For the fact she could do something for this little boy when she hadn’t been able to do anything for her own daughter.
And she knew it. She knew it straight away.
She had made the right decision coming here. Evan or no Evan.
Why had she waited so long to do this? Maybe she should have done this straight away, not waited three years until she felt as if her heart had healed.
Maybe if she’d done this sooner she could have moved on with her life, rather than hiding away at a desk job in the DPA.
That first instant, before she’d held him, had been the worst. That had been the moment when she’d thought she would rather do anything else in the world than this. But everyone had experiences like this. The first time doing anything was always the toughest. But always the most worthwhile because it set the scene for what came next.
She cradled the little bundle in her arms. Olabisi arrived a few minutes later with the mother clutching a bottle of the electrolyte mixture, and Violet handed him over with a few extra words.
And then she sat in the fading light in the medical center, watching the mother feeding her child. Knowing that every weak suck and mouthful gave this child another chance at life.
Grateful that someone had a chance to save their child—even if it wasn’t her.
* * *
Evan stood in the dying light, watching Violet with the baby in her arms. The handover from Dr. Yusif had taken much longer than expected and he’d gone to the accommodation, expecting to find Violet there.
Instead, he found Olabisi rummaging through Violet’s lime-green case for some rehydration sachets. She’d quickly explained what she was doing and he’d followed her back to the clinic, waiting outside while she demonstrated to the mother how to use them.
He was feeling overwhelmed. It wasn’t that he felt incapable. He was more than capable of doing this job.
It was just that it was so different from what he’d been used to. He hadn’t even really had time to get his head around the fact he was coming to work in Africa for three months before their plane had touched the ground.
This time last week he’d been in the director’s office, thinking he was kissing his job and Violet goodbye. This time last week he’d gone to a bar for a drink on the way home, trying to sort out in his head how he could be in Violet’s company for the next three months. By the time he’d reached his apartment he had been sure he could keep this entirely professional. It had only taken him a few phone calls to sort out the arrangements for his apartment. No family, no girlfriend to placate, no pets to rehouse. It was kind of sad really, and made him realize how alone he was.
Would anyone miss him while he was gone? His group of male friends had disintegrated in the past few years. Some had moved away as their careers had progressed or splintered in other directions, others had settled down and had families of their own. In the end he’d only had to call a few to let them know he would be gone for a few months and ask them to keep an eye on his place.
So now there was just him and Violet on the outskirts of three local government areas in Nigeria for the next three months.
The “entirely professional” part had worked until he’d seen her at the airport, with her crumpled white shirt, floral skirt and bare legs. From there on out he’d been fighting a losing battle.
Violet was clearly off-limits. If she’d been interested she would have let him know months ago, after their kiss.
But clearly she wasn’t.
And since he was obviously on the director’s radar, the last thing he needed was to pay undue attention to another member of staff. Nothing like signing your own death warrant.
So why did watching Violet singing to a sick baby in the dark send a whole host of weird sensations creeping down his spine?
Was it the way she was looking at the baby? The way she seemed to want to soothe it? The gentle way she stroked the side of his face?
Or was it the fact she was so at ease, so comfortable in this strange environment? An environment in which he’d just spent the past few hours wondering how he could keep her safe?
He pressed back against the wall. The heat had dissipated a little now. Would it be cool enough to sleep?
Who was he kidding?
Sleep? With Violet Connelly and her sweet lullabies in the room next door?
Not a chance.
CHAPTER FOUR
“DO YOU FEEL up to this?”
The sun had barely risen above the horizon and breakfast was still settling in her stomach at this unearthly hour.
“Of course I am. It’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” She didn’t mean to sound tetchy but she couldn’t help it.
Evan’s eyebrows rose slightly and he handed her one of the GPS transmitters. He sighed. “I still can’t believe we can get equipment like this to work out here and some families don’t have access to running water. It seems almost absurd.”
She nodded. “I know. I’m having trouble making sense of things here. I had another two children at the clinic yesterday affected by polio and their mothers still refused to get their younger siblings immunized. It didn’t matter what I said to them.”
Evan finished stowing the rest of the vaccines in the carriers. “They were from the village we’re going to this morning?”
Violet nodded. “Olibasi claims most of the children in that village aren’t immunized against polio. It’s swept through the village twice already. Some of the older adults are virtually paralyzed, but they still won’t immunize their children.”
His hand came over and rested on her forearm. She tried to ignore the warm sensation that trickled up her arm. “Dr. Yusif left me some notes on that village. They were part of a previous testing trial for another drug for meningitis. Eleven of the children died and many others suffered injuries. Some are blind, some deaf, some kids have brain damage and some liver damage. Is it any wonder the villagers are suspicious? If you were a parent in that village, wouldn’t you refuse any other drug offered by strangers?”
Violet felt a tightness spreading across her chest. He’d asked her how she’d feel if she were a parent.
He couldn’t possibly know how those words went straight to her heart.
She would have done anything possible to save her child. No matter what that meant. Putting herself into the shoes of these villagers wasn’t as difficult for her as Evan might think. Would she have allowed her daughter to be vaccinated by something that might have caused harm?
Absolutely not. Not question about it.
She could almost hear the fear from the villagers. Understand their protectiveness toward their children.
Evan was watching her closely. Waiting to see what her reaction would be.
“I think I would refuse anything that I thought would cause harm to my child.” She turned her face away and started searching through her bags, anything to take her away from his close scrutiny. “Here, this is the pictorial flipbook that Olibasi has been using. It’s got pictures and health information on health hygiene and sanitation on caring for a baby, as well as information on polio. Gentle persuasion might be the route we have to take, instead of going in with all guns blazing.”
Evan smiled at her. The early-morning sun was sending warm orange tones sweeping across the pale earth surrounding them. Why did it make him seem almost...inviting? The midday heat had proved too oppressive for them to work in this last week, so they’d decided to make an early start the norm. But making an early start meant sharing beautiful sunrises with a totally unsuitable man.
Evan had been wrong six months ago and he was still wrong now.
She sucked in a little air. One step at a time.
She wasn’t ready to consider a relationship of any sort right now—particularly with a man who’d had suspicions about her brother, no matt
er how good he looked at this time in the morning.
So why did she sometimes feel as if he was sensing the same electricity as she was? The same strange pull?
Was it all in her head? Was the pull just a figment of her imagination? Because in moments like this it felt very real.