Kitabı oku: «St Piran's: The Fireman and Nurse Loveday»
ST PIRAN’S HOSPITAL Where every drama has a dreamy doctor… and a happy ending. In December we gave you the first two St Piran’s stories in one month!
Nick Tremayne and Kate Althorp finally got their happy-ever-after in: ST PIRAN’S: THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR by Caroline Anderson
Dr Izzy Bailey was swept off her feet by sexy Spaniard Diego Ramirez ST PIRAN’S: RESCUING PREGNANT CINDERELLA by Carol Marinelli
In January the arrival of sizzlingly hot Italian neurosurgeon Giovanni Corezzi was enough to make any woman forget the cold! ST PIRAN’S: ITALIAN SURGEON, FORBIDDEN BRIDE by Margaret McDonagh
In February daredevil doc William MacNeil unexpectedly discovered he was a father in: ST PIRAN’S: DAREDEVIL, DOCTOR…DAD! by Anne Fraser
March saw a new heart surgeon who had everyone’s pulses racing in: ST PIRAN’S: THE BROODING HEART SURGEON by Alison Roberts
This month fireman Tom Nicholson steals Flora Loveday’s heart in: ST PIRAN’S: THE FIREMAN AND NURSE LOVEDAY by Kate Hardy
Newborn twins could just bring a May marriage miracle for Brianna and Connor ST PIRAN’S: TINY MIRACLE TWINS by Maggie Kingsley
And playboy Prince Alessandro Cavalieri honours St Piran’s with a visit in June ST PIRAN’S: PRINCE ON THE CHILDREN’S WARD by Sarah Morgan
Welcome to the world of St Piran’s Hospital—
Next to the rugged shores of Penhally Bay
lies the picturesque Cornish town of St Piran,
where you’ll find a bustling hospital famed
for the dedication, talent and passion
of its staff—on and off the wards!
Under the warmth of the Cornish sun,
Italian doctors, heart surgeons and
playboy princes discover that romance blossoms
in the most unlikely of places…
You’ll also meet the devilishly handsome
Dr Josh O’Hara and the beautiful,
fragile Megan Phillips…and discover the secret
that tore these star-crossed lovers apart.
Turn the page to step into St Piran’s— where every drama has a dreamy doctor… and a happy ending.
Praise for Kate Hardy, who writes for both Mills & Boon® Medical™ Romance and Riva:
‘THE CHILDREN’S DOCTOR’S SPECIAL PROPOSAL is just as the title promises. Kate Hardy delivers a superb romance that resonates beautifully with the reader. Bravo, Ms Hardy!’
—bookilluminations.com
‘THE GREEK DOCTOR’S NEW-YEAR BABY is romantic storytelling at its best! Poignant, enjoyable and absolutely terrific, with THE GREEK DOCTOR’S NEW-YEAR BABY Kate Hardy proves once again that when it comes to romantic fiction she’s up there with the very best!’
—cataromance.com
‘SURRENDER TO THE PLAYBOY SHEIKH: I spent a lovely morning with this book, and I’d advise you to do likewise. Get it. You’ll love it. An unrestrained… Grade A.’
—goodbadandunread.com
‘PLAYBOY BOSS, PREGNANCY OF PASSION: this story features a strong heroine who gains strength from her family, and a hero who realises the importance of love and family before it’s too late. Add in their captivating romance and it makes for one great read. ‘
—RT Book Reviews
Dear Reader
I was so pleased to be asked to be part of the St Piran’s Hospital series, as I really enjoyed taking part in the last two series set in Penhally Bay. Between us, we authors developed such a lovely warm community—the kind of place where we all said we’d really like to live—that it was great to come back to both Penhally and its major hospital, further along the Cornish coast. I always enjoy revisiting old characters, so you might recognise a couple here, and I had a lot of fun getting the pin-up local firefighter together with the very shy, very sweet school nurse. Not to mention having a great excuse to chat to my Medical™ Romance author friends—all in the name of research and discussing the series, of course…
It’s a story of finding love in unexpected places, and learning how to make a family. And I thoroughly enjoyed joining Tom on his rescues, and getting him to show Flora who she really is. Not to mention reliving bits of my children’s early childhood; some of our favourite trips inspired the family outings that Flora, Tom and Joey have! You’ll need a few tissues, in places, but I hope you’ll find bits that make you smile, too.
I’m always delighted to hear from readers, so do come and visit me at www.katehardy.com
With love
Kate Hardy
ST PIRAN’S: THE FIREMAN AND NURSE LOVEDAY
KATE HARDY
CHAPTER ONE
THE familiar warble flooded through the fire station and the Tannoy gave a high-pitched whine.
Was it a drill, Tom wondered, at 2: 00 p. m. on a Friday afternoon?
And then he heard the words, ‘Turnout, vehicles 54 and 55. Fire at Penhally Bay Primary School. Query trapped children.’
Joey’s school.
Fear lanced through him. Please, God, let this be a drill.
Except he knew it wasn’t. Their drill was always a fire at 3 King Street, St Piran—which just so happened to be the address of the main fire station in the area. Which meant that this was real.
He headed straight for engine 54, where the rest of the crew were already stepping into their protective trousers, jackets and boots. Steve, the station manager, was in the front seat, tapping into the computer and checking the details.
‘What have we got, Guv?’ Tom asked as he swung into the seat next to Steve, the doors went up and the engine sped down the road towards Penhally Bay.
Steve checked the computer screen. ‘Explosion and fire at Penhally Bay Primary.’ He gave the driver, Gary, the map reference, even though everyone knew exactly where the school was, on the hill overlooking the bay. ‘Called in by Rosemary Bailey, the headmistress. The fire’s in a corridor by a storeroom and it’s blocked off three rooms. Two of the classes were out, so that leaves the quiet room and the toilets. They’re still checking off the kids’ names, so they’re not sure right now if anyone’s in there or not.’ He paused. ‘The storeroom contains all the art stuff, so we’re talking about flammable hazards and possible chemical inhalation from glue and what have you. Tom, you’re lead. Roy, you’re BAECO.’ The breathing apparatus entry co-ordinator kept the control board with the firefighters’ tallies in place so he knew who was in the building, how long they’d been in there, and when he needed to call them out because their oxygen supplies would be starting to run low.
‘The rest of you, follow Tom’s lead. We’ll start with the tanks in the appliances, then we’ll set the hydrant and check the supply.’
‘Right, Guv,’ the crew chorused.
‘Who’s our back-up?’ Tom asked. Two engines were always sent out for an initial call, and then more would be called as needed, staggering their arrival.
‘King Street’s on standby,’ Steve said. ‘And the paramedics are on their way. ‘
All standard stuff, Tom knew.
‘Nick Tremayne is going to be there, too,’ Steve added.
Tom had attended fires with Nick in attendance before, and knew that the GP was unflappable and worked well in a crisis. ‘That’s good.’ And Tom was really relieved that his crew was taking the call, so he could see for himself that his nephew was fine.
And Joey would be fine.
He had to be.
Joey was all Tom had left of his big sister since the car accident that had claimed her life and her husband’s just over a month ago, at New Year. Losing her had ripped Tom’s heart to shreds; the idea of anything happening to his precious nephew, the little boy his sister had entrusted to his care…
His mind closed, refusing to even consider the idea. Joey couldn’t be one of the trapped children. He just couldn’t.
But, all the way there, Tom was horribly aware of the extra problems that small children brought to a fire. Physically, their bodies couldn’t cope as well as an adult’s with the heat of a raging fire. And then there was the fear factor. Everyone was scared in a fire—you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, thanks to the choking thick smoke, and the heat and noise were incredible. Children found it even harder to cope with the way their senses were overwhelmed, and sometimes got to the point where they simply couldn’t follow directions because they were too frightened to listen.
Please, God, let Joey be safe, he prayed silently.
Please.
‘Hello, Tommy,’ Flora said as Trish Atkins, the teacher of the three-year-olds, brought the next of her charges through to the quiet room where Flora was giving the routine vaccinations. She smiled at the little boy. ‘I know Mummy told you why I’ve come to see your class today—not with my magic measuring tape to see how tall you all are, but to give you two injections to stop you catching a bug and getting sick. ‘
Tommy nodded. ‘Will they hurt?’
‘You’ll feel a bit of a scratch,’ she said, ‘and it’s OK to say a big “Ow” and hold Trish’s hand really tightly, but it’ll be over really quickly and I’ll need you to stay still for me. Can you do that?’
‘Yes,’ he lisped.
‘Good boy.’ She gave him the choice of which arm and where he wanted to sit; he opted to sit on Trish’s lap.
‘Mummy told me you’re getting a kitten.’ Distraction was a brilliant technique; if she could get him chatting about the new addition to their family, he wouldn’t focus on the vaccination syringe and he’d feel it as the scratch she’d promised, rather than as a terrifying pain. ‘What’s he like?’
‘He’s black.’
‘What are you going to call him?’
‘Ow!’ Tommy’s lower lip wobbled when the needle went in, but then he said, ‘Smudge. ‘Cause he’s got a big white smudge on his back.’
‘That’s a great name.’ She smiled at him. ‘What sort of toys are you going to get him?’
‘A squeaky red mouse,’ Tommy said. ‘Ow!’
‘All done—and you were so brave that I’m going to give you a sticker. Do you want to choose one?’
The distraction of a shiny rocket sticker made Tommy forget about crying, just as Flora had hoped it would. She updated his notes, and was about to put her head round the door of the quiet room to tell Trish that she was ready for the next child when she heard a huge bang and then fire alarms going off.
She left her papers where they were and headed out to the main rooms of the nursery. The children were all filing out into the garden, some of the younger ones crying and holding the hands of the class assistants. Flora could see through the large windows that Christine Galloway, the head of the nursery, was taking a roll-call of all the staff and children.
‘I think everyone’s out, but I’m checking nobody’s been left behind,’ Trish said from the far end of the room.
‘Do you want me to check the toilets?’ Flora asked.
‘Yes, please.’ Trish gave her a grateful smile.
Once they were both satisfied that everyone was out, Flora grabbed her medical kit and they joined Christine and the other teachers. Two fire engines roared up, sirens blaring and blue lights flashing, and they could see smoke coming over the fence from the primary school next door.
‘I’d better get next door in case anyone’s hurt and they need medical help,’ Flora said, biting her lip. She knew all the children in the school, from her work as the school liaison nurse, and the idea of any of them being hurt or, even worse… No. It was unthinkable.
‘Let us know if there’s anything we can do,’ Christine said. ‘I’ll put your notes in my office when we can go back into the building.’
‘Thanks.’ Flora gave her a quick smile, then hurried next door to the primary school.
The first person she saw was her boss, Nick Tremayne, the head of the surgery in the village. ‘Nick, what’s happened? I was next door doing the vaccinations when I heard a bang and the fire alarms went off.’
‘We don’t know what caused it—only that there’s a fire.’ Nick gestured to the firemen pumping water onto the building.
‘Is anyone hurt?’
‘Right now, we’re not sure. The head’s getting everyone out and ticking off names. ‘
Flora glanced at the building and saw where the flames were coming out. ‘That’s the corridor by the art storeroom—it’s full of stuff that could go up.’ And she really, really hoped that everyone was out of the block. The corridor led to the storeroom and three prefab rooms. Two of the rooms were used as Year Five classrooms and the third was used as the quiet room, where teachers took children for extra reading practice or tests.
The firefighters were already working to quell the blaze. Some had breathing apparatus on, and others were putting water on the blaze. She could hear one of the fire crew yelling instructions about a hydrant.
Before she could ask Nick anything else, two ambulances screamed up. The paramedic crew and two doctors headed towards them. Flora recognised one of them as Megan Phillips, who lived in the village, though she didn’t know Megan’s colleague.
‘I’m Josh O’Hara, A and E consultant,’ the unknown doctor introduced himself. ‘And this is Megan Phillips, paediatrician. ‘
Josh was simply gorgeous, with black tousled hair that flopped in his indigo-blue eyes. Right now he wasn’t smiling; but no doubt when he did, any woman under the age of ninety would feel her heart turning over. And that Irish brogue would definitely melt hearts.
Although Flora knew who Megan was, she didn’t know the doctor well at all; Megan kept herself very much to herself in the village. So Flora was relieved when Nick stepped in and spoke for both of them. ‘Nick Tremayne, head of Penhally Bay Surgery—and this is Flora, my practice nurse and school liaison. Luckily she was doing the MMR vaccinations next door and she’s brilliant with kids. Flora, you know Megan, don’t you? Can you work with her and I’ll work with Josh?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Flora said.
Though she also noticed that Megan and Josh didn’t glance at each other, the way that colleagues usually did. The tension between them was obvious, so either they hadn’t worked together before and weren’t sure of each other’s skills, or they knew each other and really didn’t get on. Well, whatever it was, she hoped they’d manage to put it aside and work together until everyone was safe. In this situation, the children really had to come first.
Megan gave her a slightly nervous smile. ‘Shall we go and see what’s going on?’
Flora nodded. ‘The fire drill point’s at the far end of the playground, on the other side of the building.’
‘We’ll start there, then, and see if anyone needs treating,’ Megan said. ‘As you’re school liaison, you must know everyone here?’
Flora felt colour flooding into her cheeks, and sighed inwardly. If only she didn’t blush so easily. She knew it made her look like a bumbling fool, and she wasn’t. She was a good nurse and she was fine with the children—and the teachers, now she’d got to know them. She just found herself shy and tongue-tied with adults she didn’t know very well. Stupid, at her age, she knew, but she couldn’t help it. Pulling herself together, she said, ‘I know all the staff and most of the children—I’ve either worked with their class or seen them for the usual check-ups.’
‘That’s good—you’ll be a familiar face and that will help them feel less scared,’ Megan said.
As they rounded the corner, they could see a woman leaning against the wall, her face white, nursing her arm.
‘Patience, this is Megan, one of the doctors from St Piran’s. Megan, this is Patience Harcourt. She teaches Year Three,’ Flora introduced them swiftly. ‘Patience, what’s happened to your arm?’
‘I’d gone to the storeroom to get some supplies. I’d just switched on the light when it went bang—I went straight for the fire extinguisher, but before I could do anything the whole thing went up. I got out of there and closed the fire door to contain it.’ She grimaced. ‘Thank goodness one of the Year Five classes was doing PE and the other was in the ICT suite.’
‘Was anyone in the quiet room?’ Flora asked.
Patience shook her head, looking white. ‘I hope not, but I don’t know.’
‘Let’s have a look at your arm,’ Megan said, and sucked in a breath. ‘That’s a nasty burn.’
Patience made a dismissive gesture with her other arm. ‘I can wait. Check the children over first.’
‘Your burn needs dressing—the sooner, the better,’ Megan said gently. ‘Will you let Flora do it while I check the children?’
The children were shivering because it was cold outside and the teachers had taken them straight outside away from the fire, not stopping to pick up coats; some were still wearing their PE kit. Some were crying, and all were clearly frightened.
‘We need to get them huddled together to conserve warmth,’ Megan said. ‘Under that shelter would be good. And then I can see if anyone needs treating. Flora, when you’ve dressed Patience’s burn, do you want to come and help me?’
‘Will do.’ Again, Flora could feel the hated colour flood her cheeks. She was glad of the excuse to turn her face away while she delved in her medical kit; then brought out what she needed to dress the burn and make Patience more comfortable.
Tom was training one of the hoses on the flames. He didn’t have a clue whether Joey was safely in the playground with the other children because he couldn’t see. Although he was frantic to know that Joey was all right, he had a job to do and his colleagues were relying on him not to let them down. He had to keep doing his job and trust his colleagues to do theirs.
I swear if he’s safe then I’ll do better by him, he promised silently to his sister. I’ll change my job, give up firefighting and concentrate on him.
And then the headmistress hurried over towards them.
‘Is everyone safe?’ Steve asked.
Rosemary Bailey looked grim. ‘There’s still part of one class missing. Some of the Reception children. ‘
Tom, overhearing her, went cold. Joey was in the Reception year. ‘Is Joey all right?’ he asked urgently.
Rosemary bit her lip. ‘He’s not with the others. There’s a group of children who’d gone to the quiet room at the end for extra help with reading. He must be with them. ‘
Tom swallowed hard. ‘The quiet room. Is that the room at the end of the corridor?’ The room that was cut off, right now, by flames.
‘Yes.’
‘It’s near the storeroom where the fire started. Right now, it’s structurally unstable,’ Steve said. ‘How many children are there?’
‘Five, plus Matty Roper, the teaching assistant in R2.’
R2. Definitely Joey’s class, Tom knew. And he knew Matty—he’d had twice-weekly meetings with her about Joey since he’d become Joey’s guardian. Joey had been struggling at school for the last month, just shutting off, so Tom and Matty had been trying to work out how they could help him settle back in.
Ice slid through his veins. The children were stranded.
Including Joey.
CHAPTER TWO
‘RIGHT, I’m going in,’ Tom said. ‘Gary, can you take this hose from me?’
Steve grabbed Tom’s shoulder to stop him. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’
‘My nephew’s trapped in that room. No way in hell am I leaving him there!’ Tom snarled back.
‘Nobody’s saying that you have to leave him, Tom. But nobody’s going into that corridor until we’ve stabilised the area—otherwise the whole lot could come down. And we can’t afford to let the flames reach the really flammable stuff.’
Steve was making absolute sense. As an experienced fireman and the station manager, he knew exactly what he was doing. Tom was well aware of that. And yet every nerve in his body rebelled against his boss’s orders. How could he just wait outside when his nephew was trapped inside that room?
‘Tom, I know you think Joey might be in there, but you can’t afford to let emotion get in the way.’
Ordinarily, Tom didn’t. He was able to distance himself from things and stay focused, carrying others through a crisis situation with his calm strength. But this was different. This was Joey. The last link to his elder sister. No way could he let the little boy down.
‘You either keep doing your job as lead fireman and getting the flames under control,’ Steve said softly, ‘or you’re off duty as of now, which means you go back to the station. ‘
And then it would be even longer before he could find out if Joey was safe. Waiting would drive him crazy. Tom dragged in a breath. ‘Right, Guv. I’m sticking to my post.’
The fire crew that had arrived as back-up started to get the supports up; Tom forced himself to concentrate on damping down the blaze. Abandoning his job wouldn’t help Joey. Focus, he told himself. Just focus.
It felt like a lifetime, but at last the area was stabilised and they were in a position to rescue the trapped children and their teacher. Steve had already vetoed the door as the access point; although the flames were out, the corridor was still thick with smoke, and until the fire had been damped down properly it could reignite at any time. The window was the safest option, now the area was stabilised.
But there was no way Tom’s muscular frame would fit through the window. His colleagues, too, were brawny and would find it an equally tight fit.
‘Um, excuse me?’
Tom looked down at the woman standing next to him. She was a foot shorter than him, and her face was bright red—whether through embarrassment or the heat from the fire, he had no idea.
‘I’m the school nurse,’ she said. ‘Look, I know I’m a bit, um, round…’ her colour deepened and she looked at the floor ‘… and I’m not as strong as you, but the children are only little. Matty and I can lift them up between us and pass them through to you. And I can check them over while I’m in there and make sure they’re all right.’
‘I see where you’re coming from,’ he said, ‘but you’re a civilian. I can’t let you take that risk.’
‘But I know the children,’ she said, her voice earnest—though she still wasn’t looking at him, Tom noticed. ‘It’ll be less frightening for them if I go in to help.’ She bit her lip. ‘I know it’s dangerous, but I won’t do anything reckless. And we need to get the children out quickly. ‘
True. And, the faster they did that, the sooner he’d see Joey. That was the clincher for him. ‘All right. Thank you.’
She nodded. ‘I’m sorry I’m, um, a bit heavy.’
He looked at her properly then. Yes, she was curvy. Plump, if he was brutally honest. But there was a sweetness and kindness in her face, a genuine desire to help—something that he knew had been missing from the other women he’d dated. Sure, they might have been tall and leggy and jaw-droppingly gorgeous, but they would’ve fussed about chipping a nail. And he knew who he’d rather have beside him in this crisis. Definitely the school nurse.
And she had the sweetest, softest mouth. A mouth that made him want to…
Whatever was the matter with him? His nephew was missing, he had a job to do, and he was thinking about what it would be like to kiss a complete stranger? For pity’s sake—he needed to concentrate!
‘You’re fine,’ he said, and proved it by lifting her up to the window as if she weighed no more than a feather.
She scrambled through, and Tom almost forgot to breathe while he waited. Were the children all right? Was Joey safe?
And then Matty Roper and the school nurse came to the window and started lifting the children through, and there just wasn’t time to ask about Joey as he took the children one by one and passed them over to the team of medics lining up behind him ready to check over the children.
Three.
Four.
He swallowed hard. The next one would be Joey.
Except the next person to come to the window was Matty Roper.
‘Where’s Joey?’ he asked urgently. ‘The head said there were five children missing—that they were in the quiet room with you.’
‘Only four,’ Matty said. ‘And Joey wasn’t one of them.’
‘But he has to be. There were five children missing. He was one of them.’
‘I’m sorry, Tom. I only took four children to the quiet room with me and they’re all accounted for.’
Panic flowed through him, making every muscle feel like lead. How could Joey be missing? How?
‘Please, Matty. Check again. Just in case he came in and you didn’t see him.’
‘Tom, I know he didn’t,’ Matty said gently. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Then where the hell is he?‘ Tom burst out in desperation.
‘I don’t know.’ She looked nervously at the supports against the wall. ‘Is this going to hold?’
This was his job. He had to get Matty and the school nurse out. And then he could start to look for Joey.
Please, God, let it not be too late.
Grim-faced, he helped Matty through the window, and then the nurse.
Once they were both standing on safe ground, he leaned through the window. ‘Joey! Joey, where are you?’
No answer.
Was he trapped in one of the other classrooms? ‘Joey!’ he bellowed.
‘Do you mean Joey Barber?’ the nurse asked.
‘Yes.’ She’d seen the other children, Tom thought, so maybe she’d seen his nephew. ‘Have you seen him?’
She shook her head. ‘Not today.’ Again, she didn’t meet his eyes. ‘He’s the little boy who lost his parents just after New Year, isn’t he?’
‘My sister and her husband,’ Tom confirmed. And it was beginning to look as if Joey might be joining his parents. No, no, no. It couldn’t happen. He couldn’t bear it. ‘The head said there were five children missing. Now it’s just Joey. Oh, hell, can’t he hear me? Why isn’t he answering?’ He yelled Joey’s name again.
The nurse squeezed his hand. ‘The noise of the explosion will have scared him and probably brought back memories of the car crash. Right now, even if he can hear you, he’s probably too scared to answer. ‘
He thought about it and realised that she was right. ‘Not that he speaks much anyway, since the accident,’ Tom said wryly. ‘He barely strings two words together now. It’s been so hard to reach him since Susie and Kevin died.’ He dragged in a breath. ‘If anything’s happened to him, I’ll never forgive myself.’ He’d never be able to live with the guilt: his sister had asked him to look after her precious child, and he’d failed. Big time.
‘This isn’t your fault,’ she said softly. ‘You can’t blame yourself.’
‘I need to find him.’ He handed over his damping-down duties to one of his colleagues and went in search of the station manager. ‘Guv, Joey’s still missing. I need to find him. Please.’
‘All right.’ Steve looked at him, grim-faced. ‘But you don’t take any risks, you hear me?’
‘I won’t,’ Tom promised. He wouldn’t put anyone in danger. But he’d take the buildings apart with his bare hands if he had to, to find his nephew.
‘I, um, could help you look for him, if you like.’ The nurse was by his side again. ‘He knows me, and a familiar face might help.’
‘Thank you.’ Tom looked at her. ‘I don’t even know your name,’ he blurted out.
‘Flora. Flora Loveday.’ Her face reddened again. ‘And I know it’s a stupid name. I’m not a delicate little flower.’
‘No.’ He was beginning to realise now that she was shy, like the proverbial violet—that was why she blushed and couldn’t quite get her words out and found it hard to look him in the eye—but he had a feeling that there was much more to Flora Loveday than that. She’d put herself in a dangerous situation to help the children. ‘No, you’re like a…a peony,’ Tom said, thinking of the flowers his mother had always grown in summer. ‘Brave and bright and strong.’
Her blush deepened to the point where she seriously resembled the flower.
‘I’m Tom. Tom Nicholson.’
She nodded but said nothing and looked away.
With Flora by his side, he checked with Rosemary Bailey and the rest of the fire crew. All the areas had been cleared, and nobody had seen Joey.
He eyed the wreckage. Fear tightened round his chest, to the point where he could barely breathe. Where was Joey? ‘Maybe he’s in the toilets,’ he said.
Flora shook her head. ‘They’ve been checked.’
‘He has to be here. He has to be.’ Desperately, he yelled Joey’s name again.
‘If he’s scared already, shouting is only going to make him panic more,’ she said quietly. She paused. ‘When I was Joey’s age, I hated going to school. I used to hide in the cloakrooms. ‘
Tom hardly dared hope that Joey would’ve done the same. But it was the best option he had right now. ‘Let’s have another look. I know they’ve been checked, but…’ He glanced over to the huddled children at the far end of the playground. ‘Joey’s tiny. If he was sitting among the coats and didn’t reply, whoever checked might have missed him. ‘
Together, they went over to the Reception cloakrooms.
‘I’ll start this end—can you start that end, Flora?’ Tom asked.
‘Sure.’
He’d checked under every coat at his end when he heard Flora call out, ‘He’s here.’
Huddled up at the far end of the cloakroom, beneath piles of coats, his nephew was white-faced. And Tom had never been so glad to see him in all his life. He dropped to his knees and hugged the little boy tightly, uncaring that he was covered in smoke and smuts and he would make Joey’s clothes filthy.
Joey squirmed. ‘You’re hurting me,’ he whispered.
The soft sound pierced Tom’s heart. Of course. The little boy didn’t like being touched, not since his parents had died. As a toddler, he’d adored riding on his uncle’s shoulders and playing football and going down the huge slide in the playground on Tom’s or his father’s lap, but since the accident he’d put huge barriers round himself.
Tom let his nephew go. ‘Sorry, Jojo. I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s just I was very scared when I couldn’t find you. I’m so glad you’re all right.’
Joey stared at him and said nothing.
‘I know this afternoon’s been scary, but it’s all going to be just fine,’ Tom said softly. ‘I promise. I’m going to have to stay here until the fire’s completely out and everything’s safe, but maybe Mrs Bailey will let you sit in her office and do some drawing until I can get in touch with the childminder and see if she can take you home. ‘
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