Swallowbrook's Winter Bride Read Online Free Page A

hadn’t said a word to her, but that was about to change.
    ‘Are you my uncle’s friend?’ he asked.
    Aware of Nathan’s gaze on her, she said carefully, ‘No, I am just someone he used to work with.’
    Having satisfied himself on that, Toby had another question that was more personal.
    ‘Have you got any children?’
    ‘No, I’m afraid not.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because I have never found anyone nice enough to be their daddy,’ she told him.
    ‘So why—?’ The small questioner hadn’t finished, but didn’t get the chance to continue the interrogation as Nathan was taking his hand and preparing to depart.
    ‘Say goodbye to Dr Hamilton,’ he said, and with half a smile for her, ‘Until Monday, then, at ten o’clock, Libby.’
    She nodded, and with sanctuary beckoning opened the door and went inside.
    It seemed as if Sunday was going to be a non-event day and Libby was thankful for it. While she was having breakfast she saw Nathan and Toby go down the drive and get into the car with fishing rods and surmised they were going to spend some time with his father at the pine lodge he’d recently moved into.
    When they’d gone she did what she’d been doing ever since their discussion about Nathan coming back into the practice, which was wishing she hadn’t been so overbearing in her manner.
    She’d made it clear without actually putting it into words that she hadn’t forgotten that day at the airport, and wasn’t going to fall into the same trap ever again where he was concerned. Yet if that was the case, why had she been so happy to discover that he wasn’t married with a family?
    What he was doing for Toby was so special it brought tears to her eyes every time she thought about it. Through no fault of his own Nathan had taken on the role of single father with the burden of care that went with it, and all she had done so far was cut him down to size about working in the practice, which was where he belonged now that the African contract was finished.
    He’d said he was sorry to hear about what had happened to Ian and she’d thought that he didn’t know that disillusion had followed swiftly after a marriage that had been a mistake from the start. Remembering Toby’s curiosity of the day before, the answer she’d come up with for not having children had been true. She wouldn’t have wanted a child from a union as empty as hers and Ian’s had been.
    With the afternoon and evening looming ahead, she decided to resort to one of her favourite pastimes, a sail on one of the steamers that ploughed through the waters of the lake countless times each day, and on disembarking at the other end would have her evening meal at her favourite restaurant beside the moorings.
    The boat was full and she stood holding onto the rail, taking in the splendour of the new hospital on the lakeside as they sailed past and gazing enviously at houses built from the pale grey stone of the area with their own private landing stages and fishing rights.
    She could see farms in the distance, surrounded by green meadows where livestock grazed, and high up above, towering on the skyline, as familiar as her own face, were the fells, the rugged guardians of the lakes.
    Had Nathan the same love of this lakeland valley as she had? she wondered. Had he ever longed to be back in the place where his roots were during those hot days in Africa? If he had it would be at least one thing they had in common, she thought wryly, and wondered how many fish he and Toby had caught in the river beside John’s pine lodge.
    The answers to the questions in her mind were nearer than she thought as his voice came from behind and as she turned swiftly he said, ‘I used to dream I was doing the round trip on one of these boats when I was far away. Sometimes it was the only thing that kept me sane.’
    Before he could elaborate further Toby was tugging at her sleeve and announcing excitedly, ‘We’ve caught some fish, Dr Hamilton.’
    ‘Really!’ she