Emergency at the Royal. Joanna Neil
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her long to tidy up all the things she hadn’t had time to sort out that morning. As soon as she had done that, she would turn her thoughts to her evening meal. Her mother had offered to cook for her, but she had been too uptight to eat just then. Luke’s bitter recriminations had upset her.
The doorbell suddenly rang, startling her as she was folding away the last few items of clothing in the airing cupboard. Who could that be?
She went downstairs to investigate, and when she opened the door and saw Drew standing in the porch she let out a little gasp of astonishment.
She said awkwardly, ‘I hadn’t expected to see you again...at least, not quite so soon.’
He lifted a dark brow and his mouth made an odd quirk. ‘I hope that doesn’t mean you’re going to turn me away?’
She recovered herself and stood back from the door. ‘No, of course not. I don’t know what I was thinking.’ She couldn’t leave him standing on the doorstep, and so she waved a hand towards the end of the short hallway. ‘Come in. Do you want to come through to the kitchen? I was just about to make a pot of coffee.’
He followed her into the room and glanced around. She said defensively, ‘It’s only tiny, but it does for me. I haven’t been here long, just a few months, and there are still things I need to put right. I’ve done a bit of decorating and changed the floor tiles, but it isn’t quite as I want it yet.’ She was babbling, nervousness getting the better of her, and she clamped her mouth shut. Why was she defending her home to him?
‘I think it’s lovely,’ he murmured. ‘You chose well with the pale yellow for the walls, and everything looks bright and cheerful in here. I like the way you’ve found room for a breakfast bar in the corner.’ He sent her a quick, easy smile. ‘That is one of your touches, isn’t it? I recognise the style.’
She had done something similar in the old family house, renovating the kitchen in an attempt to make it light and cheery. ‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘I’m surprised that you remember.’
She turned away to set up the coffee-percolator. She felt awkward, talking to him as though the years that had gone by had dissolved into nothingness, and she still had no idea what he was doing there.
Perhaps he sensed her discomfort, because he said, ‘I brought your shopping bag. Someone handed it to me when I walked back towards my car this afternoon. You left it in the café apparently, and the woman who gave it to me had seen us talking together and guessed that we knew each other. She asked me if I would pass it on to you.’
‘Oh, heavens...’ She stared at the bag in dismay. ‘I’d forgotten all about it.’ She glanced up at him. ‘Thank you for taking the time to bring it to me.’
‘It was no trouble. With everything that went on, I’m not surprised that you forgot it. I’m just glad that you told me where you were living so that I was able to bring it to you.’ He set the bag down on a clear space on the worktop. ‘I couldn’t get it to you any earlier. My meeting went on for much longer than I expected.’
She glanced at the contents of the bag. ‘Thanks again,’ she said, relieved. ‘I’m so glad to have it back. I was just so worried about those poor people that I wasn’t thinking properly when I rushed out of the café.’ She paused, remembering what had happened. ‘I hope they’re all right.’
‘I rang the A and E department to check up, and the consensus was that they seem to be doing as well as can be expected. The man and the boy both had surgery and came through it all right, and the van driver has been transferred to the stroke unit. He’s lost the movement in an arm and leg, but they’re hoping he’ll regain that in time, after intensive therapy.’
‘That’s good to hear.’ She studied him briefly, her gaze running over his strong features, taking in the straight line of his jaw and his firmly moulded mouth. He was far too good-looking for her peace of mind, and she had to get a grip on herself before she spoke again. ‘It was thoughtful of you to follow it up. I didn’t expect to find out what had happened to them until I got in to work in the morning.’
She might have known he would check up. He wasn’t one to leave loose ends. Even after the row that had erupted between her family and his, he had made his position clear. He had stood by his father, and he believed her father had been well compensated for his loss. She had never been able to come to terms with that, and it had coloured everything between them after that. Now that he had turned up again she was at war with herself, and her emotions were all over the place.
What was she to make of him? Her brother thought he was tough and ambitious, unyielding in his attitude, and yet Drew had shown her a caring side, a concern for the well-being of others. Wasn’t that why he had become a doctor?
She couldn’t make any sense of her feelings towards him. She was confused, drawn to him on the one hand but wary on the other, and all the time she was conscious of the way her brother and her parents felt about him and his family.
She glanced at him once more. He looked weary, a faint shadow of tiredness around his eyes, and she guessed it had been a long day for him. ‘Do you want to sit down?’ she asked. ‘I’ll just finish making the coffee. Have you eaten?’
He shook his head. ‘I didn’t get the chance.’ He pulled out a bar stool and angled himself on it by the breakfast corner. ‘I was hoping to grab some lunch before my meeting, but that all changed, as you know.’
‘I’ll heat some pasties,’ she offered, ‘and I’ve a bowl of salad to go with them. Not the most adventurous of meals, but it might fill a gap.’ He had taken the trouble to bring her shopping bag to her, and it was the least she could do to return the favour.
She watched him guardedly. She still couldn’t get used to the idea that he was here at all, and there was no point in wondering about what was to come of it. He would soon be moving on and out of her life once more.
As they ate, he said lightly, ‘I couldn’t help noticing that your shopping was mainly toys. A wooden train set and some baby things.’ He gave her a quizzical look. ‘Is there something I don’t know about? Are you married now? What have you done with the children? I don’t see them around, or maybe they’re in bed?’
She gave him a brief, taut smile. He didn’t seem at all concerned by the idea that she might be a mother, and for some reason that bothered her.
‘No, I haven’t married...yet. The train set is for my brother’s little boy, Reece, and the baby clothes are for the baby he and his wife are expecting. I thought I would get things in neutral colours since they don’t know whether they’re going to have a boy or a girl. They were in a sale, so I took the opportunity to buy now.’ She gave a small frown. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have—I’m way ahead of myself.’
‘Is there a problem with being prepared?’ His blue-grey eyes watched her curiously.
‘No...not really, but Becky hasn’t been feeling too well through this pregnancy. I hope I’m not jumping the gun.’
‘Is there any particular reason why she’s unwell?’
‘I’m not sure.’ She frowned again. ‘Things have been difficult for Becky and Luke this last few months and she might be suffering under the strain. Luke is trying to cope with running Dad’s business, and it’s been quite stressful for him lately. My dad’s been able to do less and less, and Luke’s finding it hard to manage on his own.’
‘Can’t he bring in more people to help out?’
‘I suppose he could, but that would mean training them up, and anyway I’m not sure that the business is doing well enough for them to take on more staff. Drew’s done his best these last few years to make a success of things, but working in management was never part of his plan when he left university.’
‘It’s difficult, I know, but sometimes things don’t go the way we want them to.’ He didn’t look particularly concerned. ‘I’m sorry to hear that your dad is still having problems with his