A Consultant Beyond Compare. Joanna Neil
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wavered for a moment or two. ‘That really won’t be necessary. I’m sure we’ll manage to find a solution to whatever has gone wrong.’ It wasn’t a lie, and why should she burden this stranger with the intricacies of her home life? He had stepped in and helped out, and she was grateful to him for that, but it didn’t mean that he was entitled to hear her life story. ‘Anyway, didn’t you say that you had a meeting to go to?’
He glanced at his watch. ‘I doubt there would be any point in attempting to get there now.’ His gaze settled on her. ‘Perhaps you were delayed in setting out?’
A guilty flush ran over her cheeks. ‘I hit some traffic on the way. I’m not quite sure what happened, but there was a tailback and I had to find another route, otherwise I would have been here quicker.’
He nodded. ‘I dare say it couldn’t be helped.’ He glanced at Jessica. ‘How do you feel about going home with your sister? Are you going to be all right or do you want me to stay around for a while to help you out?’
Jessica had the grace to look shamefaced. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she mumbled. ‘I’m sorry to have caused you so much trouble.’
He was reaching for his jacket as she spoke, and now he started to shrug into it. ‘It’s no problem,’ he said. Then he added on an afterthought, ‘If you feel that you need to talk to anyone any time, you could always ring me. I’ll give you my number.’ Taking a notecase from his inside jacket pocket, he handed Jessica a card. ‘Keep it safe. You can ring me any time. If I’m not on hand right away, I’ll always get back to you.’
Jessica glanced at the card and then slipped it into her pocket. ‘Thank you.’
Katie wasn’t sure whether to feel grateful to him for his concern or affronted by it. This man had taken the trouble to keep her young sister out of danger, but at the same time he seemed to be implying that Katie might be the source of all the trouble in the first place. She sent him a spiky glance, her blue eyes glittering.
‘She’ll be fine with me,’ she murmured, keeping an even tone.
‘Good. I’m glad to hear it.’ He sent her an appraising look. ‘I can’t help thinking, though, that something must have gone very wrong for her to have felt the need to run away in the first place, and she was certainly very reticent in talking about it. Perhaps you’ll be able to talk things through and make a better go of things.’
‘We will,’ Katie answered him stiffly. ‘Thank you again for everything you’ve done. I do appreciate the way you’ve looked after her for me.’
He nodded briefly. ‘I have her number and your address, so I’ll keep in touch,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I’d like to satisfy myself that she’s doing all right.’
Katie’s chin lifted a notch. Was that a warning to her that he was prepared to keep an eye on things? Just how far did he mean to take his good Samaritan responsibilities?
She gave him a humourless smile. ‘Thanks again,’ she said. ‘We won’t impose on your time any longer. I should be starting on my way home before the traffic gets any worse. I’m just hoping that whatever caused the hold-up has been cleared by now.’
‘Me, too. Now that attending my meeting is out of the question, I’ll be heading back in your direction. If what Jessica tells me is correct, it looks as though we both live in the same area, around Ambleside.’
Katie groaned inwardly and tried not to let her emotions show in her face. She might have known that would be the case. With the way her luck was going today, perhaps it was only to be expected. Clearly she was not going to be free of this man for some time to come. Perhaps all she could do would be to forget that he had ever been around. The last thing she needed was more condemnation from men who thought they had the upper hand. She turned away from him.
‘Goodbye, Jessica,’ he said.
Jessica nodded to him and made a muted response before turning to follow Katie to her car.
‘Let’s go,’ Katie said, sliding in behind the wheel of her ancient car and waiting while Jessica strapped herself in. She was anxious to put this whole incident behind her, but as she pulled away from the kerb she was all too aware of the man following behind in a sleek, midnight-blue convertible.
KATIE turned the car on to the north road, heading towards Ambleside. She barely noticed the bracken-covered hills and heather-clad knolls, or the wide, U-shaped valleys that had been carved out by ice all those aeons ago. Her thoughts were taken up with the events of the day.
She still carried with her the brooding, dark image of Jessica’s rescuer, and it was troubling that he seemed to have misgivings about her ability to care for her sister. She had always thought of herself as a capable, independent individual, but lately her confidence had taken a battering. How could any of this be happening to her?
‘You will let me stay with you, won’t you, Katie?’ Her younger sister turned earnest, pleading eyes on her and Katie felt her heart give a painful twist. ‘I promise I won’t be any trouble, but I can’t go back home, I can’t. You won’t send me back there, will you?’
‘But you’re only thirteen, Jess,’ Katie answered, in what she hoped was a soothing voice, ‘and you’re a long way from home. Mum and Dad will be worried about you.’
‘No, they won’t. They don’t care about me as long as I’m out of their hair. They’ll just go on arguing, and shouting at one another like they always do. It’s horrible. I won’t go back.’
‘Of course they care about you.’ Katie frowned as she glanced at the road ahead. Perhaps she shouldn’t have taken this route. She had hoped to avoid problems, but traffic was building up, and it was beginning to occur to her that whatever had delayed her earlier on the journey to Windermere had merely been the overspill from what was happening up ahead. There must have been an accident of some sort, because in the distance she could see the flashing lights from ambulances that were parked by the roadside. A couple of police vehicles were stationed nearby.
Jessica made a face. ‘No, they don’t. They’re not going to miss me at all. They hardly ever notice I’m around, unless it’s because they think I’m getting in their way. Dad’s never had any time for me. He’s always at work or off out somewhere and as for Mum…well, she’s too busy worrying about her own problems, so she’ll be glad there’s one less person to bother about.’ She sighed. ‘You know how they are. They’re always arguing about something or other. Isn’t that why you left home and went off to medical school? You were glad to get away, weren’t you?’
Katie’s mouth made a wry shape. ‘It was a bit different for me. After all, Mum divorced my father when I was just a bit younger than you are now, and when she married again—well, it felt a bit odd. Things were never quite the same.’ She smiled at Jessica. ‘But then you came along, and it was lovely for me to have a baby sister.’
Jessica’s expression relaxed a little. ‘You’ve always been my very best friend,’ she said. ‘That’s why I came here to the Lake District to find you. I didn’t know what else to do, but I felt sure you would find a way to help me somehow.’
‘I wish it were that simple.’ Katie quickly ran her mind over all her options. ‘Whatever happens, I’ll have to ring them and let them know that you’re safe. They weren’t answering their mobiles when I tried earlier, but I’ve left a message for them on the answering machine at home.’
‘No, they’ve gone into town for the day. I said I was going to be at my friend’s house.’
Katie shook her head, shooting Jessica a quick glance. ‘I’m amazed that you managed to find your way here at all without getting into trouble of some sort.’
‘It was easy,’ Jessica said,