about the challenges of the present.
‘Look, I...I couldn’t give Hannah the support she needed when I was ill. I can now.’
He nodded. ‘And that’s important to you.’
‘Yes, it is. Hannah’s not had an easy time, she was so young when our parents died. James and I tried to help her through it, but we were both at university and neither of us were in a position to give her a stable home. My mother’s sister fostered her, and... Aunt Sylvie’s very kind, very loving, but Hannah always wanted to live with me. When she was fifteen I took her.’
‘But you fell ill?’
‘Yes, and Hannah went to live with James. I don’t think she really understood why I wouldn’t keep her. She told me that she’d help look after me, but I didn’t want to make her into my carer. She deserved more than that.’
The frank approval in his eyes meant a lot more than it should. Chloe had wanted his understanding, craved his warmth, and now that she had it, it was too much to bear. She looked away, staring at Hannah and Amy.
‘Hannah was almost sixteen when she ran away. I couldn’t help look for her, I could hardly manage to get out of the house. It was James who found her and brought her back, and he was the one who looked after her when she realised that she was pregnant.’
‘And you think you let Hannah down?’ His tone suggested that Jon thought quite the opposite, but Chloe begged to differ.
‘I think that Hannah and Amy need me right now. And that I’m going to be there for both of them.’ It was too late to save Hannah from the turbulence of her teenage years, but she would find a way to put things right now. Because this time it wasn’t only a matter of saving Hannah, it was a matter of saving Amy, too.
IT HAD BEEN a restless night, sleeping in the folding bed next to Amy’s cot, and so far the morning hadn’t been much easier. Chloe hadn’t seen Jon when she’d returned home to talk to Hannah and James, and she’d assumed that he’d escaped over to his place when his shift had ended this morning.
But when she got back to the hospital he was there, sitting in the chair next to Amy’s cot with Amy on his lap, talking to her and gently stopping her from grabbing at the bandage on her arm that covered the cannula.
‘She’s a lot better this morning.’ One of the nurses had stopped at Chloe’s side, and Chloe dragged her gaze away from Jon. Each time she saw him with Amy it was impossible not to notice that someone so strong could be so gentle.
‘Does he usually check up on his patients like this?’
The nurse grinned. ‘He’s no stranger up here, he often pops in to see how the children he’s had admitted are doing. He seems to have taken a bit of a shine to Amy, though.’
It seemed that he had. And Amy had clearly taken a bit of a shine to Jon, looking up at him, her hand reaching to touch his face.
But Chloe was here now. And she could cope. Thanking the nurse, she walked into the ward.
‘Good morning.’ Jon had been so bound up with Amy that he’d failed to register Chloe’s approach until she’d spoken.
He made to deliver Amy into her arms, and the little girl started to cry, clinging on to him. Jon pulled an embarrassed face, which didn’t quite conceal his pleasure at Amy being so determined not to let him go, and Chloe motioned for him to stay as he was.
‘How are things?’ He took a moment out from Amy to ask the question.
‘We’re getting there. I think...’ Chloe took her jacket off and sat down. ‘James is taking Hannah back down to Cornwall with him, and I’m going to look after Amy for a while.’
His attention was suddenly all hers. ‘She doesn’t want to stay here?’
‘She’s...’ Chloe shrugged. ‘She’s got it into her head that I can look after Amy better than she can. Maybe that’s true for the moment. Hannah definitely needs a break so she can think things through.’
‘And when she has?’ Concern was etched deep into his face.
‘When she has, she’ll see that she’s a great mother and that James and I are both here for her to give her all the support she needs to make a good life for herself and for Amy.’
‘Sounds good to me.’
‘You don’t seem very convinced.’ He obviously knew as well as Chloe did that things probably weren’t going to be as easy as that.
He shrugged. ‘I’m...not really the one to ask about families.’
‘You mean the kids are a lot less complicated?’
‘Now you mention it...’ Amy grabbed at his nose and he gave her a look of exaggerated shock. Then he pinched her nose, putting his thumb between his fingers as he pulled his hand away and showing it to Amy.
‘Mine...!’ Amy reached for his hand.
‘That’s your nose, is it?’ Jon wiggled his thumb and Amy nodded.
It was almost painful to watch. All the support and love that anyone could want, and which Chloe couldn’t bring herself to trust in. But Jon had just said it himself. Something had persuaded him that families weren’t his strong point, and for him it was all about the children.
He was busy replacing Amy’s nose and threading an imaginary needle to stitch it back on again while Amy held it in place. ‘How’s that, then? Let Auntie Chloe have a look, see if I’ve got it straight.’
‘It’s straight...’ Suddenly the game seemed too good to end it here. Chloe clapped her hand theatrically over her mouth. ‘Call yourself a doctor? Amy...he’s put your nose back on upside down!’
Amy pulled at her nose, inspecting her empty hand, and Jon laughed.
‘Look, this is the way you do it... Perhaps Auntie Chloe can do a better job putting it back on again.’ A flash of his blue eyes, full of intoxicating fun. ‘She’s obviously the expert around here.’
The make-believe needle and thread was handed over to Chloe, and she pulled her chair a little closer. Amy held her nose on, giggling, while Chloe pretended to sew it back, her knees almost touching Jon’s. When he leaned over to gently untangle the drip attached to Amy’s arm, his fingers brushed hers, making her shiver.
‘Perfect.’ Jon inspected her handiwork, then dropped a kiss onto his finger, planting it on Amy’s nose then lifting the little girl onto Chloe’s lap.
‘Are you okay here?’ He pulled his chair back, as if he knew that suddenly he’d got altogether too close. ‘What about Amy’s things?’
‘James is dealing with that. He’s taking Hannah back to her place to pack and then he’ll drop Amy’s things back at my place and take Hannah on down to Cornwall.’
Jon nodded. ‘I guess Cornwall’s not so far. If Hannah needs to come back.’
‘Yes.’ Chloe sighed. ‘I hate them being apart but... Hannah seems to need some time at the moment. And some sleep as well.’
‘Yeah. I can identify with that.’ He rubbed one hand across his face, seeming suddenly drawn.
‘Why don’t you go home and get some rest? James and Hannah will be gone by now and I’ll give them a call and tell them not to wake you up when they get back with Amy’s things.’
‘You want anything before I go? Something to eat?’
‘No, I’ve eaten. Go.’
Amy seemed to have run out of energy too, and Chloe felt her snuggle against her, refusing to wake up and wave goodbye to Jon. He grinned, brushing Amy’s cheek