Nate and Ella remained in Ella’s parent’s house for a couple of weeks. Nate had wanted to go home, but he knew Ella was worried about Nina turning up, so he didn’t push her to leave.

They finally decided that it was time to try and get back into some kind of a routine. Nate was determined that he wouldn’t allow Nina to put their lives on hold forever.

Ella was surprised that Nina hadn’t tried to contact Nate at all since the day in court. She thought she would have at least called to see how the girls were, but there hadn’t been a word from her, and it worried Ella.

She was also surprised when Nate asked if he and the girls could stay at her house when they finally did go home. Ella was sure he would want to take the girls back to their home, but Nate insisted he wanted his family together, and that it would be unfair to uproot Max once more. Nate said that the house he shared with Nina no longer felt like home, and he wanted a fresh start with Ella, Max and the girls.

Shelby was a little upset that she wasn’t going back to her own house, but Cassie seemed more relieved than anything else. She and Ella had grown close, and finally, the little girl seemed to be happier in herself.

They had agreed that they would stay in Ella’s parent’s house until the weekend, then they would all move back to Ella’s house and try move on with their lives.

Ella tried to keep things as normal as she could, under the circumstances. She went into the shop when she could, but it wasn’t always easy. She loved having Nate and the girls with her, but part of her missed the normality of her old life.

Once the girls went back to school, things seemed to settle down a little more. Ella was still worried about Nina, but Nate spoke to the school and informed them that under no circumstances was Nina to be allowed access to the girls or be allowed to remove them from the school either.

 On Friday, the day before they were all due to go home, Ella arrived at the shop and she was delighted to see Carly and her niece, busy making up some orders.

“Hey, stranger,” Carly said when she looked up and saw Ella walking into the shop. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today. I thought you would have been super busy with the big move home tomorrow.”

“I am,” Ella sighed. “But right now, my parent’s house is a crazy place, and I just needed a little break.”

“What’s going on at your folk’s house,” Carly asked as Ella took a seat behind the counter.

“Well my dad is freaking out because he thinks it’s too soon to go home,” Ella sighed. “And my mom is in a spin because Ben has set a date for the wedding, and it’s only four weeks away.”

“Why so soon?” Carly asked as she continued to show Lizzie how to arrange the bouquet they were both working on.

“They want it out of the way before the baby comes, which I understand” Ella shrugged, feeling completely worn out. “So I said I would come in and begin organising the flowers for the big day.”

“What are you thinking of doing?” Carly asked as she set down what she was doing and walked towards Ella. “I can do some mock-ups of bridal bouquets for Jules if you want.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Ella sighed as she rubbed her tired eyes. “I can’t seem to focus on anything lately. I’m just so tired all the time.”

“You’ve had a lot going on,” Carly reasoned, as she gave Ella a smile. “Things will settle down once you’re all home.”

“I know,” Ella replied and returned the girl's smile. She was grateful that she had this one safe place to come to, and that Carly was always willing to be her shoulder when she needed it.

Suddenly her phone began to ring in her handbag. She reached in and pulled it out. She looked at the screen, but she didn’t recognise the number. She hit accept and brought it to her ear.

“Hello,” Ella said into the phone.

“Ms. Cassidy,” a woman’s voice came through the phone. Ella, thought she recognised it, but she wasn’t sure. “I’m Laura Carter, the principal of Park Hills Elementary School. I have Cassie Regan here, and she seems to be unwell. She said she has a sick tummy, and she is running a bit of a temperature. I have tried to contact her father, but we can’t seem to get hold of him. He has listed you as an emergency contact for Cassie. I was wondering if perhaps you could come and collect her.”

“Of course,” Ella said as she stood up immediately. “I will be there as soon as possible.”

The woman on the phone thanked Ella and hung up the phone.

“I need to go,” Ella said as she turned to Carly. “Cassie is sick, and they can’t get a hold of Nate. I’m sorry.”

“We can talk about the wedding next week,” Carly said as Ella grabbed her car keys from the counter. “I will make up some mock-ups, and we can look at them when you have time.”

“Thanks, Carly,” Ella said before she turned and gave Lizzie a warm smile too, then headed for the door.

As Ella started the engine on her car, she thought about Nate. She wondered why the school hadn’t been able to contact him. She knew he wasn’t due back to work until the following week, so he should have been reachable by phone.

She considered calling him, but she decided that she would just head to the school and collect Cassie, then try and track down Nate.

As Ella stopped at a set of traffic lights, her phone started to ring on the seat next to her. She glanced down at it and saw Nate’s name flashing on the screen. She reached over to pick it up, but just as she picked it up, her whole body was jolted sideways in the car, as a deafening sound filled the air. Something had hit the side of her car.

Ella felt dazed for a moment, as she tried to figure out what the hell had just happened. She reached up and touched the side of her head, and it felt wet. She dropped her hand down from her head, and her stomach heaved as she saw blood on her fingertips.

She needed to gather her thoughts and get out of the car. Ella reached for the handle of the door, but as she did, the sound of an engine roared, and she looked up just in time to see the smashed front light of a truck speeding towards her again.

Ella screamed as there was another loud bang, then there was nothing but darkness.

 “Where is she?” Nate's voice echoed from the hallway outside the door. Ella looked up at the door, and moments later Nate came rushing into the room. The moment he saw her sitting up, a look of relief momentarily filled his face before it was replaced with a look of concern. “Ella!”

“I’m okay,” Ella assured him, as he wrapped her in his arms. Her head was banging, and her wrist hurt like hell, but other than that, she felt okay.

“You’re far from okay,” Nate sighed as he held her at arm’s length. “You’ve been hurt.”

“It’s just a bump on the head,” Ella replied with a weak smile.

“What about your wrist?” Nate asked as he looked down at the cast on her wrist.

“The doctor said it’s just a hairline fracture,” Ella explained. “It will be fine in no time.”

“What the hell happened?” Nate asked as he sat down next to Ella on the gurney.

“I was sitting at the traffic lights, and my phone started to ring,” Ella explained. “I saw your name on the screen, and I reached over for the phone. Then something just hit me. I felt a little dazed, but I knew I needed to get out of the car. That’s when the truck hit me again.”

“Jesus!” Nate exclaimed, as he wrapped Ella in his arms once more. “I’m so sorry, Ella. This is all my fault. This has to be Nina.”

“This is not your fault!” Ella insisted, but before she could say another word, there was a knock on the examining room door. Ella and Nate looked at it in unison, as it opened and Pete stepped through the door.

“How’s the patient?” He asked as he gave Ella a warm smile. “You look a lot better than you did when you got here.”

“I’m okay,” Ella sighed as she quickly glanced at Nate.

“You gave us quite a fright,” Pete continued as Nate gave him a questioning look. “I was just leaving the station when the call came in. One of the fire fighters recognised you as the Chief’s daughter. When I got to the car and saw the fire department cutting you out of the car, I was sure that your injuries were a lot worse than they were, especially when you were unconscious.”

“You were unconscious!” Nate exclaimed. “Why didn’t you say?”

“Because I’m fine,” Ella insisted. “The doctor has given me the all clear, and I am good to go. I am just waiting on the last of the tests to come back; then I can go.”

“Were there any witnesses?” Nate asked as he turned back to Pete.

“Several people said that a man driving a truck, just drove straight at Ella’s car,” Pete explained. “We ran the plates, but it was a rental. We are waiting for the paperwork from the lease agreement to come through. But my guess is this was Stevenson.”

“Why would he do this?” Nate asked as his face paled a little. “This has nothing to do with Ella, and it will not help Nina get the girls back.”

“Cassie!” Ella exclaimed as she suddenly remembered where she was heading before the car hit her. “She’s sick, that’s where I was going. Her principle rang and asked me to come get her.”

“Why didn’t she call me?” Nate asked as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

“She did,” Ella replied. “She said there was no reply.”

“But I don’t have any missed calls,” Nate said as he pulled up the number for Cassie’s school and hit call.

Ella sat and held her breath as she waited to hear if Cassie was okay. She hated to think of the little girl being sick and nobody turning up to bring her home. She couldn’t hear what Nate was saying, but Ella knew by his body language that there was something wrong.

“FUCKERS!” Nate screamed as he hung up the phone.

“Is Cassie okay?” Ella said as a sickening feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

“Cassie is fine,” Nate assured her, but the angry expression on his face said there was more.

“Then what’s the problem?” Pete asked the question that was on the tip of Ella’s tongue.

“Nobody called Ella from the school,” Nate explained. “So whoever made the call, did it to get Ella onto the street. They set her up, and they ambushed her.”

Ella could feel all the blood drain from her body, as her heart hammered so hard in her chest. The only sound she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears.

“I need to call this in,” Pete said as he turned and walked out of the room.

“Ella, Sweetheart,” Nate said as he turned back to Ella. He hurried to the bed and took hold of Ella’s arms and looked into her eyes. “I need you to breathe. Everything is going to be okay.”

Ella stared at Nate, but she couldn’t hear a word he said. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion, and she was waiting for another loud bang.

She couldn’t catch her breath; it was like her lungs had forgotten how to work. She could feel her chest burning as if someone was squeezing every ounce of air from her body. Her vision blurred as hot tears stung her eyes.

“ELLA, BREATHE!” Nate shouted as he reached for the oxygen mask behind the bed.

The moment he slipped it on, air rushed into Ella’s lungs, easing the burning feeling as she began to gasp for precious air.

“That’s it,” Nate continued, but this time his voice was calmer, and it Ella felt calmer too. “You’re okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

“M…M…Max,” Ella gasped as she looked up into Nate’s face. “I ne…need to kn..know that he is okay.”

“He’s fine,” Nate assured her. “He’s with your Mom. Your dad said he would collect the girls and take them back to their house. Everyone is okay.”

“What if he had been with me?” Ella gasped as tears spilled down her face. “What if she had hurt him?”

“I won’t let that happen again,” Nate insisted, but Ella knew he was as scared as she was. The look of fear in his eyes almost broke her heart. “The police are looking for them as we speak,”

“What if you can’t?” Ella whispered as she pulled the mask from her face. “What if they get to Max or the girls before the police pick them up?”

“Then we will go away,” Nate said as he wrapped Ella in his arms once more. “I will take you far away from here until we are sure that the police have locked them both up, and they can’t hurt us anymore.”

Before Ella could reply, the door opened, and the doctor that had been treating Ella when she arrived walked into the room.

“Hey, Nathan,” he said when he saw Nate sitting next to Ella. “I didn’t know you were working today.”

“I’m not,” Nate replied with an impatient sigh. “Is everything okay? Is there something wrong?”

“Everything seems to be okay, with Ella,” the doctor said, turning from Nate to Ella. “Your CT was clear and other than the hairline fracture in your wrist; you’re doing pretty amazing for someone who was in a car accident.”

“Then I can go home?” Ella asked hopefully.

“Well, there is just one more thing,” the doctor said with a reassuring smile. “You’re blood tests have come back, and you’re a little anemic, but that’s not uncommon for someone in your condition.”

“In my condition?” Ella asked as a knot of panic formed in the pit of her stomach.

“I’m sorry, I assumed you knew,” the doctor said as his face flushed a little. “Ella, you’re pregnant. Judging from the hormone levels in your system, I would say about three weeks along.”

“I’m pregnant?” Ella said as her stomach heaved.

“I can arrange for an ultrasound if you would like,” the doctor continued. “But honestly, at this early stage, there is little point. It’s almost impossible to read.”

“Arrange one,” Nate insisted, much to Ella’s surprise. “She was in a car accident; she needs to be checked out.”

“Okay then, I’ll be right back,” the doctor replied before he turned and vanished out of the room, leaving them alone once more.

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Ella was almost afraid to look at Nate; she had no idea what the hell he was thinking. She didn’t know what she was thinking herself. She was pregnant. She didn’t even know if she wanted another baby. Everything was such a mess.

“Ella,” Nate finally said as he turned to her and reached for her hand. “Talk to me, tell me what you’re thinking? How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know,” Ella replied honestly. “Stunned mostly.”

“I know this isn’t what we planned,” Nate said, giving her hand a squeeze. “But it doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”

“I don’t know if I can do it again, Nate,” Ella whispered as so many unspoken fears ran through her head. “I’m scared.”

“But this time you’re not alone,” Nate said as he took her face in his hands. “I’m here; I’m with you.”

Nate wrapped her in his arms and drew her close to him. Ella closed her eyes and pushed her emotions back down inside her. Being pregnant was the last thing she needed right now. All she wanted to do was go home to Max and make sure he was okay. How had her life become such a fucking disaster?