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Back The Cottage Save as PDF
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. TWENTY-THREE
  26. TWENTY-FOUR
  27. TWENTY-FIVE
  28. TWENTY-SIX
  29. TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. TWENTY-NINE
  32. THIRTY
  33. THIRTY-ONE
  34. THIRTY-TWO
  35. THIRTY-THREE
  36. THIRTY-FOUR
  37. THIRTY-FIVE
  38. THIRTY-SIX
  39. THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. THIRTY-NINE
  42. FORTY
  43. FORTY-ONE
  44. FORTY-TWO
  45. FORTY-THREE
  46. FORTY-FOUR
  47. FORTY-FIVE
  48. FORTY-SIX
  49. FORTY-SEVEN
  50. FORTY-EIGHT
  51. FORTY-NINE
  52. FIFTY
  53. FIFTY-ONE
  54. FIFTY-TWO
  55. FIFTY-THREE
  56. FIFTY-FOUR
  57. FIFTY-FIVE
  58. FIFTY-SIX
  59. FIFTY-SEVEN
  60. FIFTY-EIGHT
  61. FIFTY-NINE
  62. SIXTY
  63. SIXTY-ONE
  64. SIXTY-TWO
  65. SIXTY-THREE
  66. SIXTY-FOUR
  67. SIXTY-FIVE
  68. SIXTY-SIX
  69. SIXTY-SEVEN
  70. SIXTY-EIGHT
  71. SIXTY-NINE
  72. SEVENTY
  73. SEVENTY-ONE
  74. SEVENTY-TWO
  75. SEVENTY-THREE
  76. SEVENTY-FOUR
  77. Suggested topics for reading-group discussion
  78. Keep Reading …
  79. Lisa Stone also writes under the name of Cathy Glass.Don’t miss her latest book …
  80. About the Author
  81. Books by Lisa Stone
  82. About the Publisher

Anne returned to her patient and concentrated on delivering the placenta as Ian and Emma comforted each other. She checked the placenta was all there and then disposed of it in one of the rubbish bags, firmly tying the top. She checked Emma’s vital signs again. They were normal. Neither of them looked at the Moses basket on the far side of the room where the infant remained quiet and motionless. Anne gathered together her equipment and returned it to her bag.

‘I’ll come back for these later,’ she said to Ian, placing the cylinder and her midwife bag to one side. ‘I expect Emma would like something to eat and drink now.’

Ian nodded dumbly.

‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’

Leaving the couple to their grief, Anne crossed the room to the Moses basket. She covered the baby with a blanket and then picked up the basket. She looked at Ian and Emma clinging tightly to each other, consumed by grief. Her heart clenched, but there was nothing more she could do here and she needed to go now. She dared not leave it any longer. She began towards the door.

‘Anne,’ Emma called through her tears.

She paused. Don’t change your mind about seeing the baby, she thought. Just let me go. ‘Yes?’ she asked tentatively, keeping her back to the couple.

‘We called him David,’ Emma said. ‘It means loved.’

‘I’ll remember,’ Anne said, and continued out of the room, then carefully downstairs, the Moses basket at her side.

She quietly let herself out of the front door. It was nearly eight o’clock and households were on the move – dog-walkers, people beginning to leave the house for work. She pulled the blanket right up over the baby’s face and hurried to her car.

Opening the rear door, she carefully placed the Moses basket on the back seat, uncovered the baby’s face a little and secured the basket with the seatbelts. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do.

She closed the rear door and got into the driver’s seat, then started the engine. As she did a woman appeared at the upstairs window of the house next door. Anne went cold. Had she seen her leave with the Moses basket? It was possible, although she wouldn’t have seen what was in it. When she returned to Ian and Emma’s later she’d make sure they had their story straight. One slip of the tongue, one small inconsistency, could be their undoing.

FOUR

What the hell!

Jan’s eyes shot open. Panic gripped her. She stared across the room. Where was she? A small crack of light showed between the gap in the curtains. Those weren’t her curtains. This wasn’t her bedroom. She sat bolt upright in bed and stared around.