Page 36 of Sunny Sundays at Primrose Hall

Thank goodness Jackson was safely back in his hospital bed. She’d made a flying visit to the ward last night, mainly to checkfor herself that he had actually returned as he’d promised he would. She wouldn’t have put it past him to have gone off on another adventure, having sampled a taste of freedom.

When she’d arrived at the hospital, she’d found him fast asleep and she quietly slipped into the chair at his bedside, not wanting to wake him, but her presence obviously stirred him as he looked across at her through half-opened eyes.

‘How are you feeling?’ she whispered.

‘Don’t ask,’ he said, with a sheepish grin. His brow furrowed and he sucked on his lips, as she noticed the pain and weariness etched on his features. There was a tiny part of her that wanted to say, ‘I told you so,’ but what would have been the point? It was done now and they simply had to move forward, and make sure Jackson never pulled another stunt like that again.

‘So was your absence noted by the big bosses here?’

‘No, I don’t think so. See, I told you not to worry. The thing is, in hospital, as it is in business, it’s not what you know but who you know,’ he said, with a smile that seemed to require a lot of his effort.

‘Well, that takes me very nicely onto my next question. Who on earth was it that helped you arrange your escape? It couldn’t have been straightforward getting you out of the hospital and it must have been someone who could have covered for you if any awkward questions were asked when your empty bed was noticed.’

‘Ah, you see, if I told you that then I would have to kill you. I need to protect my sources.’

Jackson rested his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips.

‘Hmmm, well, I have my suspicions and I can’t say I’m impressed.’ In fact, they were more than suspicions. Pia was convinced it was that pretty young blonde nurse who always seemed to be hovering in the background whenever Pia camevisiting and she raised her concerns to Jackson. He neither confirmed nor denied her theory, which only proved she was right in her assumption, in her eyes.

‘Don’t be cross with me,’ said Jackson, still with his eyes closed, holding out a hand to her.

‘I’m not cross. Well, not very, anyway,’ she said indulgently. ‘I hope that nurse doesn’t have any more good ideas as far as you’re concerned, though. I’m annoyed that she went to such great lengths to help you out, she could have lost her job.’

‘You’re not jealous, are you, Pia?’

Honestly, if he wasn’t lying indisposed in that hospital bed then she might have given him a hefty dig in the ribs.

‘No, of course I’m not jealous. Why would I be?’ she said, bristling with indignation.

‘Exactly, no reason at all.’ Jackson shook his head, a weary smile on his face.

‘Look, I can see how tired you are. I’m going to leave you to sleep off your exertions of the day. I’ll come back tomorrow.’ She always felt a sense of sadness leaving Jackson behind but especially so today after all the excitement of the day.

‘Do you have to?’ he asked. ‘Look.’ He patted the space next to him in the bed. ‘There’s room for a little one in here. You could hide beneath the covers. No one would ever know.’

It was sorely tempting. It was one of the many things she missed about Jackson not being at home, being able to snuggle up against his warm, hard body in bed. Their French farmhouse super king-size felt cavernous and cold without him.

‘I was telling Lucy…’

‘Lucy?’ Pia interrupted him.

‘Yes, the nurse…’ Pia nodded, her eyes growing wide. Obviously on first-name terms then. ‘I was telling Lucy how we’re getting married later in the year and she has to make sureI’m better and out of here very soon as there’s lots we need to get organised.’

Pia smiled, appreciating his attempt to make her feel better, but really the wedding was the last thing on her mind.

‘We don’t need to worry about that. We could always put it off a few months. It might be the easiest solution. You said yourself we have a very busy few months ahead of us and we’ll have to shuffle some things around in the diary as it is. It might be better to postpone it until next year.’

She stood up to make moves to go, leaning across to kiss him on the cheek.

‘Don’t say that, Pia.’ He grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her closer again, his face up against hers so that they were touching noses. ‘You don’t really want to do that, do you?’

‘No, but I’m just trying to be…’

He didn’t allow her to finish her sentence before he interrupted, but she knew ‘sensible’ and ‘practical’ weren’t uppermost in his mind right now.

‘We’ve set the date now and nothing’s going to stand in the way of our plans. Not even these gammy legs.’

Now, back at home, in the comfort of their bed, missing his presence beside her, she smiled at his insistence that they still go ahead with the wedding at Christmas. She would have been disappointed but quite prepared to postpone it until the following year, but Jackson was determined not to change the date, his certainty making her feel loved and cherished. Although it also meant that tomorrow she would need to start making firm plans for the big day.

---