Dr Right All Along. Joanna Neil
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brushing the crumbs from her fingers. She swallowed the last of her coffee. ‘This year’s gone well for you, hasn’t it? I suppose, with any luck, I’ll be in the same position as you, a foundation-year doctor, by August … except that I have to get through my final exams first.’ She thought about that and pulled a face. ‘I’m really not looking forward to those. I’m spending every last minute revising.’ Finding that time was becoming more and more difficult of late, though. Much as she loved her parents, she could have done without going home this particular weekend.
She hunted around for her bag, and said hurriedly, ‘I have to go. What time do you have to be on duty?’
He glanced at his watch. ‘Soon. I’ll walk with you.’
‘Okay.’
It was a strange feeling, being alone with Matt like this, and she wasn’t sure quite how she felt about it. There were usually four of them sharing the house, but things had changed now that Jade and Ben were planning their wedding. They had been house hunting, and hadn’t been around very much of late.
Perhaps that was why Matt had been acting differently these last few weeks. It was an odd situation. He’d been surprisingly laid-back about her forgetting to get the groceries, and that in itself was peculiar, given the way he usually enjoyed teasing her.
‘You said Jade took you to see the house they’d bought,’ Matt commented now, cutting in on her thoughts. They left the neat, Georgian crescent of houses behind them and set out along the London streets, heading for the hospital. ‘I imagine that means they’ll be wanting to move out fairly soon.’
She shook her head. ‘It’ll be some time before they do that, I think. With prices being what they are in London, they’ve settled for a house that needs quite a bit of work. They have to rewire the place and put in central heating, and so on, and after that they’ll be decorating.’
He pulled a face. ‘That sounds like a lot of hard work.’
She smiled. ‘I don’t think they mind. It’ll be a great house once the renovations have been done. And I guess, as long as they’re together, they’ll be happy enough. I suppose it could be fun, getting the place just how they want it.’
He gave her a sidelong glance, lifting a dark brow. ‘Fun? Well, yes, it’s the sort of thing I’d enjoy. I can see how it would be good to stamp your individual touch on a house, to make it well and truly your own, but I can’t imagine you wanting to do hands-on stuff like that. With your background, I’d have thought you’d be more inclined to get the builders in.’ The hint of a smile touched his lips as his gaze wandered to her beautifully manicured nails.
‘Oh, here we go …’ she remarked in a cross voice. ‘Why does everyone assume they know me from a quick glance at the way I look? And you’re a prime example. We might have lived in the same house for the last few months, but you don’t know me at all, do you? You just think that you do. I’m perfectly capable of setting to and fixing things up if need be.’
Not that she’d ever been called on to do anything like that, but it didn’t mean she wouldn’t be capable if the situation arose, did it?
‘Okay, okay … I take it back. There’s no need to get yourself worked up about it. I didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers.’ His mouth quirked and she frowned, looking at him suspiciously. Was she overreacting? It had been a difficult weekend, one way and another, and she had to admit to being tired and out of sorts.
She was silent for a moment or two, thinking things through. It looked as though she and Matt would be on their own in the house for a good deal of the time from now on, and that could be difficult for both of them, without Jade and Ben there to deflect their arguments. They were opposites, after all. Matt was laid-back, easy-going, happy to strum on his guitar whenever the fancy took him, whereas she …
She had a lot to contend with, even more so of late since her father had decided to expand his business. The changes meant there was far more work to be done. Lucy was a medical student, but she’d always helped out with her parents’ property development company, ever since she had been old enough to hold the other end of a measuring tape. She’d been round countless properties with her father and grandfather, and knew the jargon off pat—strengthen those joists, put in a new damp course, sand the wooden floors. Even now, her father regularly sent work her way.
‘See if you can track down a supplier for those ceramic tiles I want for the old-cottage renovations, will you?’ he’d said last week. ‘And have a look on the internet to see if there are any likely properties in the neighbouring area. Find out how much the houses go for over there. You can fill me in on the details when you come over at the weekend. Your mother’s looking forward to having you with us for Sunday lunch, and I want to show you the old farm cottage now that the work is almost finished.’
All these things took time, when she really ought to be studying, but she didn’t complain. After all, her father owned this house that they were all living in, and she, at least, didn’t have to pay rent. No doubt Matt thought she was a spoiled daddy’s girl, but in reality she paid her way by working as a researcher for her father.
It wasn’t fair, the way she was judged. Just because she came from a wealthy family, and she happened to be blonde with a decent figure, people only saw the superficial, the outer packaging. They saw a golden-haired fashion model, and assumed she was only interested in looking good and keeping up with the latest fashion trends.
It was the same at the hospital. She had to work harder than anyone else to be accepted as the woman she really was, someone who would one day make a skilled and capable doctor.
That was what she hoped she would become, anyway. If she didn’t get there, it wouldn’t be for want of trying.
‘You’ll be working on Paediatrics for the next week or so, won’t you?’ Matt asked, sniffing the air as they passed by a café. The proprietors were setting up for the day and the appetising smell of meat pasties and hot bacon wafted through the air.
Lucy’s mouth watered, and she thought longingly of food … crisp bacon, eggs with bright yellow yolks, and maybe a couple of hash browns to complete the meal … She groaned inwardly; the toast Matt had given her had only served as an appetiser. She didn’t even like fried food, so why on earth was she obsessing about it now?
‘Yes, that’s right,’ she said. ‘Jade told me she had a good experience on Professor Farnham’s team, so I’m hoping things will turn out pretty much the same for me. I’m not sure how I’ll cope, though, working with children.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be fine.’ He laid a hand on the small of her back and urged her through the automatic doors at the entrance to the hospital. ‘I must go and meet up with my consultant. Perhaps we’ll catch up with one another later on?’
Even though he removed his hand, she still felt its warm imprint on her spine as they walked along the corridor towards the lift bay. It was a peculiar, intimate feeling, and she pulled in a quick breath to help her deal with the strange emotions that had suddenly overtaken her.
‘Perhaps.’ She nodded in agreement, though with any luck they’d go their separate ways. She still wasn’t sure quite how to deal with this new-style Matt. Over the last few months, she’d become used to their frequent, fairly good-natured spats, but now that he was being halfway nice to her she didn’t know how to take it.
She went straight to the children’s ward and introduced herself to the registrar on duty and to the nursing staff.
‘It’s good to see you again, Lucy,’ the registrar greeted her with a smile. They’d met before and talked occasionally whenever there had been a gig going on in the student union bar, and the last few times he had made a point of singling her out. James Tyler was tall and good-looking, in his mid-thirties, and she was sure he would be a catch for any girl but she wasn’t inclined to get involved with him, no matter how much he pushed the issue.
She’d been bitten a couple of times before, and he had all the hallmarks of being like the other men in her life—seduced