Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Present day

‘Orla, can you hear me?’

Orla’s eyes snapped open and she looked up into Shay’s concerned ones.

‘Oh, thank God,’ Shay let out a breath of relief.

She reached up to stroke his face as she suddenly remembered the accident. ‘Are you OK?’

‘Are you?’

She nodded. ‘I think so. But I’m so cold.’

‘I know, we need to get you warm. Can you stand?’

She assessed herself; every part of her body hurt but she didn’t think anything was broken.

She nodded and with a great deal of effort and with a lot of help from Shay, she staggered to her feet.

She looked around and realised they were outside his house. Shay must have got her out of the car and up the steps from the beach.

She shivered violently. The skimpy satin dress had seemed a good idea earlier in the evening; she had a coat, but it was in the boot of the car that was currently being washed out to sea. Snowflakes swirled around them landing on her bare skin.

‘We need to get inside. I was just about to carry you in when you moaned and I was scared I might hurt you. Can you walk?’ Shay said.

She nodded, took a few shaky steps and he wrapped his arm round her, helping her into the house.

‘Did you have to break in?’ Orla noticed the broken window.

‘Yes, my keys are in the car and the spare under the mat was gone. Surprisingly, breaking in was a lot harder than I thought.’

She clung to him. She was shaking so much now and she couldn’t stop.

He ushered her inside. The memories of that weekend hit her like a bus. The house was beautifully decorated for Christmas, just as it had been that weekend. It was like opening a door on a memory and walking inside. She could see Shay making love to her on the dining room table, the two of them kissing and cuddling on the sofa, making love in the kitchen after they’d washed up the dinner things. This was why she’d avoided coming to the house all this time – it hurt too much to replay it, knowing it would never happen again.

‘Go and get in the shower, I’ll call an ambulance.’

‘I don’t need an ambulance, I just need to get warm and get some sleep,’ Orla said.

‘We’re going to the hospital. You were unconscious for ten minutes, you’re wobbly, tired, you’ve probably got concussion. And they take that very seriously. And so do I.’

‘You need to warm up too, you’re freezing and soaking.’

‘I’ll come and join you in the shower in a second.’

He picked up the phone and she didn’t have the energy to argue, especially as her head was now filled with the idea of sharing a shower with him.

She staggered shakily into the lounge and saw Ivy fast asleep on the sofa, blissfully unaware how close she’d come to losing her new owner. Orla’s stomach lurched with that thought. What if she’d lost Shay in the accident? That thought took her breath away and pain crushed her heart. That was unbearable to think about. She looked back at Shay as he spoke on the phone. He was alive, he was OK, but it could have been so different.

She went up the stairs, kicked her shoes off and walked through the bedroom into the bathroom. She stepped inside the shower and turned on the water.

She couldn’t stop shaking as she stepped under the spray with her dress on, and she knew only part of that was from the cold. She rubbed her arms, her chest and her legs under the warm water and it almost stung her skin.

She felt a sob escape her throat and realised she was crying. The shock of the accident had definitely kicked in.

Suddenly the shower door opened and Shay stepped inside, shivering violently too.

‘The ambulance might be a while, the snow has caused several accidents tonight. And as we’re no longer in the car, they don’t deem us to be a priority. We’ll get warm and dry and if it’s still not here, we’ll call a taxi.’ He rubbed her shoulders and he frowned when he realised she was crying. ‘Are you hurt?’

She shook her head and his face cleared in understanding. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as they stood under the spray of the shower and she cried against his shirt. They stood like that for the longest time.

She was still shaking, and still felt so cold.

‘Can I get you out of this dress?’

She nodded and turned round, and he carefully unzipped the back. She stepped out of it and turned around, undoing the buttons on his shirt and pushing it off his shoulders as he watched her. The shirt fell to the floor. She rubbed his arms as he stepped out of his trousers, then he took her back in his arms again, holding her tight. He turned the temperature up slightly and steam billowed around them.

‘I have never been so scared in all my life,’ Shay said.

She looked up at him and he stroked her face.

‘I know, falling down that cliff was horrible, I thought we were going to die.’

‘That was scary, but I meant seeing you unconscious, I was terrified I’d lost you,’ his voice broke. ‘I’ve never felt fear like it.’

‘Shay,’ she rested her hands on his heart. ‘I’m here, I’m OK.’ Though she knew she would have felt the same had the situation been reversed.

His breath was heavy as he stared at her. Then he cupped her face and kissed her.

She paused for just a second before she kissed him back. She had no idea what this meant, whether it was just the shock and relief of the accident or whether it was something more, but she didn’t care. Right then she needed this.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him.

Her stomach suddenly rolled and she quickly pulled away from him.

‘Sorry, I feel sick.’

‘Right, we’re going to the hospital now. Get dried and I’ll put some clothes on the bed for you. I’m going to get us some transport.’

He turned off the shower, grabbed one of the towels and wrapped it around her, kissing her softly on the head, then grabbed another and walked out into the bedroom.

What had just happened? Although they’d had a tactile relationship ever since they were kids, holding hands or hugging, there certainly hadn’t been any kissing – well, not since that weekend. Christ, that kiss in the shower had stirred all kinds of emotions in her, those beautiful, vivid memories, that need for him, her love for him that was still as strong as ever. She couldn’t go down that road again – in all those years since, she’d never felt heartbreak like she’d felt when Shay had said he didn’t love her. She’d guarded her heart furiously ever since.

She dried herself and her hair, stripped out of her soaking underwear, wrapped the towel around her and walked into the bedroom just in time to see Shay’s gorgeous bare bum disappear inside his shorts. She watched him, his back was strong and muscular, as were his huge thighs that were now disappearing inside a pair of jeans.

He pulled on a t-shirt and a thick jumper and turned around, realising she’d been watching him.

He smiled. ‘Get dressed, we’re going as soon as Theo gets here.’

‘Theo?’

‘He has a Range Rover, it can cope with the most treacherous conditions.’

‘Did you tell him what happened?’

‘I told him we were in an accident, but not the details of it, I didn’t want to worry him until he can see for himself that we’re OK.’

‘I really don’t need to go to hospital.’

‘You really do and we’re going even if I have to throw you over my shoulder, cave man style.’

There was something quite sexy about that image and she thought she must be OK if she was thinking things like that, despite the tiredness and sickness.

He left the room and she threw on the clothes he’d left out for her: a pair of his boxers, a thick pair of tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt and cosy jumper. Everything was massive on her, but at least the tracksuit bottoms had a drawstring to stop them falling down.

She went downstairs just as Shay was answering the door to Theo.

‘Hey,’ Theo said as he walked in. ‘You guys OK?’

‘I am, I think Orla has concussion,’ Shay said.

Theo looked over at her in concern.

‘I’m fine.’

‘She’s not, she was out cold for ten minutes, she says she feels sick and tired.’

‘Christ, what the hell happened? Where’s the car anyway? I didn’t see it on the road.’

‘No, it’s probably halfway to France right now or on the bottom of the sea bed.’

Theo’s eyes widened in shock and confusion. ‘You… went over the cliff?’

‘Yeah, there was a deer, I swerved, we skidded and went straight over the edge. We’re fortunate that we’re not hurt and that we went over at a part that wasn’t as steep as some of the others.’

Theo stared at him and then grabbed him in a big hug. After a moment, Shay hugged him back. ‘You have no idea how relieved I am that you’re OK. I know I don’t say it enough, but I love you. And I need you to be godfather to our son when he’s born, so no more crappy driving, do you hear me?’

‘I love you too, but enough of this soppy bullshit, we need to get Orla to the hospital.’

Theo pulled back and came over to Orla giving her a hug too. ‘I’m glad you’re OK too.’

She smiled as she hugged him back. ‘I’m OK, your brother is just being overprotective as always.’

‘He always is when it comes to you. Come on, let’s get you checked over and put his mind at ease. Oh, Shay asked me to bring some of Roo’s shoes over for you. I have a pair of snowboots in the car.’

‘Oh thanks, my sandals are soaked through and definitely not appropriate for this weather.’

‘I’ll just go and grab them.’

Theo ran back out, leaving the two of them alone and Orla wondered whether they should talk about the kiss and what it meant. He didn’t seem fazed at all as he gathered coats, hats and scarves.

‘Put these on, you need to keep warm.’

She smiled and shook her head, but she put them on anyway, she still felt a bit chilled.

Theo came back in with a pair of boots and she sat down on the stairs to put them on but Shay knelt down and put them on for her.

‘I think I can manage to put on a pair of boots.’

‘You need to take it easy, and not make sudden movements,’ he said, lacing up the boots for her. He stood up and helped her to her feet. ‘Come on.’

‘I’ll take Ivy home with me until you get out of hospital,’ Theo said. ‘Ocean will be delighted.’

Theo blew gently on Ivy’s head, which was something they all knew to do when waking a deaf puppy. She looked up sleepily, wagged her tail at Theo and he scooped her up and carried her out to the car.

Orla and Shay followed him. Shay opened the back door for her and she got in and was just fastening her seatbelt when he walked round the other side and got in the back with her.

He put his arm round her. ‘Are you warm enough?’

She nodded as she leaned against him.

‘Don’t go to sleep.’

‘I won’t.’

‘Theo, take it slowly,’ Shay said.

‘Of course.’

She snuggled into him, knowing that when they got back, they’d really have to talk about that kiss, about all of this.