For Sam, Alex and Lucinda

      with love.

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       About the Author

       Title Page

       Dedication

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

       CHAPTER THREE

       CHAPTER FOUR

       CHAPTER FIVE

       CHAPTER SIX

       CHAPTER SEVEN

       CHAPTER EIGHT

       CHAPTER NINE

       CHAPTER TEN

       EPILOGUE

       Copyright

PROLOGUE

      ‘YOUR blood pressure’s up.’

      Alice let out the breath she had inadvertently been holding. She had been trying to keep her breathing even and think only pleasant thoughts as Brett Halliday, her obstetrician, checked her blood pressure, apparently to no avail.

      ‘By very much?’

      Brett shook his head as he unwrapped the cuff. ‘Not much. It’s just up a touch, and still within a safe margin, but still...’ He sat down at his heavy wooden desk and leant across the table as Alice, avoiding his gaze and desperately trying to avoid the ensuing conversation, concentrated rather too intently on rolling down her sleeve.

      ‘I’ve been rushing around this morning, and it’s terribly hot. Anyway, you know how nervous I get at these antenatal appointments.’

      Brett nodded. ‘All of which I’ve taken into consideration, but it still doesn’t alter the fact that your blood pressure is a little higher than I’d like it to be.’ He flicked through the pile of pathology results in front of him.

      ‘Your blood work all looks OK, though your haemoglobin level is only scraping into the normal limits range. You’re still taking your iron tablets, I assume?’

      Alice nodded.

      ‘Well, try to increase your iron intake from natural means also. Lots of green leaf vegetables and iron-rich foods—and plenty of vitamin C,’ he added. ‘It helps with iron absorption. You know the routine.’

      ‘But everything is all right with the baby?’ she asked anxiously.

      Brett gave her a reassuring smile. ‘The baby’s doing nicely—nice size, lots of movement. It’s the mum I’m more worried about.’

      ‘Honestly, Brett, I’m fine.’ Her words came out rather too harshly. Alice could hear the anxiety in her own voice and paused for a second to regain control. It was imperative to have Brett Halliday onside. With a stroke of his expensive fountain pen he could sign her off work and that was absolutely the last thing she needed at the moment. ‘Really, I’m fine,’ Alice said, more evenly, even managing a small smile.

      But she wasn’t going to escape a lecture. ‘Look, Alice, you’re twenty-five weeks now. Most women at this stage are starting to wind down and looking forward to their maternity leave, not about to commence a three-month surgical internship at a busy city hospital. You don’t need me to tell you how busy Melbourne City is—you’ve spent the last nine months there for yourself. And Jeremy Foster may be a fine surgeon, but he’s coming back from a long stint on sick leave. He’s going to have a large backlog to catch up on and, more to the point, a lot to prove.’

      ‘What do you mean?’ Alice asked, her curiosity about her new boss for a moment overriding the issue of whether or not she worked.

      ‘Well, it was a serious motor crash he was in. No one really expected him to live, let alone walk. And now here he is, less than a year later, returning to work, apparently none the worse for