Something in the Air (Skylarks #3)

Chapter 8

8

At the airbase the following day, Nadia finished her lunch in the kitchen. When she was done, she’d be spending a couple of hours liaising with the Whistlestop River Fire Service who were hosting tomorrow’s major incident training day. When the various disciplines – the air ambulance, fire brigade, road ambulance, and other first responders – came together, it was more often than not in a high-stress, time-critical environment. These major training days improved communication and broke down barriers. They typically involved a series of workshops as well as simulations of situations the crews could find themselves in. They’d hosted this sort of training at the airbase before, but it was the turn of the fire service this time round. And while it wasn’t to be held here, it was still part of Nadia’s job to help organise the training days, put together the workshop content and liaise with the fire brigade on how to run the scenarios both crews would face. The red team would be in attendance on day one with the blue team having their turn the following day.

When Nadia went into the office, Bess was already in there.

‘How are you feeling?’ Bess kept her voice low in case anyone sneaked in on them.

Nadia sat down at one of the desks. ‘I promise you, I’m fine.’

‘I’m glad you told me. You shouldn’t carry something like that on your own.’

Nadia got the impression Bess wanted to say something else but when she wasn’t very forthcoming, she decided to leave it alone. ‘You all set for tomorrow?’ she asked instead.

Bess leaned back in her chair, her hands scooping her riot of curls up at the back of her head. ‘I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s in store for us.’

‘Is Gio in the training session too?’ Bess’s boyfriend Gio had returned to work as a firefighter recently following an accident that had left his future career in doubt.

‘Not tomorrow. He’ll be on the opposite training day to me.’

‘Doesn’t his boss think he’ll be able to concentrate with you around?’

‘We’re professionals, thank you very much.’ Bess waited a beat before adding, ‘We’re moving in together.’

‘That’s wonderful! What happened to taking it slow?’

‘I guess it feels like the right time.’

‘His place or yours?’

‘Mine. We thought about getting somewhere new that’s both of ours, but it makes more sense to move into my house; it’s plenty big enough now Marianne has found a flat of her own. He’ll rent his place out for a while. Not as a safety net – at least I hope not,’ she joked, ‘but it’s another income stream.’

Nadia opened the window to let in some fresh air. The cloud from yesterday had cleared and today they’d been blessed with the warmth of sunshine dazzling from up above.

She turned to find Bess watching her.

‘What?’ she asked. There was definitely something she wasn’t sharing.

‘Nothing.’

‘Come on, out with it.’

‘Just thinking about Gio and how quickly things happened – makes me wonder whether you’ve been out on any dates lately.’

‘No, and no plans to.’ And she was pretty sure that wasn’t what Bess needed to say. It felt like she was grasping at anything else other than what was really on her mind.

‘You know, there’s a guy at the fire station, a colleague of Gio’s I think might?—’

‘I’m too busy for a love life.’

‘Rubbish. Nobody is too busy for love. Talking of love…’ She picked up her phone, scrolled through to find a picture and turned the phone to face Nadia.

‘Well, he or she is gorgeous.’ She was looking at a puppy, a chocolate-coloured labrador retriever, its head tilted to one side, eyes wide in wonderment.

‘He… and yes, he is.’

Hudson came into the office. ‘So, you didn’t back out?’ he asked Bess when he saw the picture on her phone screen.

‘What am I missing?’ Nadia looked between them both.

Bess explained, ‘A couple of months ago, Hudson let me know of someone selling puppies – gorgeous puppies – and Gio and I toyed with the idea of getting one. We committed but then changed our minds, then changed them back again.’

‘You almost left him homeless,’ Hudson teased.

‘So dramatic,’ said Bess.

Hudson handed a file to Nadia. ‘Can you take a quick look through this for me? Check whether you think there’s more to be done? I’ve coordinated a meeting with a brain-injury charity for Melanie, the little girl who came off her bike a few weeks ago.’ Melanie had a brain injury as a result of her accident and it would take some adjusting for her and the rest of the family as she faced new challenges.

‘Well done. The family will need some guidance.’

‘I’ll attend as well, but at least it’s been set up, finally. There just aren’t enough people working there unfortunately so it’s been quite a wait to get this meeting.’

‘At least the delay has given the family a bit of time to get their heads around what has happened and where they go from here.’ She briefly perused the information. Hudson had done a good job as always, provided all the help that he could for the Scott family.

‘They’ll have a lot of questions.’

‘I can’t imagine what they’re going through.’

It was the drawback, if you could call it that, of doing this job. Each of them felt every case keenly, and it was always worse when a child was involved. And babies? Well, that was a whole different game, especially for Nadia.

Bess was still peering at the photograph of the puppy and Hudson looked at the picture again. ‘He’s cute, but he’ll be a lot of work. Hope you and Gio are ready.’

‘Kind of.’

‘What’s his name?’ Nadia asked.

‘Zeus. Gio refused any suggestion of a cute name so I let him have his way. I’ll choose the next, eh?’ She laughed.

‘Steady on – surely one puppy is plenty.’

‘You tempted?’ Hudson asked Nadia.

‘Maybe… one day.’ Perhaps it would stop her feeling so lonely. She didn’t have much going on other than work, which she loved – it was the way she’d made it on purpose – but she had to admit the puppy was absolutely gorgeous.

‘Gio and I have found some puppy classes,’ Bess told them, ‘and we’ve worked out a schedule for training him between us both.’

‘Of course you have.’ Nadia smiled. ‘When did you guys ever do anything half-heartedly?’ Both had strong personalities; neither of them would go into something with their eyes half closed.

‘How will you manage with both of you working long hours?’ Hudson leaned against the door jamb. ‘I suppose there’s doggy day care.’

‘Yeah.’ But Bess wasn’t looking at either of them.

‘Is that what you’re doing?’ Nadia asked.

Bess nodded and added an, ‘Uh-huh.’

And Nadia went into panic mode. ‘Don’t tell me you’re resigning. We can’t lose you, Bess.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, I wouldn’t resign because I got a dog. And I love my job, as well as you guys.’

‘Then what’s wrong? There’s something, I know there is.’

She looked at her feet: not a Bess thing to do at all. ‘I wasn’t going to say anything yet. It’s so early…’

And now it made sense, the way Bess had looked shifty in the car when Nadia shared her own history and struggles.

Bess stammered over her speech, getting the facts out in the end. ‘I’m going to have to take some time off… soon… I mean, it’s why I’ll be around for the puppy, but it’s why we almost didn’t get the puppy… it’s…’

‘You’re talking in riddles.’ Hudson laughed. ‘You’re taking leave to look after your puppy, is that what you’re saying?’

Nadia knew that wasn’t what she was saying at all. And she knew she shouldn’t feel this way, not for a friend, but she had a sinking feeling. She should’ve known. Bess was renowned for having a big appetite and never held back but she’d not even eaten much of the lunch Nadia had brought in for the team a few days ago. She’d had a couple of doctor’s appointments recently too, and now it all made sense.

Bess was pregnant.

‘I’m not taking leave for the puppy, no.’ Bess still looked as though this might be one of the most painful things she’d ever had to do. ‘Gio and I, plus my mum and his, will manage Zeus between us, but in about seven and a half months, I’ll be at home a lot more.’ She couldn’t meet Nadia’s eye at first and when she did, Bess’s eyes were filled with tears.

Hudson caught on. ‘You’re pregnant?’

‘Shh… yes.’ She let a smile escape. ‘But I don’t want everyone knowing just yet.’

‘That’s brilliant news,’ said Hudson, giving her a hug. ‘Congratulations.’ He left them both in the office when his phone rang and he took the call.

Nadia hugged Bess. ‘Congratulations. I’m really pleased for you. I mean it.’

But Bess’s bottom lip wobbled and she looked at the floor. ‘I was dreading telling you. I really was. I tried yesterday.’

‘No, do not apologise. I’m so, so pleased for you and Gio.’ And she was, despite the shock and her own personal history. ‘Don’t let what you know about me take anything away from that, do you hear me?’

‘It happened so quick; we didn’t expect it.’

‘And that’s wonderful.’ Nadia took her friend’s hands and gave them a squeeze. ‘It’s really amazing news. But Bess, how on earth are you going to cope with a baby and a puppy?’

Laughter took over from the tears which she swiped away. ‘I’ve absolutely no idea. That’s why we almost didn’t get the puppy, but we decided we’ve got a while to settle him in before the baby comes. And we’d already fallen in love with him.’

She couldn’t begrudge the happiness for her friend; that wasn’t the sort of person she was at all.

‘It’s very early days.’ Bess crossed her fingers on both hands. ‘And I want to work until I really, really can’t, so no going easy on me.’

‘Done,’ said Nadia. ‘I guess this is why you’re moving in together.’

‘Yes. I swear Gio engineered this – he’s been asking to live together ever since we started seeing each other.’

Nadia laughed. ‘How does Gio feel about the prospect of being a dad?’

‘He was shocked at first. I mean, happy, but a little stunned. We’re both well into our forties, only got together recently really, and we never saw it happening for us. Hence the puppy.’

‘You two are going to have your work cut out.’

Bess grinned. ‘I’m having a geriatric pregnancy.’

‘And you’ll do it in style. I know you will.’

They hugged again right before the ring of the red phone in the office alerted The Skylarks to a job, for which Bess took down the details. Noah emerged from the kitchen with Maya, and Nadia met Hudson in the corridor as the crew made their way into the hangar and she came out of the office.

‘How did you get on with contacting Mr Potter’s extended family?’ she asked him. Mr Potter was a patient the crew had attended to almost two weeks ago and they’d been trying to reach a member of his family ever since.

The familiar sound of Hilda being started up beyond the building signified the crew were almost ready to go.

‘I got hold of a sister,’ said Hudson. ‘She’s fifteen years his senior, though.’

Mr Potter was a seventy-one-year-old farmer who’d been trampled by one of his cows on his dairy farm. He was lucky to be alive after the 600kg beast broke his ribs, punctured a lung and crushed one of his arms.

‘I’ll bet she was shocked, poor lady. Not the sort of phone call you want.’

‘No, it never is.’

In the kitchen, Nadia grabbed a couple of mugs to make the coffee. ‘She won’t be able to take over while her brother recovers either.’

‘Well, yes and no.’

‘Are you telling me an eighty-six-year-old woman is going to come and run the farm for her brother?’

‘Not exactly. But once she’d processed the shock and knew that he was on the road to recovery, she was all business. She told me she once helped to run the place. She knew all about the health and safety risk assessments, she clearly has a head for the business side and she’s going to try to find someone from their network – her words – to take over while he gets better. I’m waiting for a call back from her with an update.’

‘She sounds efficient, especially for her age.’

‘She talked about moving in with him, followed that up by telling me he wouldn’t like it when he found out.’

Nadia poured on the boiling water before handing Hudson a mug. ‘Bess didn’t think he was going to make it.’

‘Shows how things can change in the blink of an eye.’

‘They sure can.’

‘You had no idea she was pregnant?’

For a minute, Nadia’s thoughts were on the elderly sister, but she soon registered who he meant. ‘No, no idea. It’s great though, isn’t it?’

‘It is. A lot of work to have a puppy and bring a kid into the world at the same time, but she and Gio seem pretty solid.’

‘How are your two?’

‘Keeping me busy.’

Hudson usually wanted to talk about his kids but not today it seemed, not even with Bess’s happy news. He went to the main office and Nadia went to hers via reception.

She started on some of her admin tasks. She needed to book in one of the rapid response vehicles for its service, go through a compliance report and place an order for a couple of items needed for the rear of the aircraft.

The distraction worked somewhat but when Bess got back to the airbase and Nadia found her in the locker room hit by a wave of nausea, it was hard to get her head straight and rid herself of the thread of envy that coursed through her, the unfairness that she’d almost had the same thing, twice, that it had been snatched away from her both times.

‘You okay, Bess? Can I get you anything?’

Bess shook her head. ‘I’m feeling a little bit sick, but I think a lot of it is tiredness, that’s all.’

‘Go upstairs, get your head down.’

‘I can’t, I haven’t told Noah or Maya yet. They’ll wonder what I’m doing.’

‘I’ll keep it quiet, say you’re not feeling well; I won’t mention anything else.’

She wasn’t sure she’d be able to get the words out even if she tried.

‘Thanks, Nadia.’

‘Stop looking at me like that.’

‘I can’t help it.’

‘I’m envious but not jealous – I’m happy for you. Remember that. Now get yourself upstairs before you get another call.’

Bess went up the stairs behind reception and Nadia updated Noah, told him Bess was resting but would be fine to go out when they were called to the next job, and she found Hudson in the office.

He put down the phone. ‘That was Mr Potter’s sister. She’s found someone to stand in at the farm, to make sure the business doesn’t go under, and she’ll arrive in a couple of days.’ He started to laugh. ‘I’m sorry, it’s not funny… It’s just that she asked whether I could have a defibrillator on standby for her brother – for when he finds out that (a) she’s coming to live with him, and (b) that someone else will be running his business for a while. And she wasn’t even joking.’

Nadia began to laugh along with him. ‘It sounds as though they’ve quite the relationship.’

‘Siblings, eh.’

She had nothing to say to that. And he didn’t seem to notice her silence.

‘I’m glad I’ve got two kids; they’ll have each other in the future if something like this happens.’

‘They sure will.’

And she walked away without meeting his eye again since the mention of siblings because she’d lied to him. And it really didn’t feel good.