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Normally Tayla was a very attractive woman but in this instance he decided he might have had a lucky escape. He stayed motionless, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed, and waited for his fiancée to see her cousin was not alone.
Tayla saw no one except Georgia. ‘You had to do it. Had to ruin everything. If anyone could do it, it would be you! I knew you shouldn’t have been my matron of honour but my father had to have his way. Well I’m not the only one who’s a laughing stock. Serves him right.’
‘I’m so sorry, Tayla.’ Georgia wilted against the pillows and closed her eyes, and Max realised that the ridiculous behaviour of Tayla was upsetting the new mother.
‘You will be!’Tayla spat, and Max stepped away from the wall.
‘That’s enough.’ His voice was very quiet but sliced off Tayla’s words as if he’d swathed his arm through the air like a conductor. Tayla froze before turning slowly to face him.
‘Max?’ She stamped her foot and another tiny white feather puffed into the air. ‘I knew you must have stayed with her.’
‘Obviously,’ he drawled, and then regretted his provocativeness for Georgia’s sake. Outside work interference it was probably the first time he’d made the effort to check Tayla. Maybe he had let every-thing slide too much in his obsession to land this job.
‘Look at your suit!’ Tayla was slow to see the dangerous glint in Max’s eye. ‘And why did you have to be the one to go with her? There were half a dozen obstetricians there but, no, you had to leave me at the altar like a fool.’
Max glanced across at Georgia and the sleeping baby. ‘I’m sorry about your wedding, Tayla,’ he said. ‘But perhaps in private and later.’
Tayla faltered and stretched her face into a smile, finally connecting Max’s displeasure. ‘It was your wedding, too.’ The plaintive note sounded clearly. ‘And the magazine was there taking photos. No wonder we couldn’t find you when the ambulance turned up. When it was called off my father searched everywhere for you.’
‘Your father would have done better to spend his time checking on his new great-niece.’ Max raised his eyebrows. ‘I’m sure you, too, were concerned that Georgia’s baby almost lost her life.’
Tayla glanced at the baby in Georgia’s arms with barely concealed disinterest. ‘Of course.’ She dragged her arm across her face. ‘It’s been such a horrible morning. I think they will still print the photos from the church but as a disaster now. I’ve been quite distraught.’ And quietly she began to sob.
Max dropped his jaw in amazement and Georgia shifted her baby up to her shoulder and slid to the edge of the bed.
In sudden clarity Max realised if he didn’t step in Georgia would rise from her bed to comfort her cousin and take all the blame for something that no one could have prevented.
‘Stay there, Georgia. Rest. You’ve had a big morning, too. I’ll take Tayla away and calm her down.’
Tayla lifted her head and he admitted she cried very prettily but some of the sterling reasons he’d had for marrying her had strangely seeped away.
‘Come on, Tayla,’ he said more gently. She really had been excited about the magazine shoot and he needed to be more patient. ‘I’ll make you a coffee in the consultants’ tearoom and we can talk.’ He turned her towards the door and glanced over his shoulder at the woman in the bed.
‘Look after Thor.’
The sweetness of his smile made the lump of tears in Georgia’s chest swell even more and she nodded stupidly and watched him leave.
She’d have to name her daughter or she’d begun to think of her as Thor. The problem was she’d only chosen boys names. More reason to dislike the inaccuracy of ultrasounds.
Actually, she would like to call her Maxine but no doubt the affinity she felt towards a certain obstetrician would pass. She was never falling for that again.
She wouldn’t be calling her daughter after her father because the memories of Sol’s dangerous possessiveness left her quivering in her bed. She shuddered and forced her mind back to the present.
Her daughter was like a little lioness with her roar and her power and her aggressive hold on life. No man would try to run her life. She should call her Elsa after the lioness in Born Free. Actually, she liked that. She liked it a lot.
‘Hello, Elsa.’ Elsa opened one dark blue eye and glared at her mother before thick black lashes fluttered down again and she drifted back to sleep.
Well, that was settled. She looked up as a knock sounded at the door and her uncle poked his head around it.
‘You available for visitors?’
‘Come in, Harry.’ She gestured to the seat beside the bed and her nearest living relative sank onto the hard plastic with relief. He peered at the baby in her arms.
‘So she’s well? No ill effects from her dramatic entry into the world?’ He lifted one finger and stroked the baby’s soft hair.
‘The paediatrician said she’ll be fine. Because Elsa was so vigorous at birth, we’re sure she coped with whatever fall in oxygen she suffered.’
Harry raised his bushy white eyebrows. ‘Elsa. Strong name. Still, you must have been terrified. I’m glad you’re both well. I gather Max did a great job.’
‘He was very calm and caught her beautifully.’ She leaned towards her uncle. ‘I’m so sorry about Tayla’s wedding.’
‘Water under the bridge.’ He looked at her and they both smiled at the poor pun. ‘Tayla threw hysterics in the church when the limo drove off. I was glad to get out of there.’
Georgia bit her lip. She felt too guilty to smile at her uncle’s dry amusement. ‘She’s with Max now. I’m sure he’ll calm her down.’
‘She’d better show a more attractive side than I saw this morning or it won’t matter how much he needs a wife.’ Her uncle looked at Georgia quickly and then away.
‘I did not say that.’ Distressed, he rubbed his gnarled hands together. He was a self-made success and proud of his hands, but he wasn’t proud of that slip. ‘I’m an old man and get mixed up sometimes.’
He looked around the room—anywhere but at Georgia. ‘You look after young Elsa here and I’ll see you soon.’ Harry bent down and kissed her cheek before he lumbered out of the room as fast as he could.
Georgia stared after him. ‘Good grief,’ she said out loud. ‘What do you make of that, Elsa?’
‘So you’ve named her?’ Max spoke from the door. Georgia looked serene and competent with the baby nestled in her arms, and he stifled the pang of pain he’d thought he’d got over about not having children.
Imagine someone like her to come home to after work. During his engagement Max had eventually realised that at best Tayla would fly to visit him every few weeks and he’d accepted she would continue with her life as charity social queen.
At the time it had seemed enough because he could never offer a maternal woman a family and Tayla made no secret of the fact that she didn’t want children. A realistic Tayla was better than the beauties who had chorused that IVF would do the trick.
Imagine if it had been possible to marry someone like Georgia? They could have even worked together and he’d have a real insight into the care the women were receiving.
Enough. He wouldn’t be searching for another wife. One close shave was enough. Maybe he could run his disastrous day past the board and they’d consider his circumstances against the fact he wasn’t married. He’d sort something out.
He frowned at the strange expression on Georgia’s face and he wondered what new complication had arisen.
For Georgia, after the first quick glance, she didn’t know where to look. Perhaps she’d caught her uncle’s affliction of avoiding eye contact, but this was a bit awkward after hearing Max needed a wife.
She flicked another peek at him and away again. ‘Harry just left.’
‘Yes, I know.’ Max frowned. ‘I saw him but he seemed in a bit of a hurry. I’m not sure he’s speaking to me after I failed so dismally as a sonin-law.’
Georgia winced and looked down as Elsa slept contentedly in her arms. That was definitely her fault. She wished her daughter would wake up and yell. At least she could avoid conversation then. Her brain was spinning from Harry’s bombshell. Max just didn’t seem the type to need a wife.
The guy had everything. Looks, money, fabulous career. A sliver of ice slid down her back. Maybe he wanted to own a trophy wife, like Sol had.
‘How is Tayla?’ It was all she could think of to say.
‘Unengaged. She doesn’t want to marry me any more.’ Max dropped the words into the room like an afterthought. ‘But she’ll be fine. I’ve sent her home with my brother. I think they will do very well together. We don’t normally get on but Paul’s been a godsend this week.’
Georgia frowned and played back his comment in her mind. Unengaged. Needed a wife. ‘Did you say the wedding is off?’
‘Definitely. I couldn’t guarantee to her I would never rush off like that again and she said it wasn’t good enough.’
‘She’s a fool.’ Georgia had thought the words and somehow they slipped quietly into the room for Max to hear.
‘I think so—but there you have it.’ He was irrepressible and she couldn’t help smiling. They both grinned at each other and the camaraderie was back.
Georgia decided she must have misunderstood Uncle Harry. Max didn’t seem too upset for someone who needed to have a wife. She would go with her instincts and her instincts said Max Beresford could be trusted.
‘So why were you marrying Tayla if you didn’t love her?’
He sighed and sat down. She realised he was dressed in theatre garb so he must have changed out of his soiled suit at some time. He pulled his hand over his strong chin as she watched him gather his thoughts.
‘The board of directors for the new job were adamant. They wanted me but no wife, no job. Tayla seemed like a good idea at the time.’
Georgia felt disappointment lodge in her throat. She was a damn poor judge of character. The man was shallow. ‘Not a good reason to tie yourself to one person for the rest of your life.’
‘It was only for a year if it didn’t work out.’ He looked up at her and smiled sympathetically. ‘I gather your foray into married life wasn’t a roaring success either.’
She wasn’t the one who needed the sympathy. ‘I believed in commitment when I took my vows.’
‘And how was your marriage?’ The gentle tone in which he asked the question made her eyes sting with sudden tears.
She did not want to go there. ‘None of your business.’
‘That bad, eh?’ He pressed his lips together as if holding back further comment, and suddenly she could at least admit how bad it had been to herself.
It was her turn to sigh. ‘Worse. How did you know?’
He shrugged his shoulders slightly. ‘From some-thing you said when you were in labour about not missing Elsa’s father.’
The limo ride came back to her in Technicolor and she shuddered. ‘Labour. Could you call that labour? That horrific few minutes when I thought I would lose my baby?’
She shook her head. ‘That was like being hit by a truck.’ She couldn’t begin to imagine the desolation she would be going through now if Elsa hadn’t survived. ‘I haven’t thanked you for being there when I needed someone.’
Max smiled. ‘And I haven’t thanked you for saving me from Tayla. So now we have that out of the way, let’s forget the others. What are you going to do now?’
Georgia tilted her head. ‘My situation is fine. I’m free. I have a healthy baby, a home and a nanny arranged for the future when I go back to work.’
He looked a little taken aback at her well-laid plans. What had he expected?
‘I can see you are organised.’ He stood up. ‘And you must be tired. I’ll go. Congratulations on your beautiful daughter. My best wishes to both of you. Good bye.’ He smiled and left.
She watched him go, watched him walk out after all they had been through, and now she really was alone. Well, what had she expected? He wasn’t even her cousin-in-law now so she probably wouldn’t ever see him again.
Of course, she couldn’t sleep after that.
Elsa woke and gratefully Georgia fed her and stroked her hair and began to feel the peace she’d dreamt of when her child was safely born.
She tried to imagine how she would have felt if Max hadn’t been there and she’d been alone when Elsa had been born. If Elsa hadn’t been fine. It didn’t bear thinking about.
Then the cold ice of fear in the base of her stomach reminded her there were other things to be afraid of. What if Sol came back and tried to take Elsa, as he’d threatened? Could she keep her baby safe? Could Max help her keep her baby safe? It was a dangerous thought.
The next morning Dr Sol Winton stepped out of the lifts on the maternity floor and no one tried to stop him. The quality of his suit and the half-exposed stethoscope poking out of his pocket ensured that nobody questioned he belonged there.
He inclined his head at two nurses and his slow smile brought the colour to both their cheeks. The gilt-ribboned chocolate boxes screamed money and he placed one box on the nurse’s desk and kept one in his hand.
‘I’m looking for my wife. Georgia Winton?’
‘Certainly, Doctor. She’s in room four, down the corridor on the left.’
‘Thank you. Enjoy the chocolates.’
He set off as if sure of his welcome. A tall, welldressed, charming man, who drew the eyes of women and exuded authority.
When he entered the room only the baby was there wrapped up in a bunny rug in the Perspex cot. A name card tucked into the end read, ‘Elsa, baby of Georgia, five pounds two ounces.’
He reached across and stroked the baby’s cheek and her downy skin was silky soft beneath his finger.
CHAPTER THREE (#u02fc64f0-f0c1-5bf2-97a0-fda49237ab97)
MAX FROWNED and strode quickly down the corridor as he saw the man enter Georgia’s room.
He knew most of the consultants across the hospital but not this one. Some latent protective instinct raised the hairs on the back of his neck and all he could think about was that Georgia might need him.
His suspicions firmed at the sight of the man bent over Elsa’s cot.
Max loomed in the doorway. His voice came out low and hard. ‘Can I help you?’
Sol straightened slowly and he lifted his chin. ‘No. I don’t think so. Thank you.’
The man smiled but something about his phoney amusement increased Max’s own wariness and disquiet.
Max moved to one side of the doorway to allow a free exit from the room—though only if the man left Elsa in her cot.
‘Are you a friend of Georgia’s?’ Max enquired politely, yet the hint of steel suggested it wasn’t a frivolous question and he required an answer.
‘I’m more than that.’ Sol smiled gently. ‘Are you her doctor?’
‘You could say that.’ Max looked up as Georgia opened the bathroom door and his instincts firmed as her eyes widened and then closed for a second as if her worst nightmare had come true.
Her hand hovered over her mouth. ‘Sol?’ She shook her head but no further words came.
‘My dear wife.’ Sol smiled.
Georgia shook her head again and the words burst out in a vehement whisper. ‘I’m not your wife.’
Sol smiled again, and from the outside he looked quite pleasant yet something made Max take a step closer to Georgia in support.
