Page 42 of Lessons in Love at the Cornish Country Hospital

‘How long did I faint for?’ It didn’t make any sense that all of that had happened, when it felt as if she’d only just dropped to the ground.

‘Ten seconds or so at the most, but you weren’t making a lot of sense at first and you kept closing your eyes, almost like you were going in and out of consciousness. I was focusing on controlling the bleeding when Chloe ran out and I didn’t know if she’d come back. I didn’t try to stop her, I was too worried about you. Alice was up here within about two minutes, and she said Chloe had asked Oliver to call for an ambulance and the police.’

‘I need to be there when they speak to her.’

‘Alice said she’ll go with her, but now you need to rest. The blood seems to be clotting and I don’t think you’ll need surgery, but I’m not taking any chances.’ Gary fixed her with a look that dared her to argue. ‘I knew you were special before today, but I had no idea just how amazing you were. And I am not going tolose you for a second time. Alice will look after Chloe, but me and all four of our kids need you to look after yourself. You’re the glue that holds this family together.’

For a moment Wendy’s eyes felt so heavy she wasn’t sure she could respond at all, but then she opened them and focused on Gary’s face.

‘Has anyone spoken to Danni and Charlie?’ She couldn’t even begin to imagine what they’d been through. The terror she’d felt when she’d thought the baby might be dead inside the bag was something she’d never forget, but it had only been a couple of seconds before she’d been able to see that he was okay. They’d been waiting on news and no doubt fearing the worst, for hours.

‘I gave Alice my phone and told her to call them, so they’ll know by now that he’s okay.’

‘I wish I could have stopped this.’ Wendy’s arm was throbbing now, but it wasn’t the pain that was making the tears slide out of her eyes again, straight into her hair.

‘Me too, but Chloe needs more help than we can give her and at least now she’s going to get it.’

‘If she ends up in prison, it’s going to kill her.’ The thought of that was like a knife twisting in her gut. After what Chloe had put Danni and Charlie through, some people might argue that she deserved to rot in a cell somewhere, but that wouldn’t undo what she’d done and she needed help, not incarceration.

‘I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, all we can do is be there for her. And you can’t do that if you don’t take the time to get better. So, for now, you’re going to focus on yourself, whether you like it or not.’

‘I never knew you could be this forceful.’ For the first time since she’d got Chloe’s letter, Wendy managed to smile, and Gary leant forward again to gently kiss her. He’d never lied to Wendy, or misled her, which made it easy to choose to believe what he was saying now too. Closing her eyes for a few seconds,she breathed out. The baby would be back with his parents soon, and Chloe hadn’t done the one thing that Wendy had feared the most and decided to join Beau. There was a road back for her, and they’d all be cheerleading her journey to recovery when the time came. But Gary was right again, she couldn’t do that unless she got over her own injury first. She had someone she could completely rely on, for the first time in decades, and she was going to lean on Gary until she was strong enough for Chloe to lean on her. That was what love was after all. The last few weeks had taught her there was enough of it to go around, and that it could flourish in the most unexpected of places, but she had no idea just how unexpected the power of love could still turn out to be.

25

When the police had tried to suggest that Danni and Charlie wait at the hospital for the return of their son, she’d told them in no uncertain terms what she thought of that idea. There wasn’t a force on earth that could have stopped her getting to him. The message must have got through, because the detective inspector who’d been leading the hunt for the kidnapper had agreed that they would be taken to the hotel by the police. The tide was too high for the island to be accessible by road, and a police vessel had been dispatched to the harbour to meet them there. But Danni would have swum across to the island if she’d had to.

‘You don’t think there’s any chance they’ve made a mistake, do you?’ Her teeth were chattering, as Charlie took her hand to help her off the boat.

‘None and he’s going to be back in your arms in the next few minutes. Let’s go and get him.’ As soon as they were both on land, they started to run, hand-in-hand, towards the hotel. The police officers with them didn’t even try to tell them to slow down, and they were running too, all of them desperate to know that the reports about the baby being unharmed were true.

‘Danni!’ Wendy’s daughter called her name, as they charged through the doors of the hotel. She was holding the baby in her arms and he was sleeping, blissfully unaware of all the drama of the last few hours.

‘Oh darling.’ Taking the baby from Alice, Danni drank in every millimetre of her little boy, with even more wonder than she had in the first moments after he was born, as Charlie put his arms around them both. But she had to say the words out loud to really believe they were true. ‘He’s fine, he’s absolutely fine.’

‘He is and he’s never going to be taken away from us again.’

‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.’ The voice of the woman in front of her made Danni’s head shoot up. A police officer was holding on to the woman’s arm, keeping her back from Danni and Charlie, and another officer had stepped between them, probably out of fear that one of the newly reunited parents might launch themselves at Chloe. In the time the baby had been missing, when Danni couldn’t be certain whether he was dead or alive, she’d known without doubt that she was capable of murder if he had come to any harm. But standing there, with him safely in her arms, looking at the broken-hearted woman in front of her who’d never get to take her own son home, all she felt was pity.

‘Don’t make the situation any worse, Chloe.’ The police officer who already had a tight grip on her arm, pulled her further away from Danni and Charlie.

‘She’s not making it worse.’ The force of Danni’s words surprised her. She couldn’t tell Chloe it was okay, because what she’d put them through had been the most traumatic thing she could ever have imagined. She couldn’t even say for sure yet whether she forgave her, but she needed Chloe to know that she didn’t want her to suffer any more than she already had, so she turned to face her. ‘I know you’ve been through hell too and I really hope you get the help you need.’

‘Thank you.’ Some of the tension seemed to leave Chloe’s face, and she dropped her gaze as the officers led her away.

‘I’m never going to ask for anything again; you and Caleb are all I’ll ever want.’ Danni looked up at Charlie, as he raised his eyebrows.

‘Caleb?’ It was a name Charlie had suggested a few months before, and Danni hadn’t been sure. But she’d looked up the meaning at the time, and now she couldn’t think of anything more fitting.

‘It means the whole of my heart, and that’s what the two of you have got. I love you both so much.’ Danni leant into Charlie, the utter joy she felt to have her son back tinged by only one thing. ‘I wish I could take back the things I said when we realised Chloe had taken him.’

‘I love you too, and none of that matters. All I care about is that we’ve got him back and I’ll never stop being grateful.’ Charlie kissed her and, even though they were far from alone in the hotel foyer, she didn’t care. She had her boys, the life she was terrified she might have lost for good was hers for the taking, and she was just as determined as Charlie never to take it for granted again.

26

Caleb was always going to be incredibly loved. His four adoring grandparents thought his every gurgle and murmur was the most momentous thing ever to happen, all of which had been heightened by his terrifying start in life. His Uncle Joe and Aunt Esther were equally besotted with him, and even Danni’s mother had begun texting a bit more often, asking after him. She still wasn’t a doting grandmother, but it was far more than Danni had expected from her. Caleb was also adored by Danni’s friends and colleagues at the hospital.

Aidan and Jase had been particularly regular visitors, and they’d been getting in lots of practice as the weeks ticked down to the birth of their own baby. They’d offered to babysit, as had everyone else, but Danni and Charlie were nowhere near ready to take anyone up on the offer yet. They couldn’t bear the thought of Caleb being with anyone but them, and she knew it was something they needed to work on. They’d started counselling and, in the New Year, they’d be having more sessions to make sure they got to a place where their anxiety about being separated from Caleb didn’t end up damaging him. In the meantime, they were focusing on enjoying their firstfamily Christmas, and the mountain of presents under the tree was yet another indication of just how loved their little boy was.

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