Free The Italian Surgeon's Christmas Miracle by Alison Roberts Page A

of the law”.’
    Luke sighed. ‘The legal system doesn’t see it quite like that, I’m afraid.’
    Zoe snorted. ‘I don’t care. It worked for Wayne. He got to keep Mum’s stuff. It’ll work for us, too.’ Her eye was an angry slit. ‘You can sod off now. And when you’re gone, we’ll keep you out. You’ll see.’
    The confidence was impressive. Quite endearing, really, but misplaced. Zoe needed to learn to think things through.
    ‘Maybe I won’t go anywhere,’ Luke suggested. ‘I could just move in and then I’d have the nine tenths of the law. Ten tenths, if you consider that I’m legally the owner.’
    ‘You can’t do that!’ Zoe gasped.
    Luke raised an eyebrow. ‘It doesn’t seem a problem having extra people moving in around here, so why not? Uncle Vanni’s room is empty.’
    Zoe actually believed him.
    How crazy was that? Luke had the weird notion that he’d fallen down a rabbit hole and landed in a parallel universe. That he could even pretend to be thinking of doing something that would give his grandmother cause to disown him was…Well, it was unthinkable.
    Or it had been. Until now.
    What was even worse was that there was something vaguely appealing about the absurd notion.
    Zoe looked ready to cry again. Luke was about to reassure her when a small, pyjama-clad figure appeared in the doorway.
    ‘Chantelle?’ Zoe moved towards the younger girl. ‘What’s up, sweetie? I thought you were asleep.’
    ‘I was.’ Chantelle rubbed her eyes. ‘Summer woke me up. She’s making a funny noise.’
    Luke’s chair crashed over backwards due to the speed with which he got to his feet. Monty also rose and growled menacingly, but Luke ignored both events.
    ‘Show me,’ he demanded. ‘Which is Summer’s room?’
     
    The ‘funny noise’ Summer was making was a distressed whimper on every outward breath. A tired sound, as though the effort was just too great.
    Stepping into the room, Luke was instantly aware that it had the feel and even the smell of Amy. It was messy, with the clothes she had been wearing strewn over an unmade bed, but he barely registered a memory of how those jeans had clung to slim hips and how soft the woollen jumper had looked. The colours in the room were vibrant, with bright curtains and cushions. A faintly exotic scent that Luke couldn’t place, along with the flickering light from a low-burning fire, brought the room to life.
    It was an attractive, cosy space but even with the glowing coals the ambient temperature wasn’t enough to account for the sheen of perspiration visible on Summer’s dark skin.
    He shook her shoulder gently. ‘Summer? Wake up!’
    The child didn’t stir. Luke peeled the covers off the little girl and felt for her pulse. Her skin felt chilled and it took a moment to locate a pulse at all. When he did, Luke wasn’t surprised to find it far too rapid and very weak. Her heart was failing and her blood oxygen levels were already too low to be compatible with consciousness.
    ‘What’s wrong with her?’ Zoe asked from behind him.
    ‘She’s got a fever. Probably an infection of some kind.’
    ‘Like a cold or something?’
    ‘Yes.’ It had come on very fast but Summer’s immune system had already been compromised.
    ‘Is she really sick?’
    ‘Yes.’ He couldn’t be less than honest with Zoe. ‘Could you call an ambulance, please? Tell them I’m here and I said it was urgent.’
    Zoe hesitated in the doorway. ‘She’s not…going to die , is she?’
    The tone was anguished. Something Margaret had said flashed into Luke’s mind. Something about the children that ended up in the Phillips household being lucky.
    No one else had wanted to care for this dying child but here she was clearly very much loved. Luke’s own heart gave an odd squeeze.
    ‘Not if I can help it,’ he told Zoe sombrely. ‘But we need to hurry.’
    Robert took Zoe’s place in the room a second later. He stared at Summer and then at Luke and his look was