think you have to go?” David queried, looking in fascination at her now rolling stomach.

Caroline winced again.

“About another two month I guess. Ouch, Stop that baby; be good for your mum.” She massaged the side of her bump and looked up at the house that David had brought her to. It was bigger than the others she had looked at and it was situated in a nice area. At the moment, the road was quiet what with everyone being at work. She could hear birds singing in the trees lining the path and the faint sound of a radio coming from an open window of the house. She looked at the details given to her by the agents.

“It’s right at the top end of my limit David. I won’t have anything left to play with. I don’t know whether it’s worth trying for
. I don’t want to over stretch myself, what with having to pay you back for the van too.” She folded the piece of paper in half and shoved it in her bag.

David shook his head.

“Well, you won’t have to worry about paying back the van money for a while. You can do that over the next few years if you need to. Not that I think it’ll take you that long what with the way your figures are looking. Come on, we’re here now, and the owner is expecting us. We might as well go and look. You never know, if you like it, you may be able to bid a little lower.” David opened the gate and marched up to the front door.

He was knocking loudly before he realized that Caroline wasn’t right be
hind him. He turned to see what she was doing and froze as he saw her standing stiffly by the gate.

Her face was a mask of pain, her mouth open in a silent scream of agony as her hands held
the sides of her protruding stomach. He raced back to her just as the front door of the house opened. A woman stood staring down the path at the pair of them.

“Caroline! What’s wron
g?” David put his arm around his sister’s shoulders. He could feel the heat coming through her clothes and see the sweat beading on her brow, but she couldn’t speak to him as the pain wracked her body and she gritted her teeth. She cried out as her legs gave way and she slumped against him. He lowered her gently to the ground, horrified as he noticed blood pooling beneath her. He lifted his eyes to the astounded woman at the front door of the house, his face ashen with shock.

“Call an ambulance
! Something’s very wrong here. She’s not ready to have the baby yet, it’s way too early.” He shouted as the woman looked on.

She
frowned for a second, not completely understanding what was going on but she took one more look at Caroline and caught sight saw all the blood spreading across the pavement. She let out a small shriek and grabbed the telephone by the front door.

By the time the ambulance arrived less than ten minutes later, it was obvious to David that
Caroline was going to be having her baby very soon. He’d seen his wife give birth three times, but Natalie had never seemed to be in this much pain so quickly and there had never been so much blood.

He knew something was badly wrong but he kept his expression neutral and said nothing as he sat beside Caroline in the ambulance and mopped her brow. Her face was contorted in agony and she clamped her jaw shut as screams threatened to pour out
. He gripped her hand tightly and murmured words of encouragement he didn’t really believe.

They rushed through triage and were immediately taken to the emergency suite. The doctors gave Caroline a quick but thorough examination and then came back to David who had been ushered outside.

“Are you the husband?” The doctor didn’t wait for him to respond and rushed on. “It’s bad, there no other way to tell you this, but we must deliver the baby immediately for there to be any chance of saving it. The placenta has become totally detached. We don’t know the reason for this but we do have to do something immediately. It can’t be put off or the baby will be harmed.” The man put his hand on David’s shoulder to steady him. “Look, we’re going to take her into theatre straight away and do a C-section. I’m sorry you can’t come with her. It’ll take too long for you to scrub up. Stay here and try to keep your spirits up, we’ll do everything we can. Someone will come and find you as soon as we have any news.” He turned swiftly, his white coat flapping in his own breeze, and left David standing there, his mouth wide open in shock.

He
just could not take it in. His sister was in deep trouble. Feeling completely out of his depth and totally useless, his hand shook as he picked his telephone out of his pocket and began to dial her best friend’s number. Cathy was her closest friend as well as being a colleague and he didn’t know what else to do; he just had to speak to someone.