‘It’s probably walking Oscar every night that’s done the trick.’ Laura tried to sound offhand. ‘Everybody should adopt a very fat dog when they want to get in shape.’

They both looked out of the window of the ambulance to the fire engine parked beside them in the huge garage. The back passenger window was open and hanging out of it was the curly black head of a happy-looking dog. Oscar had been adopted as readily as Megan had been at the station. He wasn’t allowed inside, of course, but even Mrs McKendry had to acknowledge that he was a well-behaved animal. He sat guarding the fire engine during his family’s working hours unless it was required for active duty, when he was happy to sleep on the old coat that now had a permanent place on the floor by the locker-room door.

The smile Laura gave on seeing Oscar was imperceptible. Maybe everybody should bathe a very smelly dog when they wanted to kick-start the love affair of their lives. Who would have thought that an unwanted Labradoodle could provide such a romantic catalyst? The dog might have made its intention to worship Jason for the rest of its life obvious by now but he would always have Laura’s gratitude and affection. Except possibly when he indulged his passion for exploring rubbish bags.

Laura twisted the key on the regulator and watched the needle flick up the dial. ‘Three quarters full,’ she informed Tim. ‘Enough laughing gas to keep a whole busload of patients happy.’

‘That’s it,’ Tim said in a satisfied tone. ‘That’s what’s so different about you. You’re happy.’

‘I am,’ Laura admitted. Happy was a very pale adjective for how she felt but it would do under the circumstances. She was rapt. Her dream had come true. Jason had got to know her well enough to find her attractive and, judging by their love-making over the last two weeks, he found her very attractive. And she felt attractive, for the first time in her life. The weight loss had very little to do with it. Neither did the new hairstyle. Laura felt wanted and appreciated for far more than what she could offer in bed, and she was loving every minute of it. They had welded into a tight team, she and Jason, and it didn’t matter that their focus was so much on Megan-not when they could find the private moments that made every shared sleeping time so memorable.

Laura wouldn’t even allow herself the niggling concern that the main reason Jason wanted her to still be there in six months’ time might be because he was coming to like the idea of keeping his daughter. She didn’t care. She loved both of them too much to let that be a problem. If Jason asked her tomorrow to marry him and be a mother to Megan, she wouldn’t hesitate in saying yes.

‘Yeah,’ Laura said softly, as she caught the look Tim was giving her. Suddenly she wanted to share a little of her joy with her partner. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before in my life.’

Tim’s smile was wistful as he caught her meaning. ‘I’m happy for you, Laura. You make a wonderful couple. What with Megan and that funny-looking dog you found, you’ve turned into an instant family.’

Laura watched Tim disappear into the stockroom to find the supplies they needed. The almost imperceptible slump of his shoulders confirmed what she already knew. Her partner wanted a family of his own. He could see the magic that had been wrought in Laura’s life and knew that it was never going to happen that easily for him.

It felt exactly like magic. Wave a wand and…poof! An instant family. And it was all going so smoothly. They had developed a routine that seemed to work now and most jobs were shared at least to some degree. Megan was settled enough to sleep through the night sometimes, especially since they’d started their long evening walks. The days were getting longer and it was a pleasant way to end the day even after a busy shift. Laura got to hold Oscar’s shiny new lead because Jason wore the front pack, which allowed Megan to face forward and view her surroundings, not to mention wave her little arms and kick her legs when things got interesting. She was always tired on their return home and a quick feed and nappy change was usually enough to see her out for the count until morning.

Yes, it felt like a well-oiled family unit. Maybe they would have a problem if Mrs McKendry decided she didn’t want to help, but the older woman loved Megan as much as any of them now, and if the worst happened, Laura was quite prepared to consider taking maternity leave to carry on being a surrogate mother.

The fact that Megan was the key to it all shouldn’t be enough to cause that niggle of doubt, should it? Or the fact that everything was falling into place so perfectly? OK, so maybe they would have to fight to keep Megan if Shelley decided to come back for her but surely they could win? They’d be a full family unit, complete with a prime example of a contented dog, against a solo mother who’d been prepared to abandon her child.

They could even have the solid base of owning their own home. Laura hadn’t yet suggested the idea of moving into her house, but it was the logical next step. Charlie had only been intending to live with her until she got settled into her new city and job. Laura had hardly spoken to her in the last couple of weeks and she suspected it had a lot to do with whatever was going on between Charlie and that scary partner she had to work with, so it seemed like she had already settled very well. Laura only hoped that her best friend was half as happy as she was in her love affair. She would never forget the thrill of that first time Jason had said he loved her…not in a million years. Even hearing the echo of his words in her head was enough to create the most delicious tingle that ran the length of her spine.

The latches on the resuscitation kit clicked into place and Laura pushed the box behind the end of the stretcher so it wouldn’t cause mischief with fast cornering. She managed to shut off any latent personal worries as her pager sounded to announce a new job. The worst-the very worst-thing that could happen would be that they would lose Megan. It would be hard, awful, but she and Jason could always have children of their own, couldn’t they? If Jason lost full-time custody of Megan, he might be very keen to start a family of his own as soon as possible.

It was Tim’s turn to drive. Laura was checking the map reference as he pulled the door open, dropped the extra supplies on the floor beside the handbrake and picked up the remote to activate the huge roller doors on the garage.

‘Abdo pain,’ he said. ‘What do you reckon? Appendicitis? Ovarian torsion? Or do we get to deliver a surprise baby for someone this afternoon?’

‘It’s at a restaurant.’ Laura said. ‘That posh one on the corner of Frampton and Davies roads. Food poisoning, maybe?’

‘Priority one?’ Tim activated the beacons and siren as they entered the dense stream of traffic heading into the city centre looking for some Friday night entertainment.

‘I imagine the manager of any restaurant would be pretty worried if someone looked sick after eating their food.’

The manager of Framptons looked more than worried. He was waiting on the road for the ambulance and the frantic waving as they approached suggested that the call might be for something rather more serious than food poisoning.

Tim leapt out to open the back doors of the ambulance while Laura slipped out of her seat and straight into the back to start throwing equipment onto the stretcher. They’d take the lot. Life pack, oxygen, resuscitation and suction units. She could hear the restaurant manager’s voice as Tim opened the doors.

‘She’d finished her meal. They stood up to leave and then she just doubled over, clutching her stomach.’

Tim helped lift the stretcher, laden with gear, to the ground.

‘We sat her down and got her a glass of water but she looked terrible.’

They were walking into the restaurant now. Past tables shrouded in crisp, white linen, gleaming silverware and soft, flickering light from small candelabra illuminating bowls of white roses. The venue looked like the perfect setting for a wedding breakfast.

‘There was a nurse having dinner at another table. She laid her down on the floor and put her legs up. She started to feel better but then she sat up and kind of fainted.’

‘Sounds hypotensive,’ Tim commented to Laura.

‘Yes, but why?’ Waiting staff were hurriedly clearing a route through the dining room, shifting empty chairs and pushing tables together. A group of diners was being moved to a table further away from the scene of the woman’s collapse and they stared at the ambulance crew as though they were responsible for the interruption to their meal. Laura ignored the stares. This woman’s abdominal pain might actually be epigastric pain from a heart attack. Or something equally serious.

Their patient was lying on the floor near the back corner of the restaurant, a cushion under her head and two more under her feet. An anxious-looking man was holding her hand and a slim, well-dressed blonde woman had her hand on the other wrist.

‘Hi,’ she said. ‘I’m Kathryn Mercer. I’m a nurse.’

‘Hi.’ Tim’s smile was fleeting. ‘I’m Tim and this is Laura.’

Laura didn’t acknowledge the introduction. The patient looked shocked. She was pale, sweaty and barely conscious. Thankful that she had grabbed one of the high-concentration oxygen masks from the floor, Laura jammed the tubing onto the cylinder outlet. ‘What’s her name?’

‘Jillian,’ the man beside her answered.

‘Jillian, can you hear me? Open your eyes for me.’

The only response was an incoherent groan.

‘No radial pulse,’ Tim reported. ‘Airway’s clear.’

Laura started connecting up the leads for the life pack. A very shiny pair of black shoes appeared behind her elbow and her gaze flicked up for a second, expecting to see the restaurant manager moving in to watch proceedings. The pair of immaculate, pin-striped grey trousers belonged to a stranger, however.